Shipyard Brewers Choice Special Ale Royal IPA (2008)

Brewed by Shipyard Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Portland, Maine USA

(355 ml bottle from Systembolaget)
BB 09.03.31
On May 27, 2008
Slight shady copper color, light tan head. Malty, grainy, buttery and hoppy scent. Strong bitter herbal taste, grainy and harsh bitter aftertaste. Medium mouthfeel, hrash hard bitterness. Some burnt malt with coffee beans aftertaste as well.
6/3/6/3/12=3.0

Rerate
Bottled at a blind tasting at Bredaryds Wärdshus, late April 2009
Hazy copper color, small white head. Sweet, fruity, hoppy scent. Bitter, some acidic taste. Moussy mouthfeel, big bitterness. Slight acidic aftertaste.
6/4/7/3/13=3.3

Bottle@home Appearance: Golden orange with a nice, big, head that vanishes after a bit leaving some residue on the glass. Aroma: Grapefruit, Malts, Bread, Metallic notes Flavor: Pine, Flowers, Citric Notes , Hops, Caramel Palate: Nice and smooth with an initial taste of malt that ends with a nice bitterness from the hops. Medium carbonation. Very nice IPA that i might seek out again as long as it is available. Better than your average ipa and then some!

Sampled from a 12 oz brown bottle this beer poured a red-orange color with a very large orange-tan head. The aroma was tangy, fruity and lightly sweet - nice. The flavor was tart, tangy, bitter and dry with a fruity hop presence, nutty malts and a hint of caramel. The finish was dryish, tart, bitter and hoppy. Quite nice.

Reddsih brown, average head. Dry, almost sticky aroma. Lots of hops, enhanced by enough sugar to let the flavor linger for a long time. Grapefruit charachter, better chilled than room temperatured.

Bottle: Cler red colour, nice thin big head. Aroma of hops,dust,fruits,citrus,grape. Flavor is almost the same, lots of nice hopynes,citrus, and a medium body, who has a nice mouth feeling. Thin to medium dry hopy finish.

(Bottle) Pours copper amber with a medium off-white head. The aroma is light to medium malty and light to medium hoppy with tones of sweet citrus fruits like tangerines and some mild grapefruit. Light burned toffee, mild caramel and bread like malt, some hints of apricot marmalade, flowers, wet dog and some typical hard English IPA notes of syrupy fruit, wet earth and watery, resiny wood. The flavour is dry resiny, medium citric, light floral, discreet cookie-ish malty with notes of apricots and wet crisp bread. Light sweet and light to medium bitter with a medium afterbitterness and dryness. The mouthfeel is clean and light hard but with a soft sting that saves the day. The finish is spicy, light grassy and resiny. Medium bodied.

Bottled:
Pours amber with firm head. Buttery aroma with hoppy notes. Long, resinous hop bitterness. I found this IPA a bit rough around the edges but still OK to drink.

Bottled. Clear amber with firm, creamy head. Sweaty grapefruity hop aroma with some hay. medium bodied with clean mouthfeel. Crystal malt plays a very significant part. It’s a bit sugary and edgy. A fair amount of hops - but in too reasonable amounts to make it one of those hp knockouts. The clean nd hard malt character is a solid foundation, but nothing that makes it standout. Finishes with long grapefruity bitterness. A solid beer where all bits and pieces are there, but has nothing to make me want to pick this particular IPA in a big crowd.