Shipyard Brewers
Choice Special Ale 2006 Edition
Review Date 11/25/2006
Try?
Re-buy?
What’s up with
Shipyard’s Brewer’s Choice 2006 Special Ale? OK, I’m a bit late to
the party, because this stuff (at least the 2006 batch) was released much
earlier in the year. I bought some in the spring, and I’ve had a few bottles
left kicking around in my beer fridge since then. And you know, it’s really
a great beer.
But I was under the impression that Shipyard was doing a different beer each year for their Brewer’s Choice line. And, of course as we all know, they did a brown ale in 2005, too. It was really good, I’ll have to admit, so maybe they’re just doing an encore. Let’s pour ourselves a glass and see, shall we?
Shipyard Brewer’s Choice 2006 Brown Ale pours to a dark brown color (light will pass through if you hold it up to a lamp) with a good sized creamy head formation and a fruity buttery nose. The first sip reveals a full and luxurious mouthfeel as the liquid rolls nicely over the tongue.
The beer is very complex with rich and delightful, slightly buttery Ringwood yeast notes. I get spicy notes of candied fruit, a little chocolate, molasses, toasted nuts, spice cake, raisin and plum pudding. The finish is sweet, with not much in the way of hops: just enough to keep from being too sweet. Indeed, this beer smacks of a fine Yorkshire style ale ala Old Peculier if you ask me.
Which you did, or you wouldn’t be reading. OK, so we’ve established that this is a really nice brown ale, a really, really nice one. But, if we take a look at last year’s version, we can see that it was pretty much the same beer (though the 2006 is maybe a tad sweeter, so they may have fiddled with the malt and hop varieties and levels):
Shipyard Brewer’s Choice 2005 Brown Ale pours to a rather dark brown color with a light creamy tan head formation and delightfully buttery nose. The palate is packed with rich notes of butterscotch, toffee, raisin, candied fruit, chocolate, and mushroomy Ringwood yeast flavors.
In some ways, the beer is reminiscent of Shipyard Old Thumper in its dark malt character, though this is a far sweeter beer. To be sure, there are hops in the finish, though they gently kiss the drinker with their grassy aroma and only keep the beer from being overly sweet, not from actually being sweet.
Mind you, I’m not complaining, and it’s good to know that this is a beer that you can age with confidence, as I think that, properly stored, it will retain it’s wonderfully rich dark malt flavor for some time to come.
And if you do see some of the 2006 remaining, it might be a good idea to snap it up. Shipyard has announced that the 2007 Brewer’s Choice will be a Honey Porter. So grab the Brown Ale while you still can.
But I was under the impression that Shipyard was doing a different beer each year for their Brewer’s Choice line. And, of course as we all know, they did a brown ale in 2005, too. It was really good, I’ll have to admit, so maybe they’re just doing an encore. Let’s pour ourselves a glass and see, shall we?
Shipyard Brewer’s Choice 2006 Brown Ale pours to a dark brown color (light will pass through if you hold it up to a lamp) with a good sized creamy head formation and a fruity buttery nose. The first sip reveals a full and luxurious mouthfeel as the liquid rolls nicely over the tongue.
The beer is very complex with rich and delightful, slightly buttery Ringwood yeast notes. I get spicy notes of candied fruit, a little chocolate, molasses, toasted nuts, spice cake, raisin and plum pudding. The finish is sweet, with not much in the way of hops: just enough to keep from being too sweet. Indeed, this beer smacks of a fine Yorkshire style ale ala Old Peculier if you ask me.
Which you did, or you wouldn’t be reading. OK, so we’ve established that this is a really nice brown ale, a really, really nice one. But, if we take a look at last year’s version, we can see that it was pretty much the same beer (though the 2006 is maybe a tad sweeter, so they may have fiddled with the malt and hop varieties and levels):
Shipyard Brewer’s Choice 2005 Brown Ale pours to a rather dark brown color with a light creamy tan head formation and delightfully buttery nose. The palate is packed with rich notes of butterscotch, toffee, raisin, candied fruit, chocolate, and mushroomy Ringwood yeast flavors.
In some ways, the beer is reminiscent of Shipyard Old Thumper in its dark malt character, though this is a far sweeter beer. To be sure, there are hops in the finish, though they gently kiss the drinker with their grassy aroma and only keep the beer from being overly sweet, not from actually being sweet.
Mind you, I’m not complaining, and it’s good to know that this is a beer that you can age with confidence, as I think that, properly stored, it will retain it’s wonderfully rich dark malt flavor for some time to come.
And if you do see some of the 2006 remaining, it might be a good idea to snap it up. Shipyard has announced that the 2007 Brewer’s Choice will be a Honey Porter. So grab the Brown Ale while you still can.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft
