Tap Handle #675: Shipyard - GingerBreadHead Ale

Tap size:  10.5"
Rarity:  beer no longer produced, tap discontinued
Mounting:  internal 3/8" nut

GingerBreadHead Ale is the eighth Shipyard tap to appear in the Museum, making the brewery one of the most featured craft breweries on this site. Although at first glance it doesn't appear to be very detailed, look closer and you can see many small features that you might overlook. For instance, the face of the gingerbread man not only has eyes, lips, and a nose, it also sports a mustache and goatee. The belt has little studs on it, but additional there is a belt buckle with the letters "SY" (for Shipyard, of course) sculpted on it. The gingerbread man has a glass of ale raised in one hand and stands on a paddle-like base. Curiously, although the base displays the name of the brewery, the name of the beer does not appear anywhere on the tap...I guess it is self explanatory! I took the full amount of photos because the front and back are not identical to each other - they are reversed, meaning the tap has a different profile depending on which side you are viewing. GingerBreadHead Ale is no longer listed among Shipyard's current beers (including their seasonals), so it appears to be out of production, and this tap has been discontinued. It is easily found on the secondary market, and the price there, which was once fairly high, is now very reasonable.

For more about Shipyard, see this post.

Click through to read more about Shipyard's GingerBreadHead Ale and to see more photos of this delectable tap...

Shipyard GingerBreadHead Ale was like a spicy, rich, gingerbread cookie you can drink. "A cookie in every bottle", the brewery exclaimed. The warm flavors of molasses and brown sugar were accented with ginger, cloves, and cinnamon. First brewed in November 2014, it was available as a winter seasonal. Using Pale, CaraMunich II, Carafoam, and Chocolate malts, a Top-Fermenting English yeast, and Willamette and EK Goldings hops, the resulting color was a rich brown. It appears to have last been produced in the winter of 2016.

Ratebeer weighted average:  3.27 out of 5

Beer Advocate:  3.31 out of 5 (okay)