Ale
Nickel Brook Brewing Co.

AleAle
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From:
Nickel Brook Brewing Co.
 
Ontario, Canada
Style:
English Bitter
ABV:
5%
Score:
78
Avg:
3.25 | pDev: 11.08%
Reviews:
21
Ratings:
28
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Jul 12, 2013
Added:
Oct 13, 2005
Wants:
  1
Gots:
  1
Outside: A plain brown bottle. A plain brown label. A plain brown 24 carrier.

Inside: A naturally carbonated, deep gold ale. Brewed with a blend of four malts and English hops.

By choosing product quality over high-end packaging and advertising, we were able to lower costs and pass the savings on to you, our customer!

The result, a delicious premium beer at the lowest possible price.

21 IBU
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by TheBeeraholic:
Photo of TheBeeraholic
Rated by TheBeeraholic from Canada (ON)

3.25/5  rDev 0%

Jun 16, 2013
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 2.75 by taxandbeerguy from Canada (ON)

Jul 12, 2013
 
Rated: 3.25 by philmen from Canada (ON)

Sep 22, 2012
 
Rated: 3.5 by BigGruntyThirst from Canada (ON)

Jul 08, 2012
 
Rated: 4 by beerhunter13 from Canada (ON)

Mar 18, 2012
 
Rated: 4.25 by ThinkAgain from Canada (ON)

Jan 25, 2012
Photo of liamt07
Reviewed by liamt07 from Canada (ON)

2.99/5  rDev -8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5
Bottle from OCB mix pack, 341ml into a tulip.

Hazy reddish brown, persistent dense off-white head, looks quite nice. Nose has some light fruits, a bit of a nut, doughiness and some lightly sour notes. Taste has some light grain, dust, and some weird fruitiness, maybe a bit of peach?. Some earthiness. A bit of apple and a subtle oud bruin character. Lightly drying finish. Medium body with a similar carbonation. Not bad, but this isn't that good either.
Jan 08, 2012
Photo of SebD
Reviewed by SebD from Canada (ON)

3.25/5  rDev 0%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Appearance: It has a nice cloudy copper amber color to it. Kind of reminds me of this APA I just brewed. It has a nice thick off-white head that dies down moderately and leaves some spotty lacing.

Smell: The aromas definitly give out hints of a whole lot of caramel and butterscotch, some grainy malts and some toffee.

Taste: Like the aromas, it has a nice sweet caramel and butterscotch feel, grainy malts, and some light lemon in the back.

Mouthfeel: It has a low/medium carbonation with a light and watery overall balance and feel.

Drinkability: It's a very smooth drinkable beer accompanied with somewhat bland flavors and aromas.
Dec 13, 2011
Photo of peensteen
Reviewed by peensteen from Canada (ON)

3.28/5  rDev +0.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Reddish copper colour, off white head, sticky with some lace. Smell is malty with rich caramel and toffee, some biscuit, lemon zest, faint hints of chocolate with light earth undertones. Taste is Malty and bitter initially, fruit rolls in, orange and lemon, biscuity with a sweet finish, dried fruits and caramel in the finish. Light-med carbonation, lightish body, OK feel. This isn't a bad beer but absolutely nothing stands out. If you were to ask me about this beer in a month I would not remember this in the slightest, drinkable and could see myself drinking this again I just have no idea when that would be.
Dec 12, 2011
Photo of bryehn
Reviewed by bryehn from Canada (ON)

2.95/5  rDev -9.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3
This is an odd looking beer, it's the lightest brown ale I've ever seen at least. Pours a hazy copper-amber colour reminiscent of an IPA with white sediment suspended in the brew. The head is tan coloured and gets retained as a thick collared film while leaving some spotty lacing.

Smells of fresh grains and caramel malts, with a soft hazelnut-like tone and a hint of butter. Gets really syrupy smelling as it warms/breathes and takes on an earthy character.

Butterscotch dominates the taste, along with an earthy graininess. The finish is sweet and a bit buttery with an odd, yet refreshing lemony flavour.

The mouthfeel is quite watery with a medium carbonation level. No real character on the tongue at all. Leaves behind a resin-like feeling and a watered-down syrup aftertaste.

This was a thoroughly disappointing beer, though also quite drinkable because of its watery nature. Glad I tried this in the OCB sampler because I'd have a hard time getting through a six pack.
Dec 01, 2011
Photo of thehyperduck
Reviewed by thehyperduck from Canada (ON)

3.07/5  rDev -5.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3
341 mL bottle from this season's OCB sampler. This is a new brewery for me, but I am always down for some brown.

