We just had this in Maine this past weekend.

Shipyard describes this beer as;

“Shipyard Export Ale, the flagship brand of the Shipyard Brewing Company, is a full-bodied ale, with a hint of sweetness up front, a subtle and distinctive hop taste, and a very clean finish. 5.1% alcohol by volume.”

This is another Maine beer we served at our wedding – this one I’ve had several times. I’m glad it’s finally on tap, it’s tough to find in the area.

Currently paired with a 1/4 barrel of Gritty’s Vacationland.

*Kicked 8/1 after 45 days.  Slowest beer consumed yet, not as a reflection of the beer but since we weren’t around much in July to drink or have people over.

Categories: Past Brews, Shipyard
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This beer is from the Sebago brewery just west of Portland, Maine. I believe we served it (bottles) at our wedding but I don’t think I’ve ever tried it.

From Sebagos website, “Frye’s Leap IPA is an American-style India Pale Ale with a strong hop flavor and medium body. Frye’s Leap IPA is light golden in color with a fruity hoppiness that comes from extra dry hop conditioning. Our IPA is perfect on a summer day; it pairs well with spicy foods, vinaigrettes and grilled vegetables.”

It should be great for some summer grilling.

*This was a decent IPA.  Not my favorite beer though (I’m not a huge fan of IPA’s in general).  We finished this in 32 days, which I was pretty surprised about.  The Berkshire Steel Rail Pale Ale, which was on simultaneously, seemed like a far superior beer.

Categories: Past Brews, Sebago
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From BBC’s website, “A light colored, medium bodied, full flavored American style Ale. Steel Rail E.P.A. is our flagship product that has a full malt flavor and is balanced with a pronounced hop flavor and bitterness. 5.3%”

This is an American Pale Ale that comes very highly recommended from Yettas. It scored a “B” rating on BeerAdvocate.com (I have not yet had it).

I’ll do a better review later this week, but awesome light beer.

Kicked Friday, 6/6/08 after 37 days.

Categories: Berkshire, Past Brews
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One of our celebratory kegs for to mark the finish of my, rrr… our, ‘man cave’ home renovations. The inaugural Smutty “Old Brown Dog” was such a hit I decided to have another award-winning sampling from Smutty, this one a bit more “summery”.

Smuttynose describes this beer as, “Our interpretation of a classic English beer style is copper-colored, medium-bodied and highly hopped. Its flavor is delightfully complex: tangy fruit at the start, with an assertive hop crispness and a long malty palate that one well-known beer writer has compared to the flavor of freshly-baked bread.”

I gave this beer an, “A-” in my BA review and said, “Poured a nice deep amber color. Smells very similar to their Old Brown Dog Ale but more floral and citric. Good tasting beer with a slightly bitter aftertaste… This would be a great summer BBQ beer.”

Categories: Past Brews, Smuttynose
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Keg #2 for the celebration of the Black Lab Bar opening. I’ve liked this beer for a while, every since Svatek served it on tap. Sure, it’s a bit of a heavier cold-seasons beer, but it’s delicious and let’s be honest, it’s New England and we have a couple months until it’s warm anyway.

Berkshire describes this beer as, “This dark ale combines the taste of real organic coffee with out popular Drayman’s Porter. The robust coffee flavor comes via a special coffee extract made for us exclusively by Dean’s Beans, New Salem Ma.”

I gave it an, “A” in my BA post from a while back; “Delicious. Not too bitter or carbonated and without too much coffee flavoring. Just right, in my opinion. Lighter than you’d expect, and slight carbonation. I’m not a coffee drinker, but I find the coffee flavoring in this beer delicious.”

Categories: Berkshire, Past Brews
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Categories: Upgrades
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