Sweetwater Georgia Brown

Brewed by Sweetwater Brewing Company
Style: Brown Ale
Atlanta, Georgia USA

Serve in Dimpled mug

Looks pretty good: Copper color with a decent head that leaves a thick ring at the top of the glass. Smells a little bready. Malty taste, and pretty sessionable. This beer isn’t incredible, it delivers exactly what it promises: an easy-drinking session brown. I still prefer CCB Maduro, but Georgia Brown is decent.

Bottle. The pour was a hazy copper brown with an average sized (1-2 finger) creamy beige head that lasted for a decent while thus producing some very good sheets of lace on the glass. The aroma was typical of a Brown Ale with some roasted chocolate malts, a smidgen of herbal hops and a doughy yeast with notes of coffee, caramel, brown sugar and a very light dark fruit ester. The taste was malty to say the least with mild chocolate and caramel notes from the beginning and finished about the same but with a slight hoppy bitterness, a touch of brown sugar and a strong coffee presence. The flavor hung around for a little while with the taste of coffee being the most dominant, but also having a very mild sweet bitterness to it. Mouthfeel was just a shade under medium in body with the texture being creamy and a little oily and having a medium carbonation. Overall a pretty straight forward Brown Ale. Bold and tasty, but with no surprises. Most definitely a brew you could drink a few of.

Draft. Pours amber brown with a beige head. Sweet caramel malty aroma with some light roasty notes. The flavor has lightly roasted malts, some toasty notes, nutty sweetness, and light floral hops. Not bad.

Tastes Sweet, mildly roasty, caramely and touch of Chocolate, No hops at all for balance. This is a pretty straightforward American brown ale, no surprises in the flavor, but no flaws either. Not as much in the nose however, just some lightly roasted malt, more aroma wouldn’t hurt. Medium bodied and well-carbonated. The beer’s color is on the border between light brown and dark amber, and the light tan head settles to a ring. A few small patches of lace are left on the glass. Decent, but not amazing.

I was deeply disappointed in this one. From such a good brewery I had a few surprises in store. First off, Sweetwater likes their hops -- a LOT. Too much hop nose and palette for the style and not enough chocolate hops to make it a respectable brown. Initial aroma was a little like cooked vegetables (collards, cabbage, greens). I had to ask for another bottle be poured to ensure it wasn’t a skunked batch. It wasn’t, which was the most disheartening part. Appearance was good (head, lacing, body, color). I like my browns to be well balanced between hops and malt with a nice medium dryness. Not so here.

Poured up on tap with a nice clear amber body, some copper hues and tan head. The mild aroma offers up some malts mixing with roasted malts and a faint dark fruity ester note. The taste is similar with sweet malts, roasted malts, a bit of highly roasted malts and a biscuit sort of chocolate maltiness. Behind the malts I get hints of sweet dark fruity esters.

In Sea Island, GA. From bottle into snifter glass (not beer clean, but best I had). Decent pour--rich, dark brown color with a thin head that dissipates relatively quickly. Aroma is robust: dark malt, nutty, chocolate, barley. Flavor is sweet. Palate middle of the road. Balanced beer overall. One of the better brown ales I’ve had, for sure. It will be a happy Thanksgiving with this one!

Bottle. Raisin colored with a sliver-thin head. Pretty straight ahead brown with caramel, brown sugar, and toast notes both in the nose and filling out the flavor. A touch of English hops come through in the finish. Leaves the mouth moderately sticky.