Shipyard Prelude Ale

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.

22oz. bottle: This one pours a fairly clear, reddish brown color. There is a bit of an off-white head that drops off rather quickly. The aroma is nice, with mainly floral and spicy notes. A hint of the malts come through also. The taste is quite good also. A bit of nuttiness up front, with some of the spices in the background. A bit of a dry bitterness to the finish. A very good winter beer.

Had this on tap at Federal Jack’s in Kennebunkport, ME. When it came to me it had no head, but a rich amber color. The aroma is hoppy with a hint of spices, which I cannot distinguish. The mouth feel is much like an IPA. It is hearty, and quite hoppy, but very tasty. However, the alcohol content, while not high, seems to taste higher to me, which is not a plus. However, for me that the only real downside to this beer.