Rogue HazelNut Brown Nectar

Dark brown pour into my pub glass produced a smallish head. The smell is euphoric; sweet, obvious hazelnut notes, fresh honeyed bread. Tastes of dark roasted whole wheat bread with an oily nuttiness, the hazelnut coming through nicely in the finish. Not super malt-y, and only a hint of hop bitterness and doesn’t taste as sweet as the smell belies, which is nice. For the minimal head, the carbonation is a little zingy on the palate but the overall consistency is thick but not cloying, pleasant and lets you know you’re drinking a full bodied beer. Update: after drinking, my mouth had a sour flavor, not unlike the sensation after drinking a sugary carbonated beverage. Cuts into the overall impression.

Draft @ Cheeseburger Island Style, Reno. Pours a medium, clear amber-brown color; light tan head with good retention and shimmering lacing; solid pour. Really nice oily nuttiness and hints of brown sugar and chocolate in the nose; light vanilla; generous maltiness without being sweet. Medium mouthfeel: lots of toasty, sweet maltiness, light coffee and milk chocolate; a bit of mineral bitterness balancing things; just the mildest amount of a hazelnut syrupiness keeping this from being insanely good. Lasting toasty finish, nuttiness, chocolate.

Dark walnut color topped by a medium head after my vigorous pour. Very nice aroma of chocolate malt with hints of sweet nuttiness. Flavor is the same but with a lightly toasty, bready quality. Mouthfeel is slightly thinner than expected, and there is just enough bitterness at the back to pull back the reigns on all the sweetness. Exceedingly smooth and sessionable. I was quite unexpectedly impressed by this one, and would have to say that it is most certainly in my top three for ’Browns’. Don’t forget to let this one warm up a little, otherwise you will be robbed of the rewards (especially true of this style, in my opinion).

Pour a deep mahogany with a small white head. Aroma shows plenty of hazelnuts and maybe a little choclate biscuit. Hazelnuts also show through in the flavours with some aramel. Plenty of hops on the back palate. Finish is a little watery. Overall a bloody good beer.

650ml bottle. Pours a very dark red amber. Smells and tastes of hazelnut. Not bad, not great though. Easy to drink, but nothing special once again.

65cl bottle, danish imported had printed best before 1-3-2007, tasted 5-10-2009 - so at the very least it’s 3,5 years old. Age did not reveal itself in any apparent way, quite typical brown ale (which is not at all my favourite style) slightly hazy dark brown, large thick smooth light brown head. smooth aroma of nuts, faint fruity, faint roasted grains, raisins, i suspect i am having this one a bit too cold, aroma is very balanced and subdued, appears mild, but is very delicious. flavor is toffee, caramel, dark roasted chocolate, roasted grains, bitter nuts, ends roasted chocolate and toffee.flavor did not live up to the aroma, but then i don’t like roasted toffee.

The idea of a hazelnut brown ale is not very appealing to me, so this threw me for a loop in that it’s actually pretty damn good. Hoppy brown ale and the nuts come through quite nicely. Some chocolate as well, so it has a bit of a Nutella thing going on. I’d venture this is one of the better brown ales out there. Nice take on a not-so-exciting style.

Reddish amber pour with a big fluffy cap of cream-colored head. Aroma carries the massive amounts of malt through the nose and onto the palate, along with a peanut (not hazelnut) aroma. Taste is also quite malty, with the crystals coming through strongly along with the Munich. There’s a touch of chocolate and then a blast of hazelnut (actually hazelnut this time) that is reminiscent of Nutella spread. Thin body, light roasty aftertaste.