Acme California Brown Ale

Brewed by North Coast Brewing Company
Style: Brown Ale
Fort Bragg, California USA

Bottle. Hazy brown color with an average creamy light brown head that was lasting. Good balanced sweet malt and nutty aroma. Medium body with a sticky texture. Moderate sweet malty flavor with a small bitter finish. Drinkable but not great.

Pours a reddish brown. Aromas of chocolate/nuts/ and some fruit. Flavor didn’t stand up to the aroma. A little chocolate/coffee taste.

(12 oz bottle: Cost Plus in La Jolla, CA) I’ve never been much of a fan of the Acme line, and this brown ale won’t change my mind any. It’s fine, really it is, but it isn’t terribly flavorful or the least bit interesting. As brown ales go, this is truly pedestrian, run of the mill stuff, but since I tend to like brown ales anyway, Acme Brown Ale is basically a quaffer. It’s malty, sweet (perhaps a bit sugary), slightly toasty, a bit nutty, but minimally bitter and not hoppy either. The nose is mildly malty and nutty, but isn’t very aromatic at all. Body is medium, but just barely, and finishes a bit thin. The color is really more of a dark ruddy amber than any real shade of brown. The tan head was darker than expected, but struck me as having a slight olive complexion. Not something I’d buy again.

12oz bottle - Pours brwon with a small tan creamy head that fades relatively quick to a film but laces after that. Aroma is caramel, toffee, and some grassy hops. Flavor is caramel, toffee, and a somewhat sour finish. Palate is medium bodied and fairly well carbonated. Very drinkable and would be a fair session I think.

Dark orange red with a small light tan head. Caramel, toffee, and toasted malt aroma with hints of grassy hop. Caramel and toasted malt flavors with a tinge of vanilla. Muted herbal hop character, particularly noticable in the finish. Mouthfeel is medium light, somewhat smooth.

Brown with big tan head, left good lacingnose was malty with some hops. There is a sour medicine after taste, keeps me from diving back in. But, this is an ok brown.

This is an above average brown; what you would expect from this brewery. The rest of what I wrote that night is illegible, but if you like browns, give this a try.

Brown with a light tan head. Aroma and flavor dominated by smooth, lighty roasted malt. Just a hint of hop bittering to offset the malt. English brown ales sometimes seem a little boring compared to many of the more complex beers out there, but in the right circumstance, like with a nice bowl of stew, they’re just right. I’ve had Acme’s a lot, and it’s a pretty good one.