Shipyard Fuggles IPA

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

The aroma is not bad. A little weak. First taste is suprisingly good until the aftertaste. Just not right. Too much alcohol coming threw and not enough flavor to balance it out.

Bottle from Central Market. Has a decent smell to it and a nice color. Small off-white head. Tastes slightly sour and a bit nutty malt. Slightly bitter and then a bad almost lead-like bite. Basically like an off British style IPA and not that good at all (since I think British IPAs are great but just to distinguish from the West Coast IPAs). I checked the freshness date for this bottle and it was good until Feb 2008. Really was hoping this would be better, but I actually poured out the last 4 ounces.

bottle poured an orange amber in color with a huge almost half glass of head as it poured, not a good start. looking at the side of the bottle the best by date was four months ago leaving me to wonder what in the hell my beer store sold me on this one. aroma is metallic, yeast, and light hops. flavor is not so hot either, bitterness from the start that just is awful. guess this one is going to be a drain pour, first one in some time, the taste is just terrible. ratings wise i will take it easy as this is an out of date beer and not a terrible product i would hope as the ratings here don’t seem to reflect what i am tasting.

Poured into a 6" tall by 2.5" diameter glass, I measured approximately 1.5" of froth that dissipated rather quickly (within 20-30 seconds). The color of the ale is the most beautiful amber hue that one could imagine, and is, perhaps, one of the best qualities of this beer.. It is like catching the reflection of the cool autumn sun off of a beautiful woman’s curly red hair. The aroma is doughy and yeasty in my opinion, but it means business. It is telling me that this is a beer to be reckoned with. The flavor has at least 3 dimensions that I can recognize. The first 1-2 seconds there is a bitter, almost metallic taste, with some faint hints of caramel. After about 2 seconds, a malty, caramel flavor takes over. Beyond this point, the caramel flavor ascends to a more roasted caramel flavor that persists for quite a while. I drank this particular glass at about 63 degrees Fahrenheit (I pulled it out of the trunk of my car). Past experience has shown me that drinking it at colder temperatures only helps to accentuate the attributes I have previously mentioned. I find this to be one of my favorite American IPAs and recommend it to anyone who is looking for a full-flavored, full-bodied beer that is not too overpowering on the palate.

Bottle shared with GregClow, Hogtown Harry, Blankboy, and Jerc, courtesy of me via Big Red and K. Toasty hop aroma - nice. Dark orange, fluffy white head. Nice hop bite up front in taste, followed by caramel toasty bread notes - fuggles hops up front and present. Not bad, a session IPA that will not score high but one I would gladly have again.

Bottle. Metallic almost chemical aroma. Slightly cloudy in appearance with a frothy head. Thin texture, sweet fruit flavour with a nice bitterness. Wets the mouth.

Bottle (341ml) shared with HogTownHarry, GregClow, tupalev & jerc -- courtesy of tupalev. Pours a clear orange with an average size diminishing white head. Aroma is predominantly Fuggles which you either like or you don’t -- I like it. Simple flavour of Fuggles hops backed by caramel malt. Average bodied. Decent enough, I’d drink it again.

From bottle : Pours a hazy gold color, with small white fizzy head that dies quickly. Malts with some floral hops on the nose. Taste is pretty good, nice hops, not a whole bunch like other ipas but it is non the less nice, with some malts in there. It is medium bodied with a nice crisp bite toward the end, not to bitter. Pretty good.