Day #362 – Saint Arnold Brown Ale

Wow. Day #362. I am so close it is crazy! Got yet another Texas beer on the menu for today, and it’s funny that I am finishing up this week with lots of Texas beers that are available year round here. I’m always shocked when I haven’t reviewed these beers yet for my blog, it’s just that I always see them so I always pass them up in lieu of something else. Glad I’m getting around to them now.

Saint Arnold Brown Ale

This is one of the year-round offerings from Saint Arnold. It is a Brown Ale at 5.3%.

This beer pours a very clear dark orange color with lots of carbonation. The carbonation forms a nice layer of white head at the top of the glass. I am using one of my favorite Saint Arnold glasses today as well.

The aroma is strong malts with a slight edge of toasted nuts/roasted grain and a finish of hops. Basically a solid blend of what goes into a beer!

The flavor is pretty tasty. I pick up the heavy malted backbone first with a nice edge of sweetness. The hop bitterness comes in near the finish to round things out. This is a solid brew and it’s unfortunate I have not drank more of this. This could EASILY be a regular 6-pack drinker.

4 to go…(including this one I guess I should mention)

Cheers!

Day #358 – Real Ale Brewhouse Brown Ale

Merry Christmas!!! As it’s Christmas I am spending all day with my family. This will be a quick post.

Real Ale Brewhouse Brown Ale

Brown Ale from Real Ale Brewing in Blanco, TX. 5.4% ABV.

This beer pours a reddish brown color with a foamy tan head. Almost a ruby color.

Light roasted aroma. Very light though. Some nuts and roasted malt nose.

Light watery mouthfeel. Taste is roasted malts and nuts, with a slight dryness. Has the metallic flavor of a German pilsner. This has never been one of my favorites which is probably why I have put it off for so long.

8 to go…

Day #310 – SKA Buster Nut Brown

SKA Buster Nut Brown

This is a brand new beer from SKA Brewing out of Durango, Colorado. This is a Brown Ale with an ABV of 5.15%.

This beer pours a clear brown color which is a dark brown with touches of red. The head is tan and foamy.

Aroma is caramel sweetness with a nutty nose. Slight roast and bitter. A decent nose.

Flavor is a dry nutty taste with a roasty finish. A bit too dry I would say.

Cheers!

Day #279 – Rogue HazelNut Brown Nectar

Tonight was quite the eventful night for me. I went out to an outdoors concert in near southside Fort Worth, which was free, and then walked to a nearby brewpub that literally JUST opened on Saturday. They are so new in fact that they have yet to start brewing or even cooking their own food! It’s more like a soft opening I suppose. It’s called Zio Carlo and I could see myself making this a regular stop every week. They were a bit busy this night and I kind of felt neglected by the staff for a bit but whatever. They’re still learning.

Anyways they had a few things on tap so I will review a beer that I tried here tonight. I’ll save the Samuel Adams for tomorrow night.

Rogue HazelNut Brown Nectar

This is a brown ale from Rogue that started as a winter seasonal but I believe turned into a year round production. 6%.

Clear dark ruby pour mixed with heavy brown hues with a small amount of head.

Smells of homebrew sludge, light hops and brown malts. Sweet tea aromas also with a leafy quality. I’d say there is quite a bit of winter spice mixed in with this as well.

Taste is dry leaves with a teabag type characteristic. Slightly Medicinal with a large essence of vanilla? Odd but I’ll go with it. Nuts on the finish. Not sure how I feel about this one. It’s not bad but certainly has a unique quality to it.

As far as the venue, I’ll reserve my judgement for when they are running at max capacity. They were out of several beers, had no popcorn to offer and the pretzels were stale. The lady behind the bar (who I suspect was a part-owner) paid me absolutely no attention when I wanted a beer. I asked to meet the owner and he never came over. Judging on this night only it bombs, but I will come back when they actually have something to offer and will review for real.

Cheers!

Day #257 – Sierra Nevada Tumbler Autumn Brown Ale

It’s 73 degrees in Texas!!! Holy crap!!! I spent the evening actually WATCHING a Rangers game and they completed the sweep of Cleveland. Shooting for the playoffs now.

Sierra Nevada Tumbler Autumn Brown Ale

This is Sierra Nevada’s Autumn seasonal. It is a brown ale at 5.5%. Easy enough right?

This beer pours a clear dark brownish color that turns a lovely shade of red in the light. I love the look of these brown ales. Nice tan type head.

Aroma is roasted notes, dark chocolate, malts and grains with a bready quality to it as well. Definitely reminds me of a brisk Autumn night.

Flavor is roasted bitter, dark malts and almost coffee but not quite. Bitter chocolate with a very bready finish. Robust I would say.

Cheers!

Day #253 – Santa Fe Nut Brown Ale

Today was a very surreal day. It was the 10th anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center. I remember exactly where I was that day when it happened, and I don’t think that will be something I ever forget. I attended a memorial service tonight that was tear-jerking. Thoughts and prayers go out to those who have lost loved ones on that fateful day.

Santa Fe Nut Brown Ale

This beer is from Santa Fe Brewing Company in Santa Fe, New Mexico. This is their brown ale at 5.2%. Even though it says “nut” in the name, I don’t think this was brewed with any actual nuts. Nuts! (sorry that was corny.)

This beer pours a clear dark brown color that turns orange when held to the light. Big foamy beige colored head forms up top.

The aroma is roasted malts, dark chocolate, some nutty notes and crisp autumn evenings. Nice smell.

The flavor is dark roast, caramel malts, toasted notes and lightly bittered malts. Finishes roasted and malty.

Cheers!

Day #97 – Tommyknocker Maple Nut Brown Ale

Tommyknocker Maple Nut Brown Ale

Tommyknocker Brewery is located in Idaho Springs, Colorado. They distribute several things to our area; the Maple Nut Brown being one of them.

It’s classified as a Brown Ale at 4.5% and it’s brewed with real maple syrup. This could fair well in a beer, if done right. Let’s hope for the best!

This beer pours a very clear pretty reddish color with touches of brown. It is very attractive to look at. Also has a nice white head that disappears pretty quickly.

Kind of a faint aroma; really not much there at all. Mix of malts and a bit of maple sweetness. Light syrup. Slight hints of steamed veggies too, which is not a good sign.

Flavor is lots of caramel malts and light brown sugar. Finish is a bit of dry malts and slight bitterness. The flavor is…..man I don’t know. I’m just really not feeling it. The maple sweetness has some sort of an odd flavor along with it that reminds me of the steamed veggies again. I’m going to venture a guess that this is a bad bottle, as vegetables can often be a sign of flaws.

As it warms up however, the vegetable flavor dissipates and it now reminds me of a horehound drop.  Look it up if you don’t know.

Cheers.

Day #78 – Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale

I was browsing one of the beer blogs that I enjoy reading recently and I came across some news regarding the Dogfish Head Brewery.  They have very recently enjoyed a huge boom in success due to the show “Brewmasters” that aired on Discovery Channel last year.  After the show aired, I started to notice that their beers were becoming increasingly scarce on beer shelves.  They announced recently that they have decided to pull out of 4 states and Canada to meet with the demand on their other markets.  Luckily Texas  was not one of them but that would explain why we haven’t seen much by way of DFH.  They stated that they need to satisfy their local markets first before trying to pick up those accounts again.  I hope they can expand at an appropriate pace that will allow them to stay on track for producing great beer.  I found a bottle from them at a local store and decided to do that one today.

Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale

While it’s classified as a Brown Ale, DFH states that it is a mix between a Scotch Ale, an IPA and a mix of American Pale Ale.  Mix all those together and you get a brown ale, which typically has a good balance of malts and hops.  7.2% alcohol; and it’s also important to note that this was the very first beer I ever had from Dogfish Head….and I’ve never tried it since. 

The beer has a smearing of different colors which is actually pretty cool.  Near the bottom of the glass is a light orange that fades to a pretty red and then towards dark brown near the top.  Quite a lovely sight indeed.  The head is a foamy tan color that sits and doesn’t fade.  Great appearance.

Lots of things in the aroma too.  The first thing I notice is a sweet raisin like smell that immediately changes to a roasted coffee ground.  Coffee!  I wasn’t expecting that at all.  Roasted malts and cocoa beans too.

The flavor is big roasted malts too that stay with you into the finish.  There is a sweet dark fruit flavor too, like raisins and plums.  It has a burnt bitter finish of roasted malts that dries out the palate.  Some bitter hops can be felt on the finish too.

Hmmm, so it went from a fantastic aroma to a good taste to a bit of a disappointing aftertaste.  I am a self-admitted coffee freak, and when I pick it up in beer I go crazy!  This beer was good but I wouldn’t drink more than one at a time.

Cheers!

Day #20 – Bear Republic Pete Brown Tribute Ale

Today I went with a Big Ole’ Bottle; a 22 oz bottle which is commonly referred to as “bombers”.  A lot of times, specialty batches of beer are only released in these larger size bottles.  The beer today is from a California company called Bear Republic Brewing Co. based out of Healdsburg, CA.  California is one of the richer parts of the US when it comes to quantity of breweries as well as quality.  Craft beer has really made it’s place out West, along with Portland, OR and Denver, CO.  You can expect to see a lot from California as this blog progresses.

This beer is classified as a Brown Ale and should be properly served out of a dimpled mug.  I have selected an old mug of mine from the former Fort Worth brewpub, The Covey.  I really miss those guys…

On to the beer…

Bear Republic Pete Brown Tribute Ale

Quite obviously this beer was brewed in honor of a man who passed named Pete Brown.  He was the sales manager of the Bear Republic brewery till he died in 2002.  This beer was brewed in honor of him a year later in 2003 and has been put into regular production since.

This beer pours a very dark brown color with a tall off-white head.  Lots of carbonation can been seen as it is quite lively.

The aroma here is….odd.  I would first off describe it as very present and up-front.  That’s “present” and not “pleasant”.  I would say I could detect a fair bit of bittering hops on the nose as well as a wood-aged quality to it.  There’s just something else going on here that I can’t quite put my finger on that is eluding me.  It seems slightly spiced but also something of a medicinal quality, like something out of my childhood.  A cough medicine I used to take perhaps; whatever it is I’m not on board.

This poor quality is undetectable in the flavor thankfully.  I taste bitter dry hops right up-front with a very woody finish.  Lots of dry, dusty malts in this.  The malts are the main flavor with the bittering hops providing a backdrop for the beer.

I can admit, after the oddness in the aroma I wasn’t too sure what to think.  Everything I’ve had from this company has been very good and so this one was surprising to me.  The flavor carried through and made better all my previous concerns.  The ABV is 6.5%, so a little higher than average for the style.

 

Cheers!

Day #16 – Abita Turbodog

I can be honest and say that I have really enjoyed this project thus far.  I was at the beer store yesterday selecting beers for future reviews, and for some reason it hit me that I get to try all of them again!  Most of the beers I have reviewed in this blog were ones that I have had before, although it was a long time ago for some.  I look back at my notes from when I first started reviewing and rating beer and some of them are laughably wrong.  I remember when I first got into trying new beers, I would read what other people had written for the beer and I would try to sound like them, using big words and odd descriptions.  Most of the time they just turned out silly, and as there are always new things to try, I never thought I would get back to trying some of these beers again.  So there you are, just another good reason why I should keep this blog going!

On to the beer…

Abita Turbodog

Abita Brewing Company is based out of Abita Springs, Louisiana and has been in business since the mid 80′s.  According to Wikipedia they are they 17th largest craft brewery in the United States.  Several of their base and seasonal beers are distributed to our area, but today I am starting with my personal favorite from them, Turbodog!  The Turbodog is a brown ale and should be served in a dimpled mug.  I have selected a special Abita glass, because all beer tastes better out of a glass with it’s name on it.

The appearance is a little difficult to see as this is a frosted glass, but there is enough clarity to see that this pours a dark brown color that is fairly clear when held to the light, with an off-white head perched on top.

The aroma is full of roasted notes and chocolate malt.  Very nice to smell and almost a tad bit nutty.  I can never type the word “nutty” without saying it outloud with a British accent.  Stupid Austin Powers…..  Pleasant aroma though.

Flavor is a bit of the same as the nose.  Roasted notes with a bigger pecan flavor coming through, which is surprising because I don’t think this beer has any nuts in it.  Abita does make a pecan beer which is their Autumn seasonal, but this beer has some of the same qualities.  Some dark, bitter chocolate notes come out on the finish.

All in all this is a very tasty beer from a semi-local brewery.  I could grab a Turbodog any day and be quite happy with it.  6.13%.

Cheers!