Fort Collins Big Shot

Brewed by Fort Collins Brewery
Style: Brown Ale
Fort Collins, Colorado USA

Bottle. Pours a brownish ruby with almost no head. The aroma smelled funny like a strange mix of spices. Sweet and sour taste.

22 oz. brown bottle, no freshness date, sampled in a pint glass. Clear reddish brown appearance with a frothy beige head of creamy foam. The bubbly topped head slowly settles into a thin sudsy skim, light amount of sticking lace rings the glass. A scattering of micro bubbles flow from the bottom to the top for the whole duration. Nice light roasted malty nose, caramelized sweet and toffee, and of course, nutty. The nuttiness reminds of me hazelnuts with their husks and shells. Framing the edges of the aroma is a mild fruitiness. The body has a full feeling from the firm creamy crispness provide by the steady carbonation. The roasted malts have an amiable balance between the sweet and the nutty. Touches of caramelized sugar compliment the toffee flavors before finishing with a roasted earthy nut bitterness that is aided by a soft hop spiciness. In the middle is a subtle fruitiness, a combination of citric acidity and apricots. I thought this was an enjoyable American Brown Ale, smooth and easy drinkability, glad I have a few more bottles for some quiet winter quaffing.

22oz bomber. faint hazy nut brown hue with a quickly receding ESB-style head. aromas of buttered pecans, almond toffee, and freshly chopped wood. the taste screams the aromas, but without the creamy taste (though indeed present in texture). hazelnut coffee accompanies the flavor and lingers to the finish. the finish is adequately long, but has a touch of minerality that i’m not too big on. it’s well crafted.

I really wanted to like this one. With every sip I expected it to get better but I couldn’t get past the dirty spices or just dirt. Like rotten wood with a hint of pine and cloves. Aroma better than taste and mouthfeel is odd. Wierd flavor lingers way too long.

Bomber: This pours a light, clear orange tinted brown body with a decent beige head that, alas, disappears too quickly, leaving some bits of spotted lace in its wake. It’s got an aroma of toffee, hard nuts, and a mild earthy bitterness. You can distinguish the hazelnuts in the flavor, but the malts and hops take on a bit of a dirty, dusty feel. Odd choice for a Winter special.

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Pours a brownish amber with a medium light tan head. Aroma of nuts, toasted malt and some sweet malts. Flavor was a malty mix of nuts and toasted malts.

Pours copper / brown with a medium density tan head. The aroma is nutty with cane sugar, toasty malt, a hint of licorice and is a bit medicinal. Medium body that glides its way down and has semi-soft carbonation. The flavor has hazelnut, coffee and a bitterness that seems to come from roasted malt, not hops. The finish has more coffee tones and dry nuttiness. An okay beer.

Pours a copperish brown with a tan head. Aroma is malty with hints of biscuit, toast, caramel, and a bit or roastedness. Flavor has a slight spiceness with some earthiness and malt flavor. There is a slight touch of hops and a moderate finish.