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?

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 you 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 is all about a cloudy appearance, juicy flavours, and low bitterness.

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.

Pale Ale

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  1. Flavour Profile
    Hops
    Malt
    • Chewy
    Tasting notes
    An easy drinking ale with subtle bitterness and clean malt finish.
    American Pale Ale
    American Pale Ale
    American Pale Ale
    Rocks Brewing Co
    Sold By Rocks Brewing Co
    Pay as little as $41.00
    12 pack
    $50.00
    24 pack
    $82.50
    6 pack
    $25.00
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  2. Flavour Profile
    Hops
    Malt
    • Smooth / Velvety
    Blackwoods
    Blackwoods
    American Pale Ale
    Sunday Road Brewing
    Sold By Sunday Road Brewing
    Pay as little as $54.00
    12 pack
    $62.00
    24 pack
    $95.00
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  3. Flavour Profile
    Hops
    Malt
    • Smooth / Velvety
    Tasting notes
    Moderate hop aroma of sweet fruits, predominately berries, with a very slight note of citrus. Hop flavour of sweet ripe berries, and a hint of toasty oat comes from the malt.
  4. Flavour Profile
    Hops
    Malt
    • Dry
    Tasting notes
    Bright citrus, lemon peels and myrtle herbaceous. Present malt backbone and smooth body.
    Citronium
    Citronium
    Pale Ale
    The Zythologist
    Sold By The Zythologist
    Pay as little as $28.00
    8 pack
    $35.00
    24 pack
    $75.00
    4 pack
    $18.00
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  5. Flavour Profile
    Hops
    Malt
    • Delicate
    Tasting notes
    Easy drinking full strength ale made with familiar Australian hops.
  6. Flavour Profile
    Hops
    Malt
    • Creamy
    • Dry
    Tasting notes
    Mellow malt flavours, slight white wine hop aroma on back palate. No overbearing fruit aromas. Drinks clean
  7. Flavour Profile
    Hops
    Malt
    • Clean
    Tasting notes
    A clean crisp finish makes this fruity hop forward beer an ideal thirst quencher.
    Enigma
    Enigma
    Australian Pale Ale
    Sunday Road Brewing
    Sold By Sunday Road Brewing
    Pay as little as $50.00
    12 pack
    $57.00
    24 pack
    $87.00
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  8. Flavour Profile
    Hops
    Malt
    • Sharp
    Tasting notes
    The malt and American hops are balanced by the subtle rye tartness.
  9. Flavour Profile
    Hops
    Malt
    • Smooth / Velvety
    Tasting notes
    Fruity and perfectly rounded
  10. Flavour Profile
    Hops
    Malt
    • Smooth / Velvety
    Tasting notes
    Smooth and tropical
  11. Flavour Profile
    Hops
    Malt
    • Smooth / Velvety
    Tasting notes
    Citrus hop flavours of orange and mandarin alongside a caramel malt flavour.
  12. Flavour Profile
    Hops
    Malt
    • Delicate
    Tasting notes
    Bright tropical hops balanced by an assertive bitterness.
    Lightning Minds Pale Ale
    Lightning Minds Pale Ale
    American Pale Ale
    Lightning Minds
    Sold By Lightning Minds
    Pay as little as $28.00
    8 pack
    $35.00
    24 pack
    $75.00
    4 pack
    $18.00
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  13. Flavour Profile
    Hops
    Malt
    • Chewy
    Tasting notes
    Herbal stone fruit aroma and the little brother of our American Pale Ale.
    Mid-Strength Pale Ale
    Mid-Strength Pale Ale
    Pale Ale
    Rocks Brewing Co
    Sold By Rocks Brewing Co
    Pay as little as $33.00
    12 pack
    $40.00
    24 pack
    $66.00
    6 pack
    $20.00
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  14. Flavour Profile
    Hops
    Malt
    • Sharp
    Tasting notes
    Crisp. Refreshing. Hoppy. Malty.
    Mosaic Pale Ale
    Mosaic Pale Ale
    American Pale Ale
    The Mill Brewery
    Sold By The Mill Brewery
    Pay as little as $34.00
    8 pack
    $40.00
    24 pack
    $98.00
    4 pack
    $20.00
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  15. Flavour Profile
    Hops
    Malt
    • Clean
    Tasting notes
    Very Limited!
  16. Flavour Profile
    Hops
    Malt
    • Clean
    Tasting notes
    Clean, bitter and sweet
  17. Flavour Profile
    Hops
    Malt
    • Dry
    Tasting notes
    Medium to light bodied with a moderate carbonation and a smooth refreshing dry finish makes this a desirable and pleasant drinking beer.
    Pale Ale
    Pale Ale
    Rating:
    100%
    Pale Ale
    Six String Brewing Company
    Sold By Six String Brewing Company
    Pay as little as $51.00
    12 pack
    $60.00
    24 pack
    $100.00
    4 pack
    $20.00
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  18. Best price online
    Flavour Profile
    Hops
    Malt
    • Smooth / Velvety
    Tasting notes
    Citrus and flowers aroma greet the nose. On the Palate, more fruitiness comes through with citrus and lime rounded by the caramel malt. Perfect food pairing: Comté, Anything from the grill
  19. Flavour Profile
    Hops
    Malt
    • Light
    Tasting notes
    A very drinkable pale ale with flavours of stone fruit, tropical fruit and light spice, balanced by a subtle malt sweetness.
    Pale Select
    Pale Select
    Pale Ale
    The Catchment Brewing Co
    Sold By The Catchment Brewing Co
    Pay as little as $35.00
    8 pack
    $40.00
    24 pack
    $80.00
    4 pack
    $20.00
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  20. Flavour Profile
    Hops
    Malt
    • Clean
    Tasting notes
    This Brewi is refreshingly easy to drink and will have you coming back for more!
    Palm Ale
    Palm Ale
    Pale Ale
    BrewiColo Brewing Co.
    Sold By BrewiColo Brewing Co.
    Pay as little as $49.00
    8 pack
    $57.00
    24 pack
    $115.00
    4 pack
    $29.00
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  21. Flavour Profile
    Hops
    Malt
    • Clean
    Tasting notes
    Tropical hop flavours, low bitterness.
    Prancing Pale Ale
    Prancing Pale Ale
    Australian Pale Ale
    Prancing Pony Brewery
    Sold By Prancing Pony Brewery
    Pay as little as $91.00
    24 pack
    $107.00
    12 pack
    $59.00
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  22. Flavour Profile
    Hops
    Malt
    • Smooth / Velvety
    Tasting notes
    American style Amber Ale, delicately floral and slightly spicy hops. The star of the beer is the caramel malt.
  23. Flavour Profile
    Hops
    Malt
    • Smooth / Velvety
    Tasting notes
    The all malt ale is warm fermented which adds complexity to the beer and leads to a fruity aroma.
  24. Flavour Profile
    Hops
    Malt
    • Smooth / Velvety
    • Soft
    Tasting notes
    Unique bouquet of fruit and floral aromas - passion fruit, white grape and stone fruit.
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