Crescent City Brewhouse Belgian Ale

While in the French Quarter of New Orleans, I stopped in to Crescent City Brewhouse to try a few beers, the first of which being the Belgian Ale, one of their Special Ales. The beer pours an amber color with a frothy cream colored head. The aroma is spicy and yeasty with some raisin accents and is a little musty. The taste is caramel, candi sugar, Belgian spice, yeast, grass, and has a peppery finish. The alcohol content is not available online, but I would estimate it to be about 6.0% ABV. This beer can best be described as a decent homebrew, and nothing more. I wasn’t impressed with it, and the flavors did not blend well together at all.

Shipyard Prelude Special Ale

I picked up a bottle of Shipyard Prelude Special Ale from Al’s of Hampden as part of a mixed- six-pack. The beer pours a brown color with a frothy beige colored head with some lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of caramel, malts, brown sugar, toffee, and a bit of mustiness. The taste is dry and sweet at the same time with caramel, toffee, malts, and brown sugar. Hints of maple syrup and coffee come out as well. The finish has a light musty hoppiness that really compliments the sweetness very well. The alcohol consists of 6.8% ABV. I expected a decent beer, but this one by far exceeded my expectations. There were a nice compliment of spices built upon a great sweet base.

River Horse Special Ale

At the holiday picnic, I opened a bottle of River Horse Special Ale. The special ale is an Extra Special Bitter, or ESB. I'm not always a fan of ESBs, but I thought I would give it a chance. The beer pours an opaque dark amber without much aroma. I thought it had a very clean taste but the only flavor I could come up with is the malt, and there wasn't any flavor accents. However, the beer was very smooth and refreshing. The alcohol content is 4.5% ABV.