Sea Dog Old East India Pale Ale

Brewed by Sea Dog Brewing (Shipyard Brewing Co.)
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Topsham, Maine USA

Has a deep amber colour with a tan coloured head that disappear quickly. It has a little fruity aroma of oranges and apricots. You can also smell the alcohol. Theflavor is bitter with alot of hops and alcohol with a hint of oranges and apricots. Not a bad beer, it has a good bitter taste.

Any first impressions?
-A gorgeous, lofty head crowns an orange-copper coat.
-Grapefruity flowers stand up shyly, shutting back on themselves quickly.
-Oranges latch on the appropriate but nameless malt sweetness.
-The competent malt structure doesn’t give much flavor but does create a voluptuous love handles.

What if you dig deeper?
-Pine bark evolves into a peppery earthiness towards the back.
-The round mouthfeel would’ve been more satisfying with more blatant and fragrant hopping.
-Some biscuity maltiness sneaks up on the fruitiness in the aroma.
-Floral hops develop interestingly, helping the quaffing nature of this mellow IPA.

Bottle; best before February 2006.

Bottle. Pours copper with a small white head. Nose is sweet and malty with a nice bit of caramel, hint of toffee, and a pleasant hoppiness. Taste is malty and rather sweet for an IPA. Some sweetened iced tea notes, caramel, creamy malts, and light hop bitterness. Light fruitiness( berries) throughout. This would be a pleasant session beer. Body is rather light, but smooth and has mild carbonation. Finishes with more ripened berry flavors, light citrus, rich malts, and caramel. Mild hops lingering as well. A bit too sweet but still very drinkable.

Bottle courtesy of eRenner. Clear amber color with a medium thin white head and decent lacing. Very sweet aroma for an IPA, mostly caramel and malt. Medium body with earthy malt and floral hops flavors primarily, as well as a bit of citrus. The flavors seem a little unbalanced though. The finish is mildly bitter and fruity. Somewhat unique as far as IPAs go, however nothing stands out enough for me to feel like having this again.

Decent body and mouthfeel. Somewhat astringent flavor. Pine like hop presence with a touch of malt on the back end. Goes down easily. Nothing special nor offensive. Price considered (4.99/ six) this is a bargain for a decent pale ale.

Bottle. Orange amber body, small white head. Resiny pine needle aroma. Flavour has a pleasant bitterness with a moderate amount of resiny hops and underlying caramel. Finish is a touch rough with the hops becoming a bit astringent at first. Mellows a bit as the glass goes on. Average to medium mouth feel. Pleasant but not spectacular.

This is a good IPA, premium aroma, appearance and flavor at a Trader Joe’s price. This has got to be the best IPAophile bargain in the USA. Yeah, I know Stone’s is wonderful, but if you drink 2 bottles of that stuff you turn into a rosebush.

(Bottle, best before 3/06) Slightly cloudy dullish amber body, biscuit head, so-so lacing. Aroma is aromatic hops, some caramel. Mouthfeel kind of thin. Taste is perfumy hops, some toffee. Finishes bitter. Pretty good, but feels like something’s missing.