Maine Beer Peeper Ale

Brewed By: Maine Beer Company in Freeport, Maine

Purchased: 1 pt .9 fl. oz (16.9oz) bottle bought at Binny's in IL; 2013 (bottled on 10/03/13) 

Style/ABV: American Pale Ale, 5.5%

Reported IBUs: ?

Hooray for twofers! I was shocked when I stumbled into my local watering hole to find the shelf lined with beers from the Main Beer Company. It was like a winter miracle. Hooray for miracles. Wooo. About the Maine Beer Company:

The Maine Beer Company is a brewery based out of Freeport, Maine, founded in 2012. The brewery focuses on American-style ales, with an emphasis on fresh beer intended to be consumed fresh. For more info, check out the brewery's website. 

Tonight's beer, the Peeper, is an American Pale Ale brewed with a malt base of American 2-Row, CaraPils, Vienna, and Red Wheat; and uses US Magnum, Amarillo, Cascade, and Centennial hops. Punching in at a moderate 5.5%, this beer should be hoppy and bright. Also, I have to ask about this beer's name. Or do I have to ask? I do. What's up with it? Fucking Maine, weirdos. Anyway.

Maine Beer Peeper Ale

The beer pours into a hazy, golden/straw body, kicking up two to three fingers of super cloudy and fluffy white head. Even with some gold in the body, the head is mostly white. Bright light confirms the hazy straw body and fluffy white head. This looks like a farmhouse ale. As the head falls off (and head retention is great) there is some epic lacing forming on my glass. Wow. Good looking beer.

On the aroma: holy shit, fresh hops. Wow. This is BRIGHT and FRESH and FLORAL. Drink fresh baby. I'm getting tons of floral hops, with lots of spicy hop kick. I'm getting crushed leaves/tea, pepper, grapefruit rind, and woody spice. I'm also getting tons of peach, mango, pineapple candy, melon, lemon/lemon rind, and wet hops. 

The taste is spot on for the style, with tons of grass and floral hops, accompanied by some doughy malts with hints of biscuit. As this trails off on the finish you get the classic Pale Ale "soapy" bitterness. I'm getting lots of wet hops, peach, mango, melon, hints of lemon, rye spice, citrus rind, pepper, and wheat. That's on top of the doughy backing and the appropriately bitter, soapy finish. It's really good for the style...

...but probably not mind blowing. Palate depth is okay, and complexity is better than average. The mouthfeel is light-full to medium-light. Let's call it medium. It's supported by appropriate levels of carbonation, and finishes dry and attenuated like this style should. You get a blast of lemony citrus up front; that rolls into all the citrus fruit, rye spice, peppery spice, and rind, with some doughy support; the back end kicks up some grass and wheat, throws in some soapy bitterness, and finishes high and dry.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

This is a Decent Above-Average beer. Pretty good...affordable, drinkable, would pair well with leafy burgers, and American bar food. Wings, fish tacos, you know what I'm talking about. I'll be on the lookout for more of Maine's beer. Also, congrats to them for being the Maine Beer Company. Suck on that, other Maine breweries. 

Random Thought: There's been a lot of heavy hitting beers showing up on shelves lately. It makes me less sad about not being able to secure certain beers.