Sea Dog Old East India Pale Ale

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

Bottle: pours orange with a thick off white head. Mild citrus, caramel aroma. Flavor is somoewhat plain. There just isn’t enough of what I like in an IPA, particularly hops. Overall, it is well balanced but on the lighter side of the IPA scale. I don’t see how this IPA could have made the trip from Britain to India.

(Bottle 35,5 cl) A most beautiful orangey amber colour, with a deliciously creamy head leaving laces on the glass after settling slow. Nutty, malty with some sweetness perfectly balanced by a pronounced hoppiness. Beautiful hop aroma. Good stuff.

Let me preface my rating by disclosing that I am a Mainer and may be prejudiced. I think this beer is a great "winter ale". It has a nice amber color with a full white head. While tha nose is probaly average, aroma hops not too pronounced. I find the taste to be full and malty but balanced nicely. It definitely has a full palate and a little kick of hops and alcohol going down. A really good ale for a winters night. They don’t call it Cabin Fever for nothing.

Golden orange color, faint floral hop nose with some citrus hops at the finish. Very average.

Bottle. Dark orange with a fluffy white head. The nose is mostly grapefruit, though I can detect some lemon and orange in there as well. Anyway, it’s citrus. The flavor is mostly citrusy too, though with a solid caramel malt background, and some piney hops. Earthy aftertaste. A nice, not too hoppy IPA.

Bubblegum - WTF? What’s that from??? Are my sinuses just way screwed up? Malty sweet with bitterness pushed way back. Some taste like pumpkin spice or SOMETHING in it ... WAY too funky for me. (perhaps I picked up a bad bottle, but I drank it right away)

This pours out a clear amber color with a good-sized white head that faded to a cap of bubbles rather quickly. Decent lacing was left as well. Aroma is quite odd, as the malty sweetness seems to almost completely overcome any hop presence that is there. Mainly a sweet caramel scent comes through with earthy hops tones thrown in as almost an afterthought. Not bad smelling just not what I have come to expect of an IPA. Taste is similar to the smell but with the hops taking a little more of a role but still not taking control of this beer. Caramel and fruits hit you first in the flavor before the balancing but a bit weak hops come through with a nice bitter taste. There are also notes of spice as well. Mouthfeel is pretty good about medium with good carbonation. Nothing stopping you from downing several of these unless you are looking for a more hopped IPA. Overall an above average beer that could use a little more hop and not a bad deal at 5 bucks a 6 at Trader Joes.

This poured a clear orange color with a modest white head that rapidly transformed into a slight halo around the glass. The aroma is a nice blend of citric (orange mainly) and floral hops with a bit of underlying earthiness. It’s got a solid sweet malt backbone beneath the predominant orange and lemon hopping. Surprizingly clean finish with only a bit of the hop bitterness left behind. I like it.

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