Maine Beer Company Lil' One

I had a couple bottles of this over the past few weeks but this was the first I drank by myself. Lil' One is listed as an American Strong Ale on BeerAdvocate which actually works well for it. I've mentioned before but this category is more of a catch all for beers that are hoppy and strong but don't fit well in the American Barleywine or Double IPA categories.

This was bottled on 1/31 with a best before date of 90 days from there so like two months old now. The age definitely affected this beer. Malty, earthy nose reminded me quite a bit of Nugget Nectar but with less hop intensity (again possibly because of age). Body followed with a light spiciness, more of the earthy hoppiness, and an almost smoky sweetness. Finished a bit bitter so it at least never got too sweet. Decent beer really though I wonder how much better it is when fresh. Just seemed like it was missing something at this point. Worth trying but not going out of the way to get basically.