Bayhawk Imperial Brown Ale

Brewed by Bayhawk Ales
Style: American Strong Ale
Irvine, California USA

Serve in Snifter, Trappist glass

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There is something seriously wrong with this bottle. Sampled on 5/21/2010. This American Strong Ale pours a medium brown color from a 22oz bottle. Small to medium sized white foamy head. The aroma is caramel, tart and sour, kind or weak. A light and watery bodied American Strong Ale. The malts are caramel and fruity. The hops are earthy. Kind of flat, thin and a touch sour. I am not sure if it sour in a good way or bad, I am leaning more to bad as it warms. Not good. Will need to try a non-infected/bad bottle next time I find one. Mouthfeel is thin. Finish is clean. Aftertaste is slightly sour

Bottle courtesy of BeerandBlues2, thanks! Hazy amber color, small off white head. Aroma of raw cookie dough. Taste is bunt butterscotch. OK.

651mL thanks to beerandblues2. Clear amber pour with a medium tan head. Weak retention. Nose is super sweet cherry juicy box. Taste is thin and super sweet cherry juice box with mild fruit juice tartness. Soapy, weak palate with rustic maltiness. Very strange. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Bottle. Pours clear brown with a medium, fizzy white head, short retention with light lacing. Aroma is cookie and toast malt, dates, and earthy hops. Flavor is malt dominant, fruity esters and light hops and bitterness with a sweet finish. Medium body, warmth and carbonation.

Bottle. Brown beer with a tan head. Malt and toffee aroma with light burnt sugar. Burnt sugar and toffee flavor with malt and light citrus. Medium bodied. Burnt sugar and toffee lingers with malt.

22oz bottle. Pours clear dark brown, rubyish-brown in the light, with basically no head but a fizzy tan halo. Aroma is syrupy caramel. Flavor is diacetyl, some sweetness, acidic, really quite awful. Very oily; very thin. Yuck.

Sampled in the big bottle. Never seen this brewer in NorCal before. Not a bad brew. A bit malty but it drinks really well for a big brown. Good brew.

On tap. Pours with a bronze (not really brown by any stretch) body with a small off-white head. Aromas are off. Manure, spearmint, banana esters. Messy. Flavors are not quite as messy. Molasses and a huge amount of esters. Light chocolate. Medium bubbles. A messy beer overall.

Bomber from Hi Time. Pours rather mahogany with a slight creamy beige head. Aroma is nutty and malty. Med body. Seems very nutty. And after that banana definitely popped up. This is coming on like a dark hefe, except it doesn’t have much, if any, spice, and is less watery. This is a good, malty, bananany (sic) ale that drinks very nice. I might imagine a sour note, but I don’t think so. Apparently I have a very good bottle.

UPDATED: MAR 2, 2011 21-Feb-11 (22-oz bottle: Purchased 18-Jan-11 for $2.99 at Total Wine & More in Tustin, CA) It’s been several years since I last tried any beers from Bayhawk because after all the frustration with inconsistent, often infected beers back then, I decided to stop wasting my money. But I figure that six years is enough time for the brewery to get their shit together, right? Well, I see things haven’t changed. By default, an Imperial Brown has to taste somewhat malty, and I guess it’s there along with some brown sugar and figs, but the malty flavor is trampled by red apple skins and red wine, plus a fair bit of diacetyl, metal and Band-Aid for good measure. The only thing missing is obvious lactic sourness. The nose is red apples, rubbing alcohol, and chemicals; just awful. The weight is medium-minus and carbonation is moderate, but the mouthfeel is both slick and cottony, like chewing just the skin of a red apple. Quite simply, this is not good. It’s inexplicable how this place can still be in business after all these years of churning out bad beer.

My oh my. By reading other’s comments, this beer was sour (infected?) way back in 2009. Well, drinking it in December of 2010, it is still sour. You know, I just read at the Bayhawk website, that this beer is intended to have a fruity tartness. That explains the sourness. If they made a few changes, they have a nice Belgian sour brown.