By Matt Murphy
Beer Critic

For the past few months I’ve been praying for a new Maine beer release. Maine releases their “winter” beers in October (entirely reasonable given the temperature), but doesn’t release any other beer until spring (AKA May/June). The reason that I care so much about new beer is that I thrive on difference. During my underage years, the boom of taurine-filled energy drinks fed my bloodlust for novelty. Now, I’ve developed my beer palate. Next comes wine, then whiskey, then mineral water, and, last but not leas,t scotch. While I despise the term “beer connoisseur,” due to elitist French haughty fu-fu undertones, it’s important to know what you like and how things should taste.

I couldn’t resist buying Sparhawk the first time I laid eyes on it. It was just a random trip to Mobil to gas up and I saw a new Maine beer from a new Brewer. I’ve decided to write a typical walk-through of my judgment process. A good initial encounter speaks volumes for microbreweries. Great taste usually means a talented head brewer, thus increasing the chance of solid product line.

Presentation: Brand recognition begins at the packaging. The teal green label really looks great on the brown bottle. The label layout is a standard beer oval with clean lettering. A small picture of a winged hawk-headed serpent prompted a Google image search for “Sparhawk winged mythical beast”. Sure enough, I wandered onto some sites with Megaman-X stylized Sparhawk renderings, and I quickly realized the Sparhawk had likely been introduced to the public as a Pokemon monster, or some other similar phenomena. The swank packaging will likely attract the “in-crowd” at Portland’s non-Portland bars and clubs.

Taste: It tastes pretty good, but I’ll admit that I’m not the best judge at “Golden Ales”. I usually favor microbrew’s with non-traditional ingredients just to keep things interesting, and this beer didn’t peak my interest. It’s a copper colored beer that tastes remotely bitter, before overwhelming the palate with a robust pucker-inducing body. The beer turns slightly sweet down the throat. It feels like the dirty sibling of Shipyards Export Ale, though it lacks Export’s zesty clarity. Still, it does taste good and I picture taking this beer on my next picnic. I think my last picnic was in third grade, but this beer fits with the idealized green setting that Maine still affords. This slight, non-confrontational bitterness would also work with the Old Port, Thai and Mexican foods, Friday afternoon, porch sitting, Range Pond, mini-golf, zesty BBQ, and, of course, wings.

Overall: I’ll have to say that I’m unsure about the product. Since Sparhawk is a new company, I’ll give them a little bit of time to perfect their recipe. While this beer is drinkable and highly enjoyable, it’s not the most memorable - partly due to my ambivalence towards the beer style and this particular beer’s taste.