Night Circus
Scuttlebutt Brewing Company - Restaurant and Pub

Listed at the brewery (where I had it) as a Porter, but listed as a Brown ale. Shrug. I reviewed it as a Porter. Served in shaker. Poured a solid black color with just a very thin cap of tan head that had no retention or lacing.

The aroma was lightly sweet overall, and had just a touch of light roast as the only notable aspect. None of the mentioned coconut.

same on the tongue, lightly roasty and sweet, with just a tiny touch of coconut.

The body was fairly typical for the style, smooth, and had a medium finish.

Drinkability was fine, but I wasn't left wanting another.

Overall, an OK take on the style. Not worth seeking out, but if you happen to see it, maybe take a shot.

 

12oz can from a 6er purchased at a local grocery store for $9.69. "Best by 04/11/20" is stamped on the bottom of the can.

Poured into a shaker pint glass, this was a dark brown color, almost black. Thin, tan head, & very minor, spotty lace.

Coconut-forward nose, but one can detect a coffeeish aroma as well. Neither aroma is particularly strong, but seem well balanced against one another.

Coconut leads then charge to the tastebuds as well. The coffee is secondary, although it grows in amplitude in the later part of the taste. Incidentally, the coffee reminds me of east coast "regular coffee," i.e. pre-sweetened with sugar & creamer.

Fairly light bodied, with a mildly creamy mouthfeel.

A decent, adjunct-y brown ale. To be honest, I feared it might be much worse. I'm not sure I'd session this, but it's not a bad beer to have on hand in the fridge as a winter 6er.

 

 

 

Poured from 12oz can into a tulip. Can says best by 1/10/20, so I'm in the window! Scuttlebutt doesn't explicitly call this a brown ale, but rather a "coconut coffee ale".

Appearance: rich, deep, dark brown hue; murky, and nearly black. Head is a finger of frothy dark-tan foam; it's darn good looking.

Smell: plenty of coconut and a decent dollop of roastiness and malty sweetness. There's a bit of a vegetal character here, too, that is a bit of an off-aroma that I often associate with dark beers like this. Still, not bad.

Taste: lots of cocounut, plus a bit of toffee and chocolate in the underlying beer. On paper, this should be great, like a Samoa Girl Scout cookie, but in practice it doesn't quite work out. It's both a little too sweet and maybe a little too bitter or something to quite pull that off. Not bad, but could use some fine-tuning.

Mouthfeel: medium-rich body with a moderate carbonation and a pretty smooth texture. Dig it.

Overall: I think this beer has a lot of potential, but could exhibit a little more finesse.

On tap at Ivar's Salmone House. Poured into a shaker pint. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing nearly opaque black in the glass with a thin khaki head that dissipates to patches with light lacing. Aroma of toasted malt, coconut, coffee, hints of nuts. Flavor is lightly toasted dark and biscuit malt, coconut, coffee and a little cocoa.Medium bodied with light creaminess and sharp carbonation. A nice brown ale malt body with clear coconut and coffee flavors. Fairly well balanced and integrated with the coconut perhaps a bit forward, but not at an enjoyable level for me. The coffee flavor was mellow and fit in with the malt, but its presence was very clear in the evening when I was still zooming from the caffeine. Serious coffee in this one. I had this with a meal and really enjoyed it, I thought the brown ale was spot on and the adjuncts were handled nicely. Not sure why this doesn't get a little more love here. Perhaps this draft one is fresher, which could make a difference for a coffee and coconut ale.

Bought on a whim, no internet service so I couldn't check the reviews. 12 oz single bottle purchased from Total Wine in Jacksonville, FL. Poured into small snifter.

Upon the crack of the cap it wells up with carbonation inside, and the BBD seems to be May 12th of this year. The pour yields almost all head, beige in color, but it gradually calms down and attributes to the black body.

Aroma is of roast barley, black jelly bean, slight shaved coconut, slight peppery yeast, and faint chocolate.

Peppery coffee leads this off with hints of cloying sugary chocolate and faint metallic notes forming into coconut shavings.

Feel is painfully carbonated, I think it was over-carbonated from the get. Slightly dry roasty finish, general slickness throughout.

Overall, I think it could be an okay beer if it were consumed within its given time frame, but the carbonation kinda pushes the flavors out of the way. Nonetheless I think I can determine that there's not much excitement here to begin with. Even if this had an exceptional rating I would score this the same, it's just not that interesting.

 

Scuttlebutt Brewing Co. "Night Circus Coconut Coffee Ale"
12 fl. oz. brown glass bottle without production codes or freshness dating. Coded on the base of the bottle "255 A2 1905"
$2.29 @ Total Wine & More, Cherry Hill, NJ

Notes via stream of consciousness: Great name! I'm expecting something pretty exciting! It's poured an opaque brown-black body beneath a short head of dark tan that's unfortunately faded while I've been typing but I have an idea why - there seems to be coconut or something floating on the surface. Uggggh, I tasted it and it's not coconut but it is very oily and bitter and acrid. I'm sure that's what killed the head because it just dropped like that. I'm not sure what it is but I'm a little trepidatious about it now. It smells like coconut but I don't get any coffee. That's OK, maybe it's in the flavor... ... nope, no coffee there either, although the coconut remains. There's not a lot of malt behind it either... oh wait, I'm getting some coffee now, just a bit, mixed in with some light chocolate and mild caramel. There's a good bit of acidity to it, and some of the same acrid bitterness that I got when I tasted the floatie that I pulled out of it. Thankfully it doesn't seem to have been that bitter to begin with. There's a little bit of fruitiness to it as well, but again, not a lot of malt. It's weird, I think this could have been a great beer but something's gone horribly wrong with it. I'm getting a taste that's almost like Crayons, or at least wax. Looking at the surface now, there are tiny bits of whatever it was I pulled out floating there. There's no sediment left in the bottom of the bottle though. So I don't know what to say about this. It's medium-light in body and gently crisp but there's also a bit of an acidic bite on the tongue that gives it some extra zing. Hmmm, I could have passed on this, and I initially though about asking for my money back but it is growing on me a little bit as it warms - there's still not much coffee coming through. Overall I have to say avoid it, it's not worth it - one of the worst-made beers I've ever experienced. It has promise but they've got a lot of work to do before they'll see it shine.
Review# 5,971