Schell's Pale Ale

In my last beer session I made a tribute to Summit ESB, a beer that has been discontinued. As I was looking through a few of my tasting beers, I noticed that I have a bottle of another recently retired Minnesota beer. That beer is Schell's Pale Ale. I figured I might as well taste this retired beer for my next session. That way if any of you are interested in either of these discontinued beers, you might have a chance to get some of the remaining quantities from liquor stores before they're gone for good.

The Pale Ale was one of Schell's year-round beers. That beer has now been replaced by the brewery's 150th Anniversary beer, Hopfenmalz. The new beer will be produced all year and the Pale Ale is no more. I haven't gotten to try the Hopfenmalz yet, but I've heard some good things. That will be a future beer session. Right now, it's time to remember the Pale Ale.

I pour my Schell's Pale Ale 12oz bottle into an imperial pint glass. First off, I must say that I'm disappointed with the head. I poured the beer pretty aggressively and only managed to get a tiny bit of the foamy stuff. What I did get disappeared within a second, leaving only trace amounts along the edge. In the brief glimpse I got, it appeared to be bright white in color. The body is very clear and the color is somewhere between golden and copper.

I smell a hint of malt that reminds me of honey. It's also a little toasty. Overall though, the hop aroma dominates. It smells of pine needles and a little bit of grass.

Tasting reflects what my nose thought. There is a light sweet malt flavor which is overpowered by a citrus hop flavor with a bitter bite. That bitterness carries long into the finish and lingers a good while.

Mouthfeel is alright. There is very low carbonation and the body is medium-light.

This an average american pale ale. It doesn't have much malt flavor, but it definitely has a hoppy bite. I could drink a few of these (and I have in the past). It's 5.7% ABV, so it might pass as a session beer. It just sits in beer limbo for me, not great, but not bad. There are many other pale ales I would prefer to this. I can't say I'm necessarily sad that this beer has been discontinued. Whenever I would buy a Schell's sampler, it was one of the last beers that I drank. However, I always did drink it!