Muskoka Dark Ale

Brewed by Lakes of Muskoka Cottage Brewery
Style: Brown Ale
Bracebridge, Canada

Very dark brown colour with a thick tan head. The aroma is lightly chocolatey, milk chocolate, dark toasted malts and a hint of light roast. A bit of caramelly character in the nose as well. Sweet toasty flavour, deep rich chocolatey malts. Lingering earthy finish with a soft bitterness. Really more a porter than a brown ale, but it’s tasty, no matter what you call it.

341 mL bottle. Dark chestnut brown with, unfortunately, just a ring of head. Very nice aroma of chocolate, coffee, roast, and a little smoke. Taste is slightly sweet, nutty, with roast, coffee, and again, a little smoke. Light to medium body. Medium carbonation. A little hop bite at the end, but not much. Not bad.

Bottle: Deep Chestnut brown with red highlights...ample frothy mocha cap. Very pungent aromas of malt cocoa and grassy hops. Malty up front, good balance in the middle with some Golding "bite" some complexity with a deep cocoa tone to it. A very decent dark ale. Mellow tastey and drinkable

Dark brown colour with nice frothy head. Some toffee and coffee in the taste. Not bad at all.

What a great beer to sit out on the dock with and chat it up amongst friends. Goes down smoothly with a clean cut and refreshing taste. Loved it.

Ultra-deep brown beverage with a nice, frothy head. Mild aromas of espresso and burnt toast. The fizzy palate isn’t refreshing, and the flavour (or lack of it) is a huge letdown -- this is basically brown carbonated water with a very slight coffee finish. An odd, undesirable medicinal quality also develops towards the middle. A premium-priced beer that tastes like a bottom-of-the-barrel dollar-beer.

A present from my cousin. Overall a fairly average offering. Poured with no head and a less than pleasant aroma of just malts. Taste wasn’t bad with some sweet malts, toffee and only a little bitterness, but was too watery for my liking. I had high hopes, but unfourtunitely was a little let down.

355ml Bottle: This one disappointed me, I had higher hopes than what it offered. Poured with no head, so there wasn’t any to hover around and keep me company. Aroma was roasted malts and caramel to start, but took on a real wet grass/skunk character as it warmed. Flavour is very watery and bland for a brown ale with sweet roasted malt, slight toffee, and a little hops near the end.