Casco Bay Summer Ale

Brewed by Casco Bay Brewing (Shipyard Brewing Co.)
Style: American Pale Ale
Portland, Maine USA

Golden-amber. Peachy with a hint of caramel. Fresh, peachy with a slight fruitness and light pale malt balance.

Bottle best before 7 05. Poured a medium and cloudy amber color with a small sized white head. Aromas and tastes of citrus (lemons and oranges), light grass and some wheat. Lighter aromas than the tastes. Medium sweet with a light hop finish.

12oz bottle-pours a big foamy to rocky off white head and gold color. Aroma is fruity, bread, sweet malt. Taste is sweet malt, secondary hop bite. Good/OK carbonation.

Pours copper with an off white head. Smells of yogurt, brown sugar and caramel. Tastes of mild citrus notes with a bitter finish. On the watery side.

Any first impressions?
-A bold ring crowns the clear yellow gold.
-Sweet peach/mango esters top the hay-like cereal.
-Grainy dryness is well-balanced to the wooden hop flavor.
-The frothy carbonation never gets excessive and serves drinkability quite well.

What if you dig deeper?
-Peeking citrusy hops and urine-like saltiness is found in the nose.
-The curtain call consists of a sumptuous wooden, mineral hop bitterness.
-A little more pils malt apport in the flavor profile and I would’ve been in estival heaven.
-Perfect for a bright summer day, peacefully glancing at a Maine fishing harbor, this clean, accessible, flavorful golden ale was a pleasant surprise.

Bottle; best before Oct ’06.

Hazy golden hue with a very white, foamy but fast-dying head. Pleasant but weak grainy nose. Flavor seems nothing special at first; some caramel malt, a bit of fruit, some hops, and its got more bite at the end than I expected; but this is really quite refreshing and one of the better ’summer’ session beers out there. Good body.

2005 bottle. Very strong yellow-gold appearance, not watered down looking. Slight copper-brass tone to it. Lightly hazy with a moderate amount of head, fairly well-retained. Aroma of wheat, light soap, a touch of sour yeast and a bit of light vienna malt. Grainy huskiness in the flavor, with a smooth torrefied wheatiness. Crisp, lightly citric hops and a good deal of body, relative to style. Very drinkable, refreshing, no off-flavors. Peppery carbonation, a touch of honey, drinkable to the extreme and light-bodied, but not watery.

Very nice summer session ale. Hoppy but not overly so, and is backed up by some malt. Very drinkable and would go nice while bbq-ing. Light- yet has a good flavor to it.