Sea Dog Summer Ale

Brewed by Sea Dog Brewing (Shipyard Brewing Co.)
Style: Golden Ale/Blond Ale
Topsham, Maine USA

Any first impressions?
-A disappearing veil garnishes the shiny golden clarity.
-Wet grain and surfacing butter offer few dimensions for the nose.
-Honeyed cereals dominate the flavor profile.
-Watery passages diminish the lean body, which is softly carbonated.

What if you dig deeper?
-Featureless, supporting hop bitterness is almost a no show.
-Frail grassy hops emerge from the aroma’s sweet cereals.
-A blond estival ale without a story to tell, a ubiquitous Maine recipe, it seems.

Bottle; best before Aug ’06.

Bottle - Poured a clear darkish amber in color with a foamy head that disappeared quickly. Aroma is malty with some yeast mixed in. Slightly skunked, but some hops do come through. Skunkiness continues in the flavor with a minor amount of hop bitterness. The malt/yeast that was evident in the aroma was lost when tasting. Finish was slightly sour. Not a good summer effort...

Best before September 2006 bottle consumed on 7/3/06.
Actually got some head out of this one, surprisingly, but then, when Sea Dogs are fairly fresh, they do produce a decent head. Large, white and foamy, it eventually recedes to a ring, with some very minor, spotty lacing. Deep, near-pencil-yellow color, with some brass-golden tones and a medium-high level of clarity.
The nose has some light herbal, leafy hops in it. Very lightly bitter, plant-like almost and quite sharp (or is that some soapiness?). Not much in the malt, some touches of base malt, bit of very lean caramel and mostly cookie dough. Though it isn’t overly sweet in the nose, with the sharp hops cutting through any of that.
The flavor starts off dry, crisp and hoppy, overcarbonated, but still at least manageable because of that (manageable in that it cuts the sweetness). Bitter, almost soapy hops run through the middle, really souring/bittering the palate, as some light dough and graininess finishes things off. As Porterhouse says, there’s something not quite right here? An ester or a phenol, perhaps, that I don’t recognize, some soapiness maybe?

(Bottle (best before 9/06) from Downeast Beverage Co.) Pours a light yellowish amber with about 1" of soft off-white head that diminishes to a thin layer. Aroma of some honey, bit of sour perhaps, bit of Band-Aid, something off-putting I can’t put my finger on. No lacing. Mouthfeel kind of harsh and abrasive, prickly, thin. Tastes a little soapy, maybe some light malt sweetness. Crappy.

12oz bottle from Clarkvv. Pours a clear dark yellow color with a white fizzy head. Nose is corn and hay, some fresh grass. Palate is clean and crisp but watery. Flavor is sweet honey, hay, some grass and corn.

Make it or break it time. My dad bought these for us as a compromise beer, something i would like and he would like (he’s a swill lover :-P) This is a somewhat more to his liking than mine as it’s a light and somewhat lacking summer. It’s got a wheaty biscut taste with a little hoppy (and i mean little!) citrus taste. Has some lemon, but needs to lay off the sweetness and get a little more bitter.

Beer number 100! Would have liked to commemorate it with a more extrodinary beer, but at least I’ll be able to get it one closer to a percentile rating... And it’s always good to support a local brewery... Anyway... Amber body with half-inch white head. Weak smell with hints of bitterness and citrus maybe? Tastes not too strong with a honey aftertaste and little carbonation. Sweet and very drinkable. Not the best beer I’ve ever had, but definitely a crisp refreshing one good for the end of a hot summer day like today.

Bottle. Dark gold. Smells of lemon and honey and yeasty bread dough. Flavor is lemon, orange, vanilla and a hint of cream. Definitely different.