Smuttynose Really Old Brown Dog Ale (2008 and earlier)

Brewed by Smuttynose Brewing Company
Style: Old Ale
Portsmouth, New Hampshire USA

Bottle. Year 2007
Appearance :Ruby red , brown amber . Tanned head reduced to very small fizz floating above
Aroma: Quiet bitter. Smooth and clan. Quiet pleasant nose .
Flavour/Palate: Medium full bodied .Sweet brown malts as background, hint of roast. Neatly balanced , smooth textures. Alcohol in friendly way warms up senses.

Transparent bright copper bronze with a pretty-nicely lacing light tan head. Aroma of slightly earthy caramel malty sweet with a touch of tartness and grain. Body starts fairly full and earthy with nice bittersweet malty and slightly citrusy hoppy balance. A decently authentic and drinkable brew.

Bomber. Pours hazy light brown- mostly deep amber with a fine lively carbonation and a nice lasting fluffy head. Aroma is sweet caramel and toffee malts- dry cobwebby nuttiness and light herbal hops. Flavor is intensely caramelly sweet, sharp molasses, toffee, toasted almond, light roasted malts and some burnt chocolate with a dry acrid finish that mixes with the sharp dark crystal malt sweetness.

My Bottom Line:
Expressive leafy hops permeate the fruity caramel-covered almonds offered by the chewy maltiness. Very drinkable and nourishing, this bitter Old Ale is a fine pint for those cool autumn evenings.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A sheet of foam laces atop the deep copper.
-The slow yet expansive carbonation and the suave maltiness combine for a wealthy mouthfeel.
-Earth-laden mushrooms render complexity.
-The hops perceived in the aroma are inappropriate, to my tastes anyway.
-The aroma was not enticing enough; I would have liked a juicier malt apport.

Bottle; 2007 vintage.

Batch 1 bomber drunk on 5/26/07
A large, fluffy, beige head rises up and is retained quite well. Below this, a hickory-tinged mahogany body lies, with medium to medium-high clarity, though quite dark. Moderate lacing.
Very sweet and sticky in the nose, though some dry, nearly earthy, breadiness comes on late to somewhat mitigate this. But it’s chock full of toffee no matter how you look at it and with a fair bit of sticky caramel as well. Alcohol warmth is evident, and while this serves to aid in the balance, somewhat, it also cuts the aroma short a bit prematurely, leaving only some light phenol and sweet vanilla lingering.
Gooey, cakey-rich toffee and caramel unabashedly take over the flavor profile, while some dark chocolate-covered cherry notes and a light liqueur-like dryness add some complexity. A good amount of bitterness and some phenol-like astringency sit on the finish, with a moderate amount of overt alcohol. Even some coffee-liqueur and banana-like notes make their way in to the flavor, while the mouthfeel is soft and almost syrupy. Carbonation is moderate, not altogether tight, but ample enough to keep it somewhat drinkable.
I could do without the hop bitterness and alcohol, though, that’s for sure, and despite enjoying the well-extracted maltiness, it’s a bit forceful/blunt. I really don’t see this style as particularly enjoyable unless you are going to go the unfiltered, blended, polycultured yeast route with perhaps, some barrel aging. Otherwise it’s just too much like an amped up brown ale.

(22oz bottle) Sampled at the Post-Great Canadian Beer Festival 2007 in Victoria on September 8th, 2007. Courtesy of Presario. Alcoholic, caramel, maple syrup and iodine. Yellow head and deep orange body. Flavour of strong brown sugar, tart hops. Fruity and warming. Good.

This was really old feeling. Like a grizzled sailor that smokes 2 packs a day and spits pain. Very smoky and hoppier than I expected. The malty sweetness is there, but this had bite. It was hard to drink the whole 220zer. I think I like the standard brown better.

When I think of an American brown ale I think of hops and malts, huge intensity of both. My favorite would be something like a Stone XIth, which is clearly very different from this beer. This is an old brown, much thinner, much less hoppy, more sour than bitter. Not a bad old brown, just not an American brown. Some dried fruits in the nose, some moderate malt and coffee in the taste/ Actually quite pleasant, if not especially exciting. // Came back to this after it had warmed considerably. Much more interesting. Taste of unsweetened chocolate milk, bitter espresso, and dark malts.