Bar Harbor Real Ale
Atlantic Brewing Company - Town Hill / Mainely Meat BBQ

Draft in Bar Harbor. Pretty good ESB

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coming into this beer, I have to say that I didn’t expect too much because of the low rating. I mean, this dang sucker is like Nixon post Deep Throat low. That being said, after a sniff and a sip, it wasn’t that bad. On the nose was light cocoa, and I’ll say the same about the taste. It’s light, but it’s not repulsive like Tara Reid’s career post “The Big Lebowski.” The beer is just kind of “there,” and “average” like a subway sandwich when it was only 5 bucks.

Yep!

 

I tried this at the restaurant location in downtown Bar Harbor whilst there on vacation. The beer poured a clear rich mahogany with thin white head that left some lace. The scent had faint hints of dark fruit and bread. The taste was nicely balanced and easy to drink with subtle sweet malt to start then a yeast finish. The mouthfeel was lighter in body with good carbonation. Overall its a solid beer.

 

 

 

From a real, pours as dark hazzy brown with a thin off-white head. Taste is malt forward with zero yeast and minimal hops. Nice, drink all day, choice.

 

On tap at Taco Escobarr

12 ounce bottle into pint glass, best before 11/17/2018. Pours slightly hazy deep ruby red/brown color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense and rocky light khaki head with great retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Nice spotty foamy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of caramel, brown sugar, toffee, roasted nuts, brown bread dough/crust, and toasted biscuit; with lighter notes of chocolate, cocoa, coffee, raisin, plum, fig, pear, red apple, herbal, floral, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and complexity of dark/bready/light roasted malts and light-moderate fruity yeast/earthy hop notes; with solid strength. Taste of big caramel, brown sugar, toffee, roasted nuts, brown bread dough/crust, and toasted biscuit; with lighter notes of chocolate, cocoa, coffee, raisin, plum, fig, pear, red apple, herbal, floral, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Light-moderate herbal, floral, grassy, peppery, roasted bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of caramel, brown sugar, toffee, roasted nuts, brown bread dough/crust, toasted biscuit, chocolate, cocoa, coffee, dark fruit, herbal, floral, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Great complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready/light roasted malts and light-moderate fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; with a great malt/bitterness balance, and no cloying/astringent flavors after the finish. Light-moderate increasing dryness from lingering bitterness. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth, moderately creamy/bready/grainy, fairly sticky, and lightly chalky mouthfeel that is nice. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 5.2%. Overall this is a delicious English brown ale. All around nice complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready/light roasted malts and light-moderate fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; very smooth and easy to drink with the mellowly bitter/drying finish. Very flavorful and not watery for the ABV. Great rich and well rounded English malt complexity; with restrained fruity English yeast, and balancing earthy hops against sweetness. A very enjoyable offering, and spot on style example.

On tap at Mainely Meat in Bar Harbor, ME.

This one pours a dark-ish brown/red color, with a small white head, and not much lacing.

The aroma is inviting here, with some malty nuttiness, with light citrus, caramel, and toffee.

This is really quite basic, but I think it achieves what it is setting out to do here. There's a nice maltiness, not too sweet, rich, but dry, with a slightly tangy twitch on the finish.

This a little bit thin, but not watery, with a great level of drinkability, and typical level of carbonation.

I definitely like this beer more than most people seem to give it credit for here. It's a solid little beer.

 

Had this on draft. No head. Color was an espresso brown. Scant carbonation. A slight aroma of mocha. Mouthfeel was thin to watery. Taste was a fleeting flavor of caramel with a touch of smoke. No detectable hops.

This was my first draft in Maine. What a disappointment!

 

 

 

 

Poured from the bottle. Massive head lingers throughout. There's a real low ceiling on a brown ale, but it's decent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It poured a deep copper and left a small beige head. It left just a bit of lacing. The aroma had some faint roasted nuts and light caramel malts. The taste took those smells and made it sweet yet more bitter and dry altogether in the taste part of it. The palate was dry in the finish and aftertaste. Overall, a pretty good beer that I would have again in any season.

Look: Dark Brown with a small white head

Smell: Nice malty smell, slight hop notes, but very minimal.

Taste: At first got malt flavors with slight hop flavor mixed in. Some what tangy flavor at end I can not place. Yeast ester perhaps?

Feel: Again mostly smooth and medium bodied. Dry finish.

Over all a good beer. It has been a while since I had it last and don't remember the tang that was at the end.