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. Poured clear copper with thin off-white head that dissipated quickly. Rich caramel flavor with butterscotch and spices present. Bitter and malty but not malty enough.

Appearance: Pours a pale copper with perfect clarity and a white, sudsy head that fades to a thin cover of bubbles, though still leaves sticky bits of lacing throughout. Smell: The aroma, though subtle, offers some noticeable scents of butterscotch, spice, cherries, with an undercurrent of floral hops lingering lazily behind. Taste: A marked, sweet malty start lends way to a discernible cherry fruitiness. The mild hops flavors sufficiently balance the sweetness, and along with the spice, provides a nice, mildly bitter finish. Waiting for the beer to warm really helps some solid flavors to emerge. While this is true with many beers, it’s especially true with the Casco Bay Winter. See, waiting for the beer to breathe not only pays off, but it gets easier as time goes on, and the rewards actually increase, as the waiting goes on. It’s like a flavor trust fund. Mouthfeel: Medium, with a definite creamy mouthfeel. Drinkability: While not too remarkable, this beer is still pleasing and indulges the palate till the next beer.

Copper in color with a small white head. Aroma is fruity and spicy. Flavor is hoppy with notes of caramel malt and bitterness.

Bottle: Clear orange with a thin white head, aroma has caramel, oranges and flowers, medium slick body, starts and ends lightly sweet, smooth ending.

Bottle, from mug. Best by 02/05/07; sampled Dec ’06. Small disappearing white head, decent lacing. Clear, red-copper color. Nose is very hoppy and resinous, with notes of grapefruit, and nutty malt underneath. Body is medium-thick and full-ish, with some hop oiliness. Flavor shows a sweet malty foundation, but the hops are dominant. Finishes with a bitter palate and sweet tongue. The hoppiness of this beer was a pleasant surprise; I expected yet another spicy, malty winter ale. Pretty good stuff, really.

Cold 12oz bottle: Pours a clear medium amber color with ivory bubbles around the edges of the glass. Rich malts, floral hops, fruit, brown sugar, wood and spice. Medium bodied with an oily texture and well carbonated. Ending is of floral hops bitterness.

Cpper body with thin off-white head. Smells peppery hoppy and somewhat caramel malty. Tastes fruity, bitter, and malty. Medium-bodied. Very tasty, well-ballanced beer. A new favorite winter beer!

this is quite an enjoyable beer....A+ lacing oh ya...sweet in the smell..bitters are nice too...nice warming yet very well masked brew...i bet tap is terrific! quite hopped too...