Beartooth American Brown Ale
Fourpure Brewing Co.

At the brewery. Mahogany color with a thick beige head with great retention and leaving strong laces.
Aroma with predominant notes of chocolate brownies with hints of citrus and herbaceous notes.
Flavor with notes of chocolate, maybe toffee, mild pine, grapefruit citrusy, coffee with milk drops, cocoa, and yeast. Dry and bitter aftertaste.
Medium velvety body with appropriate carbonation.
Nice pleasant American Brown Ale with a traditional recipe.

 

 

Mine is 5.3% ABV.
Very dark brown with a very thick frothy head.
Unusual aroma of hops, dried fruit and nuts.
Rather weak taste of wholemeal bread and light piny hops.
Moderate feel.

Pours opaque mahoghany with a red eclipse into a tulip glass from a half pint can. The off white head is an impressive 3 fingers high, thick, creamy, and silky with huge well-retained bubbles that cling and linger until disappating into froth.

The nose is very mild and weak, with some hazelnut, toffee, dried fruit, and malts. The flavour is not what I expected; a little estery, hoppy, oaky, and has something akin to green pecans or apple seeds along with the typical malts. It's a very hop-forward brown ale, with an unripened fruit style bitterness that is only just balanced by the malts, and a glimmer of mild coffee on the aftertaste which I'm still confused as to where it came from.

It feels light-medium bodied; moderate carbonation; slightly drying. The alcohol peeks through after the swallow leaving a gingery-type warming tang on the tongue.

It is a bit one dimensional, this beer, with the moutain of hops used, and the lack of anything really I'd associate with a brown ale. It gets points for being different, but for me there's a time and place for hops, and when I partake in dark beers I expect something rich and hearty. For me, this is just a brown ale trying to be an IPA.

Can from Whole Foods in Richmond. Odd review below. It has a good amount of new world hops, fruity but not over the top, which are very well balanced with sweet bready malts, and tied together with clean yeast and quite a firm texture. It is indeed conditioned, judging by all the sediment. I really liked it. My favourite Fourpure beer so far, with a great utilisation of malt.

20.03.2016
Fourpure – Bear Tooth
American Brown Ale – 5.3% - 330ml can – Best Before April 2016

Can was very lively and sprayed a load of beer all over me and my kitchen floor when I cranked the ring-pull. I ended up losing a third of the can which is disappointing. Not sure if these are can conditioned – doesn’t look like it.


Appearance: Poured (eventually!) from can into small tulip glass at cellar temperature (around 14 degrees). I was then left with a beer with a 5 finger head. Beer is very dark brown with tan head.
Aroma: American hops and not much else, these smell a little stale actually, despite its best before date being a month away.

Taste: As per aroma, new world hops (yawn!) and not much else here. Could be past its best, could just be that it's the same as all the other hop forward beers that are available at the moment. Either way, I won't be buying this again as its very one dimensional.

Mouth feel: Thin bodied, fairly watery.

Overall: This is a drinkable beer but I was hoping for some nice nutty and sweet malt flavours being a brown ale but instead it's the same old story - hops, hops and more hops. Positives - it's a nice colour, comes in a cool can with lots of detailed information. Negatives - All of the above. 6.5 / 10

 

On tap under the name poured into a shaker. The aroma is most notably, and expected, coffee with some dark fruits / figs that strengthen later, but there's a very unique and unexpected note of lemon zest in there with some citrus blossom. It pours a deep, rich molasses brown with a light tan, small suds head that leaves a moderate retention and lacing. The taste is a malty, medium bittersweet; perhaps a bit on the bitter side of balanced. The texture is thin and oily with a smooth carbonation. The medium body hits the palate with a nice roasted grains, oranges, and figs blend with a caramel malt supporting note. The finish is a smooth blend of chocolate and nuts leaving a dark chocolate aftertaste that's mildly cloying with some burnt nuts as well.