Big River Grille Sweet Magnolia American Brown Ale

Brewed by Big River Grille & Brewing Works Chattanooga (Gordon Biersch)
Style: Brown Ale
Chattanooga, Tennessee USA

Clear red-brown with a thin off white head. Aroma is nutty, sweet malts. Taste is very sweet, malty, nutty, some cocoa. Good but really sweet.

On tap Rock Bottom Charlotte. Deep brown pour with decent cream head and lace. Aroma and flavor of floral hops, bit sweet. Nothing to sit and dwell over.

On tap at Big River Grille, Nashville. Pours chestnut brown in colour, decent head, nice lacing. Nice floral hop aroma, and well balanced flavour, maybe a bit on the sweet malt side. Enjoyable.

This was brown in color which was to be expected. The flavor was bland and boring. The worst part about this beer was that it smelled like a wet dog. I am not making that up it seriously stunk. I wish I could say something redeeming about this beer but it had too many problems to begin with. Wet dog, I was surprised. Serving type: on-tap Reviewed on: 02-13-2009 23:07:15

Draught, Seven Bridges
Dull light brown. Hints of caramel. A sweet, simplistic example. Didn’t give it much thought.

Warm dark brown with little head. Nutty aroma is mild, and hard to discern especially from the taster glass. Some breadiness is redeeming. Nutty flavors and a nice malt character. Dry finish. Sessionable, although lacking in that which would make it shine.

Sweet Magnolia Brown Ale; the name alone intones lush visions of rich nuts, brown sugar, and maybe even just a touch of spice. Quite an accomplishment for a brown ale based just on her name. Fourth in my lineup of beers from Seven Bridges Grill & Brewery in Jacksonville, FL I hope she lives up to her name. A good brown ale is a pleasure all her own.
She comes to me a burnt copper with brown earthen tones where the light manages to shine through. A small head lingers on top, awaiting my eventual disturbance. Right away roasted malts and nuts (chestnuts), caramel, toffee, sweet raisins, chocolate, and cherries carry my senses away. A very promising start. Wasting no more time, I reach for my glass and savor the first quaff. A fuller body then some brown ales, she is replete with tons of bitter nuts right up front while chestnuts and bitter lemon esters follow-up. As I delve further into my glass, the lemon zest becomes more prominent, pushing some of the nuts to the background. Despite her fantastically varied nose, this is sadly about all that her body and palate come to. Not complex at all and unfortunately not able to live up to neither her name nor her nose, the Sweet Magnolia Brown Ale falls short.
Brown ales are great session beers. Full flavored with a rich body and highly quaffable, when I want a beer to enjoy a few of, brown ales are an easy choice. The Sweet Magnolia Brown Ale fails to live up to my expectations of a quality brown ale. She definitely had potential and I wouldn’t drain-pour her, but there definitely could have been more complexity to her personality.

Draught at Rock Bottom Charlotte, #428. Mahogany pour with big quick dyeing head. Light malt aroma and flavor. Pretty good.