Hook and Ladder Backdraft Brown Ale

Brewed by High Falls Brewing Company
Style: Brown Ale
Rochester, New York USA

Grassy and malty aroma along with some hoppy aroma. Nice looking reddish brown with thick head with nice lacing and retention. Palate is sweet, caramel, lemon and nuttiness. Dry finish.

A big sweet and malty aroma that doesn’t deliver in flavor as one would hope. It is refreshing and drinkable, but not too complex or interesting.

This had some decent flavor: sweet, chocolately (not bitter), like milk chocolate. Warm sugar. Very good brown. I liked it.

Pours crystal clear nutty browns with amber glinting in the passing light. A soft khaki head fades into a fairly decent layer while a couple swirls leave faint whispers of lace. As I raise the glass, I am met halfway with a nose eager to please. Lots of spice fraught with cinnamon sticks, nutmeg, and a touch of brown sugars. Dry wood which splinters under the trampling onslaught of sweet roasted nuts: pecans, almonds, peanuts. Crunchy burnt sugars and burnt toast continue to compliment his dry yet sweet spiced nutty crunchy nose. Phew! There’s a mouthful. A promising start, but is he all talk and no follow-through? My first quaff is clean and medium-sweet with caramelized brown sugars and maple playing with lemon in the finish. Nuts crunch with each quaff while toast lingers in the oven, browning to dry, crispy, toasty perfection. Clean and highly sessionable, there is more than enough of a tastefully balanced palate to satisfy my inner bitch, er, critic. His finish is a bit short; I would have enjoyed a bit more toast and spice in the breath. Overall though, the Backdraft Brown was much better than I expected, and so far the best offering Hook & Ladder has presented to me.

It’s not often I get to say I’d buy a 6pack of a beer InBev/AnBusch distributes, but I would have to say in regards to that, Hook & Ladder’s saving grace is that they haven’t let InBev/AnBusch sink any of their financially controlling claws of doom into them. Hook & Ladder is one of the very few and very rare instances where they distributed but not owned, and I hope it stays that way. In the mood for a good session brown ale, Backdraft Brown is a winning ticket.

This poured a plain brown color with a small off white head. Aroma was sweet, and a bit roasted. Flavor was roasted,and nutty, nothing offensive, just a bit thin.

Pours dark reddish brown with a very thin off white head. Aroma is raw nuts, toffee, really buttery toast, a little caramel and just ahint of roast. Flavor is roast, nuts, dried orange peel, a little chocolate and buttered dark toast. Finish is roast, dry nutty notes and a little mineral. Palate is thin, dry and overcarbonated. Not bad, but the carbonation might be getting in the way of what could be either a better or worse experience.

Bottle from Sal’s Beverage World in Elmhurst, Illinois, carefully poured into my Choc Beer glass: This poured a clear chestnut body with a slender beige head. No lace. This had an aroma of caramel, soft nuts, and a splash of runny chocolate. The flavor reflected the nose but had a touch of mineral water to it. Not bad, but a bit over-carbonated.

Lagerseque aromas with some light caramel, hay, and citrus. Fairly thick and foamy head with a dark amber brown body. Flavor is lightly roasty with a slight metallic initial bite, continuing with some sweetness, light chocolate, a little caramel, and a little bitter nuttiness. Palate is fairly light with a mildly bitter duration. Not bad overall. Light and easy brown ale.