Olde Towne Pale Ale
Olde Towne Brewing Co.

 

 

This is another review of the soon-to-be-closed Olde Towne Brewery's beers.

From a 12oz. brown bottle, poured into a New Belgium globe

A: Orange color, with a somewhat hazy clarity. One finger of white head on top with just a little bit of lacing.

S: Nice aroma, with floral hops and also a sweet, caramel malty smell.

T: Well balanced between the hop bitterness and sweetness in the malts.

M: Medium-light body with a moderate amount of carbonation. Smooth with a dry finish and slightly bitter aftertaste.

D: Very enjoyable, refreshing beer. I wasn't expecting much from this beer based on the scores on BA, but it was a pleasant surprise.

Pours an pretty amber color with just a little head with decent retention and a little lacing. Pretty clear throughout. Smells of malt, hops, and a little citrus. A little hop bite in the taste, a little lemon or orange, maybe pine. Smooth and creamy mouthfeel. Drinkability is somewhat high.

Thanks to Kirkpjr for this long time want. An Alabama beer brewed in Alabama.
I pored the bottle into my Sam Adams glass and was greeted with a two finger off white head sitting on top of a golden orange body.

My first thought on the aroma was lemon so I go with that. I liked the flavor It is great to see a Pale that doesn't try to be an IPA this one was balanced out just right and a pleasure to drink. It had a medium body with ample carbonation. It drank extremely well and I was left wanting for more.

I would be proud to call this my local Pale ale great job Olde Towne

Pours a light orange in color. Not very clear, but not too cloudy either. Solid slightly off-white head that sticks around for some time. Aroma is very fruity and somewhat sweet. Taste is very watery. There is some hop bitterness, but no bite. Malts are out of place too. Seems light body. Mouthfeel is average, but drinkability is low (I'll finish the bottle, but I won't reach for another one).

My problems is mostly with the fact that I find it completely out of style. Too sweet and no hoppy bite.

Thanks to FreeThyHops for sending me this beer as an extra. This is my first beer from Alabama.

The beer pours a hazy orange-amber color with a white head. The aroma is toffee, pine, brown sugar and iced tea. The flavor is toffee, tea, earthy hops and some orange citrus notes. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation.

Poured from a 12 ounce bottle into a pilsner glass.

A: Hazy amber-brown with a no head and little lacing. Translucent at all the edges, but opaque at the core. An interesting appearance.

S: Malt, hops, and a hint of citrus.

T: Pretty yummy. Hops are much more subdued than anticipated. The dominant flavour is a carbonated malt taste with a bitter (hoppy) bite following. Light citrus dances around the edges of the taste throughout. Aftertaste is quenching, with a piney note.

M: Smooth with a kick of citrus and carbonation. Slightly soapy feel from hops.

D: Very drinkable. I was a bit surprised by the average rating of the beer (C+ when I reviewed); I think it's much better than that. Perhaps the brewery has improved over the last six years? A quenching, quaffable pale ale without too much hops. A little boring, but one I would break out at parties or after a long, hot day.

Pours amber with a relatively thin white head. Some acetalaldehyde in the nose, and little else. The taste is much better with a fairly nice crisp hoppiness but some graininess at the finish. A little sweet and corny tasting with a thin dustiness at the end. Nice level of carbonation, but somewhat off balance. Drinkable, but not a beer I'd choose again.

12oz. bottle served into a pint glass

Pours a dark amber in color. The beer is very obviously unfiltered. The floaties of yeast or hop material or both or neither are abundant. The beer looks like a contaminated pond. Its plain ugly and I'm usually fine with particles.

The dominant smell is of buttered toffee. Just butter, really. Too much diacetyl? It seems likely; the beer is more buttery than you can imagine. There is a pretty one-note herbal quality from the hops but they aren't strong or deep enough to get past the rich butter smells.

Oh, geez. A butterbomb. There is NO hop taste. Not even any malt taste. Just... diacetyl out the ass. Drain pour; 'nuff said.

The beer is light-bodied and might be refreshing if the beer actually tastes like a pale ale not a pat of margarine. The carbonation is much too light given that it doesn't help at all to cut though the butter. I can't score this beer's drinkability as anything other than the affront to flavor that it is. This is truly undrinkable.

This wasn't an isolated bottle. Someone purchased two sixpacks of this beer and I sampled from each sixer. Same fucked up beer each time.

Thanks to Bonhoeffer for this one. I don't get the low rating on this--I think it's an excellent pale ale, and I wish I had another six of them in the fridge. It's a page orange color with a 3/4" fluffy white head, leaving a ton of lacing. Smells of malt and hops, and has a great flavor balancing hops and malt with an aspirin bitterness on the finish. A hint of minty sweetness in the flavor that I found intriguing. I finished mine in about 15 minutes. Really good stuff. A pale ale that's not trying to be an IPA

Thanks goes out to unclejedi for this one.

