REVIEW: Maine Beer Company Lunch

NAME Maine Beer Company Lunch

TL;DR summary : Lives up to the hype

Beer style: IPA

ABV 7.0

What I paid: N/A –gift, rude, you know the drill

How it came (packaging): 1 1 pint 9 oz.  bottle.

Brewery link: http://www.mainebeercompany.com/beers/lunch/

About the Beer: Lunch is an IPA that comes from Maine Beer Company of… well, Maine. The brewery is a fairly small operation that works to be as environmentally friendly as possible. Lunch has a seriously high reputation, at least throughout New England and on the Beer enthusiast sites. Then again, it’s a fairly hard to get IPA from a small brewery in a small market. This combination is the perfect set up for overhype.

The brewery claims Lunch has intense hop flavors and citrus pine, and tropical aromas balanced by a subtle malt sweetness. So then, it’s an IPA. They also explain why they call it lunch on the site, but you can go read that explanation yourself.

Color/appearance:  Straw to light gold color thick white head

Aroma: pine, citrus, hints of bread

Mouth feel: light bodied, slick

Flavor: lightly fruity, pineapple, pine, sweet undertones with a bitter hop kick crisp dry finish

Notes: hop heavy but not to the point of being silly. Well balanced. Pretty close to living up to the hype, would drink this on a regular basis.

Summary: OK, this beer really is as good as it’s reputation. As (I think) I’ve said in other reviews I’m not a huge IPA fan. I love this beer. I’m blown away by the balance here, and the way they are able to bring out all the little subtle flavors and still have a big hops kick that doesn’t drown out everything else. I highly recommend this one. Go get some.

Rating : 5

1 – avoid

2 – if it’s the only choice, I guess

3 – a decent beer. Drinkable.

4 – good beer – hard to turn down

5 – great beer - One of my favorites, pour me another.

Style: 5