Maine Beer Spring Peeper Ale

Brewed by Maine Beer Company
Style: American Pale Ale
Portland, Maine USA

Serve in Lager glass, Shaker

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Pale golden pour with a tight white head. The aroma is awesome. Lots of bright zesty almost noble citrusy hops with a lot of zesty/spicy character. A very crisp palate with a bright zesty aroma. Lean and light with a bit of peppery spicy character. There is a little bit of soft fruitiness and a very clean and bright hop character. My words haven’t really done the beer justice because they’ve absolutely nailed the balance between the hops and light lean malt. Fresh and zesty. One of the best, if not the best APA I’ve ever come across.

16oz brown bottle, batch #3, purchased at Whole Foods in Portland, Maine. Pours a hazy golden yellow with a good two inches of off-white rocky head that slowly dissipates. Citrussy American hops (C-hops?) come through strong on the aroma, with notes of orange, lemon, grapefruit, and pine. Tastes very hoppy too, but not in an unbalanced way. There’s just enough biscuit and caramel to balance this very hop forward beer. Orange, grapefruit, lemon jump out immediately, with strong pithy, grassy, and piney notes, as well as a touch of cattiness in the finish and aftertaste. Medium bodied with a smooth creamy carbonation. Leaves a fair bit of lacing as the beer is drank. Very well done - definitely one of the finest APAs I have ever had, up there with Dale’s and others. Dangerously drinkable, super tasty, but not overwhelming on any count. I am impressed and I can’t wait to see what this brewery does next. Thanks guys for having "decided... to share"!

UPDATED: APR 20, 2012 Bottle, purchased at Belfast Co-op - Belfast, ME. Big, crisp, clean tropical fruit and resin aroma. Amazingly balanced body and hop flavor and bitterness, with a great sparkle. Most APAs are either obligatory brewpub fare or phoned-in seasonals. Some are fun hop experiments. This speaks of classic style example. Detailed, subtle and stunning. The perfect pale ale, without trying to hit you over the head. I’m even more impressed that they did it in bottle-conditioned form.

Unbelievable, from out of nowhere, or Maine, comes this truly delicious pale ale. An aroma so nice it makes you tongue water, and looking at this one in a pint glas will make you remember why you love beer. The taste is like angels pissing in your mouth, ok, that last one was over the line, this is one of the best beers ive ever had.

bottle date 12/20/11. Nice straw yellow body with great white head. Smells if nicely freshly hopped beer. Surprising that its over 2 months old. Very fresh and spritely as a pale ale. Pretty awesome.

Although it is peeper and not pepper, I thought this beer had a little spicy in it... The hops are litteraly in the mouth while taking a sip, and the bitterness is for me, perfect. A little bit on the citrus side, it is clearly refreshing and light, but with a lot of taste

Fantastic APA! I enjoyed a pint of this at the Railroad St in Linfield. The beer poured a darker golden color with a bit of a straw-colored hue and an ample white head. The head left some really nice lacing around the glass, too. The nose was full of spicy and dry hops, pine, grapefruit and a bit of toasted bread. The body was super smooth and easily drinkable. I think my pint was gone in under six or seven minutes. It didn’t last too long at all! The flavors were extremely delicious, with spicy and dry hop notes, along with pine, grapefruit, oranges, hop resin, and just enough bread and earth tones for balance. The finish was dry and hoppy, as well. This is an incredibly enjoyable and delicious pale ale!

A: Poured with an average-sized, frothy white head that lasted for quite a long time. Great retention, and some good lacing too. Body is dark yellow and cloudy. S: Great-smelling beer... the hops are present, as they should be, but the dominating scent here is pineapple. Awesome! T: Fantastic flavor... fruity citrus (pineapple again) in the beginning, with a nice hop bite in the finish. Very nice balance between the hops and the fruit, which complement each other perfectly. M: Light-bodied and creamy, with average-to-lively carbonation. D: This is an awesome beer... I could drink a few of these, even with the hoppiness. Looking forward to what the Maine Beer Company has to offer us in the future!

UPDATED: FEB 19, 2012 Draught from Breukelen bier merchants within hoursafter keg was tapped. No surprises..completely awesome this way as well. Lowered the indvidual scores a tad and bumped up the overall. Bottled Aug 16 or July 16 this year and drank in late august. Label is smudged.First time drinking this one.This is the beer I crave after a week or two in Europe. It?s close to the ideal American beer...the use of our hops tradition but exhibiting the height of the craft at a grass roots level...and i mean restraint and execution rather than bravado.The plain text mostly label and words on it give the hint these brewers are guys you can respect and would probably like to hang out with. It pours a surprisingly light golden color for the amount of flavor with a big head.Aroma a very perfumy bouquet of American hops. Not over the top but forward and so inviting. But there?s a biscuit and wheat aspect as well.The taste continues a nice lightly sweat malt profile with a slight wheat aspect present. Orange. lemon pith. Sweat at first, a bitterness you need but doesn?t last long enough to prevent you from another immediate sip.It is so balanced in all aspects but the mouth feel stands out. soft and clean but drying with a slight bight and gentle yeast tickle on the back of the throat.This is one of the better beers I?ve had in a while. Should have bought all their others when I was in Boston.

UPDATED: AUG 26, 2011 Bottle at the Craft Beer Co., thanks to Ken. Pours hazy gold with a foamy, white head. Aroma is clean and grassy. Medium sweet flavor, bits of grass and pine, light honey and bread. Medium bodied with fine to average carbonation. Clean, light bitter finish, bit of grass, some toasty malts. Very drinkable, well balanced beer.