Saranac American Pale Ale
Matt Brewing Company / Saranac Brewery

Saranac American Pale AleSaranac American Pale Ale
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From:
Matt Brewing Company / Saranac Brewery
 
New York, United States
Style:
American Pale Ale
Ranked #1,107
ABV:
5.5%
Score:
78
Ranked #26,870
Avg:
3.43 | pDev: 13.41%
Reviews:
642
Ratings:
1,338
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jan 26, 2023
Added:
Jul 08, 2001
Wants:
  13
Gots:
  175
Officially American: previously an English pale ale, we’ve converted this beer over to an American-style Pale Ale.

We’ve dialed UP the hop profile, adding more focus to American style hops, like Cascade, Chinook, Citra, and Willamette.

Hop Infusion: every drop of beer is exposed to our hop slurry as the beer passes from fermentation to aging, resulting in a more brilliant, cleaner hop character.

Saranac Pale Ale’s foundation was built on the tried and true English varieties, Golding and Fuggles. We brighten Pale Ale with the three “C”s; a strong focus on Citra, complimented by Cascade, and Chinook. We then bridge the old world with the new with the two most distinctive hops Bramling Cross and Jester, both descendants of English and North American varieties.

Malts: Crystal, Two-Row
Hops: Bramling Cross, Jester, Citra, Cascade, Chinook

Original Gravity: 13.5° Plato
IBU: 32
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Schwarzbart:
Photo of Schwarzbart
Reviewed by Schwarzbart from Pennsylvania

4.21/5  rDev +22.7%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Appearance: An impressive pour with a 2 finger head. Poured from a 32oz. growler bottle that I picked up in State College, PA. Absolutely awesome lacing that just covered the glass.

Smell: Dominantly a fresh hop aroma of grass backed with mild grains.

Taste: A nice grassy clean hop flavor that isn't overpowering, but it is the dominating character.

Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with a crisp finish.

Drinkability: A very good beer at a great price.
Nov 18, 2006
More User Ratings:
Photo of ragged_tweed
Reviewed by ragged_tweed from New York

4.15/5  rDev +21%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
This beer deserves way more respect than it is getting on BA. It is as good or better than other well-known green-label American pale ales with way higher scores. I rediscovered this because I needed a break from chewing on “juicy” American IPAs. It is well balanced and subtle. Its roots as an English pale ale are still there even though it is hop forward. Nice job, Saranac.
Jan 26, 2023
 
Rated: 3.75 by mpenske from California

Oct 15, 2022
 
Rated: 3.83 by Shiredave from New York

Jul 22, 2022
Photo of breaks4beer
Reviewed by breaks4beer

4.24/5  rDev +23.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
A solid pale ale that I feel does not always get as much love as it deserves. One of Saranac's best brews over the years, in my opinion.

Poured from a 12oz can into a pint glass. Slight over-carbonation in the can, as there was a slight froth wave upon opening (and I was very careful to not shake or disturb the can prior to opening), but nothing too crazy (froth never crested above the can's rim).

Look: A clear & brilliant copper with small bubbles slowly releasing throughout. One finger head.

Smell: Predominantly citrus with secondary notes of pine and caramel.

Taste: Well balanced and no off flavors. Slight hop presence. While it's not a super boozy beer, it does a good job hiding the 5.5%.

Feel: Slight silky feel but not oily. Nice dry finish.

Overall: A well-crafted American Pale Ale that I feel does not always get as much love as it deserves. One of Saranac's best brews over the years, in my opinion. Refreshing and something that I would always be happy to enjoy!
Mar 14, 2022
 
Rated: 3.63 by Arg914 from New York

Jan 20, 2021
 
Rated: 3.56 by drews240 from Rhode Island

May 18, 2020
Photo of graysonslamsbrews
Reviewed by graysonslamsbrews from Pennsylvania

