Goulship Release!

Waited in line at the Allagash for some GoulShip! They had the cask room all decorated for Halloween and gave out some samples of Goulship. It was fruity, very bubbly, almost ciderish. I would not tell you to expect this to be a typical "spiced" pumpkin ale.  It is decidedly lambic in style, it has that great sour lambic flavor.  If you have ever tried any raw pumpkin or pumpkin juice that flavor is there, it gives this sour a mild fruitiness.  At first I was on the fence on liking it or not but as I drank more it really grew on me.  My only regret now is that I didn't buy more.

Smuttynose Gravitation

A Belgian style quad. Part of Smuttynose Big Beer series. A rich dark red in color. About 10ish ABV.  So good, has a bit of that Belgian sour flavor to it. I am on a big sour kick right now and this has helped me along with that.

Wolaver's Alta Gracia Coffee Porter

Awesome! Great coffee scent, rich and malty. I do not taste the vanilla bean. Do not drink this if you don't like coffee. Think of iced coffee. The coffee flavor is very powerful, it is still a rich porter.  Lite ABV I would say.

Portland Lager

From Portlands newest brewery Bull Jagger.  A great lager. At around 5.8abv very drinkable. If you like Yuengling, then you will love this. 100 times better than your traditional American lagers. Nice malt balanced with hops. Bottle conditioned, which is always a good thing! Go to RSVP or Downeast to pick some up!

Southern Tier Java-Ah

An Imperial coffee stout! More like a moca-coffee stout. Strong chocolate,  slight coffee, and a hint of caramel coming out. Nose is full of sweet malty chocolate and coffee. Not overly sweet dispite the high ABV. As with any stout very little hoppiness. Thick creamy dark head. 10.6ABV.

Alagash: Victoria Ale

At 9ABV, this is a strong ale. Distinctivly Belgian in character but with a cleaner golden hue, body, and finish.  Very little hop flavor or scent. I don't taste any of the grapes but I feel/taste the grapes prescence in the difference from a Belgium triple. It is very easy to drink too.  I am not a huge fan of wine and I was happy that the brewing with grapes did not give this any wine attributes.

Stone Imperial Russian Stout

A great imperial stout. Rich malty gold here. A thick dark head. No overly sweet alcohol, even at 10.5ABV.. For a lover of stouts this a must.  It is hard to find here in Portland, ME. RSVP is out. The brew store on Forest Ave. has a few. I have not checked Downeast Beverage.  Good luck finding it, I will be hunting for a few to cellar.

Moat Mountain Iron Mike

A Pale ale that is around 5.3ABV. A nice citrus hop nose. Flavor has light hops in the front. A clean smooth finish no bitterness. 

I enjoyed this Lager.  It was creamy in body and not overly hopped.  Nice and yeasty with a good cloudy view. Actually very low in ABV for a Heavy Seas Mutiny Fleet.  Very drinkable and would make a nice late spring, early fall drink.  I haven't found a Heavy Seas Ale I haven't liked and they keep on impressing me.

This was an interesting stout.  Undeniably strong.  Rich and malty with hints of chocolate.  The Anise was overpowering though.  As long as it was ICE cold then the anise was just another flavor that didn't linger. The second pouring (can't fit a whole 22oz in an American pint) was a bit warmed up and that ended any enjoyment out of this.  All you could taste was anise, it was like drinking a pint of strait jagermeister. So if you enjoy anise and want to experiment a bit then pick this up, just make sure you keep it COLD!

Events

October 20th, GLB will have on tap "Life and Limb" a collaborative ale from Sierra Nevada and Dogfish Head brewing.  Sounds good to me!!!!

Redhook Harvest

A good autumn ale, if you have tried Geary's autumn and liked it then you should like this. Not as heavy with caramel flavor but still good with earthy flavors. A good brown with good flavor, very little in overall hop characteristic.

Dogfish Head 120 minute IPA

This might be the greatest beer I have ever tried. The sweetness of the 18%Abv is there but not overpowering.  Rich malt flavors exude in balance with citrus hoppiness. A strong nose of floral and citrus with an undercurrent of earthiness.  For an imperial IPA or any IPA there is no better.

Fishermen's Brew Pumpkin Stout

The nose has hints of pumpkin spices intermingled with those typical malty stout notes. The flavor at fridge temp was full of malty caramel and chocolate but missing that pumpkin spice. I did enjoy it overall and the scents of pumpkin spices taunted me while I drank it.  I still am thinking of buying a full six pack to try at basement temps. Thank you to Jake and Kristen for the sample!

Stouts

A great imperial stout. 9% ABV. Dark and rich. Not overpowering with the alcohol.  Dark malts of caramel and chocolate sneak out on the tongue.  Nice malty bitterness at the end. Dark foamy head. This is a top 5 for  imperial stouts for me.

Pumpkin Ale

A strong "imperial"  pumpkin. It has that hint of spicy pumpkin but the sweetness of the alcohol overpowers it. There is a nice caramel flavor in with the pumkin flavors.  I would recommend this to any lover of pumpkin ales.

OCTOBER FEST

Leinenkugel's. A rather standard Oktoberfest beer. Nothing outstanding about it, but then nothing bad either. If you aren't looking for anything to tickle you taste buds then get this. It is very drinkable but if I have a craving for a state side Oktoberfest ale I will get Magic Hat's Hex.

Sour beer.

A malty, rich sour ale. A nice spunk to it. I was discussing Lambics with a friend the other day which gave me the craving for a good sour ale. I couldn't find any from state side so I searched the import aisle. It has a tangy citrus nose. Very easy to drink. Big white frothy head on it.  Hopefully I will find some other good sours soon!

App test.