Pale ale is a popular style of beer that balances classically bready malt flavor with a strong hop profile. Pale ales are generally golden or amber in color and are bottled at a moderate strength (4.5% – 5.5% ABV).

Brewed with pale malt and ale yeast, pale ale splits the difference between light, clean drinking lager and heavier, darker stout, while sharing some similar characteristics with pilsner.

Pale ales were originally English but have been at the forefront of craft brewing experimentation with hops. The craft beer phenomenon over the last two decades has led us to the expansion of this much-loved beer style. India Pale Ale (IPA), New England IPA (NEIPA), Hazy IPA, and Double IPA have become fixtures in taprooms and bottle shops all over the US.

Having already covered the best in IPA beer range, the list below will focus on more traditional pale ales, a mix of commercial brews, quality imported brands, and highly regarded American craft brewery options you can order online.

Best Buy

1.  Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

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Sierra Nevada Pale Ale topped our list of best-tasting beers to try in 2021. It’s naturally one of the main drawcards of any pale ale beers list. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale offers a beer flavor balanced between a hoppy IPA and more traditional American beer. It’s the epitome of quality; vibrant and complex on the palate but tasting simply delicious.

This amber ale uses famed cascade hops to create the aroma of tropical fruit, the flavor of pine, and a little hint of spice amidst the bedrock of crystal malt taste. There’s a simple reason Sierra Nevada is the beer lover’s favorite tasting beer: it sets the table for many different styles of beer drinkers yet takes nearly nothing away.

2. Delirium Tremens

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Classified as a Belgian Strong Pale Ale (Belgian beer does its own thing proudly) this bad boy comes in at a whopping 9% ABV. This intricate beer is gold in color with a creamy light head and features a tremendously complex fruity ester, which is the fruit flavor created in the process of fermentation.