Samuel Smith brews the quintessentially English beer. Their Pale Ale is no exception. It’s light and refreshing cold and as it warms it becomes more hearty and complex. It’s a little sweeter than I expected and has a touch of caramel flavor. Not as bitter as some pale ales but it has the distinctive English hops flavor that is characteristic of other UK beers, Guinness, Newcastle ect. I’m not sure if this is some kind of special hops grown in the same place or just a particular variety of the plant or something else, but all English beers have this familiar bitterness to them.

Carlton Sheaf Stout is an interesting beer from Australia. This site has all kinds of conflicting reviews about this beer, hmm it gets a 91 rating but is in the 38th percentile, what does that mean now? Frank from Chicago writes:

Pours black with a thin light brown head and a few spots of lace. Heavily vinous nose with notes of raisins and band-aids. Moderately sour with a medicinal off-note. A bit of coffee in the finish. Light to medium bodied with a cushion of carbonation. Pretty tolerable but I don't ever want to drink it again.

Well damn, sorry to bother you Frank… Anyway, nobody mentions the trait that I think makes this a unique stout, it has a very earthy, organic quality to it. That’s the connoisseur’s way of saying that it tastes like dirt and sheep shit… well GOOD dirt and sheep shit that is. I like this one, it has a good roasty flavor like coffee and isn’t too metallic like some stouts. I’m sure that I could be bothered to try this one again in the future…