Up-front coarse fig dryness of full-bodied Scottish Ale lingers above bittersweet black caramel-butterscotch expansion and wily licorice lick, gaining chocolate malt thickness to musty fruited midst. Soured mocha finish offset by late coming burnt cedar sweetness.
All posts by John Fortunato
SEQUOIA MOTO BREW PALE ALE
Fine moto-cross aligned pale body brings soft barley-oats roasting to coarse-hopped orange-apricot tang and almond-cashew fade. White bread crust finish never forfeits fruited frolic of admirable session beer.
SEBAGO RUNABOUT RED ALE
Warbled dark amber-clouded dry body lacks highly hopped sharp-fruited nature of archetypal red ale, depending instead on chestnut-roasted barleymalt scheme, sweet tobacco leaf crisping, honeyed pecan passage and dismal vegetal conflux to its toasted cereal grain spine. Flustered grape-skinned orange-tangerine-apple fruiting picks up tropical pineapple-mango-grapefruit succor but offensive phenol acridity, aspirin-like astringency and cardboard-like finish deaden impact.
SEBAGO LAKE TROUT STOUT
Robust jet black ruby-highlighted stout retains dry mocha bitterness usurped from hop-roasted coffee-burnt souring. At coarse java finish, caramelized vanilla recess penetrates subordinate mineral-watered earthen peat smear.
SEBAGO HEFE-WEIZEN
Golden-paled dry-bodied German knockoff pits initial quince-peach-pear timidity against oncoming banana bread sweetness. Further swallows found deepened honey penetration and tempered rye quip securing wheat foundation.
(SEBAGO) FRYE’S LEAP INDIA PALE ALE
Brisk cedar-spruced citric fruiting never relents. Bright tangerine-peach-apricot tang and grapefruit-soured orange rind bittering given sharp hop spicing before floral accents, piney resin and phenol acridity underscore copper-hazed medium body. Swelling malt-toasted dried tobacco sweetness upends lavish fruiting and root vegetable earthiness at bustling finish.
SEBAGO BASS ACKWARDS BERRYBLUE ALE
Despite brisk hop-frisked pep and easygoing white breaded lightness, wild blueberries get concealed in murky malt doldrums. Needs to push the fruitiness to the forefront.
SEA DOG WILD BLUEBERRY WHEAT ALE
Overwhelming blueberry sweetness invades the senses, coating the tongue so deeply its minor wheat base is barely felt. On follow-up swigs, modestly tart blackberry-raspberry rasp peaks through ester-y finish, receding to diacetyl flicker.
SEA DOG RIVERDRIVER PORTER
Withered hazelnut acridity becomes too one dimensional and overbearing for dry coffee and sweet chocolate to penetrate indifferent porter. Questionable dried fruit souring and tannic grape parch leave tart mouth pucker as disturbingly ashen coal-like hop char moderates compromised espresso bittering.
SEA DOG RASPBERRY WHEAT ALE
Dull sweet-tart raspberry theme gets delicately fizz-hopped, but dry-bodied fruit ale needs deeper fruit penetration, stronger wheat wafer resolve, and less soapy oxidized finish. In ’04, Pugsley Brewing (Portland, Maine) drafted similar version with honey-dripped lemony snicker detected.
SEA DOG INDIA PALE ALE
Durable dark amber IPA with thick foamy head and embittered wood-burnt red fruiting. Quite filling and given extra boost by polite dry-hopped spiciness at lingering citric-splashed finish.
SEA DOG HAZELNUT PORTER
Hazelnut surge adds unique exertion to otherwise indifferent porter. Delicate mocha sweetness and moderate coffee bitterness sneak through, but more body and character needed for true complexity.