Watch City Big Steamer California Common

on tap-pours a dissipating off white head and dark copper color. Aroma is medium malt, nutty/chocolate, some fruity yeast. Taste is medium malt, nutty/chocolate, some fruity yeast, secondary metallic hops. Dry finish. OK/mild carbonation. Comes across as a cross of a nut brown and an Oktoberfest.

Draught pint at Watch City, 8/11/06.
Anchor Steam-like colored beer. Great to see that, I’m tired of pale lagerish commons. Medium-high clarity, in the dark, nut brown body, with auburn and deep orange tints. Beige head is retained at about half a finger in height, with some spotty lacing. Eventually fades to partial cover/ring, but rather slowly.
Fresh, bitter hops in the nose are set against dark caramel malts and lightly dark fruits. Even a touch of yeast dryness and snappiness on the end, with just a faint, faint touch of coffee/hazelnut. Well-balanced and no alcohol apparent.
Rather lush hoppiness for 34 IBUs. Green, lightly juicy and floral, without any harsh grapefruit bitterness. Some light crystal malt-like hardness, but it softens as it warms and keeps pace with the hops. It would be cool to add a touch more of a toasted/roasted note, but that could be tough to achieve. As is, it’s a wonderfully balanced, with sweet malts and crisp yeast, lager, with some chocolate nuances, plenty of fresh hops and a supportive, medium body that is still eminently drinkable. Moderate carbonation. I’ll take some more of this for sure. The freshness and snappiness of this one leaves a lot to be desired out of Anchor Steam.

On tap @ Watch City. Pours a deep amber, fairly opaque with thin off-white head. Much darker than I expected from this style. Aroma is sweet and malty. Taste is fairly smooth, malty, caramel, and a little dark fruits. Hops in the finish taste more like a california common.

Pint @ Brewpub. Ok nose, malty sweet. Lite caramel, chocolate. Little earthy, bready & bubblegum in there. Clean dark reddish brown color, nice head that faded quickly to a ring. Good lacing. Sweet flavor, like aroma. The darker malts, I assume, give it a nice caramel flavor I don’t associate with California commons. Medium body, creamy mouthfeel, sweet sticky finish. Have to say it’s the first CC I really enjoyed. Really malty, not like the lighter crisper ones I’ve had.