Shipyard Prelude Ale

Brewed by Shipyard Brewing Company
Style: English Strong Ale
Portland, Maine USA

Sampled as part of a Christmas Beer mix set. Not bad. The pour was nice and had a nice cherry colored hue. Best part of the beer was its flavor. It was very strong and had hits of nice spices.

Pours dark copper with frothy long lasting tan head. Nicely carbonated. The aroma is very sweet and malty. Starts sweet and then makes a full transition to bitterness- very well balanced. Leaves a long losting bitterness / alchohol print in your mouth. At times there seems to be some fruity notes. Feels a bit oily, but very drinkable.

Malty and hoppy aroma. Dark red color with a large head. Slightly sweet taste of malts and finishing with mild hop bite.

Bottle. Pours with a nice copper brown color. Aromas of malts, caramel and spices. Flavors of malts, orange, and subtle coriander with a hoppy finish. This is an excellent winter beer, with a pleasant full body.

First beer i had where the aroma may have been better than the flavor,but only slightly. Poured a medium brown hue with some read notes. A nice tan head which had a slight lacing. Aroma had a mix of several malt notes includeing nutmeg, nuts and some caramel, a slight hop presance was noticable. Flavor was similar except it seemed a light light, and need more hops in the finish. Overall it was a really smooth drink

Re-examined 01-09-2008: Agree with most my rating, pick up a lot of fig in this that I did not the first time as well as a subdued peppery spice. Really enjoyed the flavor of this ale. Heaping helping of roast malt flavor with lots of nuttiness and a nice mellow hoppy finish. Some roasted coffee hints as well. Medium-to-light bodied with too clean of a finish - would have prefered it to leave more of an impression on my mouth. Very dry as well, which was okay given the the heavy dose of toasted malts. Good looking too, maybe should not have been filtered but a very nice deep amber colour.

12 oz bottle via Malt of the Earth Beer club. Pours a clear dark reddish brown with a huge beige head. It is hard to detect much aroma in or under the head, but i think there is some toffee, vanilla and cinnamon. And it pretty much tastes the same way as it smells, with some cardomom, some roastiness and some earthy hops in the finish as well. Moderate carbonation. Medium body.

Bottle, poured a deep reddish brown with a thick white head. Nice malty aroma with a good hop kick. Kinda reminds me of SN Celebration with a little more of a malty aroma and taste. Crispflavors with an earthy hoppiness. Medium moutfeel and a clean finish. Very nice beer.