Beer of the Week

The beer: Bonfire Brown 

The brewery: Saugatuck Brewing Company, Douglas, Michigan

Description (from the website): "The smell of burning wood, the crackling embers, the warm glow of the fire. Whatever your favorite part of a bonfire is, take it all in with every sip of Bonfire Brown. This classic American Brown Ale is a perfect example of tradition; from it’s malty, rich body to a roasty & toasty finish. Kick back, crack one open and tell your story. After all, that’s what a bonfire is all about."

Would I buy it again? Of all the brown ales I've had in my life, this is one of them. It doesn't do anything exactly wrong, per se (then again, the head was absolutely abysmal), but neither does it do anything well. It's just sort of there, and when it comes to this particular style of beer, I expect more than that. So I would not buy this again.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Witness Tree

The brewery: Antietam Brewery, Hagerstown, Maryland

Description (from Untappd): "A deliciously creamy brown ale with a toasty, warm finish and hints of nut flavor. Named after the longest living tree at Antietam Battlefield."

Would I buy it again? This was a good, if not great, brown ale. It was slightly hoppier than I would prefer, but it wasn't by much, and the bready maltiness was there. I don't think I would buy it at the store, but I'd definitely go for it again if I ever go back to the brewery itself.

Beer of the Week

The beer: E-Towne Brown Ale

The brewery: Hub City Brewery, Hagerstown, Maryland

Description (from Untappd): "A deep brown ale with notes of toasted nuts, toffee, and caramel. A roasty nose with a solid malt forward body. Medium bodied but full of flavor, this beer is great for those who prefer malty beer but aren't quite ready for the bold flavors of a stout!"

Would I buy it again? I actually don't have too much to add in terms of describing this beer, it's pretty much what it says in the description: a pleasantly malty brown ale that's quite easy and pleasant to drink. Plus, at only 4.4% ABV, it won't have you feeling tipsy after just one. It's a solid beer, and one I've purchased each time I've been to Hagerstown's newest brewery. So yeah, I'd probably buy it again.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Imperial Maple Sunday

The brewery: Lone Pine Brewing Company, Portland, Maine

Description (from the can): "Every fourth Sunday in March, sugarhouses across Maine open their doors for tours, music, and most importantly, a pancake breakfast with Maine maple syrup. Brewed in collaboration with the Maine Maple Producers Association, with local syrup from our neighbors at Merrifield Farm, Imperial Maple Sunday is our dialed-up contribution to one of Maine's longest standing and most delicious traditions."

Would I buy it again? I don't actually remember buying this beer or where I got it, but I'm incredibly glad it made its way into my beer collection, because it's extremely good. I love maple syrup, I love brown ales, Lone Pine would have had to supremely screw up to make this beer not one I enjoyed. Fortunately, they stuck the landing: it's wonderfully thick and maple flavored while still maintaining the brown ale maltiness. No hoppiness to speak of here, which is a relief. I would definitely buy this again.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Frivolous Freeloader

The brewery: Rough Edges Brewing, Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

Description (from Untappd): "Smooth and creamy brown ale with tasty, toasty hazelnut notes."

Would I buy it again? This is the last beer from my recent live session at Rough Edges, and remarkably, despite a doppelbock being thrown into the mix, I think this one was my favorite of the three beers I had. It's very hazelnut-y and very smooth, and you can definitely get hints of toastiness and brown sugar as well. This is another beer I would definitely buy again.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Boo-Gee

The brewery: Rough Edges Brewing, Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

Description (from Untappd): "Indulge in the delicious flavors of fall with our Pumpkin Pie Brown Ale, a beer infused with the warm spices of pumpkin pie and sweet brown sugar."

Would I buy it again? Pumpkin beers are usually pretty good, but I've had mixed success with beers explicitly flavored after pumpkin pie. This, however, was quite good; funny enough, I enjoyed it because the taste of pumpkin was downplayed in favor of brown sugar, which was a nice change of pace. There's no shortage of sweet beers out there, but brown sugar specifically isn't a flavor that's usually pursued. Uniqueness is important, but execution is just as vital, and this beer ties together the brown sugar flavor with that of the pumpkin undertones quite well. I'd happily buy this beer again.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Hypocritical Brown Ale

The brewery: Rough Edges Brewing, Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

Description (from Untappd): "Dark ale with notes of caramel, chocolate, coffee, and toffee."

Would I buy it again? While this beer definitely did have all the notes and flavors it said it would have, it also was more distinctly bitter and hoppy than I would have preferred. Not enough to ruin it, but definitely noticeable. This is a solid beer to drink if you've already had one or two and are looking for something mostly inoffensive. But if you're like me on this particular day and just running in for one quick beer, I'd get something else.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Caramel Apple Ale

The brewery: Vanish Farmwoods Brewery, Leesburg, Virginia

Description (from Untappd): "A hybrid of our cider and beer designed to have a strong malt backbone to uplift the characters of both caramel and apples."

