Barley Island Dirty Helen Brown Ale

Brewed by Barley Island Brewing
Style: Brown Ale
Noblesville, Indiana USA

8/04/2008: Dirty Helen Tavern Style Brown Ale is brown in color with golden highlights and a thin, speckly veil. A faint caramelly-molasses-nutty aroma is barely evident. The flavor is even more elusive which is okay based on what can be found which includes: steeped roasted malt or bark, sour/burnt malt and fruit but sometimes vacantly sweet, and something slightly nutty. Weird. Doesn’t even quite cut it to be just "average". This beer feels overly thin and watery on the palate and is completely unexciting. Overall this is a very disappointing beer that misses the mark. I am quite surprised by how poor this particular beer is considering the quality of several of Barley Island’s other offerings, most noteably the Barfly IPA and Majic Java Stout...

12 fl. oz. bottle from tish. Thanks! Rating #69 for this beer...

Bottle purchased at Corral Liquors in Granite City, IL. Pours a hazy burgundy with a finger of somewhat creamy, beige head that diminishes to a thin cap. The nose is of a somewhat astringent burnt caramel that transitions to an "off" phenolic/plastic note; not terribly enticing. The mouthfeel is on the light side of medium-bodied and almost creamy-slick, finishing mildly dry and astringent. The flavor follows the nose with an additional roasted nut note. This is a decent brown, but the astringency and plastic note detract from the overall effect. It’s not bad, but it’s not particularly good either.

A good session brown. Slightly hoppy, nutty flavor thats a tad too watery, but fairly standard for a brown. Pours a light brown with a thin head and some good lacing. The malt character of this one actually is pretty good. Nothing too much jumps out about this one.

This brown ale pours a fairly transparent brown amber colour with a small head. Hardly any lacing, this light bodied brown leaves you wondering if there could have been more. Pleasent, yet not very complex it is a friendly tasting brew.

12 oz. bottle courtesy of a trade with BBB63. Pours a mostly clear dark brown with a very thin off-white head that had completely vaporized before my first sip. Pleasnt aroma of lightly roasted malt and some floral hops. The flavor is similar with light roast up front and moderate hops bitterness at the finish. The aroma is perhaps a bit sweeter than the actual flavor. As others have mentioned, not deserving of its low percentile rank - should probably be around 50 percent.

Umber color with hints of garnet when held to the light. Modest, but stable beige head. Grainy aromas with hints of DMS. Some toasted to lightly roasted malts as well in the scent. Light malt sweetness with a touch of toasted biscuits. Herbal hops kick in the middle. Some earth dry malt flavors also come out in the finish and linger. Slightly unclean, but fairly drinkable brown.

had bottle brought up to me from a freind. Nice brown murky color, nice frothy head, nose is nutty some malt sweetness. Flavor is slightly nutty a little odd fruityness and not really much in the direction of hops, dry finish.

Nice looking beer. It is a cola color with a cool tan / pumpkin head that hangs around for a while. Aroma is sweet roasted malt and a bit of hop. The beer itself is not as sweet as the aroma would indicate. It is a roasted and bitter flavor and is reminiscent of a porter. Feels smooth and creamy. In my book this is an underrated beer at 39%.