Brown Beard
Free Will Brewing Co.

Undated 2017 bottle into pint glass. Pours a hazy dark amber-brown with a thin tan head. Initial impression is blackstrap molasses, rum, and bitter coffee. Mouthfeel is a little on the thin side. Carbonation is light. Finish is boozy and astringent, like burnt coffee with a shot of rum in it. Not at all what I expected. The thinnish body makes the alcohol more evident than it should be, and the bitterness competes with the molasses and rum. Interesting but not something I'd revisit.

 

Freaking delicious. Awesome caramel coffee taste. Rum. 2016 bottle

Best local brew I’ve had all year.

 

Received this as a trade extra. Haven't heard of Free Will brewing out of Perkasie, PA, but I am beyond excited to try.
This beer is the 2016 edition, bottled on 3/3/16.
Note: Aged in Caribbean oak rum barrels, and brewed with molasses, cane sugar and coffee.
L: Pours murky brown. As it settles, it develops more of a brownish-red hue, similar to that of actual rum. Little head formation, but does sustain a ring around the perimeter of the beer. I can swirl the content of the beer and form a tiny frothy cap, which is more entertaining if anything. Generous amounts of sudsy foam cling to the glass as I drink it.
S: First thing I notice is spices. I am getting notes of cinnamon and nutmeg, which are most likely coming from the rum. Rum notes are definitely there, as is the coffee and molasses. The cane sugar provides a subtly sweet presence that conceals the heft of the beer. Really nice smelling. As it warms, the aromas further develops.
T: The woody oak barrel presence is the first thing that I taste, followed by molasses, caramel, toffee, and then coffee. The malt profile is definitely there, but is more in the background. The cane sugar is most apparent on the finish, as is the rum, providing a unique flavor cocktail. Coffee lingers in the after taste, along with flavors resembling cooking spices. The alcohol lets its self known, but isn't overly boozy in my opinion. Slight booze warmth as it goes down- a perfect pre-winter accommodation.
F: Full bodied with decent amount of heft. Borderline creamy. Carbonation also is present. Though perhaps it might have released over time, the carbonation that I am encountering now is very enjoyable. Slight boozy aspect to the feel, but I am not complaining.
O: It's fantastic. All the adjuncts implemented in the brewing process are noted in the flavor. At 10.8abv, I feel it conceals itself rather well. As it warms, it becomes even more sweet (or I am becoming more inebriated). I really can't complain, given it was a trade extra. As always, I am very glad to have tried. Cheers BA!

I have been drinking a number of oak-barrel aged beers lately, but this one seems like something right out of Monty Python's Flying Circus. "And now, for something completely different …" A rum-barrel aged beer?!? Now, it is like Bluto in "Animal House" - "Let's do it!" Enough pop culture references for one day.

From the Bottle: "Rum oak barrel-aged Imperial brown ale with coffee added."; "An enhanced version of our C.O.B., with molasses and cane sugar, aged in Caribbean rum barrels."

I Pop!ped the cap & began a C-Line pour, resulting in some immediate foaming. Even better was the aroma that filled my kitchen - rum & coffee! It smelled like mornings at Camp Moscrip with the Seabees on Naval Station Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico! We had our own still at the First Class Mess & coffee was always going. Mmm. The head settled to form two-plus fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, deep-tan/light-brown head with excellent retention, leaving massive lacing in its wake. Color was Dark Brown to Very Dark Brown (SRM = > 27, < 34) with NE-quality clarity. Nose, upon leaning in, had a pronounced coffee & treacle quality, less rum than initially perceived. Mouthfeel was big & thick, like a dollop had been scooped onto my tongue. I allowed it to remain there, rolling around, warming as it released its flavors more fully. I keep my reefer rather cold as I also use it for food & so my beer is colder than I would initially prefer. Man, the flavors blossomed like a flower in the spring, first with the bitterness of coffee & treacle, then the vanilla-like quality of oak and finally, the rum seemed to explode! The impetus for our still was a field trip to the Bacardi & Don Q factories where a UT1 (Utilitiesman 1st Class) saw a diagram on distilling and remarked, "Hey, that's pretty simple stuff. I could build one!" Ours was not as good as commercial rum, since we used bananas, coconuts and molasses, but it was relatively free since the fruits grew on the compound. I still have a soft spot for rum, second only to rye whisky, as long as I have it straight or with tonic. Rum & Coke is like a diabetic coma waiting to happen. Onwards! It would not be unreasonable to expect a rum-infused Brown Ale to be quite sweet, but such was not the case. The yeast had clearly done its job, leaving it rather dry on the whole. Finish was dry, kind of hot, in fact, with a definite alcohol burn on the extreme finish. Whoo! This is a good way to wrap up a barrel excursion.

 

 

Murky brown look to this brew with a quickly receeding head. Initial nose is of rum and coffee, maybe a bit of bitter chocolate when digging deeper. It's like coffee with rum but gentle, the coffee providing slight bitterness. Medium feel with a bit less carbonation. Flavors pop more as this beer warms. This is good stuff. Alcohol hidden pretty darn well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks goes out to thebeers for this brew.

12 oz. Bottle

Poured into a goblet a very nice dark brown color, very nice carbonation, with a very nice thick/creamy one-finger light tan head, which leaves some nice sticky lacing behind. The nose is malty, with some rum/oak, kinda nutty, slight coffee. The taste is pretty nice, malty, nice touch of rum/oak, slight coffee, nutty. Full Body, ABV hidden very well, a nice little complex brew. Overall, this one surprised me, very tasty. Thanks Arthur!