Rock Bottom Brown Bear Brown

Overall good. A little malty. slight heavier, but expected for a brown. Good aroma and colour.

Draught sample at the downtown Seattle location. Dark brown colour. Mild sweet flavor...maybe a hint of chocolate in there. Not too bad at all.

Draught sample, Seattle. Mild cardboard. Roasted grain with bit of smoke. Very little hoppiness and a mild balsamic tang. Brown clear with light lacing head. Medium bodied with heavy carbonation. Dry roasted grain to start, bit of rye. Nutty. Bit of smoke and cardboard and light malty finish/after.

On tap (sampler) at the Bethesda location, July 2006. Reddish copper colour - quite pale for a Brown ale. It was also distinctly hoppy for the style, with distinct citrus notes and a quite dry mouthfeel which, combined with the expected nutty malt, produced a nicely balanced brew. I am not usually a fan of American brown ales but I liked this one. Probably because it wasn’t very typical of the style. It certainly didn’t have the residual sweetness that puts me off many of them. Perhaps the brewer at Bethesda has managed to depart from the corporate recipe - who knows with Rock Bottom.

Bethesda. Nose is simply toasted bread and caramel malts. About how you would expect an American brown ale to smell. Color is dark muddy brown. Flavor is very weak, only a hint of toated barley and maybe a touch of some cinnamon toast, before being overpowered by the sickly sweet taste of basic malt syrup. Sweet overall, no glaring brewing defects present other than an unimaginative recipe.

Draft at the Chicago location. Came out brown (go figure). Nose is toasty malts, light nuttiness, cocoa, caramel, and thinned chocolate. Taste is caramel, cocoa, lighter chocolate notes and sweet malts. Faded hops as well. Body is medium and chewy in spots. Finishes with more cocoa, caramel and soft chocolate. Again this helped my meal a bit.

RB Chicago; have had it at the Bethesda one too. For brown ales, this is one of my favorites. Aroma of some chocolate and malt. Flavor was pretty good, some malt, chocolate, a little caramel and coffee. Some hop underlying (Re rate; enjoyed it more so I bumped it up a tad).

Draft. I don’t like brown ales, and this one was no different. Not much aroma, caramel malt flavor.