Granola Brown Ale
Black Hog Brewing Co.

 

 

16 oz can.

Pours a dark copper brown color with 2 fingers of frothy khaki head. Has modest retention. Leaves a ton of cobweb lacing around the glass.

Aromas of brown bread, roasted malts and hazelnut coffee. Some mild chocolate and caramel notes.

Flavors of roasted malts, brown sugar, roasted nuts and coffee with some lighter notes of milk chocolate, caramel, and freshly baked wheat bread. Finishes with a kiss of hops.

The feel is medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Very smooth and drinkable. Has a rather dry finish.

Overall, this is a very good brown ale. It's almost like a session porter with how roasted the flavors are, but there's plenty of malty sweetness here with just enough hop character to provide balance.

 

 

 

First, hold the pig. It's brown, but a dark brown, with a light biege enduring head. There's also some real nice glass lacing. The aroma holds some roasted malt, some faint hopping and a good hit of whole grain breadiness. The taste is indeed a bit more roasted malt flavored than the standard Brown Ale. It's not problematically so, it actually adds another layer of complexity. It isn't close to the burnt coffee reminder from some stouts and without noticeable hopping, is a welcome play against the bready and earthiness overall. Everything here is in commendable balance. The roasted malt effect adds just the right about of bitterness and that helps dry the finish. The mouthfeel is a little light, even for a brown ale, but it's only a minor fault. This is above average and close to exceptional brown ale.

 

 

On draft, June 2021.
Nice clear, chestnut brown color with a good foamy head.
Sweet malt and hazlenuts on the nose.
Body is thicker than it appears, roasted malts and nutty flavours. Hops very light, as they should be.
Very nice brown you could drink a few of watching a game.

Reddish brown color with medium carbonation, just below average body
.... aroma is earthy dark honey, granola, some mild coffee and chocolate and an odd aroma i can only describe as clay.
Taste is weaker than the aroma with honey sweetened granola,milk chocolate, malt, and a little coffee.
Overall its good,gets better as it warms up.

 

Beer #11 of the 2020 Calendar.

Nice clear dark amber colour. Chocolate & grain aroma. No hops.
Sweeter than I imagined, but in a good way. The interplay of sweetness and malty graininess really works.
I didn't taste anything "granola" but I did taste a very good ale.

 

Canned 12/18/19 "Drink 2 the hog". I think I will, cheers mfs

Always always always in the mood for a good brown, and this one has been looking at me from the shelf for a few liquor store trips, just now sprung for it

Pours a rich brown with red/amber highlights and a finger of tan head that fades slowly, decent lacing

Aromas of full bodied coffee and dark chocolate primarily, some dark malts, a lot more roast than I'm used to in a brown, but with sweet chocolate and vanilla to offset it

The taste starts off very sweet, with chocolate combining with dark fruit, until that roast comes in. Not too heavy but present for sure, it takes over with a bittersweet bite that drives to a slightly sweet conclusion

Wow this one is thick. Full bodied for sure, impressive depth for the abv, this is super smooth. Very gentle carbonation makes it feel alive despite the chewiness. Even with all of this, it finishes quite dry and leaves me wanting more

Very good brown ale for the price, just $2 for a single can, I could revisit this one for sure. Impressive stuff

The CANQuest (tm)'s backlog is getting to be like that pesky loose thread on a knit sweater. You know how it goes, pull on it & all of a sudden, everything unravels & you are left with a ball of yarn that used to be a sweater! I had a Black Hog Pilsner a little bit ago, then thought, "Hmm, I think that I've got a few more from Black Hog. Lemme see. What? I could have sworn that I already reviewed THAT one!". OMFG. Now, I've got an impromptu brewery horizontal on my hands!

From the CAN: "Before a big pig roast we love to go on a long hike to get the blood flowin’ and our stomachs ready for a serious feast. To keep us going we pack a few bags of crunchy granola. Then it came to us - Granola Brown allows us to have the best of both worlds - a refreshing brew with all the wonders of our delicious granola! Take this beer on your next hike or hike one up to your lips for a satisfying energy packed libation. Try our Granola Brown with a nutty alpine cheese like Springbrook Tarentaise, Comte or Gruyere."; "Cheers! Tom, Jason and Tyler"; "World Beer Cup 2016 Gold Award".

It seemed strange to be holding a mere 12-fl oz CAN again after so many pint CANs, but muscle memory kicked in & I was good to go. I beCAN with a Crack! of the vent, followed by a slow, gentle C-Line Glug into the awaiting glass. This resulted in a pseudo-cascade that ended up forming two-plus fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, deep-tan/light-brown head with good retention, laving a LOT of lacing in its wake as it fell. Color was Brown to Dark Brown (SRM = > 22, < 27), although MUCH closer to 22 & with NE-quality clarity. Nose had a sweetish maltiness, like maple brown sugar oatmeal at breakfast or oatmeal cookies with brown sugar. Did they use oats in this? I wonder. It had a quality that did not bespeak full-on malted barley. Hmm. Mouthfeel was surprisingly big, full, thick & creamy, like a dollop had been scooped into my mouth & onto my tongue! I was ill-prepared for that. The taste had a bittersweet chocolate quality as well as a CANtinuation of the brown sugar taste that I noted on the nose. Mmm. Finish was semi-sweet, which was fine by me. I generally eschew sweets in any form & I would have enjoyed this a lot less as a result. YMMV.

 

Look....dark brown but I see a light tan head
Smell...smells like beer...faint hint of hops
Taste...hint of nuttiness, roasty, I get the granola taste on the back end
Feel... light, not sticky. I wish it was a little more full bodied but at 5.7% not bad
Overall... good not OMG great but definitely good. I think I'm gonna have to have a few more. A friend gifted me this one but I would def get a sixer at 11 bucks. A nice dark full flavored beer that is not too heavy