Pours a nice hazy golden orange/yellow color, nice carbonation, nice one-finger fizzy off-white head, with some nice sticky lacing left behind. The nose is hoppy, with some malts, slight citrus. The taste is hoppy, bitter, some malt notes, and some slight citrus. Medium body. Drinkable, glad to have had a chance to try these brews.

A: Nice pale ale appearance--a amber/copper color with a nice, creamy white head. Lacing is spotty, retention is decent.

S: Aroma is quite lovely. There's a spicy/twangy hop note of citrus that's almost a bit sweet. A pleasant crackery and slightly caramel malt presence that balances things out as well. Aroma isn't quite dank enough to merit a higher score, but it's still solid.

T&M: The flavor is quite interesting. Hops are spicy, citric, and highly interesting. Light caramel and crackery malt flavors contribute balance and some sweetness to the flavor, though the beer is perhaps just a tad sweet for my tastes. Body is medium/full with a zesty carbonation. Definitely spot-on for the style.

S: Rather drinkable, though it's a touch sweet for my tastes. A solid drinking pale ale, nice to see a great product like this being brewed right here in Alabama. This tastes similar to Old Towne's Emancipation Double IPA, albeit with less of the ingredients in the recipe.

The charming label promotes a handsome marketing scheme and sleek quality. Let's hope that the beer does the same.

the beer pours with a solid copper, lightly golden color that holds a light hoppy haze. A cottony white head shows a lot of life and zest, even after it reduces to a trace a couple minutes later. Mild lacing on the glass. A solid Pale Ale look.

Soft barley malt caramels blend with spicy citrusy hops that take on a mild ginger note (kinda reminds me of Sierra Nevada's). Orange zest and ruby reds round out the hoppy nose. Light esters further accentuate the orange notes.

More malt sturdiness comes through in the taste in dry, malty fashion. Light caramels, cracker-like breadiness, and fresh, bright barley grain tastes like fresh baked breads. Brigh hop flavors bring more of a citrusy (orange zest, grapefruit, and pineapple) flavor than the aroma suggests. Vibrant and fresh, the flavors are quality even if a bit light throughout.

Malt attenuation gives a highly drinkable dryness along with an upfront creamy malt texture. Hops start out with a great bitter counterpart to the malts but increase futher towards harsh bite that interferes with the balance-- maybe they took the bitterness a bit too far.

Ultimately the beer is a tad shy of medium bodied for the style but still reatains quality in maltiness. Hop bitterness overshadows the moderate hop flavor and eventually dominates the beer; particularly in texture.

Thanks to Freethyhops for the introduciton to the brewery and their offerings!

Had on tap in a local restaurant in HSV. Dark straw colr witha thin off-white head. Aroma has some decent hop notes with a bit of balancing malt and grassiness. Flavor was typical pale ale, not much hop bitterness on the finish. Mouthfeel was a bit soft, beer was not as lively as many pale ales. Drinkability was OK, but there's many better options.

A - Nice dark orange with stark white small head, leaves to ring. Foamy, small bubbled lacing.

S - Malty, sharp smell, hops playing pronounced role.

T - Thin flavor, a cloying malt and sour bitter. Not bad, but not what I expected.

M - Foamy feel, thin, leaves much.

D - Glad to try.

Nice amber color, darker pale. Poured with a nice head and lasting ringer. Smelled both malty and hoppy. Not what I expected. Good... I tasted hops immediately, cascade??? Followed by a full malty center with more hops to bring up the rear. Very solid Pale for my tastes. I just recently changed from Amber to IPA in favorite taste, and this didn't disappoint. It sure isn't an IPA, not supposed to be, but it is a well hopped Pale. Mouthfeel was good, again I go with the hops, malt, hops on mouthfeel. Not that complex in taste, but not simple either. There are a few things going on in this beer. It is good. It goes down easy. Drinks easy... There is something about the water Olde Towne uses. I taste a similar taste in the Olde Towne Amber. Kinda like Abita. The water maybe? Not sure, but it certainly isn't a bad thing. I love Olde Towne and can't wait for them to come to Mississippi.

Poured a light amberish color with a thin white head. Nose is faint with citrus hops and malt leading the way. This brew was over carbonated on the taste. It did taste decent though with malts being nice and citrus notes but the overcarbonation left it off balance. Goes down smooth with grassy-pine and floral notes.

Pours a nice dark copper with nice immediate lacing, although no lasting lacing and almost zero head. Very neutral scent, hints of malt and hops, balanced, but very, very weak. Nice flavor, good medium level of American hops, hints of citrus mostly, almost no floral/pine, with a great bitter ending that lasts on the tongue. Goes down quite well, if a little thick.

got this one in secret bunny bif, thanks unclejedi, drank out of my duvel tulip glass, poured a orangeish yellow with a two finger thin head on it, the smell was a hint of hops and not much else, the taste is a tuch of grain and then piney hops. this is a tuch to bitter for my taste, it needs somthing to ballance it out, but then agan i might just be spoiled by all the great beers i have had and this one is nothing more than avrage