Shipyard Brewers Choice Special Ale Brown Ale (05-06, 09-)

Brewed by Shipyard Brewing Company
Style: Brown Ale
Portland, Maine USA

This bottled brew marked best enjoyed before july of ’06 from a bottle shop poured a head of all foam finely sized light brown colored bubbles that was mostly diminishing and left behind a transparent typically carbonated red brown colored body. The aroma was sweet and caramel malt. The mouth feel was thin and weakly tingly at the start and strongly tingly at the finish with a strong caramel note. The flavor contained notes of sweet caramel wheat and softly acidic.

2006. 12oz bottle. Reddish brown with a layer of off-white head. Plummy and vanilla. Cocoa aromas. Medium and sweet. Lively body with cocoa and fruity notes. Bready. Nice.

Pours much darker than I would expect from a brown ale, especially in comparison to Shipyard’s standard Brown Ale. The head was thick and looked rather creamy, taking some time to settle down. The scent had again a standard brown ale scent, with a bit more sweetness though. The flavor is a nice mix of hops and malts. Its got a bit on each, not too bitter, but not too malty. Easy to drink, but definitely not a beer you would drink to get drunk. While not really heavy, it tastes heavy enough. Overall, I enjoy this one, but its nothing I would rush out to grab.

Better than most Shipyard brews I have tried because sour English hops are well balanced by malt sweetness, Rich, brown color.

Bottle 2006. Poured dark brown color with a large frothy light brown head that was mostly lasting with good lacing. Moderate roasted sweet malty aroma. Medium body with a sticky texture. Medium sweet flavor with a medium sweet finish of moderate duration. Solid drinkable beer.

There is a mild malty aroma and the pour is a moderate brown. The head upon the initial pour consumes nearly the entire glass. Flavor is slightly malty with a somewhat spritzy feel to the tongue and slight smokiness.

Clear, light reddish medium brown body. Light, sweet, but slightly dry chocolatey aroma. Taste is bit flavored like chocolate ice cream with some light hopping. Its okay, but still a brown.

Bottle marked best enjoyed before July, 2006 in which I rated this on 7/20/06. Large cream fizzy head that mostly diminished, minimal lacing, visible carbonation, transparent, and a ruby hue. Chocolate malt, nutty, sweet, and hops aroma. Flavor was sweet, chocolate malt, mildly hoppy, lightly smokey, and lightly nutty. Tingly, watery mouthfeel. Light body. Decent, but on the watery side.