DuClaw Euforia

I picked this beer up from the pick-a-six section of Canal’s in Lawrenceville. It’s one of the year-round selections from DuClaw.

ABV: 5%

Style: English Brown Ale

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “A true DuClaw Brewing Company original, this style-bending, English Brown Ale variant is dark brown, medium-bodied, creamy, and incredibly flavorful! EuForia combines roasted malt with gourmet coffee to create a jubilant swirl of caramel, almond, and toffee flavors that will leave your palate in a state of ecstasy. First brewed in 2006, this smooth, highly drinkable bottle/pint of 5% abv liquid bliss is available year round, so what are you waiting for? Come on get happy!”

Random: It’s been a long time since I had an English Brown Ale. I don’t find myself purchasing them a lot.

This brew poured with half a finger of off white head. It dissipated slowly and left a little bit of lacing on the glass. The body was a clear, sienna color with no visible carbonation. The nose had toasted malt, toffee and hazelnuts. It smelled like the typical brown ale and was really inviting. The taste was not nearly as good as the nose. At first, I got the same toffee and nuts as on the nose but then, this weird, almost tin-like twang came through. Cocoa powder was there as well, but the twang was so distracting from every other flavor. It had a medium-thick body with almost no carbonation. It needed to be dialed up. The finish was quick with toffee and toasted malt. This was $1.59 for the single bottle ($.13 per ounce). This beer was just a miss for me and the twang I kept picking up was really off-putting. I wouldn’t have it again.

Untappd Rating: 3.0/5.0

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Cigar City Maduro Oatmeal Brown Ale

When I picked this beer up at Half Time, it still shocked me that I haven’t tried it before. It’s been on my list to try for years, especially since it’s a Cigar City brew. I’m hoping that the beer will live up to my expectations.

ABV: 5.5%

Style: English Brown Ale

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “Maduro is a Northern English-style brown ale with some American affectations. Maduro is higher in alcohol than the common English brown ale and features flaked oats in the malt bill which imparts a silky body and works to mesh the roasted, toasted and chocolate components together in Maduro’s complex malt profile. The end result is a remarkably full-flavored yet approachable and sessionable brown ale that pairs well with mild to medium cigars.”

Random: I’m not quite sure why Kids Bop radio is advertising on the sports radio stations.

This beer poured with less than a quarter finger of tan head that dissipated almost instantly. It left no lacing on the glass. The body was a clear, chestnut color with high carbonation visible. The nose was intensely nutty with brown bread and cracker. The taste had some bitterness and then quickly went into brown bread and hazelnuts. The beer was perfectly balanced and incredibly flavorful. It had a medium thick body with light carbonation. The finish was long and nutty with brown toast. This beer was $1.99 per can. which broke down to $.17 per ounce. This beer was exceptional and one that is my new benchmark for the style.

Untappd Rating: 4.5/5.0

Captain Lawrence Winter Ale

This was the brew that Val got when we went out to dinner. Captain Lawrence is located up in her neck of the woods since she grew up in Westchester County, New York. I’m hoping that one time when we’re up there, we get to make a stop at the brewery. I also have another beer from this brewery in my queue that I should be reviewing later this week.

ABV: 5.2%

Style: English Brown Ale

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “The one thing we all need on a dark winter night is a beer to help us forget about the cold & remind us that sunny days lie ahead. Not too dark, but evenly brewed with spices and malts making it a solid winter warmer.”

Random: We got this pine candle that smells absolutely amazing. It makes the whole apartment smell like Christmas.

This beer poured with a half a finger of white head. It dissipated quickly and left no lacing on the pint glass, but did leave a crown on top of the clear, mahogany body. There was some carbonation visible through the body. The nose was that of the typical brown ale with toast and nuts and some winter spice. The taste was much of the same. It had toasted hazelnuts and toasty malt with a smackerel of spice. The body was too thin with overly light carbonation. It had a quick finish with toast and nuts. This beer was just boring. It was like the threw a winter seasonal label on the typical brown ale. I wouldn’t have this one again.

Untappd Rating: 3.5/5.0

Dark Horse Boffo Brown Ale

I love Dark Horse beers. It’s a shame that they aren’t distributed to New Jersey. This is the seventh beer that I’ve tried from them. Let’s see how this one goes.

ABV: 6.5%

Style: English Brown Ale

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “The Boffo Brown ale is a beer that we brewed years ago and then put it in semi retirement for a couple years while we focused on other brands at the brewery. We have recently put it back onto active duty and are brewing it all year. The beer itself is delicious and is a favorite to many of us here at the brewery. Just as most of our beers it’s on the ‘full body’ scale pushing the envelope of what an American Brown Ale is to most people. The beer is a very deep/dark color of brown with a nice creamy tan head. The mouthfeel of the beer is very soft and is very drinkable. Flavors of malt, caramel, toffee, and a mild earthy nutty finish allow this beer to be paired with hearty food and sips of bourbon.”

Random: The Phillies managed to lose again today in extra innings. They’re doing extra awful this year.

