The Barista
Clown Shoes

From the can, it pours a slightly hazy brown color with a nice off-white head that lasts. The nose gets some coffee. The mouth gets some alcohol, coffee and roasted malts.

 

Review: 2210
Name: The Barista
Brewery: Clown Shoes
Location: Boston, MA
Style: Brown Ale
A.B.V.: 8.5%
Canned: 02/05/2016
Date: 26 Sept 2024
I think I screwed up big time; I will let the whole world know. I thought this was a stout and not a brown ale. Now the bad news, this beer is eight years old, holy shit! Let's continue and hope for the best; if this beer does not hold up, I will find a fresher one, less than eight years old, and re-review it. I am using a pint glass and serving the beer at 44 degrees. First, good sign; there was a lovely hiss when I pried the cap off. The pour created a frothy, creamy, one-fingered, light tan head with decent retention. I am not going to complain about the retention; if this sucker fell flat, I would not care. The somewhat slow dissipation left only a creamy head scum on the top. Looking at the beer and judging its color, I will chart it at S.R.M 32; dark brown and mahogany hues glisten in the light and not fully opaque. The appearance is above average for this style, especially with the age of the beer.
Alright, the first whiff had no noticeable off-flavors or stale aromas. I first smell coffee, vanilla, roasted malts, and chocolate. I smell the glass again, and my mind is blown. Seriously, there are no off-aromas. What! After a more prolonged sniff, I smell the intensity of the coffee; it is dark roasted, slightly charred with some earthy dirt. Other aromas are molasses, treacle, caramel, toffee, light herbal, and cereal grains. The malt complex is bready, with lightly toasted grains, roasty notes, and some malty sweetness.
Sipping the glass, I taste a brown ale with coffee and milk. I did notice a slight cardboard note on the back end. After a few more sips, the cardboard flavor becomes slightly pronounced but not too distracting. The coffee is dark roasted with char, light smoke, and earthy dirt. The malt profile is bready, with lightly toasted malts, roasty notes, light bitterness, and some malty sweetness. Other flavors in the beer are molasses, caramel, vanilla, chocolate, and some nuttiness. The brown ale is solid; I wish I could drink this fresh; it's probably much better.
The body is medium and has medium carbonation. The mouthfeel is creamy and finishes smooth with some dryness.
I am shocked that this beer is held up, and the fact that it only has a stale cardboard note is stunning. I was thinking the beer would be undrinkable, but it was not. The coffee flavor is still relevant and tasty. The only other brown ale I had that was about six years old was barreled aged. I will hunt this beer out again and give a snippet of the changes fresh beer tastes like.

2016 bottled opened in 2022. Probably not the best way to review a beer with espresso! Poured at fridge temp. Pours a nice dark and murky brown. Very thin layer of head that quickly dissipates. The nose is coffee, toffee, oatmeal, bread, a touch of black licorice, roasted malts. The taste nicely follows the nose. The espresso notes are still there. This has held up amazingly well at 6 years! Toffee, chocolate, slight oaky bitterness, leather, dark German bread, oatmeal, graham crackers. Nothing is too dominant here. Nice mix of espresso, chocolate, and toffee. This is very good. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, and the alcohol isn't really detectable. I would love to compare this to a fresh bottle.

 

12oz can, wine glass, best by 1/21/23.

The color is a nice middle brown ale brown with a small crema swirling on top.

Lactose, cedar, medium roast coffee beans.

It’s sweet and spicy, in a woody, herbal way, like the smell of cedar. The coffee flavors play lightly near the finish with slightly stale wood, bean, and cardboard flavors. The finish is relatively clean, but features the usual lactose aftertaste and some alcohol bitterness.

Light-medium body and light carbonation that do achieve creaminess.

The coffee is a minor part of this enjoyable brown ale.

 

 

Way out of my comfort zone here! A flavored up brown ale!: oats, espresso and milk sugar.

The flavor definitely has roasted chocolate malts, toasty oats and slick, smooth malty vibe the whole way. A minimal amount of spicy hops kick rounds out everything. One word comes to mind overall: Decent.

 

I enjoyed it thoroughly it was nutty and smooth as a brown ale should be with just enough hops to give it an ipa taste

Pours an amber brown. Thick foam. Sweet aroma. Not very good. A few different flavors but it's all very muddled. Roasted malt finish. Pretty disappointing.

 

Well this is a surprise. I guess I really should set higher expectations for Clown Shoes. This one is way better than most of the style.

One of the 12 beers of Christmas, this baby pours a nice brown with a bit of coffee aroma poking right through. I immediately knew I had a winner! A great bitter brown ale thanks to a bit of coffee enhancement. First rate stuff with a nice big finish. A nice thick feeling brown.

Recommended. This is a nice winner amongst the 12 days of Christmas. It keeps pretty well too - this sample is probably not very fresh.