Hockley Valley Dark

Brewed by Hockley Valley Brewing & Malting Company
Style: Brown Ale
Orangeville, Canada

[114-20061124] 1L. Light chocolate, malty coffee, light alcohol. Clear, dark dark brown red body with lots of tiny bubbles on the outer edges and a small, light brown creamy head. Chocolate and coffee background, flavour is mainly malty. Medium body, slightly dry. Nice malty togetherness, maybe a bit watery.

500ml can date on bottom:140806. Procured from LCBO in downtown Toronto. Pours a very dark brown with initial adequate off white foam, which quickly fades to a lacing. Initial aroma truly reminds me of maple syrup and caramel. I doubted my perseption, but after I had a few sips, the maple syrup flavour really shone through. Really amazing. Malty with plenty (but not too much) sweetness balanced with some hop presence towards the end. Flavour seems to peak then taper, then drops to near nil. Certainly a unique and pleasant dark brown ale.

Can courtesy of HogtownHarry, thanks! Poured a hugh head with dark brown body. Aroma is malts with some hop presence, cadied sugar. Sweet flavor of carmel, slight chocolate, and syrup. Good brown ale and pretty smooth. Tends to be too thin near the end.

Big, bad 1 litre bottle from LCBO. App.: fairly deep reddish-brown with a fair tan head. Aroma: wood, caramel, a touch vinous, maple syrup. Palate: smooth, med. body, fairly low carbonation. Flav. caramel, brown sugar, maple syrup, woody and vinous. A touch of sweetness and a touch of bitterness to finish. Not bad for an Ontario brew.

Can acquired in trade with blankboy (thanks!). This one was a gusher - all over my kitchen counter (thankfully I didn’t open up at my desk). Settled into a deeper brown color. Aromas of brown sugar, caramel, and light toasted malts. I was also getting maple syrup (could be that whole Canadian mental thing going on). Tastes of brown sugar, light chocolate, caramel, and light roast. Definitely on the sugary sweet side in both the aromas and tastes. Thinner body.

Can coutesy of Sammy, sampled in mid-June ’06: Pours a barely transparent dark brown with a nicely-lacing tan head. Aroma of sweet toasty dark caramel maltiness and a drier hint of English hops. Body starts with a touch of smoke and bittersweetness with a thinner, drier finish. Flavor is somewhat bland but the beer is quite drinkable.

Sweet roasted honey/brown sugar aroma and flavour. Distinct chocolate flavour. Attractive sparkling, red body colour with a long lasting, frothy head. Syrupy feel of the body, with a rich sweet/bitter blended aftertaste. A great looking beer with a great taste and a slightly higher price, but well worth it.

500ml can - pours rich and dark (clear) brown with a 1-inch head on top, quickly dissipating. Aroma is warm and sweetly malty, but with some nicely light hoppiness in there as well. I can tell immediately this is going to be good! The mouthfeel on this is great, very full and rich, and the flavour is full of sweet malt, with some subtle notes of caramel, nuts and perhaps some chocolate. The taste is very fresh. Quite complex and stays full all the way through to the nice hop flavours and light bitterness in the finish. I am surprised this doesn’t get a higher rating. This is a very good traditional brown ale, perfectly balanced. Underrated.