Sebago Brewing Co.
Gorham, ME
This red ale is made with only two hop additions to the kettle as opposed to three in most of Sebago’s other brews. This brings out the malt character. It is a well-balanced beer suitable for pairing with all types of foods including spicy sauces, BBQ, grilled meats, vinaigrettes and most any seafood.
ABV: 5.0
ABW: 4.0
COLOR: 25.4
BITTERNESS: 37.4
ORIGINAL GRAVITY: 1061
AVAILABLE: CT, ME, RI, VT
Generous amounts of caramel malts and ripe apple aromas—I love a beer that isn’t shy on the nose—perfect for the fall weather. There’s a fairly light body, but it’s loaded to the gunwales with dry malt flavor, with a firm bitter keel that cuts deeper toward the finish. This should be great with harvest foods: full-grain bread, turkey and chicken, roast pork. Excellent with a sharp cheddar, too. Definitely floats my boat.
Any questions about the maltiness of this reddish-orange ale are answered in the first sniff, with caramel apple and cherry notes dominant and a hint of cinnamon toast in the background. The body starts like the aroma finishes, with mildly spicy maltiness, before growing more dry and modestly bitter with nutty hoppiness leading to a finish that is dry and quenching, if a bit fleeting. The body is arguably on the thin side, but I could get behind a few pints of this on a hot afternoon.
Lew Bryson writes about beer and whiskey from his home in southeast Pennsylvania. He has a family and two dogs. That’s all you need to know.
Once described as “beerdom’s Brillat-Savarin,” Stephen Beaumont is the co-author of The World Atlas of Beer, five other books, and countless articles on beer, spirits, food, and how it all goes together.
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