Catawba Valley Brown Bear Ale

Brewed by Catawba Valley Brewing Company
Style: Brown Ale
Morganton, North Carolina USA

Serve in Dimpled mug, Shaker

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On tap at Barley’s. Poured a dark dark reddish brown. Stout-like in its opacity. Very nice coffee/dark chocolate aroma. Mouthfeel was somewhat smoother than the stouts I’ve tried, but this was a very full bodied brown ale. They’re not shy about the hops in this guy either. There are some really nice earthy, coffee flavors about this beer, probably more than the average brown ale connoisseur is looking for. Good beer though. This must’ve been an exceptional batch of beer, because I don’t see anyone else rating quite so high as me. Oh well.

Nice roasty aroma. Thick head. Light palate with plenty of roasty-chocolate flavor. Garnet/brown in appearance. Soft finish, would like a tad more hop flavor.

Has a rich nut brown flavor with a chocolatey finsh. What’s not to like about it?

Draught at Barley’s in Asheville, NC. Dark brown with thin tan head that laced the glass. Pleasant malty cocoa aroma. Slightly sweet with milk chocolate and roasted nuts. Uncommonly good brown ale.

On draught at Barleys, Asheville on 7 July 2006. Described as an "English style brown ale" but, as a Brit, it’s a bit difficult to know what that actually means these days. Anyway, it’s an attractive reddish brown colour with a thin off-white head. Light roast malt aroma. Quite restrained. More roast malt on the palate with a touch of creamy caramel (but not enough to intrude too much). Smooth, yet firm, mouthfeel. A very decent drop.

From a growler at a wedding party in Asheville. Nice, roasty, dry, English Brown. Nothing too incredible, but a good dry malt with a bitter roasty finish.

Draught. Pours dark brown with attractive beige head. The aroma is rich with caramel and toffee, some sweetish spice notes. The flavor is also rich caramel, with some nut and licorice tones in there. Toasty notes pop up here and there, too. The finish is slightly dry and earthy. Not bad.

Dark brown pour with tan head and lace. Aroma is light chocolate and toasted malt. Taste is same toasted malt with more chocolate flavor than aroma. Nice choco for a brown. A bit thin and watery but still a nice beer.

Served on draft at the Bier Garden in Asheville, NC. Pours a dark chocolate brown color with a medium head. Good head retention and fair lacing. Aroma of chocolate, roasted malts and faint hops. Taste is chocolate, roasted malts and leafy hops. Bitter finish. Medium bodied.

UPDATED: DEC 28, 2006 On tap, Biergarden in Asheville. A nice finish to the evening. Not very fruity, molasses/sorghum/licorice dominated, cocoa-chalkiness. Toasty malt, light coffee. Medium body, medium roasty finish with very light cocoa. Dark brown. Toasted grain, coffeeish aroma.