Smuttynose Maibock

Brewed by Smuttynose Brewing Company
Style: Heller Bock
Portsmouth, New Hampshire USA

Bottle courtesy of Sammy: Poured a cloudy deep beige/orangey color ale with a huge foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of semi-sweet malt is dominant. Taste is a mix between some dry malt with some light sweetness and some light nutty notes. Body is full with some limited filtration with great carbonation. There was a dryness in this beer that I didn’t particularly enjoyed but otherwise it was a fine example of the style.

Wow, is this good. Though I love this style, too often I get renditions which are too hot and have this annoying monolithic malt profile. Here, the malt is not overly heavy--it shows a lot of nuance--and there is real hop character in the finish. Beautifully balanced.

Date: 09/08/2007
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, Cellar Party

hazy gold, fine white head, streaks of drippy lace, sweet yeast bread aroma with munich and caramel malts and earthy hops, sweet sourdough bread flavor, candy caramel sweetness, light earthy balance,

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.2/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **+/4

(Bottle) Pours a cloudy orange body with a medium white head. Aroma of floral, corn grain, perfume, and light citrus. Flavor of sweet corn, honey, and under baked doughy biscuit.

Smells of sharp, unripened banana right off the spout, with sugary grain malts. Very slight honey, also. Pours slightly cloudy bronze-gold with very little head and medium carbonation. Has a very pungent honey taste with maple sugar malts. Has an excellent mouth feel that isn’t as light as one may think. With the muted hops, there is still a slight bitterness emerging. There are some dark notes lurking as well, with maple syrup, hazelnut, plantains, and wet hay. The complexity is worked heavily into the sweetness of this beer, and it is a sweetness that isn’t overbearing. The perfect spring beer.

Bouteille 2007 (750ml), courtoisie de Hogtownharry. De couleur ambrée et voilée. Nez malté de céréales, moyen de caramel sucré et de pain, léger de biscuits au miel, de levures fruitées (léger d’agrumes, traces de pommes) et de houblon herbeux (notes florales) avec des notes d’alcool, d’épices (notes de poivre et de muscade) et de vanille. Moyennement ronde en bouche avec un pétillement moyen et légèrement croustillant ainsi qu’une texture moyennement crémeuse et aux notes sirupeuses. Goût de levures fruitées (léger d’agrumes, notes de poires, traces de pommes et de pêche), de céréales ainsi que des petites notes de légumes bouillis sucrés et de vanille dès l’entrée en bouche auquel se rajoute un goût de pain sucré, de malt du genre caramel moyennement sucré (léger de butterscotch et petites notes de toffee rôti), de biscuits au miel et des petites traces de sucre blanc puis en finale l’on retrouve un goût moyennement amer de houblon herbeux (gazon mouillé, notes d’herbes fraîches), légèrement floral et aux petites notes terreuses accompagné d’un moyen goût d’alcool un peu réchauffant ainsi qu’un goût de levures épicées (léger de poivre et de muscade) et asséchantes. Post-goût moyen-long et sec, moyennement amer de houblon herbeux, d’alcool, de levures fruitées (notes de poires et de zest d’agrumes) avec des notes poivrées et des traces de vanille.

Pumpkin yellow in color. Tightly packed white head clings nicely with each gulp. Minerals, peach marmalade and cookie-like Munich entice the olfactory senses. Delightfully perfumey and honeyish. Natural carbonation is fluffy on the palate. Firm and snappy Munich malt is immediately enhanced by a delicate phenolic bite and a hint of pineapple which buoys and complements the sweet and well-textured malts. Assertive yet clean hop bitterness is lush and fairly oily. Alcohol is nary a factor, but does impart some nice peppery warmth as well as accentuating the bitterness. Very cleanly attenuated, and the scant marmalade and baked apple fruitiness which remains, beautifully dovetails with the fresh hay and honeyed-biscuit Munich quality. Exemplary overall balance. A limpness begins to tarnish a bit of the malt definition halfway through the bottle. Deeply dextrinous and compact malt frame merges with a lime-accented bitterness at the finish and a sweet honey-glazed pear flavor which lingers. This is quite the lively example, as it’s rather phenolic and estery. The bottle conditioning does an especially fine job of cradling the flavors. Another commendable effort by Smutty.

A hazy amber ale with a thick white head. Aroma of fruity esters, coriander, cloves, very pleasant. In mouth, a sweet spiced yeast malt, with notes of pepper and cloves, warming alcohol. Rich bodied, enjoyable.