Diamond Mountain Brown
Founders Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On tap at Founder's brewery during the KBS release of 2013. Poured a stained-mahogany color with ruby hints jumping out any time considerable light passed through it. Great clarity for such a dark brown beer. Superb lacing is left along the sides of the glass from the fine and frothy white head that stays settled around a quarter-inch for at least half of the brew. This beer is really great looking.

Unfortunately, the aroma is quite a step down from the quality of the appearance of this beer. Very quiet, muddled, and all-around subdued at first. It's really hard to draw anything substantial out of this. Kind of grainy with some steel-tinted caramel notes from the malt, lightly sweet on the nostrils. Some nuttiness creeps in and gets a bit stronger upon warming. Aside from maybe a faint hint of cocoa powder, there isn't much else going on in the aroma. Very underwhelming and kind of just, "blah". Perhaps my expectations for Founders beers are a bit too high nowadays, but I think they are justified, given their past reputation. Not to mention, it's on tap at their biggest release of the year.

I was just hoping the flavor offered a bit more to the senses than the aroma, and it did, but not all that much. The taste was far more nutty than the aroma would have you believe, coming in strong with lots of woody and toasted nuts. There's a light sweetness that crescendos in the background and peaks with a hint of cocoa powder about midway through. The beer definitely benefits from warms temps, and it opens up much more as it gets warmer. More nuts, more wood, more cocoa powder, and more caramel malt. Slightly leafy hops are noticeable, but secondary, however they provide a tint of bitterness on the back end. The finish is malty, nutty, and slightly metallic with a mild bitter fade. Thin bodied with ample carbonation made for a pretty thin and slick mouth feel.

Meh, certainly not the best brown out there, and almost shockingly so. I say that because it seems like whenever Founders makes a beer, it ends up being a world-class example of the style. Simple not the case, here. Unfortunately, it falls into the "somewhat generic brown" category. The low ABV is nice, but there isn't much being offered here that you can't find in plenty of other, readily available brown ales.