Boxcar Brown Ale
Carter's Brewing

 

Served on tap in a pint glass

Appearance - The beer is served a deep brown color with a one finger head of white foam. The head fades relatively quickly, leaving a light level of foamy lace on the sides of the glass.

Smell- The aroma is strongest of a roasted malt and a nice chocolate smell. Along with these aromas comes some decently strong caramel smells as well as some nutty aromas and a bit of an earthy and herbal smell.

Taste – The taste begins with a nice toasted malt flavor with a sweeter caramel and chocolate present upfront. As the taste advances the toasted malt flavors dwindle, but are replaced by even more sweet chocolate flavors as well as a little bit of a vanilla flavor. A surge of caramel and toffee comes at the end, but it is balanced by a bit of a bitter nut flavor as well as a light herbal and earthy hop flavor. In the end the mix of flavors leaves a sweeter chocolate and but nicely balanced flavor to linger on the tongue.

Mouthfeel – The body of the brew is on the slightly thicker side with a carbonation level that is on the average side. The thicker body is nice for the mix of sweet and chocolate, although a little bit less carbonation would have likely been slightly more mouth coating in nature, really accentuating the darker and sweeter flavors nicely. Overall however, the feel was quite nice and made for a good drinker.

Overall – A quite nice brown ale overall with a good chocolate and sweet flavor balanced by just the right amount of bitter hop and nut tastes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a better than average brown ale, with a touch of sweetness in there to keep it interesting. it pours a deep brown/red color with almost an inch of tan head on it. lacing is nice on each sip. the nose is very cocoa powdery, with some complex american malt additions, somewhere between and amber and a porter, not exactly sure where. the flavor leans more ont he dark malt than the red malt side, and there is a little brown sugar or light molassas in there at the finish. this is a majorly sessionable brown ale, with a medium body and plenty of fizzy carbonation. the abv is felt but not tasted, which i enjoy. this wasnt my favorite brew at carters, but it a high quality brown ale just the same.

 

Appearance: Pours a hazy mahogany color with about 3/4" of tan head. Retention and lacing are decent, with nice carbonation apparent.

Smell: Smells of some chocolate malts, maybe a bit of nuttiness, with quite a bit of nice piney hop character as well. Smells very well balanced, but probably leans more toward hops.

Taste: This is a great brown ale. Starts off with chocolate malts and a light hint of nuttiness. Hoppy on the back end, with mostly piney hops. Very nice, and fairly unique with the strong hop presence.

Mouthfeel/Overall: Light bodied with pretty high carbonation. Drinks smoothly. Overall, an excellent brown ale. Hoppy for the style but with plenty of malt to back. Where many browns out there are blah, this one is packed with great flavors.

A bottle left over after GABF judging and given to me as a reward for my volunteer efforts. Pours a two finger fluffy brown head over a clouded dark brown liquid. The head eventually settled to a sticky layer that persisted throughout the duration. Smells lemony citrus hops that dominate over dark malt (chocolate mostly). Clean alcohol is present, as is faint cardboard oxidation.

Tastes strongly of lemon, grapefruit, and pine from hops with underlying malt flavor mostly of chocolate. Hop bitter is strong for the style with both clean bitter and rounded grassiness. There is a bit of sour twang from a combination of lemony hop mixed with hop bitter and sharp carbonation. Lingering pithy bitterness cuts into what might have been a sweet finish. Has a bit of a creaminess as it sloshes in the mouth. This beer leans heavily toward hop flavor with balancing hop bitter over a malt sweet. Very yummy, if you are a hop-head like me. Two thumbs up.