Shipyard Longfellow Winter Ale - Shipyard Brewing Co.

xXTequila

Massachusetts

4.9/5  rDev +26%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

This is my favorite from Shipyard. it's the perfect winter beer.

Serving type: bottle

10-03-2001 13:01:12 | More by xXTequila

MaineBeerMan

Maine

4.83/5  rDev +24.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Dark, nearly opaque brown, with ruby highlights when held to the light. Beer had a big head of tan foam that retained a long time before shrinking to a thin layer that left plenty of lace.
The smell of malt dominates, with a chocolate character being prevalent and a bit of a burnt coffee smell detectable too.
Flavors of chocolate, toasted malt and some cold coffee mingle on the tongue before a bit of hop bitterness makes its appearance. Very nice flavor, becomes more complex as the beer warms up a bit.
The mouthfeel was very smooth, with a fairly light carbonation and a medium body. The hops hang on a bit at the end with a lingering dry bitterness.
This is another Winter beer that I don't ever seem to get enough of, very drinkable, get it if you can.

Serving type: bottle

12-07-2002 18:48:34 | More by MaineBeerMan

rabidawg

Georgia

4.78/5  rDev +22.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Appearance: A deep mahogany with a nice fluffy tan head. Decent lacing, and average carbonation.

Smell: Buttery, sweet, and rich. Loads of dark, malty goodness, with dark fruits and toasted nuts.

Taste: Heavy buttery overtones, but certainly not overwhelming. This beer is flat out average when cold, but is absolutely incredible as it warms. Thick, sticky, chewy, and delicious. Dark, dried fruits aged in a root cellar with just enough hop presence to balance things out well. One of my absolute favorite beers, and an absolute must-try if in New England in the wintertime.

Serving type: bottle

02-27-2004 02:34:32 | More by rabidawg

StevieW

Florida

4.63/5  rDev +19%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

12 oz bottle with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow staring at you. Reminds me of the great Rodney Dangerfield line in "Back to School" "Maybe we can work on my Longfellow tonight ?" Back to the beer.
Deep beautiful clear mahogoney color. Color of dark teak wood. Rich smell of coffee, toffe, chocolate, carmel, and sweet pecan pie. Taste is every bit the match and more. Toffe sweetness up front. Some slightly roasted coffee bitterness. Chocolate presence is also very noticable. Very complex, balanced and very flavorful beer. Even carbonation, medium bodied. Nothing out of place. Chocolate and hop bitterness lingers. Very very good beer. This is not just a chocolate flavored beer though. It's hard to pin down. Maybe a cross between a porter, a belgian strong ale, and a stout. Whatever it is, It's really good, and worth a try. I really enjoyed this one ! I'm going back to pull off another mixed sampler pack..shhhh.
Could be the next Beer it forward sample....stay tuned.

Serving type: bottle

01-23-2003 18:27:17 | More by StevieW

Gambrinus1184

Connecticut

4.58/5  rDev +17.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Poured from a bomber bottle into an Erdinger weizen glass.

A: Poured a rich brown with vibrant ruby highlights when held to the light. The head wound up reducing to a fine layer of tan foam. I don't know if it was the pour or the glass, but the carbonation was so fierce, it poured almost as nothing but foam at first. Aggressive!

S: Smells of faint roasted caramel and charcoal, with a slight buttery citrus fruit smell, like grapefruit.

T: Taste is sweet and fruity malts up front, with a fairly sharp hop bitterness through the middle, before finishing with a rich, soft coffee or cappuccino bean aftertaste. Very much a porter, but with a very nice hop presence also.

M: Mouthfeel is robust and lively, given the nature of the carbonation and sweet mellow earthy flavors of the brew.

D: The warming alcohol effect makes the roasted malts and coffee flavors quite nice with the fruity alcohol esters. A great taste makes it easy to enjoy this one.

This is a really great winter sipper. Split a couple of bombers between friends on a snowy night and you'll have pure enjoyment at hand. Very good.

Serving type: bottle

02-24-2008 19:14:43 | More by Gambrinus1184

Jason

Massachusetts

4.5/5  rDev +15.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Presentation: 12 oz. brown long neck. Faded violet label with a head pic of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. No freshness date.

Appearance: Dark ruby with a very light tan frothy head.

Smell: Esters, ripe fruit and butterscotch perfume from this brew.

