Brunswick, Maine is one of my favorite places in the world, mostly due to my fond memories from my four years as a student at Bowdoin College. While I drank way too much cheap marco beer from kegs at Bowdoin, I also started to develop a taste for better beers, frequently sampling the few available local options like Geary’s and Shipyard. At the time there were no breweries in Brunswick, Seadog opened their location in nearby Topsham during my senior year, but that was the only option that was remotely local. Now there are three breweries in Brunswick alone and a bunch more in the area. On my recent family trip to Maine I was finally able to visit one of these Brunswick breweries, making a quick stop at Flight Deck Brewing to grab some beers to go. Flight Deck has its brewery and taproom on the site of the former Brunswick Naval Air Station, and nearly everything about the brewery, from the name, decor and the beer names pay homage. I grabbed a number of different beers from Flight Deck including P-3 Pale Ale, a sessionable APA named for the P-3 bomber that adorns the breweries logo and is parked across the street. Flight Deck P-3 Pale Ale is available on a rotating basis on draft and in 16 oz cans.
Flight Deck P-3 Pale Ale pours slightly hazy copper with a solid off-white head. The aroma features some hops, floral and citrusy. This is a balanced, easy-drinking and sessionable (4.5% ABV) American pale ale. The hops contribute notes of lemon, grass, and herbs with a little bitter bite. The malt adds hints of bread dough and biscuits. P-3 Pale Ale is medium-bodied and finishes crisp with a little lingering hop flavor. While many breweries are making hazy pale ales that are just lighter versions of their NEIPAs this beer is more of a throw-back, with a focus on balance and drinkability. Hoppy Boston score: 4.0/5.
Hoppy Boston 
