Smuttynose Maibock

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

Bottle. Sweet malty aroma. Beautiful golden body, nice sized white head. Taste is surprisingly mild. Lightly toasty, some caramel and fruit, not overly sweet. Sweetness, although fortunately never cloying, develops a little more in the finish, along with a touch of bitterness. I was looking forward with great anticipation to this Smuttynose offering, but honestly it left me just a tad disappointed.

draft @ redlight redlight. Sweet malts on the nose, sweet bread, traces of spicy hops in the nose. Pours a cloudy golden color with a thick white head. Smooth malty flavor with a lot of spicy notes, finishes somewhat crisp (could have a little more bit in the end). A little bit too heavy for a maibock in my opinion but still a solid beer.

The bomber was artfully labeled, evoking memories of renaissance era Europe. The beer came out golden deep yellow with a good stream of carbonation, but a small to nonexistent head. The smell was malty and yeasty, with some floral hops. The taste is where it all came together, as the malts, hops, and yeast proved to be in great balance. The honey like sweetness was pitted against an earthy and drying yeast flavor and spiced up with restrained but noticeable noble hops. The mouthfeel was a lot fuller than most of the Maibocks I’ve ever had, but it was not so full that it went out of style and became a Dopplebock. The carbonation was quite evident in the mouth. This was a wonderfully drinkable beer without having to be watered down.

Bottle. Pours a hazy, medium orange color with a thick beige head. Tons of lacing. Earthy aroma with caramel malt and yeast notes. Flavor has a nice mixture of spices to go with the malt and yeast tastes. Pleasant and long lasting aftertaste. Slight hop bitterness in the finish.

2008 Bomber. Poured clear light-medium orange with a tall, thicker cap of eggshell head. The aroma picked up toasty leafy notes over an aged caramel and pale malt base.. complementary accents of grassy and fruity hops.. well-presented. The flavor had slightly tacky aged caramel at the core with dry leafy, grassy, and citrusy bitterness all around.. quite hoppy for a maibock, but it worked well.. finished long, toasty, and bitter. Thick, rolling carbonation moved this very well across the palate.. bitterness circled the mouth and rode out the rewarding finish.. excellent beer!

bomber from 07... hazy burnt orange color with a huge off white head. it is cavernous, wispy and leaves behind lots of splotchy lacing. this smells quite sweet and grainy... notes of honey, cooked barley, orange, mint/eucalyptus and vanilla as it sits. the palate is on the sweet side and becomes a bit tiresome as time goes on... seems to lack balance. there’s plenty of yeasty richness along with flavors of grain, vanilla, orange, dry grass and a light spiciness on the finish. the medium body leaves a sugar coating on the teeth. it seems to fall flat on the tongue as it warms.... i’m going to guess that this is really well balanced and tasty... when it is fresh. 7/4/6/3/15/3.5

Nice haze orange in color. With a nice fluffy head on top that doesn’t fade away quickly. Looks VERY good. A not so pungent sweet malt aroma. Sugary aroma. Haven’t seen this in a heller bock before. If it was more pungent I would have given it a higher score. Nice sweet sugary taste. Nice bitter hop at the end that doesn’t last long but makes an impression. A very good beer indeed! Awesome flavor. Biggest thing about this beeer is the sweet flavor. Slight yeast flavor added in to compliment the sweet sugar flavor. Cheers!

22oz bottle. dark gold/orange under a small white head. a great pleasantly sweet, sugary, malty, yeasty, aroma. flavors of honey, butter, lightly toasted malt, and bit of hoppy bitterness for a clean refreshing finish. malt dominated. medium-full bodied. excellent.