Crystal Brown
Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery

Dark 'sun tea' tawny that faded to amber near the bottom of the pint glass. At first I thought the golden beige cap was going to pop-pop-pop into nothingness before my very eyes, but it slowed down and lasted for a spell. Time turned an acceptable amount of sea foam lace into an acceptable amount of dried sea foam scum.

Now, a word about ingredients and style. The name suggests the use of either Crystal malt or Crystal hops, perhaps both. My guess is both. I entered Crystal Brown as an American brown ale in deference to its name. To me, though, it was much more like an English dark mild.

At first, I was confused by the citrus zest nature of the nose, since I'm aware that Crystal is a Hallertau variant (not a hop known for its grapefruit-like qualities). And then I remembered that Rogue Brutal Bitter uses 100% Crystal hops and it all started to make sense. My notes read 'pink grapefruit and other tropical' aromas. A stronger, more vivid nose would have easily earned the next highest score.

When it comes right down to it, Crystal Brown is the beer equivalent of tropical sun tea. I swear, the color had nothing to do with that impression. The beer was lightly caramel malty with a pleasant 'hopped ice tea' flavor that was slightly more bitter than tart. I liked the tangy pink grapefruit and herbal-orange flavor that imbued each mouthful.

Given the flavor profile and the season of the year, the mouthfeel just managed to hang onto above average status. Although the cask conditioning gave it the usual softness, it worked well in this case. My feeling about style assignment had as much to do with mouthfeel as it did with flavor.

Crystal Brown is an interesting creation. It isn't a 'wow' kind of beer, but it is one that's comfortable in its own skin. If I was ever of a mind to spend a lazy afternoon on the Rock Bottom patio trying to run up the 'accumulated pints' on my Mug Club card, this would be a good beer to do it with.