Bear Trap Brown
Trickster's Brewing Company

On-tap in Meridian; pours clear but dark brown with some blonde highlights. Nutty brown ale aromas and flavors, with minor notes of bakers cacao and some mild earthy hops. Bready, biscuit, faint caramel, savory, woody with underlying spice character. Smooth light body.

Taster at Bittercreek. Dark Brown, almost clear, fine beige head. Nutty aroma, toasted malts. Taste is nutty, malty with a light savory edge that almost recalls cinnamon. Nice

they were just calling this tricksters brown ale where i had it on tap, but i assume its the same beer, nobody makes more than one basic brown ale right? this is just okay for me, its both sweet and slightly tangy at the end, and seems a little off on the ferment and amateurish to me, not as objectively good as most of the other beers i have had from these guys to date, and this coming from a dude who was really in the mood for a brown ale at the time, it wouldnt have taken all that much to impress me here. its shiny in the pint glass with a little red tone to it, a lazy layer of big white bubbles popping at the surface, and a thin look about it. the nose is a bit astringent with nutty malt notes behind it, less roast and chocolate character than many, a little more of the bready and caramelized middle malt spectrum, brown sugar character too. the flavor is the same, not yeasty in the conventional sense but i taste more than i want to from the ferment, its not english and flattering its almost slightly bacterial, stressed, and it breaks down the malt richness a little bit, this feels thin even though its sweet, lacks balance and depth, and was a one and done for me despite my thirst. some good flavors in the mix, including almond and raisin and date, but this is not well executed overall, need to clean up the fermentation and also dry this out a bit more, would be much improved...

edit: this seemed slightly improved in a more recent pint, fuller feeling, less sweet, and slightly more refined on the fermentation side, although thats maybe still not its strongest asset. improving a few scores here to reflect its evolution in the right direction.

 

Nice little brown. Nice aftertaste

 

Passing through Coeur dAlene, thought I'd try the locals...

This beer is a ruby hue, with a quickly disappearing off white crown. Malt sweetness is presence in the nose, but the overall nose is unremarkable. Tastes better than it looks or smells. Nice hint of coffee/chocolate notes at the end of the palate. Mouthfeel is perfectly acceptable. Decent little brown ale that could be outstanding with a few tweaks.