On tap at Seven Lakes Station, busy brown ale may underutilize toasted coconut and cocoa adjuncts while not quite hitting upon advertised Samoa girl scout cookie likeness, but it’s creamy hazelnut chocolate sweetness and milk-sugared coffee notions completely make up for that. Beneath serenading cookie-doughed mocha malting lies delicate vanilla spicing as well as polite blackberry, blueberry and red grape tartness. Less filling than richer, creamier porters and stouts for dessert.
On tap at Ambulance, lovely bourbon-barreled barleywine fuses toasted coconut sweetness into enchanting dessert treat (with well-hidden 13% ABV). Brown-sugared molasses, spiced toffee, caramelized pecan, almondine, marshmallow and vanilla illusions receive plentiful bourbon-sweetened coconut glaze.
Elegant oak-aged brown ale successfully expands upon Free Will’s Coffee Oatmeal Brown Ale with yummy rum dousing. Rich tawny-browned full body adds coffee beans to molasses and cane sugar while aging in Caribbean rum barrels. Mellow spiced rum warmth serenely sweetens persuasive dark-roast coffee overtones and polite whiskey snip. Ancillary black chocolate, dark cocoa and pina colada illusions swing by the molasses-sapped oats spine of rummy dessert treat.
Light maple syruping subtly affects mildly spiced dried fruiting, cocoa-powdered nuttiness and cellar-like dewy mustiness of satisfactory moderation.
On tap at Cooper’s Seafood, inspired by popular Speculoos cookie, vibrant Imperial English brown ale evenly spreads cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg spicing across vanilla-creamed gingerbread cookie sweetness and brown-sugared caramel malting to its oats-honeyed Graham Cracker spine. A buttery nut cookie alternative.
On tap at Amazing Grapes, fascinatingly decadent cola-hued Imperial Brown Ale benefits greatly from expressive Sumatra coffee influx. Bold coffee berry penetration receives bitter dark-roasted hop intensity to enhance mesmerizing coffee bean theme. Creamy milk-sugared caramel latte sweetness contrasts nutty black coffee pungency as light black pepper influence lingers. Fudgy black chocolate, vanilla, espresso and cocoa tones provide solid support alongside subtler hazelnut, pecan and walnut illusions.
On tap at Craft House, worthy Imperial Brown Ale (with well hidden 10.8% ABV) contrasts glazed pecan and hazelnut sweetness against dry hop-roasted walnut bittering. Dark chocolate respite and distant raisin-fig conflux subsumed by nuttier overtones.
On tap at Plank Pizza, “hoppy” India Brown Ale contrasts astringent earthen nuttiness and piney citrus resin against intimate black chocolate-malted caramelized wheat. But its murky orange-peeled grapefruit rind bittering and barren nut influence never fully materialize, leaving lightly pungent phenolic acridity in its wake.
Monstrous mocha nuttiness comes to the fore above molasses-embittered hop char of rich Imperial Brown Ale. Chewy dark chocolate malting picks up brown-sugared hazelnut and pecan sweetness to contrast burnt walnut affluence.
Worthy 2nd anniversary Imperial Brown Ale uses subtle peppercorn herbage to spice up creamy caramel-chocolate malting, sweet honeyed nuttiness and soured fig-date niche. Raw molasses bittering contrasts pleasant butternut-pecan-praline conflux near chocolate rye cake finish.
Silken cola-hued ‘robust jobless recovery’ strong ale lacks expectant full-bodied assertion, but not persuasive character. Ashen piney-hopped nuttiness juxtaposes soft-watered cinnamon-spiced floral-fruited opening. Tangy grapefruit, pineapple, cherry and apricot fruitage revs up juicy bubblegum midst. Earthen red and purple grape esters bring mild bourbon-burgundy-port illusions to the surface by soft evergreen finish of limited ’10 release. On tap at Plank Pizza (2016), dark-roasted mocha nuttiness picked up more pronounced earthen hop-charred bittering and less fruit-spiced tangent.
