Blue Ridge (MD) Hopfest Brown Ale

Brewed by Wild Goose LLC (Flying Dog)
Style: Brown Ale
Frederick, Maryland USA

A slighlty pale amber beer with a dying orange head. The aroma is sweet hop juice like - with notes of alfa acids, fruit, and citrus. The flavor has a good hoppiness combined with lighter notes of toffee and brown sugar, the hops gives it an OK bitter end, but the body is thin.

Very dark brown. Salty, with strange dill aroma and bitter finish.

Name: Blue Ridge Hop Fest
Date: 12/20/1998
Mode: Bottle
Source: Chevy Chase, DC

dark amber, lots of suspended sediment, whispy head, strong fresh floral hop aroma, strong hop flavor, good dose of bitterness, a hop fest

Aroma: 8/10; Appearance: 5/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 5/10; Overall: 16/20
Rating: 3.7/5.0
Score: **4
-------- /> The score was calculated based upon the notes and an old scoring system.

Don’t let the name fool you, there’s lots of malt here as well. Good balance, and yes, lots of hops on the nose.

(2002): Mahogany body topped by medium rocky brown head. Aroma is floral hoppy, caramel, and medium sweet. Taste is wonderful -- floral hoppy and chocolate, and finished nice and roasty. The body is rich and full, with a pleasant chewiness.

Barrel Draught from the jug at the GABF, Colorado Convention Center 30/09/2005 Amber coloured and slightly rich on the palate with a fruit aroma. Nutty flavoured finish with some bitterness.

Supposed to be unfiltered, but it pours a crystal clear, ruby/copper hue. Mid-sized, fizzy, beige head. The nose is of milk chocolate, dill (omhper is dead on) and very light mint. Very malty flavor like any good brown ale, but hopped very nicely as well. Medium-bodied with a creamy mouthfeel and lively carbonation. Medium-length, bitter, then dry finish. Damn nice brown ale! Very good session brew. Pleasantly surprised by this one as I don’t typically like the Blue Ridge line of beers. Top notch facilities and a great contract brewer, but most of their own line falls short in my book. Not this one!

Bottle. Meedium dark cracker brown colored body, with a toasty hued head. Nose is fairly good, lively, rich toffee, some leafy hops and light bourbon, toasty and rich smelling. Sweet flavor, with just a bit of sourness in the finish, lactic. Overall very good stuff, one of the better brown ales but certainly non-traditional. I usually pass these up but this one is a good reason to keep trying new beer.