3.88/5  rDev +13.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Poured from a 12oz can into a pint glass.
Look: Copper body pours a big, off-white creamy head that dissipates pretty slowly. Brilliantly clear. Tiny bubbles retain throughout show good carbonation.
Smell: Smells bright with a complex cast of citrusy and floral hops. Smells sweet, and really delicious.
Taste: Pleasant and agreeable, bright hops and a bit of citrus. Sweeter roasted malt pushes through a caramel malt profile. (Sweetness pushes through burps; stronger carbonation compliments West Coast hops)
Feel: Slightly creamy, medium body but really easy drinking. Again, more strongly carbonated, so might fill you up after a while. But it sure is refreshing and flavorful throughout the whole beer.
Really great beer. Delicious, not too heavy and consistently flavorful. Masterfully crafted; probably Saranac's best pale ale.
Feb 18, 2020
 
Rated: 3.5 by Jotora from Canada (ON)

Jan 01, 2020
Photo of Scrapss
Reviewed by Scrapss from Pennsylvania

3.63/5  rDev +5.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Saranac Americanized Pale Ale. Poured from the 233 day of 2019 canning date into a half-litre dimple mug.

A: Clear, very clear Ale. slightly orangey-yellow hue, decent 1 finger head that compacts to a nearly glass-wide 1mm disk with some empty spots. No significant lacing.

S: Light earthy, lemongrassy/lemon-lime and very light crackery malt backbone. Very faint astringency.

T: Gentle hop tropical fruit notes, yielding to a slightly crackery malt, same as in nose, then a light bitter swallow.

M: Light creaminess, full up a little bit, then dry on finish. Did I say gentle earlier. That continues, and it is extremely nice on finish, lightly bitter hangs around for every on drying tongue edges.

O: Nice example of the style, I do think it's a nice, classic example of the style and a good change from all the nuevo-hopped tropical fruit bombs everyone seems to clamor for now.
Dec 20, 2019
 
Rated: 3.75 by BallsDeep from Florida

Nov 07, 2019
 
Rated: 3.77 by heerboth from Pennsylvania

Aug 14, 2019
Photo of RockHop
Reviewed by RockHop from Massachusetts

4.13/5  rDev +20.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
A surprisingly good pale ale. Well-rounded and easy drinking. A good contender for a go-to ale. Copper with slight cloudiness and thick creamy head with good retention. Has a fairly generic, but clean beer aroma. Round flavors of malt, grain, and muted bitterness with a hint of pine and citrus. More earthy and herby than bright.
Aug 14, 2019
 
Rated: 3.87 by 12ozfan from Illinois

Jul 01, 2019
 
Rated: 2.98 by Wellgoose12 from New York

Jun 17, 2019
Photo of edward_boumil
Reviewed by edward_boumil from New York

3.79/5  rDev +10.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Feel like this beer is a tad underrated. Perhaps not trendy enough. Worth noting that I prefer from the bottle, has strong hop notes and smoother mouthfeel that way for some reason.
Poured into a glass had a nice head though it settles out to a film, clear copper colored body with light apparent carbonation.
Aroma is nice although it’s subtle. It’s sweet and fruity primarily, get some of those nice fruit, citrus and papaya come to mind. Melon as well. Honey.
Palate is great here. No off flavors, well balanced. Description mentions tweaked recipe, used to be English inspired. I certainly see some remenants of that in the malt profile, sweet molasses, toast, brown sugar, ect. Also a dryness which complements the hop, which certainly have a west coast character. Hop bite is most certainly there but very much so restrained, as per the style.
Mouthfeel is very good. It’s frothy and silky. I’d say my one complaint is it is just a tad astringent. Drinking from the bottle seems to tame it a bit but I’m rating based on a pour as per my norm.
Overall this beer is very well crafted IMO. Serves a niche role: a beer which is very drinkable but highly enjoyable with sparks of complexity, but not challenging nor tiring. Very sessionable, could see it being a great summer beer.
Feb 23, 2019
 
Rated: 3.68 by Quafftastic from Virginia

Sep 03, 2018
 
Rated: 4.49 by nmwhitehead from New York

Sep 03, 2018
 
Rated: 3.44 by edthehead from Maryland

Aug 22, 2018
Saranac American Pale Ale from Matt Brewing Company / Saranac Brewery
Beer rating: 78 out of 100 with 1338 ratings