Shipyard Brewing Company Summer Ale-Craft Brew???

Maker: Shipyard Brewing Company

Label: Summer Ale

Type: American Wheat Beer

ABV: 5.1%

IBU: Not Listed (Low is my guess)

Awards: Los Angeles County Fair 2007-Silver

 

Shipyard Summer Ale ** Blast Rating!

Label Description: Shipyard Summer Ale is a traditional American wheat beer. With its inviting color and mellow malted wheat falvor, it’s sure to please those looking for a clean, cool taste sensation on long, hot summer days.

Price: $8.00 for a 6-pack at Walmart.

Aroma: Slightly spicy with a hint of citrus.

First Sip: Ok, so I am in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida right now and needed some brews for the house. I only wanted a 6-pack because I wasn’t going to be here very long. So, I figured I would go to a store, find a decent craft-brew and enjoy it. I searched 4 different stores to find anything close to a “craft-brew” and stumbled upon Shipyard’s Summer Ale. It said “HANDCRAFTED” right on the label so I thought, it’s worth a shot! First sip when I get home, it has a funny-off flavor. It almost tastes a little old. I check the date on the label and it says it is good until November 2015. It has a funny citrus flavor to it that I wasn’t expecting and has a very odd bitter flavor that I honestly do not think it is from the hops. Definitely does not taste like a craft brew. My first impression, not very good…

Middle of the Blast: Ok, so I am in the middle of the beer and I notice on the carrier that it says to enjoy with a lime or lemon. So I grab a lemon and cut a wedge and throw it in the bottle. Not much better. Still oddly bitter and has just a really odd citrus taste to it! Reading into Shipyard’s website, it says it is brewed with 2-Row British Pale Ale Malt, Munich, Malt, and Malted Wheat utilizing a Top-Fermenting English style yeast with Saphir and Willamette Hops. The Saphir Hops is a relatively new strain grown to be more pest and disease resistant that is typically used in German brews such as Pilsners, Lagers, and Belgian Whites. So why they used this one in their brew is beyond me. It has a described aroma of mild clean citrus with a hint of tangerine. So maybe this is the off-flavor I taste. I am really not sure, but still not really enjoy this one. 

Last Sip: Well, I powered through this one. Last sip is no better than the first one. Just an OK beer that to me has a very funny off flavor. I am not going to go too far into this because I simply did not enjoy it. 

Overall: Funny flavor, not very enjoyable, almost tastes old. Overall I was not very happy with this brew. This was the first of Shipyard Brewing Companies brews that I have tried and I will give them another chance with a different brew. I can’t expect to like every single beer I try and I just think they missed their mark with this one. 

Rating: ** I can only give this one a 2-star Blast rating. It just was not for me.

Update: So I wrote this at night after my first bottle. I decided after I wrote it to give it a second try that night to see if I had any different thoughts about it. Wasn’t very happy with the second bottle either. Here is the kicker, I woke up the next morning feeling completely awful. I had the worst headache and felt completely nauseous! The only thing that I had that was odd yesterday was the beer so I am coming to the conclusion that there may be something wrong with this batch. I don’t know if it sat in the heat or sun for too long during transport, if it was cooled, then heated, or if something just went wrong with the bottling. It is a twist off so maybe something got inside. I don’t know but this brew has something wrong with it. I am reaching out to Shipyard to let them know about it and see what they say. I will keep you Blasters posted on what I hear back from them!