Shipyard Prelude Ale

Easter Sunday. 12 oz bottle. Don’t know what was wrong with the last couple rater’s bottles, but mine was just fine. I just wish I’d had it in the depths of winter.

Bottle thanks to David! Poured medium tawny with an explosive cap of beige head and sticky rings of lace. The aroma picked up a lot of really weird stuff.. some sour fruity notes, a bit of cardboard, perfumey soap, peppery and cardamom spicage, and hibiscus. The flavor wasn’t any better.. some kind of darker spices, toffee, and sticky weird floral mixed with vegetal notes at the core with peppery and floral notes at the edges.. sticky ugliness on the finish. Medium-bodied, spicy, and likely infected. Ugly beer.

Bottle. Moderate straw for the malt, light herbs and leather for the hops and yeast, with red wine and solvent in the background. Head is small, white, fizzy with no lacing and is mostly diminishing. Color is sparkling clear copper. Flavor starts moderately acidic and lightly bitter then the long finish is lightly acidic, moderately bitter and a little sour. Palate is light to medium, watery with a fizzy carbonation. It finishes lightly astringent and dry. I had some expectations for this beer, but it just may have been a bad bottle.

Not much aroma. I don’t like this much at all at first, but then it gets better in the finish with a ibt of hops. Odd, but decent.

Bottle. Deep brownish- amber pour with some beige head. Nutty caramel aroma; english-style maltiness. The flavor is the same, a little sweet and somewhat biscuity. Some crispness and light bitterness in the finish.

A vast complex medal meriting winter warmer, without over-the-top ABV. Mint and clove and peppercorn and mellowed with a year of ageing. Medium mouthfeel and smooth for its style.

Tasted 2/26/08. 12oz bottle. 2006-2007 edition. Filtered and a dark bronze hue. Thick ring of taupe head. Citrus and spicy aromas. Mild malt note. Tart flavors with a good malt roast. Burnt sugar. Rough rolling palate. Good hop bitterness. Toasty spicy with a cocoa flavor. Off-putting alcohol note. Sticky with a cola and mint undertone. B- beer.

Strong biscuty and toasty smell, with a little hop aroma. Dark amber color, with a head that isn’t much to speak of, leaving virtually no lace. Taste is strong, nutty, biscuty, dry, some notes of dry fruit and vanilla. This is pretty malty but certainly not too sweet. Palate is sharp with lots of carbonation. A very nice winter ale.