Fruity hop barrage and sourdough yeast sinew nearly overwhelm malt-smoked caramel creaminess of busy garnet-hued medium body. Candi-sugared cherry-apricot-banana ripeness and brandy-soaked fig-raisin-plum surge bring fruitful respite. But coarse 8% alcohol burn allows disturbing tinny backdrop to ransack spotty saccharine finish, lowering its appeal.

Dark chocolate waft, green apple quickness, and tannic red grape tartness rise above date-fig conflux bordering earthy peat resin. Burnt hop dryness and chaffed wheat restraint smear otherwise tinny sour malt finish of frothy flesh-tone laced dark amber.

Perfectly balanced blend of an IPA and brown ale. “Caramelized brown sugar” extract, dark maple syrup, and prune ripeness provide sinewy texture underlined by spicy adjuncts. Persistent barley presence contrasted by hop bitterness and sour mash. Burnt chicory finish lingers, adding further resilience. An exquisite complement to barbecue.

Too unassumingly fizz-induced to be labeled decent brown ale. Where’s the mocha? Grain flavors don’t separate enough and hops are undefined. But seasonal clove spiciness (unusual for this style) provides some depth to dry phenol finish. Brewery defunct: 2010.

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.