Bear Brew Honey Bear Brown

Brewed by Bear Brew Pub (Black Bear Brewery)
Style: Brown Ale
Orono, Maine USA

Draught sample at the brewpub, mid-May 2007. Somewhat murky medium brown with just a hint of foam lasting....pleasant, reasonably well-balanced aromatic profile, nuts and fruits (almonds, pecans, cherries) amiable sharing the sweetness....alas this does not carry over to the body, which is horribly vegetal and sour, loads of DMS or some equally bad infection, cardboardy and very dry at the finish with minimal carbonation....a trainwreck, ultimately; strange that the nose wasn’t off.

Draught 12oz glass at the brewpub on 12/28/05. Pours an auburn-mahogany brown, with some tan/beige highlights and a small, but fairly well-retained beige head that dissipates eventually to a ring, with little to no lacing. Quite clear. Aroma of light walnuts, brown sugar, touches of treacle and light crystal malts and a light attempt at some soily/nutty hops. Flavor shows a bit of vanilla cream and caramel, light raisins, touch of mildly tart plum/prunes and then a dry toasted malt finish, with just the most faint hint of floral hops. Very bland/nutty/drying on the end, with low malt sweetness. Moderately carbonated, with an unremarkable texture, slightly papery.

Tap, Bear Brew, well the color was Very Brown, looked like it could be almost black but it had all the normal brown traits, with some extra hop to it.

Seemed much like a typical brown, which is good, but makes this beer not very memorable in my mind. I’ll drink it again, but it’s not one of my favorites.

A pretty honest brown ale, on par for the American version of the style. Moderate hop-aroma, medium-bodied with excellent lacing, with a flavor that sees the scales tipped very slightly to the hops side. Mildly dry aftertaste which quickly dissapates.