James Page Burly Brown Ale

Brewed by Stevens Point Brewery
Style: Brown Ale
Stevens Point, Wisconsin USA

12 oz. bottle. Pours a clear copper color with a medium white head that rapidly diminshes into a thin crown. The aroma had slight herbal notes along with sweet caramel. The flavor was sweet caramel with a hint of chocolate and a shot of hoppy bitterness. This is a light bodied, easy drinking beer. The finish is sweet but on the dry side. Not bad.

Standard brown ale. Clear, reddish-brown pour with a short head. Aroma is slightly nutty and slightly sweet hinting of caramel. The flvaor is midly bitter with some sweet backbone. Grainy flavor in the finish. Dry. Simple and just OK.

(Bottle) Pours a clear brown body with a small off-white head. Aroma of toasted malt, caramel, and nuts. Flavor of roastiness, sweet chocolate, and mild hops.

Bottled. Poured a clear, brilliant reddish-orange with a short dusting of white.. some rising carbonation. The aroma picked up softer nutty and caramel sugars.. some herbal notes.. smelled pretty good. Flavor was along those same lines.. sweet caramel and a bit of dry chocolate with mild bitterness. Dry and sweet on the palate.. light-bodied. Overall a smooth, somewhat tasty brew.

I thought this beer was drinkable, and a good value for the price ($0.99 for the bottle I bought at Murray’s). Poured a brown color, not quite sparkling, with lots of head. Aroma was lightly sweet caramel malt. Flavor was significantly sweet...a bit like an Oktoberfest might be. Mouthfeel was nothing exciting. This beer was rather drinkable. Not bad, but I’m certainly not telling my friends to run out and buy it.

I agree with the previous rating. A boring beer, even for a brown ale. Not fatally flawed, just nothing to make it stand out. Original rating follows. The color is dark orange with hints of copper. The lightest brown ale I have ever seen. The fluffy head is slightly off white. Iced tea is the main smell with hints of caramel and Red Delicious apples. The taste is light peanuts with some roasted caramel and a bit of bread crust. The body is thin and watery. This is a decent brown ale, but even for the style, it is boring.

Pours with a fluffy, khaki and holding head over a not-so-burly, weak & filtered, tea-brown body. Lighlty oxidized aroma finds weak caramel & grains with a hint of cherry tartness. Cola flavor is spread-thin by fizzy carbonation in an otherwise creamy mouth. Mild, roasty caramel sweetness is tempered by an almost rye bitterness. I expected more of a Porter given this beer’s name, but it wasn’t too bad for a simple Brown.

<font size=-4>Bottle courtesy of <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/View-User-14352.htm&g />

The pour was a very clear and clean brown, with light ruby highlights when held up to the light. It looks sparkly in the glass. It poured a thick, creamy, light-tan head about 3/4", which mostly receded after the first couple of sips. The foam did, however, leave traces of lace throughout the whole 12 ounces - looking at my now empty glass, there are foam remnants from top to bottom. I catch a hoppy tang in the aroma. There is a medium roasted maltiness and a quite pronounced hoppiness in the taste. I expected less hops and maybe some chocolate, but got neither. Oddly, I am ok with this. Scratch that, I rather enjoy it. The taste isn’t complex, but it is nice. No alcohol, fruit, caramel, or spiciness. The hops are somewhat piney - odd for a brown. The mouthfeel is pretty good. The sparkly carbonation is present, which lends itself very nicely to the hop bite. I can’t get over how hoppy this beer is - definately not what I expected. More like a pale ale hoppiness. The bitterness lingers on the tongue for a long long time after the beer is swallowed. Still is an almost piney bitterness.