Kennebec River Summer Ale

Brewed by Kennebec River Brewing
Style: American Pale Ale
The Forks, Maine USA

Pours a very cloudy dark orange color with a nice amount of foamy slightly offwhite head. Looks delicious. Aroma is a nice amount of grapefruit citrus hops with a sweet base. Flavor is sweet and crisp, banana orange smoothy mixture with caramel malts and a subtle earthy finish. Overall, not bad.

June 2009 Beer of the Month Club , 7/9/09

Aroma: Light and muddled, grainy, earthy
Appearance: Hazy orange color, small white head
Flavor: Balanced flavor, little more sweet than hoppy
Palate: Decent body for a beer of the magnitude
Overall Impression: Not a bad beer, its simple, and has some taste, nothing completely exciting comes through here, but it is enjoyable and drinkable, and has some flavor too...

BOM club, last month. This was a pleasant surprise. Had some hop character to it, though I was expecting the usual flavorless, yellow "summer" ale. Tasty.

12 oz bottle as part of a beer of the month club selection. From the aroma, this one seems to be a little more in balance, but the notes again seem to jumble a bit together with light citrus, an wheat like pale cereal grains, along with a leafy type of hop. Light head on the pour, of the whispy starch white variety, very cloudy body with a good amount of particulate, and standard golden orange in color. A decent amount of carbonation on the palate throughout though not really biting all, medium body overall, though the light flavors don’t really pack all that much of a punch. The notes are rather muddled in the flavor as well as if the indgredients in this one weren’t meant to mix perfectly well together. It really doens’t taste bad though as there is nothing offensive, just nothing really all that memorable. Flavor notes of light citrus fruit and pinneapple, and some nutty caramel and cereal grains as well. So this was nothing really spectacular, but crafted slightly better than their ipa.

This has a dry light aroma. The flavor is bubbly and effervescent. Light but a good light hop and airiness to it. Decent.

(Bottle) Kinda bland...Pours quite cloudy light orange/amber. Very small off-white head. Aroma is very low-key, just some light whiffs of caramel and maybe vanilla. Mouthfeel is just OK, a bit pebbly actually. Flavor is a bit of caramel and vanilla maltiness with a decent hop presence that seems to fade in and out at times. Kind of dull and papery. Hops provide a lightly biting bitterness but overall this is pretty ho-hum.

Handsdown the most refreshing Summer Ale for a late night campfire after a long day on the river!!!

I thought this was a little better than the other reviewers, although it does seem like the QC may be a little rough on Kennebec beers. Even within my 6pack a few of them tasted different. Golden color, with a hoppy nose. It’s a lighter and not as rugged of an APA then your typical strong APAs. I do think it’s refreshing and crisp enough...one of the few "summer" locals that i can stomach.