Casco Bay Winter Ale (Old Port Ale)

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

12 oz. bottle. Pours a mostly clear reddish brown with a moderate off-white head that lasted until mid-glass and left light lace. Light but pleasant aroma of malt, uncooked bread dough, and hops. A bit more flavorful than the aroma suggests with malt up front and moderate hops bitterness at the finish. Light spice and a bit of heat from the alcohol detected as well at the finish. An ok beer.

Bottle, from my beer club. Pours a deep red with an off-white and quickly-dissipating head. Aroma is heavy crystal malt with noticeable caramel and slight hops as well. Taste is bitter hops up front dissolving into a sweet caramel/crystal malt characteristic at the end. Aftertaste is bitter as well, and the alcohol is remarkably well-hidden for the style and the content. It’s a balanced, solid beer.

Beer of the Month Club: Poured from the bottle into a pint glass at cellar temp. Red body with a off-white fully diminishing head of foam. Crisp hops aroma with some caramel notes. Flavor is initially bitter giving way to a slightly oily sweetness. This is a full flavored beer which coats the mouth, but not in an awful way. Slight bitter aftertaste, but that’s it. Overall, this ale went down quite easily for being at 7.3%. As I said before, the aftertaste was minimal and the balance of hops and malts were better than expected.

Nice doughy malts, with roasted coffee, and some slight bitterness. Fairly balanced, but the finish is a bit astringegent

Dark amber......thick head. Floral aroma, with a slight hint of spice. Somewhat bitter flavor in the front, with a sweet hop taste. Clean mouthfeel, though there is a subtle crispness. Balanced back with a very bitter hop finish.

Thin sweet, sugar-cookie malt base with a sharp bitterness that ends like dishwater in your mouth. Some weak molasses and brandy inspired pieces. Really poor attempt, abysmal drink for a BOTM offering

It mists my nasal with tones that hints of summer sausage and braunswager. The color is ambitious yet restrained by the dominance of malty ions dancing around my glass vessal. This BOMC was a little above the normal fair for BOMC. I’d drink again if given to me in another BOMC subscription.

Bottle from BOM: Poured a dark red color with a small amount of head. The aroma was malty and somewhat hoppy. The flavor was not what I expected from a winter beer. It was slightly malty, slightly hoppy, and slightly bitter. Overall, not a favorite but an OK beer.