Rock Art Brown Bear Ale

Brewed by Rock Art Brewery
Style: Brown Ale
Morrisville, Vermont USA

Pours brown with a light brown head. Smells of nuts and sweet chocolate. Tastes of chocolate and roasted malt.

Draft at DRE. Dark coppery brownish pour wirh aroma of heavy vinous fruit, some brown sugar, and some caramel malt. The flavor is slightly brown sugary and caramelly, but is dominated by a tart vinous low end krieky element. It gets a bit sour as it warms.

On tap at the Vermont Brewers’ Fest. Sharp hoppy nose with little brown-ale nuttiness; some malt flavor but overall watery and insipid.

Poured a brown color with a small, light tan head that left light lacing on the glass. Aroma of nuts, caramel malts, light banana, and grains. Taste of caramel malts, nuts, and light citrus hoppiness. Mouthfeel was a bit watery.

Deep dark brown coloured body with a large tan head. Aroma of nuts, malt and very little else. Medium-bodied; Strong pungent raisins and nutmeg in the taste with malt and yeast rounding out the flavours. Aftertaste shows a bit more promise than most browns - this has some sugars and isn’t overly nutty. Overall, a better-than-average brown that should be sampled by those who don’t like nuts in their browns. I sampled this 65 cL bottle purchased from Oliver’s Beverage in Albany, New York on 29-September-2007.

22 oz bottle. Poured a light brown with a thin fizzy head that disappeared quickly. Aroma of caramel malt, nutty, faint chocolate. Flavor is faintly malty, with some oxidation present, some caramel and nuts. Very light bodied and thin on the mouthfeel. Finish is slightly sweet and rather unremarkable. Overall nothing to brag about.

22 oz. bottle. Pours a nearly clear amber brown with a moderate off-white head that faded to a thin ring fairly quickly. Very light aroma of malt and fresh cut grass. Flavor is extremely light with some caramel and brown sugar noted. I did not detect any influence from the hops. Thin, watery body. I just picked up several Rock Art beers to sample and I hope this is not typical of their lineup.

Bleh. Typical brown pour, decent lacing and retention. Aroma is nut, coffee, chocolate, roast, darker fruits, caramel, light hops. Very light bodied, somewhat sour. Well, at least it’s just not ’another’ brown ale. This one is worse. Difficult to get the will to finish.