Three Heads Bromigo Ale

Three Heads Brewing
Brewed at Custom Brewcrafters
Style: Amber Ale
Rochester, New York USA

Serve in English pint, Shaker

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   update pic

I poured a 22oz bottle into a tulip glass.

Appearance: Dark red color; forms a large, yellowish, foaming head which dissipates, but not completely. Laces the glass well.

Smell: Noticeable smoke, but not to the overt extend of an actual rauchbier. A general sweet aroma of toffee and brown sugar.

Taste: Some beers put a combination of flavors together that seem like they wouldn’t match, but they do. That’s the case with "Bromigo". It’s almost like brown sugar bacon in beer form - sweet, somewhat confectionary, but not cloying, and balanced with a prominent smokiness. Though the label indicates this is an amber ale, it’s a little closer to a brown ale with the smooth confectionary sweetness of brown sugar, toffee and milk chocolate. The beer is literally brewed with maple syrup, but it’s nothing so sweet as to be sickly.

The palate turns on a dime when the smoked malts appear. It’s not too far removed from bacon, or the classic woody campfire smoke of more traditional rauchbiers. The difference is the smoke here is a little shorter on the body (a lot of it comes through in the head rather than the beer). The aftertaste reverts back to the beginning with brown sugar, maple syrup, and some noticeable milk chocolate flavors, too. A winning combination to be sure, plus there’s significant hops in there - the bitterness helps enhance the spice and give it more pep. Although the smoke taste seems to fade a little too quickly.

Drinkability: Three Heads Bromigo does have noticeable carbonation at first, but seems to actually become thicker and smoother as it calms down. It’s an easy beer to drink which is pretty impressive considering how robust it is and the fact it’s a pretty hefty brew at 7% ABV. The aftertaste is bittersweet, but short lived. A very versatile beer as it would be great with any kind of barbeque food or as a liquid dessert.

Three Heads Bromigo is a crystal clear, copper ale with a thin, dense, sand colored head that leaves a solid film on the glass. Smoke is pretty prominent in the aroma, but I’m not picking up any maple in there. There seem to be notes of citrus and pineapple, though. It smells like food... Maybe a shish kebab from the grill. It seems pretty full bodied, smooth and soft. The finish is very quick and it leaves behind a little chalkiness. It tastes smoky from start to finish. It’s not really sweet or dry. The maple surfaces near the finish, more resiny than sweet. It tastes a little roasty and chocolatey. There’s a little bitterness at the finish and then a kind of dark chocolate aftertaste. This is good stuff. It’s solid and unique and not overstated at all. It’s pretty easy drinking and could work as a session ale.

(draft @ Tap and Mallet - Rochester, NY) Clear copper pour with a very nice tan head. Subtle sweetness in the aroma with a light hint of smoke and a rather nice spicy and floral hop note. Flavor starts off with that same maple sweetness. Not too subtle and not too overpowering. It fades soon after and gives way to a very light and bitter smoke middle. The maple sweetness comes back near the finish and blends well with the spicy and peppery hop bite. Very smooth.

On tap at Lovin Cup in Henrietta for their release party. Dark amber color with creamy white head. Sweet toffee aroma with some spiciness. I don’t really pick up the smoke in the aroma, but it could be the cold temp. Flavor includes some smokey earthy notes to accompany the sweet caramel/toffee flavors that I assume are coming from the maple. Nice fall beer.

Bomber at TapNY. I had lost my wife temporarily at the festival as one is bound to do. I walked by the perogie stand and got a few greasy ones with sauce and proceded to look for a stand up table that I could rest my beer at and begin some food consumption in earnest. There were no empty tables so I decided to make some new friends and joined two guys deep in perogie contemplation. Our conversation began and I found myself talking to a brewing "minion" from 3HB. My wife appeared shortly thereafter and joined in on the conversation. The minion (sorry man forgot your name) invited us over to the stand as I had not had any of the Bromigo we were discussing. I had a quick two and was quite impressed at the time. I was three hours into the four hour festival at the time. Grabbed a bomber this past week and set out to do a more sober review today. This my friends is like an alcoholics breakfast of champions somehow mystically transmuted into a bottle. Bacon and maple sugar. Some sweet diacetyl and breadiness stands in for the pancakes. Hops abound as one of my "green" portions of my daily diet. Nose is of smoked malt and light hop. Body is pretty big for 7% and is smoke and bacon, shortly followed up by malt, hops and maple sugar. Yeah! While I felt it was better at the festival, it still held mostly true during my stand alone tasting.

Draft. Pours deep amber with an off white head. Sweet malty aroma with just a hint of smoke. The flavor has sweet caramel malts, toast, molasses, and lightly smoked malts. Good stuff.

Bottle. Pours hazy reddish amber with a medium fizzy beige head that quickly dissipates with decent lacing. Sweet aroma, caramel, maple syrup, light smoke and ash. Flavor is similar, only lightly sweet with a touch of maple. Smoky notes more prominent. Light ashy bitterness and astringence. Not a bad effort.

a nice smokey an maple aroma with a strong breadiness. a strong medium body with maple, wheaty and smoke flavors. A sweet malty finish with a hit of hops.

22 oz bottle. Pours a deep red-brown mahogany with minimal head and not much carbonation. Lots of caramel in the smell, very sweet-smelling. The smoke flavor comes through a lot more in the taste than it does in the smell, and it doesn’t have the extreme sweetness that I was expecting.

Pours deep amber into a Sam glass. Off-white head pancakes as it recedes leaving spider lacing to coat surface. Maple syrup and smoke aromas. Thin, yet crisp with sweet caramel and maple upfront and a lasting slightly smoked finish.