Shipyard Prelude Ale

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

On tap: Somewhat brownish color. Tannish head. Aroma was mostly of nutty malts. Tasted rather nutty with a whole lot of malts. However, I would argue that there were not enough... for the beer still had a somewhat boozy taste, regardless of the fact that there is not really that much alcohol in it. Got a few spices and all too. Body was medium as one would expect.

Prelude to what? Nice dark amber with a small lasting head. Aroma is earthy malt, bread. Flavor starts malty sweet with some hop bitterness to follow. Nice dry finish. Pretty good.

Pours dark amber with nice head and decent lacing. Aroma is on the sweeter side of molasses, with some grainy roast. Flavor is a tad astringent, but balanced nicely with a roast character, and a bit of caramel. Palate is smooth and pretty full.

Bottle Pours a clear reddish brown with a good froathy tan head. The head lasts well. Has a malty aroma with hints of vanilla and alcohol. Has a good carbination and a nice mouthfeel. Has a bubblie water texture. Nice blending. The flavors really come together well. Has a solid finish. This is pretty good. Lacks some hoppiness but it still works.

Chalk up another average at best beer. Pours a dark brown color with minimal head. Malty with some sugar spicy flavor in there and slightly sour finish. It’s decent and warming but nothing too great. It was however $5 for a six pack so the price was very good.

12oz bottle. Pours a clear, brown colored body with a tint of amber. Thin, tan head that dissipates quickly and leaves a light lacing. Aroma is malty and earthy. A good amount of toasty caramel cookies, chocolate, and nuts. The hops provide a nice earthiness and give off a light fruit as well. Fairly strong flavor has a nice earthiness and rounded malt body. More toasty caramel cookies up front before a good amount of earth, some spice, and a more noticable roasty flavor comes in. The finish smooths out with some nuts and chocolate before it dries with a light bitterness and roastiness. Lingers for a lengthy duration. Medium body, smooth, and a moderate carbonation. Overall, a tasty holiday beer. A pleasant hoppy roast with a nice malt and spice balance. Not bad at all.

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.

Very dark pour with little head. Aroma is heavy with malt. Taste of heavy malt, toffee, molasses, brown sugar. Heavy mouthfeel, chewy.