Smuttynose Star Island Single

Brewed by Smuttynose Brewing Company
Style: Belgian Ale
Portsmouth, New Hampshire USA

had this on tap before but hadn’t rated. from 12oz bottle: pale copper color pour with a thin white head that disappears quickly. pale malt, citrus and biscuit aroma. sweet grain malt flavor. with light honey and floral hops. small hint of pepper. fairly uneventful.

12 oz bottle thanks to NachlamSie. Pours a brass color with long lasting thin beige head. The aroma is dusty yeast, some lemon-lime, a distant clovey hint, and some light toast. The flavor is also quite dusty with a yeasty quality and some toast. A few fruity notes float around... lemon, lime, tangerine, just a little bit of date. The finish is spicy and semi-dry. Fair, not great.

Bottle. Light to moderate malt note of straw, light grass and lemon for the hops, light soap for the yeast, and a hint of paper. Head is small, fizzy, white, with maybe a little lacing and is mostly diminishing. Color is hazy amber/yellow. Flavor starts moderately acidic and finishes light acidic and bitter. Palate is light to medium, watery yet a little slick and has a lively carbonation. Easy to drink, but not much to this Belgian Ale. If they put spice in this it certainly wasn’t much.

Light amber pour. Light malty aroma with a bit of yeast and skank. Cool mermaid on the label. A light to medium weight ale which I did not identify as an Abbey style. A little sweet, with a touch of citrus, and a light hop bite in the finish. I don’t taste much spice. Mellow and agreeable.

A hazy blonde ale with a thin white head. In aroma, pleasant cloves and bananas wit. In mouth, a nice ale with light bananas, cloves, refreshing, medium bodied, closer to a wit. Bottle at Mondiale 2009.

Definite doggy smell. Bad label with the trashy looking mermaid, light pine color, medium foggy, thin white head. Dry, tart, bitter, moderate fruitiness, biscuity. Tastes a lot better than it smells. Lingering spicy aftertaste, medium-light body. Nothing special. Market Square Liquors.

Bottle. Pours a golden color with a touch of amber, two finger white head, with some decent retention. Aroma is floral and fruity, some spice, and malt. This doesn’t at all taste like a Belgian, but I’m fine with that because it drinks exactly as advertised, a good session beer. Apricot and peachy fruits, some complimenting spice, as well as grainy notes. Not too sweet, nothing at all bad about this beer, very solid. Some subpar scores are surprising. Thumbs up to Smutty for this refreshing session!

Very crisp, non-standard, version of a drinker. This is well done and does not suffer from oversweetness. I do not understand the substandard scores here, not sure what people think is "Belgian-like" -- but this brew has nice backbone and bite that one expects from a spiced Belgian offering. Nicely done.