Monk's Brown Ale
English Ales Brewery

July 22nd, 2015 - English Ales' Monk's Brown Ale is a far cry from the ambrosia devoted men in burlap are crafting in Europe. It looks the part though, dark and brown with a nice clarity and a reasonable gripping head. But the aroma is hard to smell, and has very little off put, which is alarming for this style. The taste is soily, and then develops an overweening sweetness based on roasted carrot sugars. The aftertaste is better balanced, but everything up to that point is far too intense with roast vegetables and glaze to make this anything but a pale imitation of what monks actually craft.

Pours no head on a hazy brown colored body.
The aroma is mostly caramel with a little nutty.
The taste initially has a mild caramel sweetness, then a burst of lemon bitterness followed by lots of caramel sweet.
The texture is crisp.
It's too far on the sweet end for me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Served in the tall nonic glass with a very nice head and lacing atop the chestnut brown brew. Carbonation lasts well, and still had a thin cap of foam after 15 minutes.

Warm flavors, some caramel, and a pleasant maltiness. Thin body, somewhat fruity. A dark roasted flavor, some fruity hops, and a woodsy hint of mushrooms. Almost a Mild, but more robust. Fairly hoppy for the category. Very tasty and drinkable.

On tap at the lodge cafe at Asilomar in Pacific Grove. They also had the Fat Lip and 1066 pale ale from English Ales. Worth a visit as great atmosphere for a beer besides being an interesting state park property.

 

 

Poured from a 12oz bottle into a clear plastic cup (courtesy of Motel 6).

Clear auburn body with faint chestnut highlights and a beige soapy half finger of foam. Decent pasty lacing.

Low nutty aromatics accompanied by gentle malt and little to no hops.

Pleasant malty flavor profile with a mild nuttiness throughout and a touch of complexity from yeast. Maybe a touch of toasted pumpernickel. Finishes medium-dry with a hint of diacetyl.

Creamy, medium-bodied mouthfeel with pleasing carbonation.

A decent example of the style...not worth seeking out, but enjoyable enough if you are in the area.

Over two fingers beige head. Body is a wonderful mahogany that allows just a bit of ruby light to pull through. Froth of retention and cascading lace. Aroma is straightforward roasted malt nuttiness with a notable sense of coffee acidity. Flavors are a bit flowery (read: not floral in the hoppy sense, but like a bouquet of flowers or soap). Once my palate moves past that distraction, I really get a walloping from that nut and chocolate. A tad too sweet, as if a bit of sugar was added to my glass. Mouthfeel is light but not watery. Full enough to leave some pleasant residuals behind. A great session beer!

Clear brown colored ale with a light brown colored head.

Smells mildly malty and sweet with a faint herbal hop aroma. Little bit of mustiness like mushrooms.

Starts out mild malty and a little thick like it is 1/8 Oatmeal Stout. The aftertaste is sweeter. Malty in flavor this isn't all that flavorful. Mostly this is sweet and malty with barely any hops.

Mouthfeel is quite good.

This is drinkable enough, but I prefer more flavors.

Good nutty character. This beer pours a reddish cola color, quite clear, with little head. The nose is all specialty malt. I'm trying to come up with better descriptors, but this one is all nuts for me. It's a good nuttiness but a little one-note ultimately. That said, I like nutty brown ales, so I'm really not disappointed. The flavor is a bit too sweet. There's some sugary malt that gets a bit in the way. Mouthfeel is probably better from a cask but it's still not bad from the bottle - slippery but clean. This is a nice session beer, and it's always good to see more nearby breweries dabbling in English styles.

Bottle from local grocery store

A: Dark brown, clear, moderate brn head

S: Light malt, clean, really nothing else

T: malt, almost lagery clean. Light roastiness, and some bittering English hops toward the end of the palate

M: Thin and water with no etoh presence

D: Very light and refreshing, good session beer. No flavors to get in the way

Overall: For a flavorful beer this is not enjoyable, for a brown session beer such as newcastle brown this would be an option.

Served on cask, poured murky brown with a small ring of foam. It's a fairly ugly beer. There's a big fruity chocolate aroma, some coffee too, fairly esthery. It tastes a little earthy but it's very drinkable, just a little dirty. If it were a little cleaner I think it would be a much better beer.

I had this brew at the Trials Pub in San Jose, California.

A - Nice brown color...Thick head

T - Very smooth..very creamy taste.

D - I was expecting this brew to be fairly drinkable and it meet my expectations.

Overall, i enjoyed this brew. I anticipate drinking this every time i go up to SJ.

I had this on cask tonight. The pour yielded absolutely no head. I have been trying to explore the Brown Ale style more and this is one of them that makes me appreciate the vagueness of the style.

What stood out most about this one was the mouthfeel. It has a nice syrupy mouthfeel that cleaned up decently well, but left a bit of residual sweetness. The thick mouthfeel goes well with the caramely malt taste. It's almost like drinking desert.

A- Translucent brown in color with a nice 2 finger thick head.

S- Smell consisted of a nutty roasted malt aroma.

T- Taste was very creamy. Maybe this was due to the fact that it was served from a cask but it was like butter. Strong nut and roasted malt taste.

M- The mouthfeel was fairly thick with absolutely no carbonation. I went with a friend and he loved it however I simply could not enjoy the mouthfeel because it was too creamy.

D- This was a fairly easy brew to drink. It went down quick and left me feeling ready to drink more.