Shipyard Brown Ale

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

11/17/08 notes: bottle, from Gabe. So I got to try this brew after Old Thumper, and I am not sure to what extent my rating is colored by this sequence. Nevertheless, I came in expecting a soft, malty, earthy flavor and that is exactly what I got. Exciting? No. But drinkable and perfectly “brown”? Perhaps yes. Or at least my friends who prefer this style seemed to think so.

Nice beer for the average beer drinker, but I would not bring this around my drinking buddies.

Nice clear dark copper, off-white head. Aroma is sweet and full of toasted barley. Flavor is dominated by maple syrup and toasted barley, which is nice, but sweetness of the malt hide the hops. Feels slightly full, finish is all but absent. Decent, good to share with non-beer snob friends, nothing to seek out.

From the bottle, bought in Maine. Pours an amber brown with a nice head that like all Shipyard brews seems to leave really quickly. The aroma is nutty and full of maple syrup. The flavor is very lacking but on the back end you pick up the maple again. A decent brown but not balanced or full bodied like a great one shoudl be.

from 12 oz. bottle, smells of maple syrup first and then the malts. pours brown, pretty dark, thin white head gone within a minute. the flavor comes across as mostly maple syrup to me, and some caramel. I like this brown ale over many others, good stuff!

On tap at Oldsmar Tap House. Pours a dark, reddish brown color, with a quarter-inch of fluffy white head. Lots of lacing on the glass, resulting in a nice presentation. Subtle hops aroma...that typical Ringwood yeast. Molasses, heavy malts. Chocolate malt flavors, with caramel. Distinct yeast, albeit minimal. Nice coffee-like aftertaste. Drinkable for sure, hoppy bitter finish. Quite enjoyable.

Pours light brown with a nice thick white head. Malty aroma. Smooth malt taste with just a hint of hops.

Courtesy juiceisloose. Pours a relatively clear, light brown color with a medium light tan head. Smells of mild hickory malts, sweet sugars, and molasses. The flavor is light bodied, and light on flavor. The malts were seemingly the most noticeable character to it, with very light touches of nuttiness and sweet caramel. Pretty easy drinking, and not bad for a session beer, but light on flavor with a mildly sweet aftertaste.