On draught at Barley’s Smokehouse. This beer pours a mostly clear brownish-orange color with a medium beige head that recedes steadily. Thin rings of lacing. Malt and piney hops aroma. Medium body with flavors of dark malt, fruit and hops. Touches of pine in the flavor as well. The finish is malty with a mildly bitter hops aftertaste. Like many of Boulder’s beers, this is pretty straightforward.

In the end, this doesn’t come off, to me, more than a beefed-up nut brown ale. It’s got a slight candied-fruit aroma and a very good straightforward amber appearance w/head and retention, and the flavor is that of a nut brown ale with a slight alcohol kick. Maybe I’ve had better beers from this brewer; I’m not sure.

12 oz bottle. Drank straight from the bottle, so I never got a good look at the beer. Probably looked good, but I’ll never know - at least until I crack into one and drink it from a bottle, but you know how that goes. Anyway, let me get back to the review. The flavor was relatively malty, with a crisp hop kick to it. Pretty decent beer - highly drinkable.

Bottle. Pours light brown with off white head. Aroma is sweet and malty. Flavor is mostly malty with a little bitterness in the finish. Also some metallic flavor lingers after swallowing.

12oz bottle. Pours a light brown with a 1/2 inch head. Aroma of malt and caramel, with a touch of hop. Flavor is hop up front, with some malt character on the back end and a slight metallic finish. I enjoy beers with good balance, but this one does it too well. This beer has an identity crisis that’s keeping it from being much above average.