Kennebunkport IPA
A: Pours a lightly hazy orange color. The orange-tinted head is initially tall, with a reasonably dense, frothy texture. Retention is good, and above average amounts of lacing stick to the glass. S: A firm malty nose of sugar cookies and light caramel. Sweet in the nose, for the style anyway. A mild toastiness. Hop notes are medium for the style, with primarily leafy and light citric character. T: Fairly malty up front. Toasty malt, sugar cookies, and faint caramel are noticeable. Hop bitterness is fairly mild, and doesn't overcome the sweetness to put the balance of this beer on the hops. Hop flavor is leafy and mildly citric, before fading to a faintly estery, vaguely apple finishing flavor. M: Medium bodied. Carbonation is smooth and fairly creamy. Very little of the dryness expected from an IPA - this is on the sweet and smooth side throughout. D: This tiptoes along the line between IPA and plain old pale ale. As a pale ale, this would be boring and flat. As an IPA, this is pretty far off the mark: sweet, lacking substantial bitterness, and featuring few noteworthy hop flavors or aromas. It's not a bad beer, but it's disappointingly weak for the style and unlikely to impress.