Beer Review: Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale 2012

Serving Type: Draft

ABV: 5.1 percent

Appearance: If you looked at Pumpkinhead Ale without knowing what it was the percentages say that you wouldn't guess that it's a pumpkin ale. The body has a goldish hue to it. It's slightly hazy and has a thin white head with pretty weak retention. When the waiter asked us if we wanted another beer his words were "More Coors Lights?"

Smell: There's a tiny bit of pumpkin in the aroma of this beer, but you kind of have to make a couple of attempts to even notice it. Not much spice hits you either.

Taste: Where the spices were absent in the smell, they are quite noticeable here. Some nutmeg and cinnamon are prevalent. Just when you think you're on the upside you suddenly find yourself looking for the pumpkin. which there extremely noticeable. I didn't taste much at all. This beer is really watered down, too.

Overall Rating:  

This didn't go well for me at all. It comes off as a really light beer. The flavors and scents don't come all of the way through and the waiter thought my uncle and I were drinking Coors Light. I still encourage you to give it a try for yourself, though. You be the judge.

Beer Review: Shipyard Smashed Blueberry

Serving Type: Draft


ABV: Nine percent


Appearance: I was really shocked when I saw this beer for the first time. When you see a beer with blueberry anywhere in its name, you don't necessarily expect to see this. Smashed Blueberry is almost a dark, black beer. I also noticed quite a few purple, yet blue tones floating around in the body. It features a flat, khaki head without much life to it. It's almost as if the dark color of the beer forbids the head to be adventurous.


Smell: The smell of this beer wasn't exactly sweet, but a slight tartness of blueberries is discernible. I also got a strong hint of roasted malts as well as some dark chocolate.


Taste: The malts and the dark chocolate are the two dominant flavors. The blueberry isn't as strong as I had hoped, but makes for a great finish on the back. In essence, the stronger flavors give way to the fruitiness at the end of a sip. The alcohol content is also noticeable on the tongue.


Overall Rating: 

This was a really interesting take on blueberry beers for me. I've never had one which featured darker and maltier flavors in front of the blueberry tartness. This beer was really enjoyable.

Beer Review: Shipyard Applehead

Serving Type: Draft

ABV: 4.5 percent

Appearance: Applehead instantly reminded me of apple juice with its golden color. It also kind of appeared as your typical glass of cider. There was plenty of carbonation (a characteristic I've noticed in many ciders) and a slightly bubbly white head with decent retention.

Smell: This beer had a pleasant scent to it. Surprisingly, apple isn't the dominant scent. I got strong hints of wheat and cinnamon. The apple was very secondary. The smell certainly sets this beer apart from ciders that might relate to it.

Taste: I loved the taste of Applehead, but maybe that's because I love drinking hard ciders. There was plenty of apple on the tongue, but the best way to describe this beer with the wheat and the cinnamon is an apple pie. I almost wanted to warm this a tad in the microwave.

Overall Rating:    

I'm sure most of you wouldn't give this four-of-five, but the perfect mix of sweetness and tartness with the apples blew my mind when I drank this. A lot of people aren't big fans of fruit beers. I still am. I'm also currently looking for a six pack of this beer.