Pours a muddy brownish-amber colour, completely opaque from haze. Topped with about a finger of creamy, off-white head that fizzles away rather quickly, leaving a soapy film and collar behind. No lacing. Malt-forward aroma; lots of doughy malts, nuts and a bit of toffee, with some light sultana or plum fruitiness. Pleasant, but not really noteworthy.

Lightly toasted doughy, bready, biscuity malts are pretty dominant; this stuff has a fairly sweet flavour profile with notes of caramel and fruity raisin-like esters. Lemons and green apple come forward later in the sip, the sourness not meshing with anything real well. Light bitterness in the finish that lingers briefly with more sweet, biscuity malts. Thin-bodied, a little creamy but with biting carbonation that doesn't help the flavours come through. Easy enough to drink.

This is probably a solid B as a cream ale but it's a lame brown ale, hitting more style notes from the former than the latter. There are no off-putting flavours, and it's not at all a chore to drink, but it's still a pretty bland, uninteresting ale regardless of the style. A decent session beer probably more suited to the summer months - try it if it's available, but skipping this wouldn't be much of a loss.
Nov 28, 2011
 
Rated: 3 by RedAleMan from Canada (ON)

Nov 26, 2011
Photo of Swedes21
Reviewed by Swedes21 from Canada (ON)

2.73/5  rDev -16%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5
341 ml served in a chilled glass

Apperance - beer pours a gorgeous amber colour with a fair amount of clarity. I do not see much carbonation. The head is about 1 finger deep on the pour and fades pretty fast. Head is off-white in appearance with some minimal lacing.

Smell - I can smell two distinct smells, malts and caramel. After further review, there is some lemon/zest present as well.

Taste - found this to be a very dry tasting beer. You can pick up the malts and caramel, the other taste is water. Overall, there really is not much offered.

Mouthfeel - the added carbonation brings the lemon/zest taste forward, however, i still cant get past the water based taste to this beer.

Drinkability - This is not a beer i would go out and find again. Something about the water based tasting did not sit right with me.
Dec 15, 2010
Photo of spinrsx
Reviewed by spinrsx from Canada (ON)

3.28/5  rDev +0.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
12oz Bottle

Appearance - The beer pours a murky amber colour with a gigantic frothy and foamy off-white head. I can't make out much carbonation due to the murkiness of the beer.. There is also some really nice lacing all the way down the glass. The head stuck around for a long time before it dissipated.

Smell - caramel, lemon, malts

Taste & Mouth - The beer has a fairly nice mouthfeel, it could perhaps benefit from a touch more carbonation. The flavour almost seems like a caramel iced tea. There is lots of caramel/toffee flavours mixed with malts and a touch of lemon bitterness. The beer also seems slightly watery. It finishes with a slight butter lemon aftertaste mixed with sweet caramel.

Drink - An average beer that has a flavour different enough to warrant trying.
Oct 27, 2010
Photo of kwjd
Reviewed by kwjd from Canada (ON)

3.13/5  rDev -3.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Pours a pale copper colour with thin head. Smells of grain and mild hops. Taste has a small bit of bitterness with lots of sweetness from the malt. Carbonation was a little bit prickly, but not bad. This seems to be weak for the style, but it is a nice enough beer. I'll have this again I'm sure, but I'm not going to race out to get it.
Jul 31, 2010
Photo of TheSevenDuffs
Reviewed by TheSevenDuffs from Canada (ON)

2.97/5  rDev -8.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5
Poured in to a Leffe glass.

A - Amber colour with a finger of white head that quickly disappeared. Some visible carbonation.

S - Sweet malts; some caramel and a slight toffee profile. No hops present at all.

T - A bitter biscuit malt profile hits the palate immediately. Some caramel as well. There is a strange bitterness to this beer. The hops come through only in the bitter aftertaste but don't contribute much to the flavour of the beer; they are definitely present though. I don't know what to make of this one. On one hand I love the addition of the hop profile but on the other hand the bitterness is a little over the top.

M - Light in body with a good amount of carbonation. The very bitter aftertaste really dominates the mouth feel for me - in a negative way (and I love hops!).

D - A decent ale. I would love to try it on tap but don't think I would buy bottles again.
Apr 19, 2010
Photo of Viggo
Reviewed by Viggo from Canada (ON)

3/5  rDev -7.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
12 oz bottle from the LCBO.

