Deep butterscotch hue, fuzzy tan lace, and burnt caramel creaminess introduce chewy ale. Sugary maple stickiness, pecan-toasted brown chocolate protraction, and latent rum caking addled by astringently soured raisin-fig acridity its phenol tobacco-leafed cocoa butter finish tries to overcome. Brewery defunct: 2005.

Wearily unbalanced orange amber English-style ale lacks mocha binge of better J.W. Dundee’s Honey Brown. Caramelized barley frontage and honeyed wheat sneak counter reticent orange-apricot souring as well as fizzy dry hop spicing, dulling biscuit nuance.

Strangely earthen lightweight can’t push astringent hops, toasted malts, and barren nuttiness above pungently metallic alcohol acridity.

Roasted mocha malts dominate earthen grains of uncomplicated rust-hazed English Ale. Candied burgundy sweetness lingers below light chocolate-y surface as mineral water crispness stays in accord with great Brit tradition.

Effective maple-sapped pureed raisin frontage picks up creamy chocolate sweetness and dry cocoa-powdered remnant. Earthen hop resin inundates mild herbal subsidy.

Viscous oak-aged Flanders-styled ‘oud bruin’ (old brown) offers prune-soured cherry pucker and lactic cocoa recession above mild caramel malt fringe. Closer to gauzy copper ale than rich brown ale.

Caramel-toasted wheat-honeyed pipe tobacco sweetness leads the way for biscuit-y brown ale, but tinny dry-hopped walnut finish dispels up-front promise to earthen grain bottom.

Ambitious prune-browned middleweight gains dry raisin assertion and pliable orange-peeled tangerine tartness above soft earthen dewiness. Fizzy carbolic fluff undermines soothing barley-roasted nuttiness, losing some luster by fruit-dried malt-smoked finish.

Fizzy carbonation nearly negates belly-bloating creaminess of billowy-headed Californian. Burnt coffee seeps through foamy Brussels lace, cloaking bittersweet chocolate, soured hard candy, mellow tangerine, and variable spices.

Though never as ‘thick-skinned’ as hippo its named after, this astringent maple-malted brown ale fortifies bittersweet powdered chocolate assertion with creamy caramel-butterscotch-molasses link, wood-smoked barley thread, and herbal spices. Prickly hops carbonate sour prune dryness leading to candied yeast finish.

Steadfast American Brown Ale layers hop-moderated stewed prune and green raisin souring above imminent bruised apple, sweet peach, and tart banana illusions. Meager nuttiness and weak grain backbone drag down Black Bear slightly.

Blood-thick ruby amber brown ale may please wine drinkers with its grape tannin consistency, oak-y cherry-grapefruit dryness, and tart plum restraint.