North By Northwest Belgian Brown Ale

Brewed by North By Northwest Restaurant and Brewery
Style: Belgian Ale
Austin, Texas USA

Sort of a fusion of styles, Belgian ale and saison and wit. The aroma has yeast and some barnyard, but it is very light. Flavor is salty, lots of medium sweet malt, and more yeast with light spices as well, especially coriander. A cloudy brown beer with lots of sediment. It isn’t spectacular but overall it works. Others at the tasting got a bad fish aroma but I didn’t pick up any of that.

Bottle. Sourness, citric, underlying mineral water essence. Thinnish, some carbonation but neither frothy or tingly. Hazy peach/brown color. Not quite all that.

Bottle. The most dusty smelling beer I have ever smelt. Smells like a 100 year old book. Taste-cherry cough syrup, metal, dust. Dust, must, and “oldness” dominate.

(750ml bottle, courtesy of Walt) Pours a lightly cloudy reddish-brown body with an average beige head. Aroma of apple, cherry, cola, and vinegar. Flavor of toasted malt, tobacco, bit charred, some sourness, and black pepper. Plenty of carbonation.

Pours with a frothy, initially three-finger thick, tan colored head. The beer is a hazy, dark, ruby amber color. The aroma picks up some definite fruity notes as soon as I pour this beer. A light tart sourness is evident in the aroma up front, it joins some fruity notes that when coupled remind me of tart plums. A sort of musty, earthy, almost woody aromatic note is here as well and helps to balance out the fruit notes. Notes of raisins and toasted malt round out the malt character. The aroma is quite interesting, not all that spicy, but rich and satisfying like a dark Belgian ale should be. As it warms some spicy notes become a bit more evident, though still subtle; I get notes of pepper and a bit of clove.

The beer is fairly well carbonated, it dances across the tongue just a bit. The finish is tart and, combined with the carbonation, gives this beer a bit of a zing. The beer is quite light on the palate, and quite easy drinking. It has a certain richness to it that makes this just a bit contemplative and certainly adds to the complexity. Notes of tart, yet sweet, plums mix with notes of raisins, hints of figs, perhaps a touch of tamarind, jam-like berry notes, and some spicy notes of clove. This is quite tasty, and I really like that this beer is only 5.5% alcohol, yet still has ample complexity and flavor notes to keep things interesting. This is a fabulously well made, lower alcohol, Belgian styled brew that I wish more American brewers could make well.

750mL bottle. Murky brown-orange with a medium sized light tan head. Heavy spicy yeast ester aroma with a mild malt sweetness. Caramel, raisins, ruddy malt underneath heavy yeasty spiciness and a carbonic acid bite. Residual spicey yeast esters and some caramel in the finish. Mouthfeel is medium, somewhat fizzy.

Bottle thanks to someone via Walt at the Jimmack ’06 Invtl. Cloudy light brown color with some red highlights and a small beige head. Yeasty, citrusy aroma with some coriander. Mildly tart, yeasty flavor with some citrus, coriander and black pepper.

Sampled at the JimMack ’06 Invitational. thanks to Walt via RichLikeBeer? cloudy brownish gold color, light tan head. aroma is sourish malt. flavor is dry and tart caramel malt, which is wierd for a brown ale/abbey dubbel. a little watery.