My third Slutty, erm, make that Smutty. This Pale Ale rated on the bottle as 5.3% alk, but noted next to the sell-by date, not on the label, so we can infer that different batches of the Shoals Pale Ale come out at different proofs. Not really very pale at all, rather dark in fact, but a curvy body and good hopped flavor. At 5.3% it won’t run you aground, but the weight is a bit too heavy to make it as a Summer beer.
Has good character, and i submit that this is what the whole craft beer movement is all about. You can really taste the grits and groats of the malt grains, the toasted sugars lingering on the sides of the tongue while the hops season the back of your mouth and top of your throat. You know how sometimes people refer to beer as “liquid bread”? This is what they mean.
I don’t like the name, i mean, shoals are something we all know should be avoided. But i do like the beer, much more than their Brown Dog Ale. This one is balanced in notes, and has me noddin me noggin with each sip. After the Brown Dog, i was wondering if Smuttynose’s success with Finestkind was just a one-hitter, but this ale reaffirms that they didn’t just get lucky with their IPA.
8.0 for this quaff but i deducted 0.5 for the bad name. Naw, just kidding, but really d00ds: change the name. This has got nothing to do with shoals. Will try to remember to find a sixer of this again later, when things turn cooler and the body craves heavier things inside and out, maybe round about late October.