Lunch India Pale Ale

Review Date 11/26/2018  By John Staradumsky

  Style: India Pale Ale   Brewery: Maine Beer   Country: USA   State: Maine   $ Per OZ: $.47 (B)   ABV: 7%

It must be Black Friday when I walk into Total Wine and find bottles of Maine Lunch India Pale Ale on the shelves, and the front endcap shelves at that. All this at 11 AM, too. Or, maybe the beer is losing some if its status as a highly sought after “whale” in the beer world. I’m not a fan of that term, and I don’t go hunting for whales, either. Still and all, if there is a beer that can justify the term, it’s Maine Lunch, as we shall soon see.

Maine Beer Company brews are fairly new to Georgia, and I have only started seeing them here this year. I’ve bought them before in Massachusetts, but never here. Lunch is one of the more elusive beers in their portfolio, and I have never tried it before. IPAs are all the rage these days, and I was interested to see if the hype is justified on this one.

Maine beer says, from the label:

Lunch is a special whale that has been spotted off the Maine coast since 1982. She has what looks like a bite taken out of her fin, which adds to her unique character. We dedicate this beer to her determination and persistence. Keep on swimming!

See what I mean about calling this beer a whale? Anyway, Maine Lunch India pale Ale has an alcohol content of 7% by volume and I paid $7.99 for my bottle at Total Wine. It was bottled on 11/6/2018 and I drank it on 11/23, the day I bought it.

Ingredients from the website:

Hops: amarillo, centennial, SIMCOE

Malt: AMERICAN 2-ROW, CARAPILS, CARAMEL 40L, MUNICH 10L, RED WHEAT

Maine Lunch India Pale Ale pours to a hazy orange amber color with a thick head of rocky foam and a lush nose of tropical fruit, citrus, and pine. A thick layer of Brussels lace forms on the sides of my glass and descends with the liquid to the bottom of the glass.  Taking a sip, the beer is light to medium malty with a bit of caramel (I’d like more), hints of tropical pineapple and passion fruit, more citrusy grapefruit peel and resiny pine, and a long dry bitter finish. As the beer progresses, the dearth of malt becomes more apparent, which annoys me.

Very nice indeed, well balanced on the hops towards the classic resin and pine but with enough of the modern tropical fruitiness that you get the best of both worlds. Here’s my problem: I’ve had lots of beers just as good for a lot less. $8 a bottle is just way too much to pay for this beer. I would give Maine Lunch IPA 4 stars on its own merits less ½ for the much too high price. Not a rebuy for me, not at this price.

Glad I tried it?  T