Shipyard Prelude Ale

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

Bottle; BB 10/08. Nicely spicey brown ale aroma. Underlying notes of darker fruits. Near mahogany color with a beige head that laces as it shrinks. Medium bodied with mild carbonation. The flavor is dark malt, nutmeg, citrus and plum or raisin. Bitter can be noticed. It finishes out rather dry, and the bitter is dark floral rather than pine or citrus. It is something of a brown ale without the common over-roasted flavor. It may be a bit nutty, but not coarsely gritty about it. Treats the mouth pleasantly. Some of the low ratings may be because the flavors drop fast. Got to sip this one rapidly to keep the flavors around. Otherwise it slips into that dry, bitter finish very quickly. Something of a harsh version of Bridgeport Ebenezer.

Bottle. Best before 10/08. Beautiful, soft garnet color with a slight white lacing. Spiced malt aroma. Dark fruits and some orange, cinnamon and nutmeg. Strangely astringent. Bitter and astringent are the only flavors in this beer for me. Wow, it started out so nice...

2006 - Long lasting foam, smells of malt, molasses, taste is sweet, does have some oxidated flavor, like a PX sherry, with the same toffee notes. Good for winter. 2007 is not quite as sweet and little note of oxidation. Still a little bitter for my taste. Pours clear brown, foam not quite as lasting.

Pours a deep ruby reb with a medium off white foamy/lacing head. Aroma of dark fruits, nuts, very malty, hints of citrus, caramel, some light spicing. Flavor of sweet malts, nutty, mixed dark fruits, some citrus, some caramel and hints of holiday spices. A little thin for the style, I like more body.

I did not really care for this beer, other than a sour taste, there was very little to note other than I did not spit it out. May have to try this again in case I just got a bad batch.

Bottle. Just too rich for my blood. No discernable aroma. Nice ruby-read color. Strong and towards the bitter-end of balanced. Boozy. Possibly a good example of a style that I don’t really like.

Dark amber pour with a thin foamy head. Aroma of caramel, nuts and yeast. Taste of spices and malt with a bitter caramel finish.

Sampled from a 12 oz brown bottle this beer poured a dark caramel color with a huge butterscotch head that lingered. The aroma was sweet, yeasty, nutty and had a light nutmeg undertone. The flavor started out fairly bitter with undertones of yeastiness, caramel, nutmeg, and nut. The finish was bitter and spicy. The beer got significantly more bitter - and less pleasant as it warmed up a bit.