5 Seasons Kartoon Brune

Brewed by 5 Seasons Brewing Company
Style: Belgian Ale
Atlanta, Georgia USA

Pours a cloudy, almost opaque mahogany with a fluffy tan head. Strong aroma has overtone of molasses and some good hints of hops. Lively flavor is sharp and malty with hints of caramel and both bitter and sweet ribbons through it. Texture and finish are smooth and pleasing.

Wow, is this thing ever good. Maybe the best brew to ever come out of 5 seasons. Tastes better than most actual belgian ales.

Good not-quite tan head leaves nice lacing. The body is cloudy and a dull dark brown. The aroma is fairly spicy with balanced alcohol and esters. Good flavor. There's a surprising hoppiness backing up the spiciness and the malt. It's a noticeable hop bitterness but not overwhelming. I can see why this won the Beglian-Style Ale category at the Georgia Craft Brew Challenge this year. You couldn't ask for a better example of the style. Man I wish growlers were legal in this state. As a side note, the beer is served in a tulip glass with no logo. Served on the cold side. Definitely gets better as it warms, but the flavors are strong enough that if you're too impatient to let it warm, you won't have wasted your time.

Draft, snifter. Deep mahogany with a creamy and large light tan head. Very sweet sugary aromas of caramel, toffee, light brown sugar and molasses with a hint of sulphur. Subtle spicing smells like cardamom or ginger. Citric notes of oranges and lemon zest liven the experience. Plums and pecans also find their way in to the mix as the beer warms up. The spices are really kicked up a notch in the flavor and the dryness they provide is a great balance to the sweet malt flavors. Though, now i’m thinking that the spice might be nutmeg. Hm. The pecans from the aroma almost become walnuts in the flavor. The yeast profile is fairly tame, slightly musty but merely a factor in the flavor and aroma and never a dominating element (a problem I have with some Belgians). Very creamy and viscous body. The carbonation feels very soft even though it is in great quantity. Bumped up from my original rating of 3.8.

Draft, snifter. Caramel, chocolate, honey malt (M); earthy hops (L); doughy yeast (L); huge plum aroma, oak, raisin, port and brown sugar as well. Deep ruby red with a tall creamy head. Heavily sweet, moderately acidic flavor becomes a moderately sweet, moderately acidic, moderately bitter finish. Medium-full body, creamy texture, fizzy carbonation. The bottom line is: outrageously plumy and fizzy, but I think that will work out well over time.

Fantasic dark brown elixir. This one needs to warm in your hands a little to be truly experienced. Caramel and fruity esters in nose and flavor. Darker dried fruits come out as beer warms.

Thanks Jason for sharing bottle #63/180 bottled on 8-11-05. The beer pours to a chestnut colored body with a nice white head. The aroma is minerally, much like an Abbaye de Rocs Brune. Kiwi fruit. The flavor is minterally, yeasty, light banana, lemongrass. Delicious. The palate is medium bodied, minerally, great carbonated feel. Really darn good beer.

Served in a nice snifter. At least a half inch of creamy, tan head. Fair amount of lacing with a head that last pretty long. Aroma has hops, though subdued, maly, and yeast, with malt the predominate aroma. This is another great beer from the 5’s. It was served a bit too cold. As my wife commented, I wish they would list the ABV of their beers.

Tap at the 5 seasons. Not many brewers make a belgian brown ale, and even the ones from Belgium arent that mindblowing. This, however, was really great, and different. Pours a nice deep brown with a good fluffy tan head and nice lace in the snifter. Aroma is of spices, phenols banana and other fruity esters, ripe apple, prunes and raisin. Malty sweet flavor with more phenols toward the end. Sweet candied fruits, apricots, plum and more raisin. Smooth and yeasty, but not dirty or harsh. This was a great belgian interpretation of a belgian brown- better and smoother than Corsendonk.