Free State Chocolate Brown Ale from Free State Brewing Company

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Formerly brewed at Free State Brewing Company
Style: Brown Ale
Lawrence, Kansas USA

bottling
unknown

on tap
unknown

distribution
unknown

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Ratings Average Score Seasonal ABV Style Pctl Serve in
3 2.6/5.0 2.67/5.0 Winter - 0 Dimpled mug

Commercial Description:
This unique brew starts out much like our John Brown Ale. Lots of malt and gentle hopping make a brew balanced towards the subtle nuances of rich malt flavors. After this beer has matured into a very pleasant brown ale, we put it into conditioning tanks with ¾ of a pound of gourmet chocolate nibs per barrel, these are the roasted cocoa beans themselves. They provide the very essence of chocolate. The result is a subtle dark chocolate aroma and a mild chocolate flavor that complements the rich malt characters. In trials, we found that too much chocolate and the beer starts to taste like a tootsie roll but with a well balanced addition, the characters of fine dark chocolate blend beautifully with the roasted and caramel malts. This, of course makes this a bit more expensive to produce but we think it’s worth it.

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patpras (8), Lawrence, Kansas, USA
does not count

4.1	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
4.1	7/10	4/5	8/10	4/5	18/20

Feb 14, 2007 Updated: Feb 18, 2007

Rich, malty, sweet brown ale. No bitterness anywhere. Taste a lot like John Brown, but a bit fuller and richer. No disernable chocolate flavor.

tjthresh (1746), Greenfield, Indiana, USA

2.8	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
2.8	5/10	3/5	6/10	3/5	11/20

Feb 13, 2007

Blah. Why did they make this beer? Dull all the way through. Very little chocolate character. Think palate. Not really good.

iowaherkeye (1832), Bakersfield, California, USA

2.4	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
2.4	4/10	3/5	5/10	3/5	9/20

Feb 3, 2007

Picked up a growler earlier today. I don’t think it’s been on tap terribly long since their site said this was coming in early February, thus the first rating. Pours a clear brown with a one finger beige head. The aroma is toasted grain--not to be confused with nuts or toasted malts--a little bit of dry dog food, and if I strain really hard I can pick up a slight hint of unsweetened cocoa. The flavors are exactly the same with the toasted grain being the strongest, and a hint of chocolate milk’s finish toward the end. Minimal bitterness noted. Light bodied with soft low carbonation. This beer is average at best--I can’t imagine them to keep this beer around without tweaking the recipe a good deal

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