South Shore Nut Brown Ale

Brewed by South Shore Brewery/Wilmarths Deepwater Grille
Style: Brown Ale
Ashland, Wisconsin USA

I thought this Nut Brown to be OK, but pretty unremarkable. Appearance was a very hazy brown, which I didn’t think all that appetizing, but with good head formation. Aroma was lightly of caramel malt, but not much else. Flavor was of caramel malt, and just barely nutty. Mouthfeel was a bit two-sided: a bit watery with a bit of body underneath that. I thought this beer exhibited fairly average drinkability. I wouldn’t recommend this beer as being a great example of the style, but it won’t stop me from trying other South Shore beers.

(Tap at Don and GG’s -- Ironwood, MI) Pours a rich brown with a small beige head. I tried this on tap and in the bottle, and it’s far better on tap. Rich caramel notes with a nice and smooth malty character. Well balanced, but a little overcarbonated. A pretty good beer overall.

Amber-brown in color with a nice tan head. My buddy brought this back from Wisconsin. I like nut brown ales and this one ranks up there with the best of them. I would drink this anyday.

Draught sample at the brewpub, late July 2006. Clear maple with a thin ring of dying head and no lace....nose faintly nutty, a touch acrid, with hints of caramel, decent qualities but too weak....body sweet, rather thin, light vanilla-brown sugar notes combining with nutty oiliness gives a pleasant but unmemorable cast to this wholly ordinary example of a wholly ordinary style.

I drank this beer after having New Glarus’ Fat Squirrel and came to a conclusion. The more beer I sample, the less I wonder why some breweries make it and others do not do as well. The reason is simple. There is an astronomical difference between a world-class interpretation of Brown ale like fat squirrel and a mediocre, stoner, brewpub brewer version of brown ale like South Shore... The color is a hazy, orange-amber color that is too light for a brown ale with a light tan head that is thin but tight and laces nicely. Aroma is highly caramelized, sweet, with some milk-like notes. It lacks hazelnuts, toastiness, cocoa, chocolate, or any kind of a hop underpinning that is necessary to complete this style. Just because it is kind of brown in color and has caramel does not make it a brown ale. On the palate, this is flat. Overly bitter, astringent, and way too much cotton candy malt sugar sweetness. Sorry to go off on this one so much but this beer does not offer the proper complexity, color, or balance for the style.

Pours amber/brown with just a tint of red with small tan head. Aroma of nuts and a little caramel. Initial taste is light nutty malt with a decent mouthfeel, but quickly does a 180 and bites you with an off taste that doesn’t fit the initial taste nor does it taste good at all. A bit watery also.

Poured light amber brown with small off white head. Very nutty aroma with a bit of caramel. Slightly creamy mouth feel. Somewhat weak flavor.

On tap at Old Hayward. Pours a hazy light brown with light off-white head. Aroma of nuts, toffee and some caramel malts which all seem to blend together. Flavor follows aroma, but introduces a mild hoppiness that disrupts the overall balanced aroma.