Shipyard Beers

JeffPorter · Post by **JeffPorter** » Mon Sep 17, 2012 8:18 pm

I've been pleasantly surprised with the two Shipyard beers I've tried. I can't really understand the mediocre review on BA and RB.

The Imperial Porter is a classic robust porter. A little less hoppy and more sweet than say GLB, but lots of great roasty chocolatey flavours with quite a smooth and full mouth feel. Would I rather have a bourbon barrel GLB? Probably, but this is a nice substitute.

Drinking the Barley Wine now, and I love it's classic English taste. It's the malts and not the hops that are the star here - dark and rich - the label says there's caramunich and chocolate malts in here and they are really nice. Hops are definitely there, but they certainly don't overwhelm the beer like they do in other U.S. Barley Wines - not that I mind that, but I love a good English Barley wine and English IPA sometimes to bring me down to earth. The only thing is this doesn't strike me as a barely wine that would age well, because it already seems kind of mellow - In fact it tastes like big a barley wine that's already been in the bottle for a year or two.

Maybe a little light on the mouth feel, but the drinkability makes up that. Haven't tried the XXXX IPA yet, but given the fact that I wasn't crazy about the Smashed Pumpkin last year (I put one aside to see if the booziness would settle) it was nice being surprised by these two.

studious · Post by **studious** » Fri Sep 21, 2012 1:48 pm

Had the Imperial Porter last night and thought it was ok. I enjoyed the taste but it was just a touch too carbonated and thin for me to really love.

Of course, my judgement may have been clouded by the Bellwoods Hellwoods I had earlier in the evening. Whooo-weee that is a hella boozy, powerful and delicious imperial stout!

heebes · Post by **heebes** » Sun Sep 23, 2012 3:21 pm

the XXXX ipa is most certainly into Barley Wine territory at this point thanks to the lcbo: stale beer authority.

saints_gambit · Post by **saints_gambit** » Sun Sep 23, 2012 5:27 pm

I think the imperial porter is a case of poor marketing. You call that a robust porter, it would be easier to get behind. Managing expectations is important.

To be honest with you, I'm not like... overwhelmingly pleased with any of the Shipyard beers. I think the best of them is probably the Barley Wine. The IPA is actually slightly less hoppy than the Barley Wine, which might be fine if people were unlikely to buy all four and think of them within the same mode.

The Pumpkin beer is a little too gingery for my taste. Not necessarily bad, but not really what I think of in terms of pumpkin spice balance.

G.M. Gillman · Post by **G.M. Gillman** » Sun Sep 23, 2012 5:40 pm

I had the XXXX IPA but didn't like it, it seemed papery sort of. Perhaps it's one of those matured tastes I don't get.

Looking forward to the Imperial Porter and Barley Wine though.

Finishing now my last bottle of the (historic recipe) Fuller Double Stout released last year, it must be some two years from bottling. Ice cold too which I rarely do for any beer. Great! Rounded and biscuity/smoky/bitter/soy-like. The quintessence of fine beer.

Gary

cratez · Post by **cratez** » Sun Sep 23, 2012 7:27 pm

Taken as a series I like four out of the five.

The Porter is the only miss for me, as I find it too malty-sweet and leathery, with not enough hops to balance. Even when I mixed it with the Double IPA (hoping for a Black IPA or at least an American Porter taste), it still had a one dimensional maltiness. Definitely lacking in complexity.

By contrast the Smashed Blueberry from earlier this year is one of the best fruit beers I've ever sampled.

The Barley Wine is solid too - fruity and roasty with a rich, full-bodied mouthfeel and bitter-drying finish. The hop character is stronger than I expected for a (mostly) English-style barley wine; perhaps the Summit hops add some extra 'oomph.'

The XXXX is good and strikes me as a cross between an English IPA and American DIPA, which is unsurprising given the use of Ringwood yeast and US hops. I get a slight diacetyl note that somehow doesn't detract from the beer's orangey-citric-piney flavour. More of a nuance I guess.

I haven't had this year's Smashed Pumpkin but I recall it being my favourite release from the 2011 Halloween feature, and one of the few pumpkin ales - along with GR Highballer - that has a noticeable hop bite. So I'll be giving it another go.

Overall I think these Signature beers are worth trying if only because they offer something different in a retail market that doesn't have many extreme beers lying around. I'll be grabbing more of the Blueberry and Barley Wine before they run out, the IPA is a possible repeat, and I'm looking forward to having the Pumpkin again. I don't usually buy more than a few bottles of each offering from these Brewery Features so viewed in that light I'd say this is a decent release on par with the rest that we've had so far.

phat matt · Post by **phat matt** » Sun Oct 07, 2012 10:49 am

Bought a bottle of each of the release. had the barley wine last night, and I enjoyed it. The warmer it got the more I enjoyed it. Looking forward to the rest of them.

icemachine · Post by **icemachine** » Sun Oct 07, 2012 10:52 am

Had the XXXX the other day, definitely seemed to have less bittering hops than the bottle I had a couple years ago, still good, but just seemed more of an English Strong Ale than a DIPA

G.M. Gillman · Post by **G.M. Gillman** » Sun Oct 07, 2012 2:48 pm

Viz. the Imperial Porter: definitely not blask (Swedish term for industrial beer I've seen used lately), but a little restrained for the Imperial designation, IMO. Also, I don't get that much warm-fermentation character in it. Certainly decent enough, but I wouldn't revisit.

Gary

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Mon Oct 08, 2012 1:16 am

I've decided to pass on these for now. Smashed was definitely interesting!

As a rule - not just with this - I'm not rushing to buy every 8-14 dollar single beer just for a slightly taller bottle than a 500ml. Not without any justification. It's gotten silly in my opinion, with very little approaching the quality level of, say Stone products in that price range. I don't begrudge all the marketing one bit though, power to 'em!

Interesting notes guys.

TheSevenDuffs · Post by **TheSevenDuffs** » Mon Oct 08, 2012 8:29 am

Belgian wrote:I've decided to pass on these for now. Smashed was definitely interesting!

Me too. I was in a LCBO for the first time in about 3 months on Friday and in that time frame there still wasn't much new that had shown up and was worth purchasing.

heebes · Post by **heebes** » Mon Oct 08, 2012 3:23 pm

Tried the smashed pumpkin last night. Definately got that metallic taste others mentioned, what a letdown. I remember liking it the most last year. Pumking hands down winner for imported pumpkin this year and Highballer for best local pumplkin.

Frere Ambroise · Post by **Frere Ambroise** » Tue Oct 09, 2012 5:41 pm

FYI -- Today there were about half a dozen Smashed Blueberry being discounted at the LCBO at Erin Mills Town Centre. I think is was marked down to $6.10/each.

sprague11 · Post by **sprague11** » Wed Oct 10, 2012 6:17 pm

icemachine wrote:Had the XXXX the other day, definitely seemed to have less bittering hops than the bottle I had a couple years ago, still good, but just seemed more of an English Strong Ale than a DIPA

I think I said the same thing in my rating.

Got a Great Lakes Robust Porter waiting for me when I get out of work.