Old Thumper (Shipyard Brewing Company)

Not that long ago I was talking to Alan Pugsley over at the Shipyard Brewery. I asked Alan how the name "Old Thumper" came to be. I don't remember the entire story but the gist of it was that the Ringwood Brewery in England had a radio contest to name one of their new beers. The winner was Old Thumper and apparently the guy who came up with that name was referring to his hangover (or "thumper"). So its not the name of the boar on the label!?! By the way, this beer was first brewed over in the UK back in 1979. Next year will mark 30 years of Old Thumper!

Pours a nice clean golden color. The head is not too thick but pretty rich. As the beer settles the head keeps a nice ring around the glass with some clouds of foam that float around like inner tubes in a pool. 

Smell is slighly grassy, a bit of honey sweetness, fresh bread and butter along with some malt bitterness.

Tasting this beer will tell you why its one of the Shipyard brews that people rave about. Its so well balanced and smooth with a nice refreshing taste. Very creamy mouthfeel and rich in malt sweetness but balanced well with a nice, yet faint hop bite. Its slightly bitter and crisp in the finish as well. Overall, its probably one of my top three Shipyard beers (the Longfellow Winter Ale being my favorite). 

If you haven't had a pint give it a shot. If you can find it on cask even better!

BEER FACTS

Name: Old Thumper

Style: Extra Special Bitter

Brewery: Shipyard Brewing Company

Location: Portland, Maine, USA

Container: 22 oz. bottle

Malts: ?

Hops: ?

ABV: 5.9%

IBUs: ?

Brewed in Maine

Gritty McDuff's Best Bitter (Gritty's)

Gritty's Best Bitter was the first beer ever brewed at the Portland brewpub location. This year, its celebrating twenty years on tap! A pretty impressive feat for a traditional English style bitter here in Maine.

From the Gritty McDuff's site:

Best Bitter is a copper-hued and well-balanced ale with real old world integrity. We use fine Yakima Golding hop flowers in the brewing of this beer for a fine dry finish that compliments the malty palate. The taste captures the freshness of a hand-drawn ale that goes right from the conditioning tank to your glass!

Pours a clean, golden color, or copper as the site says, with a half-finger foamy head. Not a lot of carbonation as this beer settles into its short, fate-filled life inside my pint glass. Looks very easy to drink.

Smell is familiar. Its sweet, bready, yeasty and doughy. The smells intermingle more and become stronger as this one warms a bit. This is what is to be expected from the British style ales produced on the Peter Austin open fermentation system. 

One sip and I am taken back to the last time I had this on tap. Its been awhile. Its very smooth, faintly carbonated and very swiggable. Plenty of malty sweetness with not a lot of after taste notes. This is a basic beer from Gritty's. I don't mean that in a bad way, I just mean its there flagship brew that is solid, simple and easy to drink. Obviously the bottled form has nothing on the cask conditioned drafts you'll find on tap at Gritty's. If you've never had this beer, start with that option if at all possible. 

BEER FACTS

Name: Gritty McDuff's Best Bitter

Style: ESB

Brewery: Gritty McDuff's Brewpub

Location: Portland, Maine, USA

Container: 12 oz. bottle

Malts: ?

Hops: Yakima Goldings

ABV: 5%

IBUs: 25

Brewed in Maine

Special Old Bitter Ale (Atlantic Brewing Co.)

The old S.O.B.! This beer's gone through an identity change recently but as far as I know its the same old recipe. According to Atlantic Brewing Company, their Special Old Bitter is "the clear choice for the hop enthusiast". Count me in.

Pours a rich, dark malty brown color. The hat on this pint is thin, white and full of close knit bubbles. Holding this one up to the light reveals suspended yeast, very interesting. Smells like toast and lemons at first and then some sweet caramel. 

Taste is bitter, like bitter from hops. Lots of bittering hops. Its an interesting blend of flavors. The maltiness isn't too strong but the hops aren't too overpowering either. It seems to work well together. Its a unique beer, I haven't had too many like this one. Its definitely good and its a beer I'd buy again for sure. 

I'm interested to learn the history of this beer and see who that dude is on the bottle. If you see this, give it a chance. Its a beer that'll grow on you!

BEER FACTS

Name: S.O.B. (Special Old Bitter Ale)

Style: ESB

Brewery: Atlantic Brewing Company

Location: Bar Harbor, Maine, USA

Container: 22 oz. bottle

Malts: Pale, crystal, black and Munich malts

Hops: Northdown

ABV: 5.5%

IBUs: ?

Brewed in Maine

ESB a.k.a Early Spring Beer (Sierra Nevada)

The ESB (Early Spring Beer) is a new offering from Sierra Nevada. For a long time now they've offered the same very solid beers, their Pale Ale being a gateway craft beer for lots of people. Now it looks like they are bottling more and more new things and I hope they continue doing so. 

Sierra Nevada's ESB pours a nice, clean golden orange color. The head is about a finger in thickness and perfectly white. It has a yeasty and sort of malty smell at first before a nice citrusy hop smell takes over. This is dry hopped with a boat load of hops so its not that strange for it to smell pretty hoppy...that is a good thing, right? I think so. This one almost smells like an IPA. Speaking of which, if you haven't had their Harvest Ale (Fresh Hop Ale) you have been missing out.

I am not a huge fan of ESBs in general since I kind of expect a little more from my beer and bitters always leave me begging for more. This tastes like the type of ESB I would drink a lot of. It has a nice bitter finish to go with the initial malty sweetness. Its not over the top in any way and is a very drinkable beer. By that I mean its got a lot of all around great qualities. Its nothing too crazy but its not boring either. Sierra Nevada has impressed me with almost all of their recent releases, with the exception of that IPA last year, which I thought was rather dull. Their Anniversary and the Harvest Ale were both excellent.

"Our ESB blends the best of English tradition with the boldness of West Coast style. Featuring English ingredients, we added a Sierra Nevada twist by leaving the ale unfiltered, which enhances mouthfeel and hop aroma creating a slightly reddish-copper hue,” said brewery founder Ken Grossman. - from www.sierranevada.com

Read my Q & A with Ken HERE!

BEER FACTS

Name: ESB (Early Spring Beer)

Style: ESB

Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Company

Location: Chico, California, USA

Container: 12 oz. bottle

Malts: Two-row Pale, Maris Otter & Crystal

Hops: English Challenger & East Kent Goldings also dry hopped with English Challenger, U.S. Challenger, U.S. Goldings, & Crystal

ABV: 5.9%

IBUs: ?

ESB (Kennebec Brewing Co.)

I bought this beer for two reasons. The first being that I had never actually tried Kennebec's ESB and two being that the Kennebec Brewing Company has closed its doors and this beer is officially an endangered species.  I figured this might be my last chance to drink this beer.

Hmm...me thinks this beer is a little old and has gone a little bad. It pours a little too chunky for my taste. The beer is very hazy and the sediment on the bottom of my glass says that the yeast is no longer happy in this beer. However, it actually smells pretty decent, sort of hoppy and grassy. 

Tasting this confirms my fears, it is definitely off. Its sour and tastes not as it should. I'd like to think this beer would have been decent if it was fresh, but I guess I'll never know.

BEER FACTS

Name: ESB

Style: Extra Special Bitter

Brewery: Kennebec Brewing Company ~ CLOSED

Location: Gardiner, Maine, USA

Container: 22 oz. bottle

Malts: ?

Hops: ?

ABV: 5.2%

IBUs: ?

Brewed in Maine