Alameda Brickhouse Brown

Brewed by Alameda Brewhouse
Style: Brown Ale
Portland, Oregon USA

Name: Brickhouse Brown Ale
Date: September 21, 2009
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewpub
Appearance: cloudy dark amber, fine beige head, drippy lace
Aroma: sweet chocolate aroma, nice nutty character, light caramel sweetness
Flavor: dry chocolate flavor, light roasted, nice nuttyness, just a hint of caramel sweetness
Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 5/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 11/20
Rating: 2.9/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: ** /4

Nitro draught. Poured medium brown with thick white head, good retention and lacing due to the nitro. Light aroma of malt, some candy sugar and roast. More roast malt in the flavour, and malty notes in the brisk finish.

Botle Pours a hazy medium brown witha frothy off-white head amd only spotty lacing. Looked pretty thin and clear as it poured out. Light roasted sour woody aroma. Flavor is ascidic and sour. Cardboard, notebook paper (college ruled) and a bit of chocolate malt. Thin dissapointing palate and a lively carbonation.

Draught pint at Redbones on 11/19/06
Heavily hazy, per usual from Alameda, ruddy-caramel body shows a fair amount of carbonation with a beige head on top. Moderate to poor retention, with minimal spots of lace.
Sticky toffee in the nose, with hints of buttercream, very dry, grassy hops and just a touch of orange-lemon. Light graininess, a bit of sweat and hay. Not terribly aromatic, no doubt partly due to all of the yeast in suspension. I’m the biggest fan of non-filtration on earth, but why breweries serve heavily hazy beers of English or American style is beyond me. All it shows is poor conditioning. This isnt a hefe-weizen, there’s no reason this brown ale (or the rest of Alameda’s beers) shouldnt be bright.
Mild chocolate and toffee with a sticky, chewy, thick mouthfeel. Lots of water in the wort, leaving only a medium amount of flavor. Grassy, mildly citric hops add some flavor. Touch of light sourness found in all of their beers I’ve had. Not undermalted, nice attenuation. Medium carbonation, no alcohol, maybe a touch of diacetyl (do these guys use Ringwood?).

[Tap - Seasonal] A great dark brown brew. Off the tap it was cold and smelled wonderful. Loved the flavors. a semi lager with a rich flavor and a deep malt undertones. good use of German grains. Great beer.

Bottle: Dark brown, slight hue of black cherry, large fluffy light beige head, fairly nice lacing.   Nose of oats, pales malts, and waxed cardboard.   Slight lactic sourness on first sip, a bit malty, remains a touch tart throughout, finishing with a combination of stale Fiddle Faddle and waxed cardboard.   Not bad, but not that great either.   Moderate body and mouthfeel.   Lingering lactic like sourness.   One thing I like is the fact that I got myself a new label.   Thanks Bill!