Barley Island Dirty Helen Brown Ale

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

Bottle: Pours a dark amber with an off white head. Aroma, caramel, some earthy notes, pretty mild in aroma thought. Flavor, caramel, earthy, a bit nutty, some slight roastiness, very smooth.

Pours a nice clear brown color. Little to no head at all. Slight medicinal malt smell. Watery thin flavor. Slightly sweet malt with some bitterness in the finish. I would say it is a poor imitation of Goose Island’s Hexnut Brown Ale.

pours reddish brown with tan head. aroma is mostly malt with roasted malt and some bad coffee and chocolate. mostly hersheys and folders as far as chocolate and coffee go, respectively. theres a little roated malt and nuts but not much. blah very thin and plain.

This is the kind of beer that brings pure hate out of me. Pours clear mahagony with a small splotchy tan head. The aroma has roasted malt, dark berries, light roast and coffee. Medium / light body, thin flavors and sharp stingy carbonation. Starts out very sour and astringent with well hidden light roast and bits of sour berries. The finish has an unwelcome citric flavor and lots of tin. I would have done better to flush my money down the toilet - by having this I had to taste this repulsive liquid first and then flush it. Thumbs violently down!

Pour is a dark brown with a tan head. Aroma is not so much. Some malts show up but i’m trying really hard. Flavor is a little better with some chocolate malts but again not much else. Finish is watery and boring.

Dark reddish brown with mild roast malt aroma. Roasted malt flavour with some carmel. More bitter than I expected, but fairly smooth delivery.

From the tap, served in a standard bar 22 oz. pint glass. Poured a clear reddish hued brown with forthy, fluffy off-white head that settled into a sudsy lacing. Aromas of toasted nuts and a soft sweet fruitiness, earthy with cocoa and caramel maltiness in the background. Good even carbonation and a soft malty crisp, dryish, smooth medium bodied mouthfeel. A pleasant nutty brown ale taste, nutty yeast, toasted grains and cocoa, subtle sweet fruitiness in the middle, a soft hop bitterness that lingers at the end, and a dry nutty, malty finish. A welcome addition to the taps here in central Illinois, easy, smooth drinkability, I could spend a long evening with this.

bottle - Pours burgundy with a moderately sized head. It has a light malty aroma and a good caramel malt flavor. This is a simple, straightforward brown ale that’s a little too thin and could really use more character. Not bad.