Swordfish
Microbrasserie Le Naufrageur

Not a stout but a strong brown - pours reddish brown with good head aromas spice and toffee - nutmeg? Fark chocolate? Unexpected - enjoyable.

 

 

 

l:very dark almost opaque red, barely see trough. Beige head last a few minutes.
S:caramel, cooked grains
T:nice and smooth with a taffy caramel coating the front of the tongue.A bit of bitterness remaining as a final note.
F: It is quite easy to drink, light lively, enough carbonation to avoid flatness. Good all year!
O:Well worth trying, subtle and interesting.As mentioned on the bottle a mix of ale and brown Leffe.

 

 

Listed here as a Stout, label calls it a Brown Ale. I'm going with the bottle. Thanks to TC for this one. Poured into Nonic. Pours a clean, clear dark brown, with some reddish tints, and about 1-1/2 inches of medium tan head that dissipated quickly and left almost no lacing.

The aroma is is lightly malty-sweet, with some hints of leather and tobacco. Same on the tongue, malt and sweetness front-to-middle, leather mid-to-back, and tobacco on the finish.

The body is very pleasant, smooth and even, with a nicely dry finish. Drinkability is good, the 500ml bottle was gone without effort. Overall, a pretty nice brew, one worth a shot if you see it.

 

 

Bottle to pint glass

A: a deep dark brown. It pours with a three finger head that breaks down rather quickly to a light froth.

S: subtle. Earthy for sure and a bit musty. Not a whole lot there.

T: tastes more like an American brown ale than the stout it is listed as. Hoppy, bitter and a bit of a burnt/coffee taste.

M: medium carbonation and feel.

O: so...its listed as a stout here and a brown ale on the bottle. I'd tend to agree with the bottle. This is a middle of the road beer, good but not spectacular.

A:
Pours a dark chocolatey brown with some hints of honey. Has a think, rich head the color of a root beer float that maintains a nice presence and has intense lacing.

S:
Has a thick nutty smell with some earthy tones. Doesn't smell even remotely boozy.

T:
Rich and creamy with some hazelnut and weak coffee flavors. Really nice.

M:
Warm and soft with a nice burnt chocolate taste throughtout. Finishes warm with cocoa and coffee notes.

O:
Really fine beer. It is warming and rich but is not too much (you can drink it when it isn't winter). It has a noticeable hoppy flavor which I think is nice. I sometimes don't like when beers like this are super malty and sticky sweet.
Nice and really well-balanced, refreshing and hearty. Everything a beer should be. Would drink it again without hesitation.

 

500 ml bottle 6.75% alcohol

First, what is this? The front label says "strong brown ale". The side story describes a hybrid of English malt and Belgian yeast. Well let's put it to the taste test.

It pours a huge head of 3 inches of beige foam that sticks around. It is a dark brown with golden highlights. The is heavy lacing the whole way.

The smell starts with candy then comes the aroma of Belgian yeast. Resolving into the freshness of a forest after a gentle rain.

The taste is dominated by roasted malt and sweetness. This is smoothly combined withe just the right amount of hops. An amazing marriage of malty bitterness.

A medium feel .. smooth but full.

To my palette this beer lives up to the brewer's goal of a hydrid of English and Belgian. The sweetness is there but the malty bitterness is the predominate taste. Very enjoyable. I will pick this up the next time I encounter it.

Note: This is not an english stout. It says on the bottle "Strong Brown Ale"

Served out of a 500ml bottle into an English pub style glass

A: Very nice brown-dark red color. Nice two finger head that eventually sunk into a one finger that retained itself very well. Beautiful lacing up the sides of the glass too.

S: Very unique for a brown ale. Some spicy and fruity Belgian yeast esters in the smell which is quite unusual for a brown ale. The smell surprised me honestly.

T: Some light caramel and toasted malts but not to overpowering. I really enjoyed the uniqueness of the Belgian style esters in a brown ale. It was very interesting. Pretty powerful hops as well. It did say on the bottle there were English malts and Belgian yeast. There were a tad more hops than I would've liked but it was still pretty damn tasty

M: Creamy and smooth going down. The alcohol blends very well and is barely apparent a midst the complex yeast and malt flavors

Overall: Really interesting. I might buy it again. I would definitely recommend it to someone looking for a more unique beer experience or to someone who likes brown ale and Belgian style ales. Pretty damn good beer.

 

 

Bottle: Poured a deep dark brown color ale with a nice large foamy head with OK retention and some light lacing. Aroma of brown sugar and caramelized malt with light fruity ester is interesting though more powerful then expected. Taste is also an interesting mix between some brown sugar and medium caramelized malt with great fruity ester notes. Sweetness is well balance by some biscuit malt notes. Body is quite full with good carbonation and no apparent alcohol. Not for everyday drinking but well brewed.

Bottle from Broue HAHA.

A - Pours a deep amber with good carbonation. A nice two finger creamy beige head. Bright. Some rings of lacing with a half finger of head retention.

S - Roasted malt, cola, some licorice, toffe, and brown sugar.

T - More roasted malt, still some cola, some possible tobacco, toffee. Pretty good. Sweet but not too much.

M - Mild carbonation seems appropriate with the medium to full body with a sweet note leading to a dry bitterness.

O/D - A good stout. I find alot of lower ABV stouts/porters a little too sweet or off tasting, but it's nice and flavourful while being drinkable and complex.

Cola-coloured dark-caramel pour with very little head. Other than a lot number, there is little to indicate how long this growler was sitting at the store and I'm dubious about the efficacy of the screw-top device.

Toffee and molasses smell. Nice amount of carbonation.

My initial impressions with the first few sips were positive--nice maltiness and roasted grain. However it's very sweet. A little too cloying for my liking. With this style I prefer a little more bitterness and dryness in the finish. It would be hard to drink this though an evening but perhaps it would pair nicely with a dessert or cheese plate with afters.