Enjoying a Pale Ale

Enjoying a Pale Ale

01 Feb 2021

by Mick Wust

What is a pale ale?

For many people, pale ales are their first introduction to craft beer - they have more flavour than the mass produced lagers they’d known before, but not as much alcohol or bitterness or weirdness as some of the other beer styles out there.

Like most beers, pale ales are made with four ingredients - malt, hops, yeast, and water - but it’s what brewers do with these ingredients that gives pale ales their appeal. 


What makes it a pale ale?

While we often think of pale ales as becoming popular during the rise of craft beer (in America, around 40 to 50 years ago; in Australia, more like 20 to 30 years ago), pale ales are nothing new. The story of pale ales goes back to 17th and 18th century Britain. Before that, most beers were dark, since malts were roasted with wood fire, which generally resulted in dark malts. But the use of a new kind of fuel gave people more control over the malting process, making pale malts available.

‘Pale ale’ is actually a broad category rather than a single style. While any pale ale is made using mostly (or only) pale malts and fermented with ale yeast (as opposed to lager yeast), and most sit between 4% and 6% ABV, there’s plenty of variety under the pale ale umbrella.

 

What should I expect?

Pale ales are approachable, versatile, and refreshing. When you take a sip, you’ll generally notice both the sweetness from the malts and the flavour and bitterness from the hops (but less than in an IPA).

There are styles within the style: an American pale ale will feature the citrus and piney flavours of American hops, and have a bitterness you can’t ignore; an English pale will let caramelly malts come to play more than the hops; an Australian pale ale is designed for our climate, bursting with the tropical fruit aromas of Aussie hops while still being light and easy to smash; and a hazy or New England pale ale is all about a cloudy appearance, juicy flavours, and low bitterness.

 

(IPAs and XPAs technically fit in here too, but we’ll leave those for another day.)

 

Having said all this, keep in mind that a lot of brewers don’t follow the rules - they brew beer that they and their customers enjoy, rather than sticking to a defined style. So don’t be surprised if a beer doesn’t fit neatly into any category.

 

What are some pale ales I could try?

If you’re after pine and citrus, get your hands on Phasmid from Lord Howe Island Brewing, or some 7th Day Pale Ale. If you’d like smooth caramel malt with your hops, try Frenchies’ Pale Ale, or First Point Pale from Land & Sea.

If you want a beer with Aussie hops that tastes like a party shirt, go for Larry from Your Mates Brewing or try Six Strings’ Tropical Pale Ale.

Or get some fruity haze into your life - Ernie from Blackman’s will give you mango, pineapple and coconut, while Sunny Daze from Hemingway’s is more about melon and strawberry.

 

While brewers will do their best to describe and categorise beers (and Only Craft Beer will as well), take that as a guide only.

At the end of the day, it’s up to your tastebuds to decide which pale ales are your favourites!