Taste: Hints of roasted, light chocolate and ripe fruit up front, then a slightly assertive hop bitterness, touch of butter, faint smoke/charcoal and a warming alcohol presence. In the after is some caramel and lingering hop bitterness that finishes quite nice.

Notes: Very much like a porter with some scotch ale qualities, quite a big ale ... beautiful for dismal winter days of snow, ice, sleet, freezing rain, hail, slush and so on.

Serving type: bottle

03-21-2002 16:57:57 | More by Jason

bewareOFpenguin

Massachusetts

4.5/5  rDev +15.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Winter seasonals are my favorite, so seeing this at the local watering hole sparked my interest. It poured nice and dark, with that chocolate coloured head. The first drink bursted in my mouth with the taste of roasted hops. It seemed more a stout than an ale, but I wasn't complaining. It went down way to quick. Excellent.

Serving type: on-tap

01-03-2003 07:09:38 | More by bewareOFpenguin

NeroFiddled

Pennsylvania

4.5/5  rDev +15.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Pours a hazy brown body with a light reddish cast and deep mahogany highlights. It's two-fingered, frothy, light-tan head slowly drops to a quarter-inch of creamy surface covering amongst some very nice lace. A pleasing nose expresses caramel, toffee, mild butterscotch, and a berry-like/apple fruitiness. The body is firm with a fine, moderate carbonation that gently caresses the tongue before becoming creamy and smooth across the palate. In the mouth, rich notes of caramelized sugar and butterscotch are tempered by a mild chocolate character and roasty edge. Some almost-tropical fruitiness appears at the outset, and then again midway through the mouth after the sweetness and buttery notes have passed, but gives way to a drying roasty cusp and bold (but balanced) bitterness. Some alcohol is clearly present, but it works well within the blanket of malt and seems more warming/comforting than intrusive. It finishes dry with some mild lingering caramel and bitterness. This is an exceptionally well-rounded winter beer that seems to straddle several styles and I love it for it's individuality and uniqueness. It has the unobtrusive bitterness and buttery diacetyl note of a brown ale; the fuller chocolatey/caramel note of a porter; and the rich maltiness of a Scotch ale. It's not so strong or full, however, that it needs to be set aside as an after-dinner drink; and it's surely a winter gem that could grace any festive table. Well worth trying!

Serving type: bottle

03-25-2003 18:02:46 | More by NeroFiddled

edchicma

Massachusetts

4.5/5  rDev +15.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Rich chocolate color. Smell invites you to drink. Taste has a hint of chocolate and announces that this is a beer to sip. A bit of a bite that grabs your taste buds and lingers....tart but refreshing. Mouthfeel is neat, reminding you that this is a graet beer to sip.
Drinkability is excellent, but don't gulp!

Serving type: bottle

03-28-2003 16:26:46 | More by edchicma

tonyfugere

North Carolina

4.5/5  rDev +15.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

After receiving this beer from a Beer of the Month subscription with Amazing Clubs a few months ago, I finally cracked one open.

I am a fan of darker beers and this one is exceptionally tasty. The nutty aroma, wonderful porter taste, smooth drinkability, and hoppy finish makes it a 4.5 across the board for me. Being a fan of the darker beers, I enjoyed the pouring. The color and slightly frothy head really excited me. A deep breath in through the nose before the first sip alerted my senses to the drinking enjoyment that was to come. I highly recommend this beer to any porter fan!

I am holding back on giving it the full 5.0 because it does seem to miss a few of my taste buds, personally. I try to compare this beer's experience with previous porters and it is missing something that other ones have done for me.

However, keep in mind that this was bottled and in a box traveling across the US to Albuquerque, NM via UPS. The bottle's best by date is not marked either. I am not familiar with how Amazing Clubs works in terms of logistics. It could have been sitting on a shelf with them for an extended period of time. I imagine that finding this on tap or freshly bottled in Maine would make this beer a 5.0.

Serving type: bottle

02-06-2009 00:28:13 | More by tonyfugere

FLBeerGuy

Florida

4.38/5  rDev +12.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

On cask at Coasters in Melbourne, FL.

Pours black with a thick and dark tan head. The head is rich and creamy. The nose on the beer is chocolate, toffee, caramel and roasted malts. The taste is much like the nose, chocolate, toffee, caramel and roasted malts. Some of the other reviews said it had a lot of carbonation. I thought it was light in carbonation, no doubt helped by the beer engine. This beer goes down smooth, almost like an oatmeal stout.

