English India Pale Ale
(#3)
Exemplified by Samuel Smith India Ale
This is the third day in a row we are drinking a classic English beer style, and every day, the beers have been getting a little paler, and a little more bitter. I don't get to do a lot of comparing beers through this project, since I'm typically only drinking one a day, but I was really thankful for the opportunity to compare yesterday's English pale ale to today's English India pale ale.
It was true that the color was paler, and it was true that the bitterness was stronger, but here's something I wasn't expecting—the overall flavor suffered just a bit because the balance was off. The malty flavors either weren't as strong, or they were strong but more so overpowered by the bitter hops.
As a noted lover of bitter beers, I find it especially surprising that I'd even be complaining about this. I think it's a matter of context—that Bass pale ale was just too darn good, the perfect balance of toffee-flavored malt and strong bitterness. Samuel Smith India Ale's malt was more of a nutty malt, and it wasn't as pleasing.
But I'm only writing this because I have the rare opportunity to compare beers. In a vacuum, I would like an English IPA just fine.
Here's what an English IPA is not—it's not the Americanized version of IPAs, with their abundance of piney or grapefruit or tropical fruit aromas. I like a nice whiff of grapefruit every once in a while, but I'm cool with a beer just smelling like nutty malt and bitterness.
What I get from today's drinking experience, though, is that maybe, on both continents, pale ales are able to find that balance a little better than IPAs can.
NOTES
BEER: Samuel Smith India Ale
GENRE: English India Pale Ale
ABV: 5.0%
BREWED BY: Samuel Smith Old Brewery
LOCATION: Tadcaster, England
PURCHASED AT: Foodery NoLibs
PAIRED WITH: an ad hoc rotisserie chicken meal
GRADE: 2.5 pukes out of 5
BEER COUNT: 223
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