Smuttynose Maibock

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

Somewhat viscous golden body with moderate carbonation and a robust, dense white head. Yeasty sourdough aroma with light citric, melon, and peanut qualities, plus clean perfumy highlights. Smooth and pleasant malty flavor with good relative depth. Includes some nice spice and floral characters as well. Medium sweet with nice balancing, natural bitterness. Overall this has an interesting blend of heat, yeasty phenols, and hop flavor and bittering compounds and is nicely rounded and fairly complex. Doesn’t stray into malt liquor territory like some maibocks do. This is the best maibock I’ve had so far.

Man, I thought I rated this - thanks to my better half for sharing this, then - lightly hazy golden beer, with a sticky, soapy, lasting head - the aroma is peppery and zesty up front, but some floral character and a honey sweetness develop underneath that, along with some earthy hops - a tad bit sweet at first - honey almost overwhelms the palate, but a lightly bitter herbal and floral flavor comes up from behind that, followed by spicy hops, and eventually, some alcohol warmth that lasts through the finish, so the overall sensation of drinking the beer is of a progressive warming feeling - if I were a more poetic and sappy person, I’d say this reminds me on the gradual coming of spring - but I am not that kind of person, so thankfully I would never put something that silly in a beer rating.

Tap at the Mexican Food Factory. Pours out a clear orange color with a small white head. Aroma is of cloves, sweet fruits, nut, apple cider, spice and a slight bitterness. Taste is complex and well balanced. Fruity up front with some apple notes, clove, yeast, bubblegum and some earthy nutty notes in there too, all before a slight bitterness on the finish. Very solid, I’m usually not a fan of malty stuff, but this was quite good.

Practically clear with a rich orange-gold hue. Thin head. Aromas of lavender, lemon, perfume with a bit of caramel and toast beneath all the fragrant smells. A little bitterness up front changes to a buttery middle and long butterscotch/caramel finish. Again, fragrant hops and well-integrated caramel and sweet malts. Really good stuff.

22 oz. bottle from 2007. A slightly hazy gold pour with some floaties and a thick light-tan head. Hints of bananas, pears, honey and vanilla in the sweet, bready aroma. Medium to full-bodied. Sugary and syrupy. Overly ripe pears, bananas, vanilla extract, caramel and sweet malts dominate the flavor. Kinda buttery. Some herbal qualities and hints of warming alcohol throughout. Good beer, but not a style I’m overly fond of.

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!

[2007 bottle] Pours a barely hazy gold color, with some great lacing. Dense malt aroma, some honey sweetness. A total malt-bomb of flavors, with some interesting yeast character and subtle hop bitterness. Full bodied, with slight alcohol warmth through the finish.

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.