Would I buy it again? I had this beer over the winter, back when Vanish opened their new taproom in Frederick, but never got around to reviewing it. So, my precise memory of the taste is kind of foggy, but this beer was definitely very good. Not too much caramel and not too much cider flavor to overpower the beer. It was a very solid beer, and if I ever see it, I'd definitely buy it again.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Lovestruck Brown Ale

The brewery: RAK Brewing Company, Frederick, Maryland

Description (from Untappd): "This English style Brown ale is conditioned on 25lbs. of roasted Pecans and brewed with British malt to accentuate the caramel notes. Overall, a nice balance between nutty, malty, caramel flavors."

Would I buy it again? RAK Brewing Co. is the new kid on the Frederick beer block, so I wasn't expecting anything extraordinary going in. New places always take some time to get going. And while I'm not convinced of the place's decor, I can't argue with the quality of the beer. This brown ale is, quite simply, fantastic. It's got the pecan and caramel taste, it's pleasantly malty with no hint of hoppy bitterness, and it's pretty easy to drink. Not only would I buy this again, I already have. Couldn't resist walking out of the brewery with a four-pack. It really was that good a beer.

Beer of the Week

The beer: The PastryArchy: Super Freak

The brewery: DuClaw Brewing Company, Rosedale, Maryland

Description (from the can): "Give in to the seductive coconut, caramel, & chocolate notes, plus roasted malt and a gentle hop bite. Indulge and ... Get Freaky!"

Would I buy it again? I'm pretty disappointed with this. Basically, all I taste is a slightly hoppy brown ale, with no taste of coconut or caramel, and only suggestions of chocolate. If all those ingredients have really been packed in this beer, they're doing a great job of canceling each other out. Taken at face value, it's not bad, but considering what was promised, it's just not very good.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Peasant Bread

Brewed by: Burlington Beer Company, Burlington, Vermont

Description (from Untappd): "Peasant Bread falls somewhere between a English Mild and Brown Porter. Peasant Bread is a Fall/Winter Seasonal release brewed with Toasted Wild Rice providing flavors and aromas of Toasted Walnuts to the already Toast-y malt bill. Brewed with a wide array of specialty malts including Vienna Malt, Honey Malt, Pale Chocolate, Crystal 65, Brown Malt, and Melanoidin Malt to create a broad spectrum of Bread-y flavors and aromas. The recipe for this beer dates back to a home brew recipe that won Best in Show by our Founder and Owner."

Would I buy it again?: Wild rice goes really well with brown ales, it turns out, because this beer is really good. The nutty flavor of the rice compliments the toasty maltiness of the beer, and neither overwhelms the other. I'd buy it again.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Bear (With A Hint of Coffee)

Brewed by: Tree House Brewing Company, Charlton, Massachusetts

Description (from Untappd): "We are excited to welcome Bear back, this time with a tasteful and restrained addition of custom roasted coffee! After careful deliberation and assessment, we chose a coffee that exhibits delicate flavors of milk chocolate, cinnamon, and molasses. The base beer features flavors and aromas of toffee, caramel, chocolate, brown bread, and black coffee - a lovely pairing for the delicate, lightly roasted coffee for which it shares the glass. Though this beer is rich with flavor and complexity, it drinks smoothly and easily… an ideal pairing for a hearty winter meal or a day spent on the ice. A winter treat, indeed!"

Would I buy it again?: I think Coffee (With A Hint of Bear) would be a more accurate name for this beer. There is much more than a hint of coffee. Admittedly, I don't drink coffee too often, but I know the taste of coffee well enough. Does that make it bad? No, absolutely not, this beer is very good. It's more drinkable than you might expect as well. I probably wouldn't buy it again, but that's more because Tree House is apparently a very big, very popular brewery (No. 2 in the country, according to BeerAdvocate) with many, many beers. I got this from the brewery itself – along with a couple others which I'll get to in the coming weeks – and if I ever go there again, I'd get something different. Were it readily available in Maryland, then yes, I'd buy it again.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Good Idea

Brewed by: Ology Brewing Company, Tallahassee, Florida

Description (from Untappd): "Blend between a Brown Ale and an Amber. Light, easy drinking, but solid malt complexity that has a nice complete finish. Bready, slight caramel, with a touch of roast. Every-day drinking beer."

Would I buy it again?: Alternatively, was it a good idea to buy this beer? Yes, that's the joke I'm going with. And I'm going to say, kind of. It was okay, but not spectacular. A little too hoppy for my taste, but mostly inoffensive. Which is fine, but there are better options out there.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Maple Coffee Cream

Brewed by: Edmund's Oast Brewing Company, Charleston, South Carolina

Description (from the website): "Our 5% brown ale made with maple syrup, coffee, and lactose." (Not a very flowery description there.)