This brew poured with a one finger, cream-colored head that dissipated rather quickly and left no lacing on the pint glass. The body was a really dark brown, almost porter-like with very little carbonation visible due to the color. The nose was really fragrant with chocolate and caramel malt notes. Some brown sugar and vanilla came through when the beer warmed. The taste was very much like the nose. There was big chocolate followed by caramel malt and some breadiness. There was also some toffee to it along with very slight nuttiness, especially given the style. It had a moderately long finish with some bitterness and nuttiness. There was also a bit of booze warming to it. This brew was one of the more interesting of the style that I’ve had and one I would definitely have again.

Untappd Rating: 4.0/5.0

Arcadia Nut Brown Ale

It’s been over a year since I had an Arcadia beer. I’ve had 6 others from their lineup and I’ve enjoyed most of them. This is one that Val picked up for me that I assumed was part of their year round lineup. After checking the website, it’s actually one of the seasonals that they currently offer and the first one I’ve had from their seasonal lineup. Let’s see how it went.

ABV: 6%

Style: English Brown Ale

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “This English-style brown ale has an alluring mahogany color and is capped by a rich foam head. It is brewed with six different varieties of premium malted barley, creating a robust body and delicious flavor profile that features hints of chocolate, raisins, dates and almonds. It’s ripe fruit notes and malty, sweet finish are counterbalanced by a subtle hop bitterness and aroma.”

Random: I’d be very interested to try their summer seasonal. Hopefully it appears on the shelves soon.

This brew poured with a one finger, slightly off white head. It dissipated at a moderate pace and left no lacing on the glass. The body was a slightly cloudy chestnut color with very high carbonation visible. The nose was very fragrant with nuttiness, toasted malts and bread with toffee and caramel as well. The taste was really nice. It started with lots of bready and toasted malts with caramel and toffee. I got nuttiness towards the middle of the sip and it tames some of the sweetness that was up front. The brew had medium carbonation and was towards the thicker side. It had a long nutty finish. It was a really nice brown and one that I will be trying again, no doubt about that.

Untappd Rating: 3.5/5.0

Cigar City Bolita Double Nut Brown Ale

I don’t really like Mondays. Yes, it is my other day off, but on Mondays without fail, I end up working from home for a few hours. This one was no exception as I was actually woken up by a work call. So, I’m at least getting some laundry done while I’m hanging out waiting for the next work call. I had this beer awhile ago and I was really excited about it as I love Cigar City brews. Let’s see how this one fared.

ABV: 9%

Style: English Brown Ale

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “This Double Nut Brown Ale is brewed in honor of the popular Bolita games played in Ybor City, FL. Bolita means little ball, but the profits from the often rigged games were anything but little. A player would pick a number and hope that his bolita came up, while the game operator would employ a variety of tricks to ensure it didn’t. There are no tricks in this brew though, just a high gravity brown ale redolent with caramel and toffee like malts and a long nutty finish. Pars well with Baklava, wild game and medium body cigars.”

Random: Barefoot Contessa has a new show with other celebrity chefs. It actually was pretty good.

This brew poured with a thick, two finger, creamy tan head. It was slow to dissipated and left lots of lacing. The body was a dark sienna color with no visible carbonation due to the color. The nose was really big. I got hazelnuts and Nutella like sweetness and some coffee as well. The taste was even better. It had lots of Nutella and was slightly sweet. Hints of milk chocolate, coffee and smoke came through at the end. The body was silky smooth with low carbonation. The beer finished with some warming from the booze and a long nutty finish. The beer is probably my new favorite of the style. It had big flavors and was an absolutely joy to drink. Go try this one now!

Untappd Rating: 4.5/5.0

Goose Island Naughty Goose

So, about a month back, I went down to Virginia. I hit up a bunch of beer spots and I brought back a hell of a beer haul. The first beer that I had down there was this one. One of the differences between New Jersey and Virginia is that you can drink in a supermarket. I was taken to a Whole Foods that had a crazy lineup of brews, plus really good food.

ABV: 5%

Style: English Brown Ale

Trivia: According to wikipedia, this is a brewpub only offering. I can tell you that I wasn’t in the brewpub when I had this one.

Random: Apparently I have an accent. Things I didn’t know before going down South.

This brew poured with a one finger, off white head that dissipated slowly and left some lacing on the glass. The body was a dark brown color with lots of carbonation visible throughout. The nose was a typical brown ale. I got notes of cocoa, nuttiness, caramel malt and a hint of roasted malt. The taste wasn’t anything mind-blowing either. It was the typical notes of caramel malt with some hazelnuts and cocoa thrown in for good measure. There was nothing really outstanding about this beer, but for a brown ale, it was definitely a solid flavor profile. The body was medium thickness with medium carbonation. It finished rather quickly with some nuttiness. If you see this on draft and you love brown ales, it’s worth a shot. For me, I’m glad I tried it, but it’s not worth a revisit.

Untappd Rating: 3.5/5.0