MRS Brown
Siren Craft Brew

 

This is a fabulous beer. It has a good dark look to it. The smell instantly lets you know it has vanilla and bourbon flavours in it.The mouthfeel is just right. But most of all the taste is wonderful. A great beer.

 

 

Not sure how an 'imperial brown ale' differs from an imperial stout, and there's no indication upon first glance that this is anything but the latter. Nearly black, with a deep beige-tan head. But the head doesn't last, at all, and leaves pretty much no lacing. Smells hugely, delectably of maple-roasted pecans, peanut butter cups, Oreo milkshakes, coffee creme brulee, and everything nice. Super sweet-smelling, to rival Southern Tier's infamous Creme Brulee - but there's a hint of whisky-ish booze to make this smell like something grown-up and not just a questionable dessert from Denny's.

But it tastes, sort of disappointingly, mostly like a rum and Coke. It's a particularly good rum and Coke, though, with notes of raisins, dark chocolate, maple syrup, and sherry. Its alcoholic heat is on the border between 'balancing' and 'too much.' And maybe this is the difference between an imperial brown and an imperial stout: is the former a little bit more dry, a little less indulgent than a stout? If that's the case, I wish they had gone all-out stout here. The flavors want a full-on, oily, viscous texture that the body just doesn't deliver. It finishes a bit too dry. All of that said, it is undeniably tasty, and is something I would buy again. Possible food matchings: PBJ, French toast, custard tart, tiramisu, ox cheek.