Atlantic Bar Harbor Real Ale

Brewed by Atlantic Brewing Company
Style: Brown Ale
Bar Harbor, Maine USA

12 ounce bottle - $1.49 at Total Wine & More in Kennesaw, Georgia. The Best Enjoyed Before section listing boxes of the various months was neither notched or adequately marked. Real helpful, Bar Harbor. Appearance: Pours out a clear, very dark mahogany-brown body with a tallish, ivory-hued head. Smell: An aroma that’s roasty and toasty with lesser, lighter notes of caramel and chocolate and that has a slight earthy undercurrent to it. Also, a teency weency touch of dark fruit (raisins) can be sniffed out. Taste: Deeply toasted breadiness and touches of roasted malts with sweet tastes of dark caramel and bittersweet chocolate. Very small hint of dark fruitiness lurking there underneath the various malt flavors. Earthy, albeit mild hop presence juxtaposed against the slight bitterness for the roasted malts. A few drops of basic treacle of the latter half. Finishes lightly earthy, lightly roasty, and with some chalky hints to it. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium carbonation. Fairly soft mouthfeel all around. Drinkability: Bar Harbor’s Real Ale (hand crafted in small batches, mind you [and, apparently, too good for a proper means of bottle dating]) goes down fairly easy, which, in these oh-so troubled times, is about all we can really ask from a beer, you know.

Bottle from mother-in-law in WI. Aroma of red licorice candy aroma. Body is mahogany with off-white head. Flavor is sweet candy with a little roasted nut but watery at times. Decent brew on the palate. Thanks, mom!

Dark reddish brown color, like a dark cola. No head whatsoever. Can see through it but it’s still a bit murky. Zero carbonation. Smell of dark chocolate as well as a roasted malt backing. Has some of the bittersweet qualities of a Scotch ale. Dark and quite nice. The taste is dark caramel; malt is more mild than the burnt smell. Sweet but with a balance. Some tobacco, beef jerky. Sweetish berries come out as it warms. Complex and utterly pleasant. Leathery. Dry but smooth. Medium body just this side of watery. It’s really easy drinking for a so-called "real ale." Rich with smoky, darker flavors, but not harsh ones. Excellent drinkin’.

A very average brown ale, with not much going on. Sweet taste with earthy undertones with a slight hop bitterness at the end.

Foamed over when the bottle was opened, modest head considering that. Some light, spotty lace on the glass. Dark brown, but light shines through. Appears clear. Traditional brown ale aromas, but they are very mild. Slightly sweet with a strong biscuity flavor. Good hop in the swallow. Overall, the flavor is quite good, but the body is far too thin for the style. It’s still nicely drinkable.

Sampled in Bar Harbor. A very nice and smooth brown ale. Pours light brown with little to no head. Well worth a try.

On tap at the brewery. Brown pour, with a silky head. An american breed of brown ale, with a nice flavor profile, that includes just a touch of cleansing hops. Its not going to knock any socks off, but its well done.

Serving: 12 oz. bottle. Appearance: Pours a deep brown with a small, foamy, tan head. Okay head retention. Aroma: Caramel malt, light roasted notes, a little vegetal note. Just okay. Taste: Sharp roasted notes are at the forefront followed by notes of earth, a touch of varnish, wood, and a little malt sweetness. Palate: Medium-high carbonation with a medium, slightly thin mouthfeel. Medium, roasty finish. Overall: An ale that features the qualities of roasted malt, but not much on the hop front. Highly sessionable, but a bit on the thin side. Worth a try.