4.4/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 5
Flavor 3
Texture 6
Overall 2.5
Sampled on draft this beer poured a bright orange-amber color with a large white head that lingers. The aroma was bitter fruity hops. The flavor was dry, bitter and buttery with a long buttery finish. Not good.
Tried
from Draft
on 12 Jul 2008
at 18:34
4.8/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 4
Texture 4
Overall 5
On tap at Piper’s Pub, nice place. Mildly sweet aroma. Looks like very light iced tea and this is surprising cause I thought it would be nearly black considering the name. Big foamy head that does not fade. Slight maple taste with a little bitterness. Finish is mildly bitter and palatable but the bitterness on the back of the palate builds with each sip. Not bad for a specialty grain brew. Can’t hold a candle to John Harvards Rye Weiss but IMHO much much better than Founders Black Rye.
Tried
from Draft
on 07 Jul 2008
at 12:30
5/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 5
Texture 4
Overall 5
Bottle shared by cdumler that apparently came from the Total Wine in Chantillty, VA. Hazy peach color with a small head. Decent lacing. Grain, caramel and citrus aroma. Taste of strong grain with notes of caramel, citrus and tea. Thick, papery mouthfeel.
Tried
from Bottle
on 02 Jul 2008
at 23:23
6.5/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Amber-brown color. Thin, whispy head. Nutty, diacetyl aroma. The flavour is crisp and earthy with caramel, nuts and diacetyl. Fairly toasty, with a dry finish.
Tried
on 24 Jun 2008
at 11:19
6.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Golden-amber colour. Aroma of caramel, toast, some diacetyl. Caramel palate, some diacetyl, toasty but balanced. The finish is relatively dry. Good, honest Maine brew.
Tried
on 24 Jun 2008
at 11:08
6.4/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Bottle. Pours a dark amber with a pretty big, fluffy head. Aromas are caramel and apple juice with a touch of grass. Flavor has a funky mix of toffee (didn’t see that coming) and crisp citrus hops. Comes off as fairly bitter and nciely refreshing.
Tried
from Bottle
on 25 May 2008
at 17:56
5.9/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
12 oz. bottle from loose section at Sam’s Downers Grove. "Best before" 4/08. This has a good start in a nice grainy brown ale smell with a hint of walnuts. Pours perhaps light for the style, but with a good one-finger tan head. Some unfiltered bits visible in the light. Taste shows some light roastiness up front, more of that graininess. Still runs a little thin, but otherwise pretty decent. For some reason, the "certified" organic beers fall just a little short, even most beers would by definition be organic. This one is a little better than others I’ve had so far.
Tried
from Bottle
on 04 Mar 2008
at 21:59
4.4/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 4
Flavor 4
Texture 6
Overall 3.5
Brown like iced tea. Infectious mild bitter ale. Decently carbonated. Mild bitter building to a medium bitter. Certainly not a peak experience, but above average for an ale.
Tried
on 25 Jan 2008
at 16:52
4.4/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 4
Flavor 4
Texture 6
Overall 3.5
Uneventful label on a twist off 12 oz brown bottle. Peak organic pale ale has gunk on the bottom of the bottle. Pour is swirling if done like a wheat beer. Decent carbonation for a pale ale. But, could use more. Quite above average for an ale. Less bitter than I expected for a pale ale.
Tried
from Bottle
on 25 Jan 2008
at 16:34
5.1/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 5
Texture 6
Overall 4.5
2007 bottle drunk on 7/8/07
Amazing amount of sediment seeing as how this is fresh and sterile filtered at Shipyard, not sure the cause. The usual large, frothy head that quickly recedes to a ring, leaving minimal lacing. Orange-tangerine body with some stronger dark amber hues.
Surprisingly, you can actually smell some hops in here, and not your usual dull/dirty English variety that you usually get from Shipyard. This one actually has a some punchy tangerine-like fruity hops to go with the vanilla-short bread aroma of the malts and the smidgeon of butter (diacetyl). Fairly thick aroma, at least, which is better than the usual lacking and/or metallic and/or fully buttery aroma you usually get. Still nothing that I would call particularly pleasant.
Sweet cream, light butter and vanilla-caramel notes comprise the flavor profile, being about as straightforward as you could imagine. The maltiness is actually pretty strong here, however, especially for this brewer, who usually gives you thin, watery beers. The butter is not easy to get around, but there is a slight creaminess and fairly honest amber ale-flavor that you’d expect. Carbonation is medium, somewhat pesky and large-bubbled, but again, relative to what this brewer usually puts out, this stuff is world class.
I still poured out most of it.
The people at Shipyard are SOOO far out of touch with craft brewing it’s scary.
Amazing amount of sediment seeing as how this is fresh and sterile filtered at Shipyard, not sure the cause. The usual large, frothy head that quickly recedes to a ring, leaving minimal lacing. Orange-tangerine body with some stronger dark amber hues.
Surprisingly, you can actually smell some hops in here, and not your usual dull/dirty English variety that you usually get from Shipyard. This one actually has a some punchy tangerine-like fruity hops to go with the vanilla-short bread aroma of the malts and the smidgeon of butter (diacetyl). Fairly thick aroma, at least, which is better than the usual lacking and/or metallic and/or fully buttery aroma you usually get. Still nothing that I would call particularly pleasant.
Sweet cream, light butter and vanilla-caramel notes comprise the flavor profile, being about as straightforward as you could imagine. The maltiness is actually pretty strong here, however, especially for this brewer, who usually gives you thin, watery beers. The butter is not easy to get around, but there is a slight creaminess and fairly honest amber ale-flavor that you’d expect. Carbonation is medium, somewhat pesky and large-bubbled, but again, relative to what this brewer usually puts out, this stuff is world class.
I still poured out most of it.
The people at Shipyard are SOOO far out of touch with craft brewing it’s scary.
Tried
from Bottle
on 22 Aug 2007
at 12:39