Brau Brothers Ring Neck Braun Ale

Brewed by Brau Brothers Brewing Company
Style: Brown Ale
Lucan, Minnesota USA

Date: 12/15/2007
Source: Tasting, Cellar Party

clear dark brown, wispy beige head, streaks of lace, roasted chocolate aroma with a light earthy character and a touch of solvancy, sweet chocolate flavor, good earthy balance, light lingering bitter finish,

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 11/20
Rating: 3/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: *4

Pours a transparent copper mahogany with a thin-lacing light tan head. Aroma of sweet dark caramel malt and some nutty notes. Body starts lightly sweet with some chewy caramel malts and a touch of lightly toasted malts toward a drier finish. A pretty decent brown ale.

Pours brown with a thin tan head. Smells earthy with some sweet malty hints. Tastes nutty and caramelly with an earthy finish.

Thanks to guerde for this rarity - might be the only bottle in Cali. Pours a hazy darkish brown/amber with a creamy beige head. Rich aroma notes of darkish malt, chocolate and arguably treacle. Medium body with creamy carbonation. Flavor is very mixed - toffee, treacle, something in that vein. Nutty. Tasty. Finishes neither sweet nor dry, and there’s a slight tootsie roll rebound.

Sampled on draught at the ABR 07 in Minneapolis, MN. Pours a clear coppery amber brew with a slow dissolving off-white head that has good retention and nice lacing. Aroma of fruity caramel malt, a touch of dark berries, some roasted nuts with some yeast funk. Taste is medium bodied, lightly carbonated with flavors of roasted caramel malt, some light berries and roasted nuts. Finish is slightly gritty/grainy with a fruity aftertaste that quickly disappears. Actually, not too bad for a brown ale.

Thanks to Bob for the bottle! Poured clear coppery-orange with a short-lived cap of off-white head. The aroma picked up nutty notes, caramel, and wet hay with accents of cereal.. not much hoppage to note. The flavor found nutty and biscuit character at the core with hints of dark fruit and earthy bitterness around.. brighter and prickly as it warmed up, and it seemed like some combination of degraded hops and boozage.. toasty and sharp on the finish. Medium-bodied with creamy carbonation on the palate.. just a poor transition to the sharper stuff on the edges (the really didn’t do a lot of good).. not bad.

Malty brown, pours brown with initial white foamy head. Some bitterness apparent, but well washed over with malt, making it easy drinkable but essentially another malt. A bit of choco malt too.

Bottle (12oz). Via trade with Oakbluff. Clear deep mahogany pour, small fizzy off-white head. Mildly sour caramel malt aroma, lemony and nutty. The taste follows - nutshell roast malt, light lemon juice, a bit of sour currant or cranberry, and slight dry weedy hop bitterness ... I don’t DISlike it, but it seems thin and stuck somewhere between sour ale and brown ale. Watery, flat body, medium acidity, quick taste drop-off leaving a mildly bitter/sour aftertaste. Odd - honestly if this were called a sour ale I might give it a higher score.