This is a nice smooth porter that I highly recommend

Serving type: cask

01-03-2009 00:16:08 | More by FLBeerGuy

redleaves

Maine

4.38/5  rDev +12.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Pours black, little to no head. Into an imperial dimple mug. I expected winter warmer when I read the label. It kind is a cross between a winter warmer a lighter porter and kind of stoutish. Roasty, but not too roasty, heavy but not too heavy. Kinda sweet and juicy, but not too much. A very solid drinker, great mouthfeel and perfect carbonation. One of shipyards best offerings. Too bad they don't distribute more. Could be a huge 6 pack seller for them. I picked it up at the federal jacks store, first place I've seen it!

Serving type: bottle

12-05-2011 15:57:25 | More by redleaves

selecter70

Massachusetts

4.35/5  rDev +11.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Ahh...I definitely liked this one a bunch! A good winter ale without the hyped-up spices found in abundance with some. A nice dark brown, near black pour with ruby-red edges of light, and a good burnt beige 2 finger head that settled to 1. Nice clinging stick lace and an aroma of lemon-malt with nuts & chocolate. The flavor is a rich malt with hints of said dark chocolate and lemon, leaving a mild smoke in the tip of the nose at the end. Crisp and slightly bitter with smooth malt flavor, this is a highly drinkable porter-style ale.

Serving type: on-tap

02-12-2009 00:05:11 | More by selecter70

feloniousmonk

Minnesota

4.33/5  rDev +11.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Dark brown body, reddish 'round the edges, under a fizzy, cocoa-colored head that slips down to size with a quickness.
Aroma, dark fruits, nuts, nuts, some spices, a bit cola-esque, but it gets better through time, opens up and becomes more awake and alive, feels like a snootful of a dank pine forest and all that comes with it...
Taste: quite interesting, dark, spicy, malty, but mellow, and I taste further things now, maple, rum, molasses, more than I can't exactly finger, though more able, adept minds surely could. Feels more complex of an ale the more I sip into it, and instantly qualifies as the best brew from Shipyard I've sampled so far. Rich flavor, sometimes fruity, sometimes treacly continues to delight, and altogether this brew is a worthy ale to close a night in freezy mid-January Minnesota. If I had further samples at my side, this is one winter brew I could really get comfortable with!
Cheers to another fine Maine brew, and to rabidawg for sending it my way!

Serving type: bottle

12-16-2003 10:01:55 | More by feloniousmonk

jtw5877

Ohio

4.33/5  rDev +11.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Pours a medium to dark brown hue with a tan head, smells kind of like a bells kalamazoo stout. This is an interesting holiday brew, it is dark,smokey (a little bit of roasted malt), a little bit of chocolatey stout kinda flavor, yet kind of a medium mouthfeel not to overwhelming. A standout beer in the Shipyard gift pack.

Serving type: bottle

12-23-2003 00:33:34 | More by jtw5877

LuckySevens82

Florida

4.33/5  rDev +11.3%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

22 oz bomber with a picture of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow on the label.
Pours a very nice burgandy with a tan head that is thick and rocky. In certain lights this brew appears to be brown, but I like it better as a burgandy.
Cramel, dark malts, and fruits dominate the aroma. Currants and cranberries peak through as well. There also seems to be a hint of cinnamon.
Very spicy, this one. Cinnamon is definately a part of this beer. There is also a very nice cranberry taste that is complemented nicely by the faint hop and citrus flavors (lemon and orange specifically).
This is a great winter warmer, so great, in fact, I could drink it any time of year.

Serving type: bottle

04-27-2004 02:35:00 | More by LuckySevens82

almychristopher

New York

4.3/5  rDev +10.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

looks like a beautiful porter to me, poured with a nice thick tan head over the very clear, yet very dark brew, the red highlights and now lacey head have a nice fruity roasted character, and while the chocolate malts are there in the taste there are a lot of other flavors at work as well. The hops are mild and in the background. the lower carbonation in this beer kind of lets the malts take it in the mouthfeel department... but still goes down pretty smoothly and I'd say it's a nice drinkable porter. thanks for the beer there weswes.

Serving type: bottle

06-15-2008 02:48:56 | More by almychristopher

dpend

Florida

4.25/5  rDev +9.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

22oz. Bottle

Appearance is a deep brown with tinges of red. Has a thick nutty head that dissipates relatively quickly.Aroma is sweet caramel malt. A bit of chocolate is present in both smell and taste.With a bit more hop kick, this beer would taste like a porter.I'm liking this beer a lot and have found myself going back to it again and again.

