4.1 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
Ruddy brown, with lots of floaties and sediment for the style. Nose is sweet with maple sugar, nutty, and vaguely yeasty. Earthy, with an enjoyable bitterness, and a rather dry finish. A well executed brown.
4.3 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 17/20
Soft in the mouth like Boyne River, but not as full in flavor.
3.6 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20
UPDATED: JAN 6, 2006 12 oz bottle, 2005 version: pours a deep bronzed mahogany with a cloud-like, fluffy light tan head. Rich, nutty aroma with hints of chocolate, bitter peppery essence, butterscotch, and sourdough. Earthy and sweet palate with a slight grit and light orange zest, on top of the roasted nuts and milk chocolate. Solid and tasty brew…better than I remember. 8/4/7/3/16 – 3.8
Draught at the brewpub, 2002 version: Got a chance to stop by the brewery and had this one on draught. Poured a bit darker than I would have thought for a brown ale, and had a great flavour with some unexpected bitterness and kick at the end. Another nice one from Bell’s. 6/4/6/3/15 – 3.4
4.2 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
another great brew from Bells, beatuiful brown color with tan head, more hoppy than your usual brown, but for me thats a good thing. New cCastle could only wish their brown was this good.
3.3 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 12/20
Dark and malty, tad bitter. Not my bag. Has a nutty finish. Nice aroma, though.
3.7 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20
Muddy color, nice head that quickly settles. A little thin on the malt side and overdone on the hops side, but that doesn’t bother me. Thanks PsychProf!
3.6 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 16/20
Creamy head with some nice foam and lace, a bit on the hoppy side for my tastes, but certainly a healthy flavor that I would choose over many others.
4.2 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
This bottle conditioned brew pours a murky dark walnut with no shortage of thick particles. The massive creamy beige head is fully lasting with excellent lacing. The nose is huge. Roasted malts, resinous hops, and leather yeast predominate with hints of caramel, flowers, spruce, horseblanket, and cheese. The intense flavor is amazingly complex and balanced for a brown ale, more like what you would expect from a robust porter. I guess you could classify this as a ’Robust Brown Ale’. The long finish is of course nutty and bittersweet. The medium to full body is dry with a lively carbonation and a chalky feel to the finish. This is the prototypical sipper. Wow!! Stone Brewing and Kalamazoo Brewing may be two of the most ballsy microbreweries out there.
3.7 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
To me this was like a nice rich complex pale ale in that it had a higher hop component than I anticipated. Great stuff!
3.6 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 14/20
UPDATED: APR 16, 2005 Sept. 2004 upgrade on the overall score, to bring it into line with the other components. Whatever hops they put into this, it really puts a certain character into this that doesn’t exist in other brown ales. Very well-balanced; that crispness in the throat complements the nutty(?) flavor. Very appealing to the eye; lovely head that sticks around, soft nose.
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