Bear Republic Pete Brown Tribute Ale

Brewed by Bear Republic Brewing Company
Style: Brown Ale
Healdsburg, California USA

Serve in Dimpled mug

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(22 oz bottle: Purchased for $3.50 at the brewery) I visited Bear Republic last year and purchased three bottles. The first two that were opened were infected, so I fully expected this third bottle to be equally soured, but much to my surprise, this bottle of beer is not only quite healthy, but it’s delicious! Lots of moderately sweet chocolate, a fair amount of roast, and mild hops and bitterness, but I’m sure aging has diminished the hops to some degree. Nevertheless, this still shows pretty good balance, it’s not just a sweet, caramely and chocolaty like the typical brown ale. The nose is somewhat roasty and chocolaty, but also a bit grainy, so this is the weak link of this beer. Body is medium or better, and seems perfect for the style. Carbonation is fairly gentle, and with no sharp flavors, this beer is quite easy on the palate and goes down smoothly. Deep mahogany in color with gorgeous ruddy amber highlights at the edges. The light tan head is fairly small, rising to no more than half an inch, and that’s a generous estimation. Retention is standard, settling in at a filmy layer, but there is a decent amount of patchy, haphazard lacing on the glass. Wow, I’m really thankful that one of these three bottles was healthy because this is very tasty and enjoyable. While it follows a fairly standard recipe, it’s still one of the best brown ales I’ve tried. Still, I have to ask rhetorically, how can I buy three bottles directly at the brewery, two are infected but the third is totally delicious?

Clear darkest amber, creamy light brown head fades. Sweet roasted malt aroma. Burnt brown sugar, toasty malt taste, caramel and vanilla. Softly carbed, medium bodied, low hopped. Thins out a bit. Finishes short and sweet. LBW (Lagerboys Be Wary)

Bottle. Great malt aromas. Sweet malt flavours and a subtle malt profile. A very good brown ale. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Bottle sample at a tasting at Ariel’s place. Thanks beerandbeyond. Dark brown, almost opaque, beige head. Soy sauce, chocolate plum aroma. Sweet, lingering taste. Medium body, soft carbonation, sweet finish. Good.

Bottle sample at a tasting at Ariel’s place. Thanks beerandbeyond. Dark brown color with a beige head. Aroma of somewhat roasted malt, nuts and a bit of chocolate. Sweetish roasty flavor with light malt acidity, some chocolate and nuts. Medium-bodied.

Medium brown head. Clear deep brown body with lazy carbonation. Deep nougat chocolate and marzipan aroma with roasty butterscotch and resin notes. Lovely harmony, balance, and vividness to this aroma. Dry-sweet roasty marzipan and butterscotch taste with salty resiny notes. Mid-to-light body. Mild, soft mouthfeel. Dry resiny burnt aftertaste with caramelly metallic notes. Nice and highly drinkable. Appears to have been cellared too long (almost one year), but has benefited from it, too. (0.65l bottle, from City Beer, San Francisco.)

Bottle. Light brown with a solid tan head. Get some malt and nuts on the nose, bit of cherry. Taste of nuts, malt, little bitter and just way too much molasses. Was looking forward to this one, but it is a pretty blah brown. Don’t need to ever have again.

smooth brown caramel vanilla and cocoa. sweet and beery with a nice malt intro and sneaky pine and grapefruit hop character. brown sugar sweetness adds depth. great for a dull date or a business meeting of bullshit thanx bear!

Bottle. Pours brown with a medium tan head. Smells of brown sugar, molasses, nuts, and malt. Tastes of a medium sweetness, medium-light bitterness. Medium-light body, soft carbonation, oily texture. Finishes semisweet, but bitter with a long duration.

Bottle purchased at Siciliano’s Market in Grand Rapids, MI in December, 2011 and rated on 2-22-2012. Label shows the ABV being 6.3%. Poured a medium sized semi-fizzy beige head. The body was transparent, fizzy carbonation and a reddish-brown hue. The Aroma was malty, roasty and pine hops. The Flavor was sweet, malty, roasty and lightly hoppy. The Mouthfeel was tingly and this is a light-medium bodied Brown Ale. Overall, the Aromas and Flavors came together very nicely and this beer was easy to drink. There was a lingering roasty aftertaste which was nothing offensive. This beer is worthy of a try and one that I would definitely drink again.

Pours a dark reddish brown with minimal head. Smells of roasted malt and syrupy sugar. Tastes like a good brown ale, minimal hop flavour, maximum malt flavour