Shipyard Summer Ale: 7.5 – What? Yeah it’s still frozen outside, maybe some of us want to live on island time alright? And for those who wish to join grab this Shipyward as it’s a nice summer ale with some good spice and citrus and is overall pretty much exactly what you want.
Price Average: $10 for 6-pack
Website: https://shipyard.com/
Straight To The Noggin: 5.0 – Make no mistake, you know why you bought this beer – or why you would. It’s because the idea of an eggnog beer is quirky enough to try – regardless of what we’ll say. What we say is that it very much feels like a combo of nutmeg, eggnog, and a white ale. What we’ll also say is that while that combo is true – it just feels wrong. Not in the ‘oh chocolate is so bad for I’ll have another piece though’ more in the ‘your brewers were so busy thinking if they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should’ kinda way.
Price Average: $9 for 4-pack
Website: https://shipyard.com/
Shipyard Pumpkinhead: 8.0 – While we have reviewed formally the Smashed Pumpkin from Shipyard, we never actually gave a review of Pumpkinhead – mostly because we were too busy drinking it. We often get things to review as sort of an extra – whereas Pumpkinhead was always just a staple – why review it? Well I felt we should, because this is without a doubt the perfect blend of pumpkin, drinkability, and beer that you can get for a pumpkin beer. Are their better pumpkin beers – yes? But not that many, and those are on occasion – pumpkinhead isn’t meant to be a Ferrari, it’s your dependable Saab, and you wouldn’t change that.
Happy Thanksgiving folks, enjoy it with a Pumpkinhead.
Google Shop Average: Shipyard Pumpkinhead $8 for a 6-pack
Website: http://www.shipyard.com/
Prelude: 5.0 – Even Shipyard is not immune to a bourbon barrel aged beer mellowing out whatever taste was there to the point where you no longer enjoy the beer. This is simply mild and lacks any sort of gravitas, which considering this was a Shipyard big beer – I really wanted that.
Google Shop Average: Prelude $15
Website: http://www.shipyard.com/
Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin Ale: 7.5 – Now the trouble here is that Shipyard already makes Pumpkinhead which in my mind is about as good as you can reasonably get for a goto pumpkin beer. The smashed pumpkin though goes for a larger taste and spice flavor, and it doesn’t disappoint, it sadly loses a bit of that easy-drinking that Pumpkinhead excels at.
Google Shop Average: Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin Ale $8
Website: http://www.shipyard.com/
Shipyard Mint Chocolate Stout: 5.5 – I admit I was rather excited by this due to Shipyard’s record of flavored beers (Pumpkinhead comes to mind); however the taste here is sadly just not enough mint. You get those chocolate flavors, and the stout is still there, and then like a whisper the mint is at the end, and it’s just a bit too weak.
Google Shop Average: Shipyard Mint Chocolate Stout $9
Website: http://www.shipyard.com/
We then go across the pond (more on that in the coming months btw), and try their British bitter style beer. Perhaps as it was cold I was more apt to enjoy it, but as I and everyone else found out British bitters are not terribly pleasant. Surely not an awful beer, but the aftertaste and overall feel of the beer doesn’t blend well.
Shipyard Old Thumper ESB: 5.5/10 – Ends weirdly, not a bad tasting brew but it’s not really enjoyable. This isn’t a beer you’d seek out, this is the beer that they have on tap that’s cheap, and while it’s not awful it can pair well with the right food, but it’s not a beer to write home about.
Google Shop Average: (Prices at Brew Haus for Draught) – $5.50
Website: http://www.shipyard.com/
We then were very much surprised by the Sea Dog Blueberry. Now being from WPI we know Wachusett’s Blueberry very well, but it never really struck us. Thankfully Shipyard has shown us the light and that when you make a blueberry beer you must not taste beer with hints of blueberry, but must feel like you’ve bitten into a pie with every sip.
Shipyard Sea Dog/Smashed Blueberry: 7.8/10 – Most blueberry beers are weak with a bit of blueberry taste thrown in, here it feels like they’ve really committed to the blueberry flavor and it really shows. The beer and hops are still prevalent but they’ve taken the back burner and honestly that’s what we want.
Google Shop Average: (Prices at Brew Haus for Draught) – $5.50
Website: http://www.shipyard.com/
Ahh finally onto a stout – now while this stout is in no way better than Guinness or Allagash draft it does beat Guinness bottles (again these are all on Draft and Guinness Draft may be one of the better things in this world.) However their selection is very solid and enjoyable.
Shipyard Blue Fin Stout: 7.4/10 – Its ends like a nice vanilla ice cream float, but overall it’s nicely balanced and flavorful. An all around good stout. We can’t begin to accurately describe the head on this beer, most heads are liquidly and to an extent half and half kinda creamy. It’s almost whipped here though and is nearly as thick as ice cream, which combos quite nicely with the rest of the stout.
Google Shop Average: (Prices at Brew Haus for Draught) – $5.50
Website: http://www.shipyard.com/
Our first foray was Shipyard’s main beer which is their Export Ale, but like most beers that are standard for the line we weren’t impressed though we acknowledge at times it’d be a great beer to have. Certainly above average it’s just not something we’d really go far that much.
Shipyard Export Ale: 6.6/10 – Good taste, it doesn’t grab us though. It’s got a nice flavor though, and the taste is a bit more bitter than your average Sam Adams or Smuttynose, but again it’s standard by release and taste.
Google Shop Average: (Prices at Brew Haus for Draught) – $5.50
Website: http://www.shipyard.com/