Trade Route Pandan Brown Ale

Brewed by Trade Route Brewing Company
Style: Brown Ale
Pacific, Washington USA

From a 22-ounce bottle--thanks to Dave at By The Bottle in Vancouver, Washington--Poured a standard brown body with a small filmy white head. Smell of ovaltine or maltomeal. Crisp, sweet, sugary, tropical sugars, rich, roasty, and unique. This is perhaps one of the best beers I have had in some time!

22 oz. bottle from Malt & Vine; Peculiar drink - Strong and sweet malt backbone that lies a on the thin side of medium bodied (almost no head,very little carbonation - maybe a bottling problem?) Sweetness is not overpowering, well balanced by the earthy inspirations that I guess are attributable to the leaves; the nuttiness is a very evident - which also give the drink a pseudo-spice complex that adds a very intriguing component. This is by far the most unique brown ale I have ever tried - a much needed variation on what mostly is a very bland style. Very impressive drink. Working through my 2nd Bomber - 5/21/2008 - Can’t understand why this is fairing so poorly as of late - I am more impressed with this than I was initially. Changed rating from 4.0 to 4.1 - I really like the Pandan flair in this drink - truely unique in a great way.

rich chocolate color, fair head. the aroma is a real treat, unlike anything else i’ve experienced. nutty indeed, there’s a fullness to the aroma which adds as a great precursor to the beer. i find this beer marvelous in both intent and execution. the combination of malts yields a respectable complexity independent of the added pandan and might be suitable on its own, but the added ingredient gives the beer another tasty wrinkle, and more importantly, it’s own unique character.

Bottle... GIABMISGFAB... This beer rocks!... Clear, dark caramel-colored ale with a small, creamy, off-white head. The nose offers a caramelized foundation with sweet, rich notes of roasted almonds, hazelnuts and milk chocolate. Full-bodied with a whole-milk mouthfeel and soft carbonation. Sweet, nutty flavor... richest brown ale I’ve ever tasted. Finishes like it began; sweet and nutty. Kudos to Beershine and Oakes for hauling this world class brown ale to the island with them!

Bottle: Dark brown color, nice light head and decent lacing. Nose of bright nutty toasty bread, super melanoidins to the rescue, holy crap this is nutty and toasty. Almost more toasty than toast! Pandan?! Holy shit, I want some for brewing. The flavor has a nice full body, more nutty accents. A decent finish. Wow, that nose is spectacular for a brown ale. So nutty, so good!

Brown with a nice tan head. Aroma is roasty, caramel, hazelnut, toffee. Taste is a toffee, caramel, nuttiness, with light chocolate. Nice depth for a brown ale.

A vigorous pour produces an fat-two finger thick, lightly browned tan colored head in my large Tripel Karmeliet tulip glass. The beer is a very dark, burnt brown color, but shows a brilliantly clear, deep ruby hue when held up to the light. The aroma is quite interesting, it has a really rich nuttiness to it, though that might not be the perfect adjective. Whatever it is (obviously the Pandan leaves, because palm sugar does not contribute this to beer), it is quite savory and gives the nose quite a savory character. It really accentuates the browned malt notes (toasted bread & cracker like aromas) and serves as a nice offset to a sweet, caramelized undertone that is just a bit fruity (raisin and a light berry note).

Fairly sweet, though complexly so, and it has a thick, chewy body for a beer of this strength. Soft and fruity tasting up front, it picks up some cola notes and a peanut-butter flavor as it moves towards the finish. The flavor is not as distinctly influenced by the Pandan Leaf; if I had been told this was a plain brown ale, I would not have guessed that it was spiced with anything, but given that I know it is here, the flavor has definitely been influenced by it. What does the Pandan Leaf contribute, well if I had to guess I would say that the nuttiness is quite distinct, with some supporting berry-like flavors and a bit of spiciness towards the finish that is reminiscent of cola. This is a very quaffable brew, and remains fairly light, despite having a viscousness and a chewiness to it.

The Pandan Leaf is definitely much more noticeable in the aroma than in the flavor, but it still contributes nicely to the overall experience of this brew. This is a really nice Brown Ale, one that I would be happy to have regular access too. I really do like that neither the palm sugar or Pandan was over-played here, the use is clearly supporting and not so much that you would say that something other than typical beer ingredients were used here, yet there is certainly a distinct, pleasing character to this beer that is a result of how all of the ingredients meld together. I really like this, but then again I am a sucker for a tasty brown ale.

22oz Bomber - Gravity Beer Market - Olympia, WA
Aroma – Deep malty aroma with lots of extra special aromas. Pandan leaves where there for sure.
Appearance – Dark Brown in color, Nice head and clear.
Flavor – A nice malty earthly flavored beer. This was a very interesting beer it is going o do very well. Full of flavor.
Palate – Nice Mouthfeel, great texture with a good dry finish.
Overall – This was a huge surprise the flavor was full and rich and the Pandan leaves where earthy and awesome. Great BEER…