Would I buy it again?: Since I'm reviewing a golf course from Charleston, why not review a beer from Charleston at the same time? This was a very good beer, I've become a fan of brown ales that sort of masquerade as stouts. You get all the fun flavors, but it's a lot less filling that some stouts can be. The maple is there, but it doesn't overwhelm the beer. It's too bad I'll never find this up in Maryland.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Honey Brown

Brewed by: Genesee Brewing Company, Rochester, New York

Description (from the website): "This isn’t your watered-down light beer from college. Nor is it a heavy craft beer. Honey Brown pours right smack dab in the middle. A delicious golden amber color, it’s a beer you can drink throughout the night while staying true to yourself and your evolving palate. Enjoy it with friends. Enjoy it with strangers. It doesn’t matter to us—just enjoy it."

Would I buy it again?: Probably not, but that's not the fault of this particular beer. I liked it, it was very drinkable and had a good honey taste, but if I want a drinkable honey beer, I preferred Rogue's Honey Kolsch. Then again, I haven't seen the Honey Kolsch in a while, so I may not have any other option. In which case, this is fine.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Coffee Bender

Brewed by: Surly Brewing Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Description (from the website): "Guatemalan coffee, roasted locally, is added to our house oatmeal brown ale. Cold press coffee aromatics and intense coffee flavors are balanced by the oats in the malt bill, resulting in a cappuccino-like creaminess."

Would I buy it again?: Usually when you see coffee in a beer, it's a stout, not a brown ale. Unlike the Sheetz donut beer, however, a brown ale isn't too terribly far removed from a stout, and as you can see from the picture, this beer is plenty dark. However, that brown ale does keep things comparatively light, so while I wouldn't call this a beer you could easily down a six pack of, it doesn't fill you up like a coffee stout might. The taste is good as well, so this beer definitely gets my approval.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Resurrection Ale

Brewed by: The Brewer's Art, Baltimore, Maryland

Description (from Untappd): "Our Abbey-style brown ale, brewed with five types of malt and three hop varieties. This rich yet dry beer is dark amber in color with lots of flavor."

Would I buy it again?: Here's a fun fact: Back in 2008 Esquire magazine named the Brewer's Art the best bar in the whole country. You would therefore expect a beer made by them (worthy of special mention on the bar's Wikipedia page, I might add) to be quite good. And it is. It's drinkable but it's got plenty of heft and taste as well. I'd like to go to this place once it opens up again, see what the place is like. This beer has gotten me curious.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Frangelic Mountain Brown

Brewed by: Founders Brewing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Description (from the website): "We love a well-balanced brown ale. Especially a brown ale of the hazelnut coffee persuasion. Case in point: Frangelic Mountain Brown. Initially brewed and released in bottles in 2012, this deliciously sweet and nutty coffee brown ale quickly became a favorite amongst beer fans and inspired us to continue pushing the coffee and beer envelope. Turns out your new favorite coffee drink is a beer."

Would I buy it again?: Founders does not have the greatest reputation in the beer community as of late, but there's no denying the fact that they know how to make a good beer. This is no exception. It tastes just the right amount of hazelnut and coffee while also tasting like beer. I'd definitely buy it again.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Nut Case Brown Ale

Brewed by: Idiom Brewing Company, Frederick, Maryland

Description (from the website): "East Kent Golding hops – Malty and smooth with touches of toffee and a slight nuttiness."

Would I buy it again?: As you may have noticed, this particular beer isn't sitting in my kitchen. I went to the driving range and I felt like having a beer afterward. It was one of those days. And since it was so nice, I decided to actually go to one of Frederick's many breweries. I'd never been to Idiom, and it was close to where I parked, so I stopped in for a quick beer. A brown ale may not have been the most appropriate choice for a warm September evening, but it was really good. If I ever visit again, I'd definitely consider getting it again.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Hazelnut Brown Nectar

Brewed by: Rogue Ales, Newport, Oregon

Description (from the website): "From the hazelnut capital of the United States, this nutty twist on a European brown ale was originally crafted by Rogue Brewmaster John Maier's good friend and avid home-brewer, Chris Studach. Hazelnut Brown Nectar offers a hazelnut aroma with rich nutty flavor and a smooth malty finish."

Would I buy it again?: Probably not. This is one of those beers that didn't really distinguish itself one way or the other. I didn't dislike it, but I didn't love it. It was fine drinking it in the moment, but it was kind of forgettable. I liked the Honey Kolsch Rogue makes a lot more, so much so that for the first time, I followed through on my "Would I buy it again?" decision and bought it again.