Shipyard – Export Ale

I recently picked up Shipyard – Export Ale (5.1% ABV), an American Blonde Ale , as part of a mixed 6 pack to try some different beers from various brewers.  I have heard of Shipyard – they are in the top 20 of craft brewers by size – and they are based in Portland, Maine.  Shipyard also produces soda.

American Blonde Ale – http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style/99 - BeerAdvocate

Appearance – Export Ale poured a gold and light copper color with a two-finger head in an imperial pint glass.

Aroma – Bread and perhaps a hint of biscuit and honey, with very little hop influence.

Taste – Very easy to drink and focused on the malt sweetness at the start and then a touch of hop bitterness from balance. 

Overall – B – I would like to try more products from Shipyard and Export Ale is an easy drinking ale.

Website description – “Shipyard Export Ale, the flagship brand of Shipyard Brewing Co., is a full-bodied ale, with a hint of sweetness upfront, a subtle and distinctive hop taste, and a very clean finish.”

Shipyard Brewing – http://www.shipyard.com/

New Belgium – Hoptober

Hoptober (6.0% ABV & 40 IBU) is a seasonal Golden Ale from New Belgium based in Ft. Collins, CO.  I wanted to try this beer last year, but I could not find it in stores.  When I saw it this year, I immediately bought some.  Hoptober pours clear and gold / yellow with a large fluffy head.  The carbonation on this beer is great and the bubbles do not stop.  Hoptober has a pleasant aroma of spice and earthy hops.  The taste is very well-balanced and I thought the hop level was just right.  The spicy notes probably come from the rye.  This is probably my favorite American Blonde Ale to date.  I am not a big fan of the style, but Hoptober is very good and I will buy it again.  It was great to enjoy a few of these on Halloween evening while sitting out on the front porch doling out candy to the kids.

Website Description – “Five hops and four malts make Hoptober Golden Ale a veritable cornucopia of the earth.  Pale and wheat malt are mashed with rye and oats to create a medium-bodied ale with a creamy mouthfeel.  Centennial, Cascade, Sterling, Willamette, and Glacier hops form a bonfire of citrus notes, fruity cheers and a bold finale.  Seasonal in August, September, October.”

Abbey and Twilight

Deschutes Twilight (5% ABV and 35 IBU) is a summer seasonal Golden or Blonde Ale.  This is not one of my favorite beer styles, but I wanted to try it since it was from Deschutes.  Twilight pours golden amber with a lacey two-finger head.  Twilight has good flavor and it is mellower than some of Deschutes other varieties – it has a good malt base with light hop bitterness to balance the beer.  I am also thinking they tried to tweak the color to match what it would look like at twilight across the Deschutes river as captured on the label.  The web site description of Twilight is, “A lighter, yet full-flavored, aromatic Ale for the long days of summer. Twilight’s solid malt foundation pairs with distinctive Amarillo hops for flavors every bit as intriguing as bigger, heavier ales. A back porch, lingering sunset wonder.”  This is a nice summer beer. 

New Belgium is best known for Fat Tire but they make many other styles.  One of my favorites is Abbey (7% ABV and 20 IBU).  Abbey pours cloudy dark tan with a two-finger head and has an aroma of a Belgian-style ale.  The aroma comes from the yeast used by the brewer and Abbey smells really good.  New Belgium describes Abbey as, “Winner of four World Beer Cup medals and eight medals at the Great American Beer Fest, Abbey Belgian Ale is the Mark Spitz of New Belgium s lineup - but it didn’t start out that way. When Jeff and Kim first sampled the beer at the Lyons Folks Fest, reviews were mixed at best. One of founder Jeff’s first two Belgian style homebrews (along with Fat Tire), Abbey is a Belgian dubbel (or double) brewed with six different malts and an authentic Belgian yeast strain. Abbey is bottle-conditioned, weighs in at 7.0% alcohol by volume, and pairs well with chocolate (or boldly served by itself) for dessert.”  Abbey tastes great and I understand why it has won the number of medals it has garnered over the years.  This is one of my favorites from New Belgium and my list from New Belgium is Abbey, 1554 and Ranger.  These are all very good.

Santa Fe Chicken Killer and Ska Natural Blonde Ale

Santa Fe Brewing offers a number of different styles and I wanted to try their Chicken Killer Barleywine (10% ABV).  It pours cloudy amber with little head, has a nice aroma, and tastes good.  It is not as hoppy as some of the barleywines I have had and there is an emphasis on malt sweetness.  The website describes Chicken Killer as “The flavors of the beer are at first as overwhelming as the intense Santa Fe sun. But in the same way our sun gives us the unrivaled brilliant colors of Santa Fe, the potency of Chicken Killer gives us the remarkable spectrum of flavors that can be found in no other beer, in no other city.”  Santa Fe is a great city to visit.  The next time we go to AZ I plan to stop in Santa Fe to eat some wonderful food at Maria’s and I’ll have to stop by the Santa Fe Brewery. 

Ska is a brewer based in Durango, Co and is known for craft beer in cans.  I really liked Modus Hoperandi at the Winter Brew Fest and I would like to try more offerings from Ska.  Natural Blonde Ale pours a clear straw yellow and has a large head – be careful pouring.  This is an American Blonde Ale (5.3% ABV) and has a slight citrus / lemon aroma and taste.  It is not a bad beer, but I will probably choose other offerings from Ska to try in the future.