Serving type: bottle

11-15-2003 14:03:35 | More by dpend

TLove

District of Columbia

4.25/5  rDev +9.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

22 oz bomber to Palm snifter.

A real jewel of a winter brew. This is a real solid winter ale from the part of New England that knows how to drink through a long winter.

Some nice spices, black/brown color with a bit of beige head that was a bit explosive. Had to tone it back a little. 2 1/2 finger dinger of a head with good retention and some great nutty scents along with a bit of cherry and chocolate malt.

Some good winter spices of nutmeg, coriander, and anise, with a porter-like feel and consistency. The maltiness is strong. Feels like drinking a beer of a much higher ABV and much thicker than a typical winter ale. A bit smokey on the back end, but a wonderful, full body and great balance on the finish.

Serving type: bottle

12-03-2009 04:01:02 | More by TLove

kylehay2004

Florida

4.23/5  rDev +8.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A: single finger tan thick head on a very deep amber/dark brown clear body.

S: molasses, cinnamon, roasted malts, caramel and brown sugar.

T: spices, dark chocolate, roasted malts, hint of espresso, earthy hops. Mild bitterness to the finish.

M: medium body and moderate carbonation.

Overall: complex, flavorful and probably the best beer I have had from Shipyard which doesnt say a whole lot but this is certainly a good one.

Serving type: bottle

12-28-2012 23:47:16 | More by kylehay2004

BierReise

Florida

4.22/5  rDev +8.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Beautiful dark Tootsie Roll brown with an impressive head that slightly laces. Smell is classic strong ale, earthy and sweet with subtle alcohol mixed in. Looks like a Porter and tastes almost like one with its smoked malt. Chocolate notes with Tettnang and Goldings providing some bitterness. Great smooth full bodied ale and probably the best I've had from Shipyard.

Serving type: bottle

05-07-2003 14:10:10 | More by BierReise

BWMKappaSig

Connecticut

4.22/5  rDev +8.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance: Mahogany with a thin tan head.

Smell: Roasted malts and a little caramel. As it warms you get a somewhat fruity and buttery note.

Taste: Dry roasted taste with some bittersweet chocolate notes. You get a little hoppiness in the back end that isn't prevalent in the smell. Very enjoyable.

Mouthfeel: Perfectly dry and smooth, nice medium body.

Drinkability: Great porter!

Serving type: bottle

02-07-2009 00:40:51 | More by BWMKappaSig

Asgeirr

Sweden

4.2/5  rDev +8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Appearance: Shipyard Brewing Co's Longfellow Winter Ale pours a dark maroon-to-bistre colour along with a very tall (2 ½ to 3 ½ fingers!) and solid light brown crown which gradually dimishes in a slow pace and leaves plenty of lacing.

Smell: Intense sensations of roasted, caramelly malts. Rye bread (or sour dough) comes to mind.

Taste: Somewhat sweet in a almost milk/cream stout-ish way (namely vanilla) combined with a tad of bitterness, a subtile acidic sensation can also be hinted. The aftertaste, however, is overall that of the roasted malts and chocolate, with hints of bitterness (and happens to be the taste part with greatest longevity).

Mouthfeel: Medium full, very smooth and low in carbonation.

Drinkability: The resonance between the smell and the taste experience tell of a beer that has been produced in such a way that the results are so satisfying that it must be enjoyed on more then one occation.

(Served from a 22 oz bottle)

Serving type: bottle

10-23-2008 19:42:19 | More by Asgeirr

oberon

North Carolina

4.18/5  rDev +7.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5

By far my favorite beer from Shipyard,pours a deep ruby with a light but sticky head,aroma is nice malty sweet and chocolaty.Taste is right up my alley with a nice malty flavor with some sweetness with some roated flavors its a real warmer.Liked it much better on cask than in the bottle.Would like to have again on cask..

Serving type: cask

10-18-2003 22:47:19 | More by oberon

beernut7

Massachusetts

4.15/5  rDev +6.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

This tasty cask ale is a pure pleasure of the season. Deep dark color with almost no head, the aroma is prominently buttery sweet. The flavor is hoppy and the body heavy and smooth. Very complex and flavorful real ale.

Serving type: cask

11-06-2002 14:47:44 | More by beernut7