Smuttynose Really Old Brown Dog Ale (2009-)

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

Serve in English pint, Snifter

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Draft at Bukowski’s Tavern in Cambridge, MA. Wintery spice. Deep mahogany appearance and big pine spice. Rich alc, tasty when cold. Interesting.

Pours a clear dark amber with an off white head. Aromas of vanilla, oak, sweet malt. Taste is sweet, boozy, slight hop afterbite. Finish is full and sweet. Lingering hotness. Eh... It’s ok.

Slightly hazy, old copper brown with a 1 finger,creamy beige head that has excellent retention and leaves a little lacing. Big malty aroma, sweet toffee, toast, honey roasted nuts, woody, buttery oak, crust, white bread, brown sugar, caramel coated granola sharp fruity esters and light earthy hops. Flavor is really big on toffee up front, a nice wallop of sweet bread spice, burnt sugar/dark caramel, buttery oak, browned butter, light smoky notes, raisin-like dark fruit notes and some toast and light herbal/earthy notes to the finish. Medium body with a chewy entry, light, but sharp carbonation and dry, somewhat astringently boozy finish. Really good stuff, a little rough around the edges - somewhat sharp and boozy - but that doesn’t really hurt it much, reminds me quite a bit of sweet dark rum.

Caramel chestnut color nice white head with very little lacing and light carbonation. the aroma is sweet and sugary with slight caramel and alcohol smell. upon taste body is medium and not to heavy on carbonation. Taste is sweet malty with wood caramel and a little heavy on the alcohol. This beer is like a ale, bock and barleywine all in one.

Bottle. Pours dark brown with a nice big head that settles down quickly leaving nice lacing. Aroma is of caramel, bread, grass, and spruce. Taste is lightly bitter, with a rather light body, average carbonation and an average bitter finish. Not all that great.

Pours a hazy red-brown with a thin off-white head. Smells of oak, brown breads. Taste is sweet, woody, moderately bitter - bock like malts, chocolate, oak, hint of alcohol.

Bomber. Nose with tendrils of smoke, some roast and light ash, minor tar and memories of fruit, maybe some blackstrap. Yeah, that meaty smoke is there, and it is delicious. Aromatic hops are low, but I can see them wanting to get at an old ale while still keeping things American. Deep red-brown body with a lacing, rocky tan head. Taste is fully sweet to start, strongly alcoholic but not fumey or burning, intensely fruity and intensely caramelous, some chocolate in there with the roast, wooden with vanilla and maple syrup, really pleasant molasses and brown sugar, light smoke rising with the medium bitterness and toffee/earth. Wonderful fruit complexity. Mouthfeel is full but not obese, swirling and complex, a sugar rush without overwhelming. Quite malt-forward, a nice sipper; if they could ease in some dryness, this might jump into rarefied air.

12 oz. bottle Medium carbonation, a little creamy. Taste of light chicory. Rather pleasant.

Dark amber with no head. The aroma was nothing like the taste, some malt and a bit of fruit. The flavor however is quite a different story. Sweet with a bit of booze. Lots of vanilla and wood, like a whiskey aged brew. Rich and warming, not for the faint of heart.

Solid beer, smells really sweet, taste is sweet and bitter, and very malty. One of the more interesting beers I have had, not something I would buy all the time, but glad I tried it. Its like a really strong, bitter brown ale. Like the barleywine of brown ales. abv well hidden. Not really my style, but if you like malty beers that are sweet this is going to be awesome for you.