Pours a clear coppery brown, some orange, medium sized slightly off white head forms, quickly settles down to a thin ring, some lace spots on the glass. Smell is weird, very grainy, some chocolate malt, bread, light bit of bready sweetness, some biscuits, caramel, but pretty bland. Taste is similar, grainy and a bit yeasty, very thin flavour, some biscuits and bready malt, touch of roast, kind of sour almost in the finish, not very good. Mouthfeel is light to medium bodied with medium carbonation, light acidity on the tongue. Like all Nickel Brook, not terrible, but not good. Could easily do without them.
May 29, 2009
Photo of TheHammer
Reviewed by TheHammer from Canada (ON)

3.46/5  rDev +6.5%
look: 2 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Got this in a 6 pack straight from the brewery itself.

Appearance: This beer pours with a murky amber appearance and has yellow grain like particles floating in it. Not very impressed by the lacing as it was barely a finger and doesn't seem to lace or retain. Shows some solid signs of carbonation though.

Smell: Nice mixed malt smell to this beer with definite fruity hop backing. I'm also catching notes of tea and caramel as well as notes of apricots, pears, plums with a touch of walnut. It's very nice but needs to be a bit stronger as it took a little warming to come out.

Taste: Very rich in malts as it starts with a creamy menagerie of malt sensation which surprisingly is not excessively sweet. In then turns to a more fruitful and dry hops that are very well balanced by the subdued malt taste. It's very rare a beer with dry notes, makes me appreciate the dryness.

Mouthfeel: Leaves a dry and bitter fruit hop aftertaste that states it's case and then quickly departs. The beer transitions quite well and goes down smoothly. The carbonation is also quite good, but I have to deduct points for the complete lack of head. Also the initial creaminess seems to vanish after the hops kick in, which is catching me off guard.

Drinkability: Well, no problems getting it down, sits well in the stomach and has no gas issues. However the biggest problem is the beer's dryness somewhat hinders the ability to put it back. It would be a lot more refreshing is the dryness was reigned it a bit, but really that is part of the appeal of this beer.

Final Thoughts: A solid beer that is a bit off of the beaten path. It's good to see a brewery use something other then a lager as their flagship beer. The malt and the hops really save this beer. If they could just do something about the funky appearance and lack of lacing, it would have a lot of potential.
May 20, 2009
Photo of ludachris
Reviewed by ludachris from Canada (ON)

3.2/5  rDev -1.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5
Got this one fresh from the brewery thanks to TheHammer. Thanks Marky Mark.
Pours a murky caramel that reveals nice golden amber highlights when held up to the light, capped by a finger and a half of tightly knit, off white head after a fairly aggressive pour. Nice retention but minimal lacing.
Smell of sweet caramel and sticky raisons with a touch of dry hops.
This is where things kind of go wonky. Im a huge fan of the sweet malts, caramel and raisons in the taste, but it's quickly followed by a carbonated, somewhat astringent backbone that does anything but balance this beer, which somehow ends with some dry, tart granny smith apple.
Mouthfeel is watery and not well balanced, but drinkability is quite decent, especially when drunk straight from the fridge.

Overall, an average brew. Appearance was nice and the smell was great, it all went down hill once it touched my lips. The carbonated, astringent finish topped by the watery mouthfeel just killed this beer. The really nice malty character is what saved it from failing. At the same time, I would consider buying a 6er of this to session, but don't think Ill be sitting down and enjoying just one any time soon.
May 09, 2009
Photo of drinkininthewood
Reviewed by drinkininthewood from Canada (ON)

2.83/5  rDev -12.9%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3
Served from a 341ml brown bottle into a pint glass. BB Jan. 19 2008

A- Pours a murky amber with frothy white head diminishing quickly leaving some laces spots around the glass.

S- smell is mainly of malts with spicy hops noticed, slight citrus.

T- Malt sweetness up front followed up with some citrus, green apple tartness, somewhat astringent hop flavors in a drying finish. Seems somewhat unbalanced.

M- light bodied and somewhat aggressive carbonation. Mouthfeel was somewhat metallic as well.

D- Goes down easy enough.

Overall nothing spectacular here. Enough flavor to keep you entertained. There is other amber ales out there that i would prefer. Worth a try.
Nov 11, 2007
Ale from Nickel Brook Brewing Co.
Beer rating: 78 out of 100 with 28 ratings