Sea Dog Topsham Pale Ale

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

Had a pint of this pulled from the cask yesterday afternoon, while I was taking a late-lunch at the Sea Dog location, in Topsham ME.

First of all, this seemed way too fizzy for the serving method.. That is to say, I saw with my own eyes that this was hand-pumped, but the pint of beer I ended up with had way too much carbonation (especially with the rather thick and fluffy head of foam on top). I'm told that some outfits fit a CO2 tank to their casks, with just enough pressure to keep a blanket of CO2 between the air coming in and the beer going out. While sacrilegious to CAMRA folks, it does keep the beer drinkabkle a little longer. Either way, maybe Sea Dog was pumping in more than trace amounts of Carbon Dioxide, giving this beer some unexpected zest? {shrug}.

Anyway, aside from the appearence, this beer really didn't hold any surprises, IMO. Standard English/New Englandish vibe to the aroma- and flavor-profiles (i.e. some yeast-derived esters here and there, more malt and less hops in the overall presentation, and so on...). All well and good, and it all comes together for a nice session beer, IMO.

Nothing to go out of your way to seek out, but a solid East Coast Pale Ale, with enough zip to make things interesting. A good match for the Crab Caeser Salad that I had, on an otherwise quiet Tuesday afternoon.
//TB