Great Lakes Cleveland Brown Ale

Brewed by Great Lakes Brewing Company
Style: Brown Ale
Cleveland, Ohio USA

Bottle from trade from fiver29. Poured a clear brown color with an average frothy off-white head that mostly lasted with good lacing. Moderate toasted sweet and chocolate malt aroma. Medium to full body. Solid balanced toasted bittersweet flavor with a medium bittersweet finish of moderate duration. Good complex brew.

On tap: Very hoppy aroma. Pours a dark amber with a nice off-white head. Great lacing. Great grapefruit hoppy flavor with some nuttiness and roastiness. Much hoppier than I would expect in a brown ale. Moderate hop aftertaste.

C-Bus 9 shared by butters: Bottle: Pours a clear reddish brown in color with a white head. Aroma, caramel, brown sugar, and a little nutty. Flavor, light caramel, brown sugar, body was a little on the thin side. But overall after being named after something so putrid, it turns out alright.

Shared by Leopoldstoch at C-bus 9. Deep brown color with a small head. The aroma was of sweet malts, milk chocolate, and caramel. The taste was a nice creamy coffee flavor with hints of vanilla and molasses. I rather enjoyed this one.

On tap @ the brew pub 9/19/07, served in a shaker pint glass: Coppery brown, clear, w/ a light beige lasting medium sized head. Very light roasted barley note w/ strong toasty and bready a subdued caramel and light floral hop aroma. Very balanced aroma, malty and very pleasing. Flavor is well balanced overall! Caramel, bready, toasted malts, clean, not terribly estery, and hints of roasted barley in the flavor. Vague earthy hop in the semi dry finish, malty aftertaste. Ligher medium carbonation, medium body, smooth m/f. Overall a very palate pleasing, easy drinking beer. Could be a session beer if not for the 6% ABV. Definitely malty, but well balanced all around w/ great malt complexity. No offfense to Great Lakes, a really highly enjoyable beer, but maybe not worth 10.00/ bomber.

Brown pour, small white head. Aroma is nutty and roasty. Flavor is caramel, and light roasted malts with a toasted touch. Sweet and nutty but with light dark malts to balance it. Not bad but nothing exciting.

A rich roasted nutty aroma that draws you closer to reveal more malty scents along with a dose of floral hops. Medium brown body producing a nice settling head and very good lacing. Medium bodied, rich and malty with an assertive bitterness. Extremely robust flavor chock full of nuts, toast, mild coffee and those wonderful floral hops. Great brown, I’m glad to have finally been able to enjoy this at the brewpub.

I love the Fall, it has to be one of my favorite times of the year, and football season is a big part of that. And what goes better with watching football than a good beer? Nothing in my opinion, beer and football go hand and hand. The good people of Cleveland Ohio are truly blessed. While their football team may not be so hot these days, the city of Cleveland does have a brown they can be proud of. That brown would be Cleveland Brown Ale, from the Great Lakes Brewing Company. This is a delicious, malty, nutty, hoppy brown ale. This would be an American brown ale by style vrs a tradition British one such as New Castle. American brown ales have a more assertive hop character in flavor and aroma, and have a bit more roast than their British inspirations. Cleveland Brown Ale pours to a deep brown chestnut color with a nice white head, and a soft carbonation. The nose has some nice nutty malt aromas, a touch of roast, and really fragrant, piney, citric hop aromatics. The palate starts with a bit of sweet malt flavor and a touch of fruit, then leads into some nice nuttiness, and a little roast. This beer finishes with more sweet and nutty malt character, then explodes into a long, dry, citric, bitter, hop bite. Really a well done beer, and flavorful beer. Plenty of good malt and hop character in this beer. Cleveland Browns fans, don’t despair, here is one brown that will always score a touch down!!