Ringwood Old Thumper (USA)

Brewed by Shipyard Brewing Company
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Portland, Maine USA

Bottle. Pours a clear amber body with an orange tint. Smaller, bubbly white head leaving with a lasting ring. Sweet, cherry, orange and slight hoppy aroma. Flavor is caramel, spices with a nice nutty bitterness. Tart medium bodied finish. Nice beer.

12 ounce bottle from Market Street Wine Shop, Downtown Location, Charlottesville, VA. This is a Shipyard beer? WTF???? Pours a clear amber color with a thin head. Fair head retention and lacing. Aroma is caramel, floral hops notes and faint anise. Taste is caramel, spicy, minty and peppery hops, graham crackers, green apple and fruit loops. Thin-medium bodied.

The twist off cap bomber pours out deep copper with some haze and nice tan head. The aroma seems like spicy hops mixing with brown sugar, crystal malts and spiced red apple wedges. Hey, lots more flavor than I was expecting and virtually none of the classic Shipyard diacetyl. I get a bowl full of spiced ripe red apple wedges along with spice and earthy hops.

12 oz. bottle from Total Wine Perimeter. Nice dark gold/yellowish appearance. Thin head eventually fades away, to a very thin head. Slightly sweet aroma. A rather weak aroma. The sweet malt is nice, but not pungent enough. Slightly sweet/bitter aroma. The malt flavor takes over to win the battle between hops and malts. A slight fruit almost honey-life taste. Very hard to tell what is going on in this beer because it is too subtle. A slight bitter dryness at the end that doesn’t add much. Nice texture I must say; a very smooth beer. Overall, decent ESB. I wish there were more hops, but still a nice offering.

12oz bottle (from shipyard). Tasted awhile back - can’t remember the details other than I thought it was OK. Will need to retaste this one.

Very clear light copper pour with an off-white head. Nice aroma-biscuity, toasted malt, hops-nice typical bitter beer aroma. Nice taste- mellow maltiness, hops, a little sweetness. Sporatic lacing. A very tasty beer at a nice economical price. A new good to goto beer for me.

12 ounce bottle - $1.79 at Total Wine & More in Kennesaw, Georgia. Best Enjoyed Before: July 09. Wait, that’s tomorrow! We haven’t a moment to waste. Appearance: Fairly clear, mahogany-hued body with a small-sized, ivory-hued head. Smell: Toasty, biscuity nose with fair notes of light caramel, nuts, fruit, and spicy-scented English hops. Taste: Well-toasted pale maltiness with some biscuity leanings, a faint touch of nuttiness, and a caramel sweetness to it. Light fruitiness. A modest, appropriate amount of clean bitterness from the earthy, spicy English-minded hops. Splash of Darjeeling tea. I must say, the buttery Ringwood yeast is fairly restrained, well-behaved even. Finishes lightly crisp, semi-dry, and with a lingering hint of zesty spice. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium carbonation. Drinkability: Gee whiz, that was a pleasant surprise! Well-rounded, well-balanced, and with just the right amount of flavor and ease of drinkability. Now, generally, I find the Shipyard brews to be rather lackluster and somewhat cheerless, but this one really hit the spot.

Cask sample at the Gingerman. Pours a hazy copper with a tan head. Smells of dry malt, some spice, peppery. Tastes dry and malty with some earthy hop flavors emerging.