Samuel Smiths Nut Brown Ale

[486-20070805] 550mL. Strange alcoholic sweet cherry aroma with hints of apple fruit. Clear, amber brown body with a medium-lasting foamy off-white head. Nutty malt flavour is bitter and dark. Medium body is a little watery. Harsh nutty blending could be smoother, plus, the aroma seems drastically different than expected of a nut brown.

Re-rate 4/30/2006. I’ve had bottles of this taste funky/skunky. I’ve definitely had bad bottles, but even the good ones have had a grassy/hayesque hop flavor that can be confused with skunk. The flavor is predominantly caramel with some bittering balance. Rich and full, one of the better nut browns, but for the money, I’ll take me a Smutty Old Brown Dog or a Rogue Hazelnut!

Pours a delicious brown color with a good sized cream colored head. The aroma is very sweet and nutty tasting. Reminds me of Rogue’s Hazelnut Brown Nectar. This is one of the better brown ales I’ve had.

Light malty and nutty aroma. Quite different from anything I’ve had before (granted, I’ve pretty much been restricted to pale ales and lagers for the last few months). Not too heavy for a beer of this hue, with layers of chocolate, malt, and rye coming up on the tip of the tongue. I imagine it going real well with something like tiramisu.

550ml clear bottle from Lou’s in Augusta. More-or-less opaque brown bottle with a bit of chill haze and a half inch or so of light tan head. Smells roasty malty just the slightest hint of skunk. Roasty maltiness dominates the flavor as expected, with chocolate, caramel, and other malts playing major roles with just a hint of British hops. Creamy mouthfeel doesn’t really hurt the drinkability. A pretty decent beer, and probably the best English brown I’ve had (apart from the hints of skunk).

colore abrato carico al profumo malto tostato e luppolo in bocca prevale la nocciola

Clear (like crystal) red brown with a big medium bubbled tan head, thinning rather quickly. Sweet malty hazelnut smell, round sweet, unbalanced, but not out of whack. A little creamy to chocolaty. Creamy full mouthfeel, though not viscous, this is what I generally want in a brown ale. Lightly sweet and creamy. Malt gives more toast than nuttiness, though there’s certainly still some of that hazelnut quality in here. Diacetyl is everywhere, but shows up much more in the butterscotch finish.

12oz BROWN bottle, 7/22/07. Ah, that good old Sam Smith smell, reminds me of Colorado and 1996, good times. Holy crap, it’s been way too long since I’ve had this, an utter delight, rich nutty flavor with undertones of butterscotch and, and just damn is this a fine easy to drink enjoyable beer!! The only real flaw I can find (besides the filtration and pasteurization, whole nother rant) is a slight green apple flavor in the finish that is kind of off. All in all, a classic beer. Why do I not drink more of this?