Apple beer? Really? Shipyard Applehead Ale

Applehead Ale

I got a bottle of Shipyard "Applehead" Ale just to try it. As you can see, it has a cool guy on the label, and if it looks a lot like the "Headless Horseman" from the Rip Van Winkle legend, I guess any guy on a rearing horse with a vegetable or fruit for a head would look similar.

Okay, other than the odd name and label, what does this brew have going for it? Well, it's from Shipyard, I've been going to Maine for the summer for decades, so I have respect for them, even if I don't like every style they offer.

I chilled the brew to 40F and held it cold for two days, then opened and poured into a mug cooled to 50F. It had a nice head and good color, not deep yellow but darker than straw. Click the label to the right, there are more images there.


The aroma was apple. No surprise, what else might one expect? The first sip was apple as well, not subtle, not a hint of apple, but dominantly apple! Now I am surprised, this is not an ale with traditional taste and a breath of apple, this tastes like apple cider fermented with ale yeast. And after the third sip or so, not quite as tart as hard cider, just a touch less of that "tangy" character of a good cider. I confess I did a lot of sipping trying to map this brew into the cider or ale space, without being really successful. Tastes like hard cider lacking the tangy character is a close as I can come.

Food pairing - What would go with this? I confess I didn't think it would go with cheese, or chips with or without dip, it just has that sensation of sweetness which calls for something else.

Lunch

Since I was hungry, I decided to have a turkey and Swiss cheese on seeded rye, and see how it went. I've had cider with that and it isn't my favorite but is okay and beats water. And that describes how my lunch went, "beats water" is about all I can say good about it, wasn't bad, but certainly wasn't on my list of things to have again. I normally don't have beer with lunch, but I wanted to try this brew to share my opinion with family, later.

Overall - not so bad I would avoid it, although I would be quite careful about food pairing. It might be fun to try it with apple pie, feel free to post a comment if you try that. On the other hand, it's not so good that I would order it if there was something else available, perhaps water. If a friend offered me one, I would take it, I can call it "unique" without offending my host's taste. I have no idea who would buy this, other than the "I try everything" beer crowd.