Stone Coast Sunday River Alt

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

Amongst the two cases of beer that I brought back from Maine with me included a bottle of this interesting alt-style beer.

Appearence and aroma-wise, this beer is right on the money per the style guidelines. Nice dusky amber, with perhaps slight hints of red. And a clean medium- to low-hop aroma, keeping with the altbier guidelines of having most, if not all, of the hops in the beginning of the boil.

Taste: a slight let-down, when this altbier transformed itself into something more akin to a standard amber ale. Not bad at all, but not enough biterness hops to make things interesting. In addition, part of the altbier style dictates that it be cold-conditioned, to smooth out the flavor. Whether this was done with this beer or not is up to debate, but think that perhaps a bit more cold-conditioning would be in order. This also ties into the mouthfeel and drinkability.

Tastes a bit young ("green") for an altbier. Not bad, but room for improvement.
//TB

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

Deep red/amber color topped with a medium thick foamy head and good lace. Sweet malty aroma with a slight fuitiness and hop background. Sweet hoppy flavor well balanced with maltiness and a touch of fruitiness. very nice flavor. Medium bodied with a slight dryness yet very smooth.

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

Nice deep dark color, decent head, generous lace. Malt nose with some floral undertones and to me just a hit of cocoa, full body, nice hop presence, but not overly so. Moderate carbonation and somewhat dry finish. Quite a good beer