Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale

It's the fall, so of course I'm eager to try the fall seasonals and various pumpkin ales I come across.  Sidenote: I had a sip of Southern Tier's Pumking on tap a couple weeks back, and I was floored by how tasty it was, so I feel like every pumpkin beer I have from here on out will necessarily pale by comparison.  Shipyard's Pumpkinhead Ale somehow found its way into my keezer somehow, so I figured it was time to give it a try:

Vittles:
Herbed/Spiced/Vegetable Beer
4.7% abv

Score:
Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 16/25
Taste: 28/40
Mouthfeel: 6/10
Style: 4/5
Drinkability: 5/10
Overall: 67/100

Impression:
From bottle to glass, there was almost too much carbonation.  Not that it almost frothed over or anything, but it looked more like ginger ale than beer -- the bubbles were too large for beer.  Thankfully, that settled down after a few minutes.  The aroma is very faint.  I mainly smell cinnamon and nutmeg, and there's something warm and earthy in the background, but I don't smell any pumpkin or malt.  The flavor is pretty much non-existent, except for a brief taste of spices up front and an extremely faint pumpkiny after-taste.  The after-taste almost seems a little musty, too.  I feel like I'm drinking fizzy, slightly flavored water.  The mouthfeel is thinner than I was expecting, and the high levels of carbonation sting the tongue without adding anything pleasant to the experience.  This beer sort of leaves a taste like bile in my mouth after a while, which knocks a couple points off the drinkability factor.  Overall, I wouldn't recommend this beer.  I usually like Shipyard beers -- they're not anything spectacular, but they're usually decent, so I'm kind of surprised by how much I dislike this particular beer.  Oh, well.  If it ever finds its way into my keezer again, I can always cook with it.  It'd probably make for a tasty pork and sauerkraut slow-cooker meal.

Cheers!

Shipyard IPA

Today, I went for one of the lighter colored beers in my stock, the Shipyard IPA that I picked up a few days ago:

It poured with one hell of a head, as you can see.  The head fell more quickly around the edges and more slowly in the center, leaving a mesa of foam in the middle of my mug and moderate lacing on the sides of the glass.  It has a crisp, pine-like aroma, but there's also something else in the background that kind of reminds me of straw or rope, something along those lines.  This IPA has a pretty decent flavor.  Some IPAs are so hop-heavy that it can be difficult to taste the grain profile, but that's not the case here.  I'd guess it's relatively low in IBUs for its style.  You can taste both the mellow malt and grain flavors as well as the grassy, floral spiciness of the hops.  There's also a touch of sweet apple, but thankfully not the green apple/rotten apple off-flavor associated with acetaldehyde.

What I liked about this beer in particular is that it doesn't have that overbearingly bitter aftertaste that some IPAs leave you with.  The hop flavors are strong up front, but the back end is fairly crisp and clean, with only a mild lingering aftertaste.  Overall, I'd say this is a slightly above average IPA, but it's definitely a smoother drink to have with a meal than some of the more heavy-hitting IPAs (Green Flash's Le Freak or Palate Wreaker, for example).  I'd give this either a 6 or 7 out of 10.  It deserves more than a 6, but maybe not quite up to a 7.  Maybe I should switch to a 100-point scale...

Still on the hunt for new beers to try.  Cheers!

Shipyard Export

I swear, I don't usually drink every single night.  Last night, however, I did continue my beer-tasting streak.  I traded a buddy of mine a couple Lancaster Winter Warmers for a Shipyard Export and a Shipyard IPA.  I tried the Export last night, since I've been having a lot of heavier beers lately.  So I decided to switch it up:

The golden-orange color is pretty appealing, but there isn't much in the way of head, despite the higher levels of carbonation.  It has a pleasant aroma -- citrus, honey, and floral notes, with a little maltiness in the background.  The taste is a little unexpected after the aroma, since it's much more herby and grassy (maybe hay?) with biscuit/cracker flavors.  The citrus comes through in the taste, also, but not as prominently; it leaves a slight grapefruit taste on the back of your tongue.  It finishes slightly dry, clean, and crisp, with a bit of a lingering hop-bitterness in the back of the throat.

This is definitely a lighter beer than the old ales, doppelbocks, imperial stouts, and barleywines I've been enjoying lately.  It's a nice change of pace, since it's more hoppy than malty.  Shipyard Export clocks in at 5.1% ABV, and it seems like it would go really well with grilled chicken or pork chops.  It's a drinkable beer, not great, but decent.  I'd probably give it maybe a 6 or 7 out of 10.  I'd probably enjoy it more during the hot summer months.

I may not always be completely thrilled with the new beers I try, but I am always glad I tried them.  Cheers!