Leroy Brown
Big Lake Brewing

Part of a flight at Big Lake. Root beer in color. Smells of caramel and molasses. Nice body and caramel belt up front. Light bitterness. Nice drinker. Chewy and sparkly.

16 oz can. dated 5/26/21 (but just purchased last week at the brewpub)

lighter brown in color, clear, cream colored head. fairly mild caramel malt aroma. moderately sweet, earthy bready underlying flavor, finishes more balanced. medium bodied.

 

 

 

 

Pours brown with red hue. Foamy, medium, short lived off white head.

Smells roast malt, light yeast, light coffee/chocolate and hints of dark fruit.

Tastes bready and roast malt, light yeast and light chocolate. Finish is dry with a lingering coffee bitter and touch of raisin. Medium body and smooth medium carbonation.

 

 

16 ounce can into pint glass; no can dating, but is a recent release. Pours fairly crystal clear ruby red/copper color with a 1 finger fairly dense light khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Light spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass; with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, toasted biscuit, nuttiness, chocolate, light cocoa/coffee, herbal, light pepper, and roast/toasted earthiness. Nice aromas with good balance and complexity of dark/roast/bready malt and moderate earthy hop notes; with solid strength. Taste of caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, toasted biscuit, nuttiness, chocolate, light cocoa/coffee, herbal, light pepper, and roast/toasted earthiness. Light-moderate herbal/spicy bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, toasted biscuit, nuttiness, chocolate, light cocoa/coffee, herbal, light pepper, and roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Nice complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malt and moderate earthy hop flavors; with a great malt/bitterness balance and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Light-moderate dryness from hop bitterness as well. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth, moderately creamy/bready, and fairly sticky balanced mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is very well hidden with minimal warming present after the finish. Overall this is a nice American brown ale. All around good complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malt and moderate earthy hop flavors; very smooth and easy to drink. A nicely enjoyable offering.

 

I picked up a can of Big Lake's Leroy Brown a couple weeks ago for $2.49 at The Lager Mill. It's been a little while since I've tried a new Brown Ale, so lets see how it goes. 2016 Vintage. Poured from a 16oz tall can into a imperial pint glass.

A- The can looks good, it's got a nice design and some good info on it, it's a little eye catching. It poured a nice dark amber color that took on more of an amber brown when held to the light with a fingers worth of light tan head that died down to a thin ring that eventually faded away and it didn't leave much lacing behind. This is a pretty nice looking Brown Ale, I have no complaints.

S- The aroma starts off with a medium amount of sweetness with some doughy yeast being the first to show up and it leads right into the malts which impart some caramel malt, light roasted, bready, bread crust and grainy aromas with a little more of a chocolate aroma showing up towards the end along with a really light hoppy aroma. This beer has a pretty nice aroma, it's a little more roasted than most in the style.

T- The taste seems to be similar to the aroma, but lighter and it starts off with a slightly higher amount of medium sweetness with the malts being the first to show up and they impart all the same aspects that they did in the aroma, but this time they are just a little lighter with the caramel malts sticking out the most. Up next comes a little bit of doughy yeast which goes into just a little bit of a hoppy flavors that leads into no bitterness with some slightly roasted flavors in the aftertaste. This is a nice tasting Brown Ale, but it was a little lighter in flavor than I was expecting.

M- Smooth, a little clean, crisp, on the light side of being medium bodied with a medium amount of carbonation. The mouthfeel is nice, but it wish it was a little thicker.

Overall I thought this was a nice beer and solid example of the stand, even with the info they said about all the different malts they used it still tasted pretty standard for a Brown Ale and I can't say that anything really stuck out about it, but it wasn't bad and it was true to style. This beer had ok drinkability, one pint is more than enough for me, I would start to get bored with it. What I like the most about this beer is the aroma and appearance, they are the highlight of this beer. What I like the least about this beer is the taste and drinkability, they need some work. I wouldn't buy this beer again because it's easier to find a better a Brown Ale. I can't say it's a must try, but if you like your Brown Ales on the lighter side it's worth a try. All in all i liked this beer, but I didn't love it and with some more work I think it could be a pretty good brown ale. It's not a favorite Big Lake beer and it's just slightly above average for the style. This is a solid example of the style, but it still could use some work, better luck next time guys.