New Glarus Fat Squirrel Nut Brown Ale

Brewed by New Glarus Brewing Company
Style: Brown Ale
New Glarus, Wisconsin USA

2006 bottle from StewardofGondor consumed on 5/23/06.
The head is weakly retained, running to a ring quicky, with a shade of lace left behind. Head is heavy cream-beige colored, with a deep honey-amber color, with strong ruddy tints.
Fat graham cracker aroma is redolent of golden grahams cereal. Honey-cream sweetness, but yet grainy and packed with barley (the beer, not the cereal). Sprinkle on a layer of vanilla-flavored sugar granules and then dredge it in fudge. Finally, a touch of toastiness to dry things out somewhat, with light fruity esters that come across as dark fruits when intertwined with the malts.
Flavor is much more dry than expected. Crunchy graham cracker-like chocolate malts are quite heavy, while some lightly sweet, honeycream-like extraction. Toasty graham crackers dipped in marshmallows with heavy hazelnuts falling in to the finish. Low carbonation, lightly tingly on the palate, fairly engaging. Some minimally spicy, herbal-nutty hop notes. Medium-dry mouthfeel has some light creaminess from the residual sugars, but plenty of dryness as well from the chocolate. Highly sessionable. But I think I’m repeating myself. Oh that nose!

12oz bottle. Pours a light brown color with a small off white head. Nose is similar to golden grahms, lightly toasted, bit of maple in the max as well. Palate is lightly playful with a nice body to it. Flavors of light graham and some bits of nuts and maple. Light hints of biscuit.

Decent looking beer. Deep transparent amber color. This beer starts well with a nice roasted malt profile - hazelnuts, etc. But then it starts to go wrong. The hops come into the end of it and give it a sour almost metallic finish. I understand that in a brown ale you have to give it a decided hop profile to keep it from being ultra boring, but these hops just dont do it for me.

Bottle 05/20/2K6 in Lake Geneva, WI.. Pours a thick brown, almost looks like Cocal Cola. Brown/cream head. Mildly bitter, somewhat nutty with an unusual sourness in the background. Not as "hearty" tasting as expected by it’s appearance. Good, but not exciting. I wouldn’t turn it down if offered, but given another choice I’d choose something else.

12oz bottle. Hazy and unfiltered. Dull amber brown hue. Spotty off-white head. Sweet malty nose. Hints of vanilla and cinnamon. Nutty and chocolate. Slightly sweet malt flavor. Lively and cola-ish. Nutty, dry, layered, cocoa, caramel, slight bitter coffee, piney and pruney. Finish is sweet and dry.

Pours a golden amber with a 3/4" beige head. Aroma of roasted nuts and sweet malt. The nuttiness was more in the nose than taste. Creamy texture with a slight sour aftertaste. This was much heavier than I would have expected, but very much enjoyed!

pretty good head for an NG, but it’s not a very brown-colored beer. looks like an IPA frankly. no worries. still waiting for the aroma to announce its presence... pretty great taste. i can taste the nuttiness, but it’s not very much like the other brown ales i’ve had - though with 2 GI’s, 1 SN and the rogue hazelenut, that doesn’t say much. it actually has an alcoholish flavor that helps it quite a bit. finish is a bit drawn out however. would go really well with americana food. i’d gladly drink a 6pack of this any evening. it’d be nice if aroma dropped by to give me some company too. rerate: aroma and flavor are both all nuts. the latter has a good amount of chocolate too.

More of a dark copper/amber color than brown. A slight creamy head. There is sort of a sweet candy aroma. Flavor is mildly bitter, a little sour, and totally devoid of anything nutty. I don’t care though because this is actually pretty tasty. Great, smooth mouthfeel. A little nut comes out over time. The body is fairly rich. Loses a point overall because it’s not close at all to a nut brown in my opinion. I bet this is really good on tap....By the end of this bottle I’m thirsting for more. This is probably the best "brown ale" I’ve had though it’s not very typical.