Smuttynose Old Brown Dog

Brewed by Smuttynose Brewing Company
Style: Brown Ale
Portsmouth, New Hampshire USA

Brown pour with light head. Aroma was light & malty with a tad of sweetness. Taste is classic brown ale - medium body, smooth finish. I liked it, but it just doesn’t stand out.

Just an ok beer for me. The beer is dark brown/amber. Smell is actually not that inviting. The taste was a bit better than the smell, but nothing out of the ordinary. I was hoping for something that set this beer apart, but did not find much. It also had a strange metallic taste, which may be an old or bad bottle. That has to be considered.

This stuff pours out brown with a tan head. Sometimes I like a craft beer that isn’t hopped to the max. Things that come to mind are Duck Rabbit Barleywine and this beer. Although the beer did have hops in it I love the malty sweetness and classic crisp flavor of a brown ale. Pretty good not great, but a nice beer to throw back and chill out with.

This is one of my all time favorite brown ales next to Brooklyn Brown ale It is a must taste if you like brown ales. Smooth and not too robust

Some beers are most aptly described by the words “ambrosia” or “elixir” while others are more of a simple “beer”. I’d say that Old Brown Dog from Smutty Nose is much more of a “beverage”. Had at the ’06 GABF it faced an enormous challenge simply by being in the presence of so many top notch brews. Low key beers, like the Old Brown Dog, tend to get washed away in a tide of sour and hoppy ingredients, but this one, as simple and facile as it was, managed to present its case clearly and lucidly among the cacophony of flavors that continued to linger in my mouth. It is a clear brown color, pleasing to look at, with a very minimal nose of chocolate and malts, like a simple brown ale should be. But it’s very Zen in its philosophy. Zen Buddhism, among other things, teaches that even the most mundane task has merit and significance. Even this mundane beer, then, had something promising within it, even though the appearance and smell adumbrated yet another droll drink. But with a quick sip I was fairly convinced that, if I had to have a simple and easy going brown ale, this would be the one. It’s relaxed, mumbling a very nice but very contained malts flavor, matched with an uncharacteristic effervescence and a very fresh creaminess. Those two factors, easily overlooked in any other environment, were gestures of care. They weren’t exceedingly bold, but they added enough of a twist to the basic brown ale formula to make Old Brown Dog discernible in a crowd. Indeed, the brown ale is a relative ascetic in today’s milieu of extravagant brews, but when it’s time for a simple drink with enough sense to shut up so you can think, no other brown ale in my experience matches the Old Brown Dog. Not to mention, who can resist the image of a frumpy, long eared dog with deep compassionate eyes?

Pours ruby brown with a decent tan head. Nice nutty aroma, has a little bite at the end.

Pours brown with a tint of ruby. Small off white head. Aroma of bread, pistachios & other nuts. Taste is malty in the front with an off bitter orangy lemony citris that just doesn’t mesh for me.

Bottle (rating from August 2005 notes). A brown ruby color with a tan head. A nutty (chestnut) and slightly toasted malt flavor. Rich and smooth with a nice aftertaste and a dry finish.