Twains Honest Lender Imperial Brown

Tap at Twains. Brown pour. Tan head. Nuts and chocolate on the nose with a good roasted note. Flavor is nutty, caramel, chocolate and lightly bitter. Good beer, my favorite that I had a Twains.

The Wednesday Cask selection. Appearance: Opaque, walnut brown body with a full inch of long-lasting, airy, beige-hued foam. Smell: Predominately malty nose smelling of subtle notes of dried wood bark, spiced brown sugar, burnt loaf bread, charred nuts. Taste: Humble brown maltiness with tastes of roasted nuts, bread, and dosed with spice and brown sugar. Teeny tiny fruit hint. Earthy, woody hops with a low amount of bitterness present - enough to provide a semblance of balance, but light enough to stay out of the way of the malts. Fairly drying in the final half. Returns to tastes of nuts and brown sugar before the reasonably dry finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Low carbonation. Very smooth mouthfeel. Drinkability: A good, sultry smooth brown ale and, for me, one of the better Twain’s brews available.

On tap in Mar 2009: Pours a transparent dark amber brown with a clingy-lacing light tan head. Aroma of lightly sweet toasty caramel malt with some nutty character. Starts fairly full with good dark caramel and milk chocolate sweetness with some earthy bittering hops before a drier crisp finish. True to style and enjoyable.

On tap at Twains. Very dark brown, hints of red in the depths. Nice thick tan head. Aroma strongly of roasted malts, slight chocolate. Flavor is roasted malts, smoky, hints of dark chocolate, very subtle hops. Quite drinkable, nothing to far out of the ordinary.

Comes out of the tap a dark, nearly opaque chocolaty brown with a thick, fine-bubbled head. Rich, smoky aroma is mainly of molasses and had hints of malt and chocolate. Flavor is like smoky unsweetened chocolate with tones of coffee, toffee and hops, and is mildly bitter. Texture is edgy, fizzy and lively, leaving an aftertaste of unsweetened chocolate and hops.

[November 1, 2008]
snifter at the brewpub. Pours very dark brown/red and is near opaque. The aroma is very woody with hints at earth and tobacco. The mouthfeel is full without being super heavy. I get hints at nuts, bittersweet wood, and sour mash qualities. It’s not hoppy as I was expecting it to be. It’s pretty much a straight up brown ale just ramped up a notch. Interesting.
[May 9, 2009]
Pours dark brown. This is very woody and nutty with hints at chocolate and vanilla. Palate is extra creamy with lots of wood, nutshells, tobacco and a rich finish. Hops aren’t really prevelant. This is an excellent brown ale.

13oz draft. Very dark brown, light tan rocky head. sweet malt aroma. Lots of caramel. light hints of pine hops in the nose. flavor is of rich malt, toffee, and a perfectly suttle toasted grain character. Heavy bodied, rich and creamy. I wish all Brown Ales tasted like this one!

Pours dark brown with a nice thick white head. Aroma of sweet caramel malt, lightly roasted, little booze, chocolate. Taste is heavy malt, chocolate, caramel, light hop bitterness in the finish. Mouth is smooth and creamy.