Honcho Grande Brown Ale
Yellow Rose Brewing Company

According to the label, this beer is dedicated to Pancho Villa, a hero of the Mexican Revolution. It pours a brownish amber color with a creamy and sticky white head. The aroma is composed of fruit, toffee, and caramel with notes of hops. The flavor is dominated by sweet roasted malts with a touch of fruitiness and only a trace amount of hop bitterness. A decent American brown ale.

Pours a murky brown color with a small off-white head that soon vanishes, very little lace, modest carbonation. This beer is unfiltered, accounting for the slight residual sediment and cloudy appearance. Aroma is of sweet toasted malts, fruit notes, toffee, and very faint hops. Taste is dominated by a strong backbone of slightly sweet toasted malts, followed by tangy bitter grapefruit notes, mild hops bring up the rear, finish is crisp and moderately dry. Smooth and very drinkable, a pleasant example of the style.

Package reviewed was a sixteen ounce longneck, no freshness information. Yellow Rose Brewing Company is now a subsidiary of Great Grains Brewing of Dallas, Texas. The text on the bottle label contains a lengthy biography (relative to the space available) of Pancho Villa, for whom the beer is a tribute. Thus, beer drinking can be a scholarly pursuit.