Bar Harbor Ginger Mild Brew

Brewed by Bar Harbor Brewing Company (Atlantic Brewing Company)
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Bar Harbor, Maine USA

Pours a one-finger white head fades quickly leaving no lace, cloudy amber color, with a ton of chunky bits in glass bottom. Very light carbonation and light bodied. Starts sweet I don’t detect much ginger but my wife easily did! Finish is clean, this is a refreshing summer beer. $3.99 for a 22oz bottle from Tully’s Beer & Wine Wells, Me.

Red-bronze, good dense white head. Aroma like either fresh meat or a pepperoni from Italy taken out of the refridgerator. Nother ginger about it--did it fade from the bottle shared by Jazz88 and me? Malty plain-ness. Tingling carbonation but no sting from the ginger. (2004 Christmas Party, my #15, group’s #15)

Bottle. Brown color with a laced tan head. The only ginger beer without any ginger. Painfully lacking in flavor. Christmas Party 2004 ranked 15/15 (mine) and 15/15 (group).

Sampled at the brewery. THis is the Lighthouse Ale, with fresh ginger root added just before it starts to ferment. It has the same color as the Lighthouse, a nice amber looking color and a creamy head. Aroma is carmel and then an expected ginger. The flavor is mostly only ginger and is slightly tangy. The tangyness gives it a decent finish.

Bomber-sized bottle. This is a derivation of the Lighthouse Ale, so I was surprised that it had quite a large creamy head unlike its base brew. Same dark brown color; for a second I didn’t get any ginger in the nose, just rich caramel malt, but the spice hits quickly and sharply. I found it quite well balanced and distinctive in the nose, and for me the flavor beats the original Mild version as well (but I’m not a big fan of milds). Seems a bit low on the malt and hops, but the ginger fills in nicely, with a kick but not harsh enough to get you thinking ’this ain’t beer’ like you do with Cave Creek Chili Beer. Finish pretty much disappears. Worth trying as more than just a novelty, I’d say.