Spanish Peaks Nut Brown Ale

Formerly brewed at Spanish Peaks Brewing Company
Style: Brown Ale
Bozeman, Montana USA

Really flavorful. Chock full of malt and it’s the chocolate type. This rich body is punctuated with rhapsodic waves of roastiness and hoppage. Lovely. Quite nutty, too.

(12 oz bottle: Obtained 11-Jan-06 in trade with shadey, thanks Shane!) I didn’t expect much from this brown ale, but it’s surprisingly flavorful to me. Sweet and malty early, with a nutty/buttery flavor kicking in toward the finish. Mild roast is present throughout, and bitterness is quite mild as well, so this is a pretty drinkable dark brew if you’re not in an especially contemplative mood. Nutty, sweet, malty, buttery nose. Medium bodied, but for a dark beer, it just seems like it should have a richer fullness to the palate. Carbonation is lively early on, almost fizzy, but that settles down after awhile. Medium brown in color and relatively clear in appearance, but the heading on this beer is rather poor; the thin, initial layer soon dissipates fully before it can leave even a trace of lacing on the glass. In general, this is a pretty simple nut brown, but it’s a style that tends to be pretty simplistic anyway, so all in all, this is acceptable choice for when you just want to quaff something "dark".

Dark chestnut brown with a medium sized tan head. Aroma is sweet and malty, with brown sugar and honey. Nice roasted nut and toffee flavor. A little too fizzy, but a very drinkable brown.

Bottle. Poured dark brown with an average light brown head that diminished slowly. Light sweet malty aroma. Medium to full body with a smooth texture. Good sweet malt flavor with a medium spice finish of average duration.

Dark brown color, with a hint of copper when held to the light. Small lid of tan bubbles. Sweet grainy aromas, with sorghum and cocoa wafting about. Flavors seem to follow directly with the aromas. Grainy and light sweet, with dark chocolate and mild molasses. Quite dry in the finish. Thin and somewhat fizzy in feel.

Bottle... Clear, very dark, copper ale with a small, creamy, lightly tanned head. Great retention. Mild nose with notes of chocolate, toasted nuts and a waft of hickory smoke. Decently balanced flavor. Malty, chocolatey and lightly sweet. Medium-bodied with a creamy mouthfeel and moderate carbonation. Finishes, light bitter and medium sweet.

deep rich brown liquid witha tan head that dissapates quickly. Nose is of nicely roasted malt. Aromas of caramel and maybe a little chocolate. Mouthfeel is creamy and a little fizzy. Mild tasty coffee with cream sort of flavor grows on the finish. very nice beer.

2005 bottle consumed on 12/16/2005. Pours a highly filtered chocolate and tan brown colored body, with a fizzy burnt-beige head that fairly rapidly dissipates to just a ring, leaving no lacing. Aroma of light earth, notes of buttertoffee and sweet chocolate. Rather straightforward, with light spiciness. The flavor boasts of pale malt sugariness, backed by an unwavering note of light chocolate. Instead of softening, it first gets lightly spicy/earthy (toasted grains and light rye), and then finishes with vapid, hard crystal malt (lightly sweet). Carbonation is moderate, perhaps a little high (and forced, of course), with a mostly watery texture and a medium body overall. No alcohol apparency. Quite simple, but as usual from Mendocino, lacking of any off-notes.