Howe Sound Rail Ale Nut Brown

Brewed by Howe Sound Inn and Brewing Co.
Style: Brown Ale
Squamish, Canada

Serve in Dimpled mug, Shaker

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Bottle. Pours a lovely dark brown, much darker than I was expecting, with a light tan head and excellent lacing. Nose is big, roasty, and coffeeish. Big roasted barley, nutty, and brewed coffee follow through on the palate. A bit simple, and really more a porter than a brown ale, this is good, but not great.

1 liter pop top bottle. Poured a clear dark brown color with ruddy highlights. The head was tan with an orange tint. Pleasant aroma of nuts, fig, and brown sugar. There was also a whiff of roasted malt. Medium bodied and slightly sweet with some delicate roastiness. I tasted brown sugar, nuts and a hint of toffee with a subdued coffee note. Good brown.

1 litre bottle with new artwork for 2009. Appearance: Rich, transparent mahogany colour with beige three finger head when poured into tall tankard, rapidly receding to a ring and a thin film of head that lasts for the whole glass. Heavy lace. Aroma: Nuts, hint of dark fruits, roasty malts. Taste: Lots of flavour in here. Nuts, dark and milk chocolate, coffee, vanilla, liquorice, very subtle dark fruits. It seems like every time you take a mouthful of this beer, there is something else you notice each time. Soft, smooth malty finish. You can’t get a better nut brown ale than this. I’ve tasted nuttier, more coffeeish, or more chocolatey; but this beer from Howe Sound has a ton of complexity. Mouthfeel: Medium bodied, easy to drink, slightly silky. Drinkability: Goes down very easily, it’s difficult to savour this because it just begs to be drunk. And at 5% abv, it’s very much a drink you can session. There is nothing wrong with this beer.

Chestnut aroma, dry malt, clear copper. Little creamy, some almond, very clean.

swingtop 1 litre bottle. darkish brown with slight amberness. decent head earthy malt aroma with sufficient hopping for the style. quite creamy. A solid brown ale.

Swingtop 1 L. bottle bought from B.C. liquor store. Reddish brown with a moderate head that fades fairly quickly. Caramel and nut aromas with hints of roasted malts, although not overdone. This beer has a moderate body with low carbonation. Chocolate and roast aftertaste. A good and well-balanced beer.

Draught at the brewpub
Dark mahogany color. It has some roasted malt aroma. The flavor mixes caramel and roasted malt, creamy; it’s mild, inoffensive, with a medium-low bitterness. Not interesting.

Clear brown, almond head with moderate retention. Low caramel, faintly nutty aroma. A little chocolatey, a little nutty, approachable. Unfortunately a little on the thin side for me, but that may be because it was preceded by some bigger beers earlier in the evening. Not bad.

Swingtop. Pours a hazy brown with a thin off-white head. Light toffee aroma. Medium body and light carbonation. Soft, round and nutty taste with just a touch of butter. Lightly roasty finish.

bottle. Beautiful ruby brown, creamy brown head. Roasted, light sour nose. Lives up to its name, nutty roasted, light caramel notes. Chewy body mellow mouthfeel. Chocolate, roast aftertaste. Quite nice.