Downtown Brown
Upstream Brewing Company - Old Market

TheLongBeachBum from California

2.81/5  rDev -1.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Presentation: Sampled during a visit to the Upstream Brewing Company, Omaha on 23rd September 2003. Served on draft, in a pint Glass.

Advertised as the current rotating “Special”, not part of the regular beer line up.

Appearance: A brown color, lucid, with a tan colored thin collar head. Looked reasonably good actually.

Nose: Light toasted, as opposed to roasted, Malts. Slightly sweet odors but nothing that grabs your attention.

Taste: Average, I am note quite sure if this beer is aware of its identity, it jumps from being a thin malty beer, to a sweetish dark mild at times.

Mouthfeel: Light, thin and wishy-washy. Forgetful.

Drinkability: The fifth of night, right after my meal, and I ended up leaving the last two fingers, partly because I was full and partly because the beer was just plain bland.

Overall: This was advertised as the “Special” that was one sale, and described as being based on the popular Newcastle Brown Ale style from England. I have to disagree with the former title and the latter description. It is neither. Not part of the Regular beer line-up, to be honest, I am not surprised why. Thin and uninspiring.

Sep 25, 2003

bditty187 from Nebraska

2.68/5  rDev -6.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Clear, ruby-coppery brown in hue, it is a very pleasant color. A lack of animation makes it look kind of lifeless, add in the fact the head was served with about a 1/16th of an inch of foam (i.e., stadium pour) that almost completely dissipated in seconds, well this beer isn’t much to look at beyond the color. Obviously, there was no subsequent lacing. The nose is very fruity, like cherries dipped in chocolate sauce. It smells like New Belgium’s Frambozen and not a brown ale. Sure it smells lovely but it is not what I’m expecting for the style. I order a brown ale and I wanted a brown ale, what they brewed is not a brown ale. Strong potency but it is talking a foreign language. Not inviting. The palate is too fruity! Christ, please, make it stop! Too sweet, very cloying. The malt backbone is thin and tea-like. Where are the brown ale qualities? Sure, I get a trace of malts, hints of toastiness, and some tealeaves. But seriously, this is way too sweet. I don’t care for it at all… especially considering this beer is suppose to be a brown ale! Ha! Yeah right. Medium-light in body, low carbonation which helps produce a sluggish mouthfeel. I didn’t find this beer drinkable at all. I couldn’t finish my pint. Not recommended. This is the worse beer I’ve ever had at Upstream. My suggestion to them, retool it or drop it. Lousy.

Oct 31, 2004

elmocoso from Nebraska

2.78/5  rDev -2.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Kind of dissapointed in this one. It did have the nicest head on any of the beers I ordered, but that's not saying much.
It was a deep brown and had a nutty nose on it. The taste was malt and nut but not much else. It was easy drinking but lacked the complexity. Mellow mouthfeel and a good clinging lace.

Dec 15, 2003

Boto from Connecticut

3.15/5  rDev +10.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

The beer pours a clear brown color. It has an off-white head that doesn't last long and laces down the side of the glass just a little. There is a very mild aroma to it. Some malt sweetness to the nose. The taste is medium-light maltiness, with a hint of hops. Slightly sweet. Somewhat boring.

Sep 23, 2003