NAME: Maine Beer Company Mo Pale Ale
TYPE: American Pale Ale
ORIGIN: Portland, Maine
ABV: 6.0%
REVIEW: Light golden brown color, opaque, fresh sweet smell, notes of pineapple. Fruity, juicy pale ale with a smooth, crisp mouthfeel and bittersweet finish. Gotta hand it to MBC. They make a fine pale ale. I’m between a B+ and an A- on this one and I just can’t decide.
goodwilltasting grade: A-
NAME: Shipyard Prelude Ale
TYPE: English Strong Ale
ORIGIN: Portland, ME
ABV: 6.8%
REVIEW: Clear, dark brown color, fresh, crisp smell with with a little coffee and brown sugar on the nose. Unfortunately it smelled a lot better than it tasted. Unpleasantly bitter from the get go, a little funky at the end with a stale, dry, sticky finish. Had on draught so can’t really say if it was the beer’s fault or the bar’s fault. In any case, it was not great.
goodwilltasting grade: D.
NAME: Allagash Four
TYPE: Quadrupel
ORIGIN: Portland, ME
ABV: 10%
REVIEW: Dark amber, thick head with sweet fruity smell, notes of cherry and peach. Super smooth finish but a little too sweet aftertaste for me. From Allagash: “We brew this beer with four malts, four sugars, four hop varieties and we ferment it four times, using four different yeast strains.” Hence the name, I guess.
goodwilltasting grade: B+
NAME: Allagash Curieux
TYPE: Belgian-Style Tripel Aged in Bourbon Barrels
ORIGIN: Portland, Maine
ABV: 11%
REVIEW: Golden color, foamy head. Caramel and bourbon on the nose, sweet taste with woody, bourbon notes. A bit of a sharp finish but smooth overall.
goodwilltasting grade: B+
NAME: Maine Beer Company Mean Old Tom
TYPE: Stout (aged on vanilla beans)
ORIGIN: Freeport, ME
ABV: 6.5%
REVIEW: Jet black pour with a creamy, khaki head. Roasty, malty smell, medium-light bodied stout. Toasty, slightl burnt taste with subtle coffee notes and just a hint of vanilla at the end. To be honest I expected a little more, but still I’d choose this over Guinness. And yes, it would go well with my wife’s delicious chocolate chip cookies.
goodwilltasting grade: B-
NAME: Maine Beer Company Lunch (draught)
TYPE: American IPA
ORIGIN: Freeport, ME
ABV: 7.2%
REVIEW: Golden Brown color with crisp head. Pine on the nose, hoppy citrus notes, crisp mouthfeel, slightly more viscous than a San Diego IPA. Feels like a hybrid of English and American style IPAs if you ask me.
goodwilltasting grade: B+
NAME: Rising Tide Ishmael American Copper Ale
TYPE: Altbier (German-style Brown Ale)
ORIGIN: Portland, ME
ABV: 5.1%
REVIEW: Dark copper color, foamy head. Bready smell, subtle hops aroma, nice biscuity mouthfeel with strong malty backbone, bittersweet caramel flavor, smooth finish with little aftertaste. Solid subtly hoppy brown ale that would go well with fried seafood and chowdah that Portland does so well.
goodwilltasting grade: B
NAME: Rising Tide Daymark
TYPE: American Pale Ale
ORIGIN: Portland, ME
ABV: 5.5%
REVIEW: Beautiful gold color, bubbly foamy head. Mellow hoppy citrus nose, pretty unremarkable taste but its a very drinkable, refreshing beer with a crisp bittersweet finish. Really just tastes like a blander version of Sierra Nevada.
goodwilltasting grade: B-
goodwilltasting 