Jack Russell's Best Brown Ale
Jack Russell's Steak House / Maine Coast Brewing Co.

 

Poured on-tap at Jack Russell's, the beer was served in a shaker pint. The beer is a light auburn coloring, with a filmy, clingy, cream colored head. Nose of nut and chocolate sweet, with hints of cream. Very balanced and sweet. Flavors of light nut sweetness on a crisp, light, effervesced body. The aftertaste is slightly watered down, with a quick, limp finish. This one smelled amazing, but just missed in other departments.

 

Ruby brown color; appears to be clear. Any lace present slides down the side of the glass.

There's a touch of chocolate malt to the nose, although the smell is mild.

The brew is quite earthy with some dark crystal malt flavors and (perhaps) some black patent. Mild hop in the background.

While predictable, it is spot on for a Brown ale.

A dark caramel with a minute beige head when poured into a pint glass. The scent is enjoyable because of the sweet mix of carmel , malt, yeast and hops .The taste is all malt balanced with hops and bitter near the end. Mouthfeel is fair with just a flair of carbonation. This Is nice to have as either a session beer while waiting out the rain or watching the game in your local "Down East" Bar.

Explodes out of bottle and pours a light tan, five+ finger head that goes quickly and leaves some lace. Slightly cloudy amber color. Light carbonation and medium bodied. Nose is somewhat malty. Starts malty but the hops come in giving a dry finish. $1.83 for a 12oz bottle from Maine Coast Brewery Bar Harbor, Me.

Possibly the nastiest tasting beer I've ever encountered. Bad bottle maybe? I'll review it anyways because it was so hideous. Pours a clear light brown/orange, small head forms, no lace. Smell is roast malts, chocolate, light hops. Taste is light chocolate, hay, grassy hops, and salmon? WTF. This had a seafood/salmon flavour, it was bizaare and not appealing. Very watery, almost no carbonation, blah.

12oz bottle from a Xmas gift sampler of Maine brews from my friend Joe. Thanks!

Poured into an imperial pint glass, excessive foaming. Once it calmed down, it had formed an airy 1 1/2" beige head above the clear amber brew, which had miscellaneous small floaties. Lacing is heavy foam covering most of the glass. Aroma is biscuity malts with a hop component apparent. Taste starts with the medium malt character, eventually giving way to a crisp, pleasantly bitterness with a touch of citrus. Mouthfeel is fine, with a slight aftertaste, and drinkability is good as well. A nice, well-balanced brown.

12oz. bottle poured into a tulip-style glass. It pours a deep ruby red color with three fingers of off-white head. There is a little bit of lacing. The smell is very malty. Toasted malt and caramel stick out, but there’s a slight bit of nuttiness. Fairly sweet aromas going on. The taste is very malty as well, with a bit of roasted malt up front and a bit of residual sweetness on the finish. The mouthfeel is just a little thin, but the drinkability is very good. A decent brown ale.

Jack Russell's Best Brown Ale

Brought back from Maine (Bar Harbor) by a friend.

Appearance- nice chestnut brown with a creamy head.
Smell- nutty, malty, and quite smooth.
Taste- a smooth creamy nuttiness with a hint of malt. Very Good.
Mouthfeel- smooth!! No bitterness or aftertaste. Goes down well. Quite delicious!

Overall- Wow, a delicious Brown Ale. Brown's aren't usually my preference but this is a tasty beer!!

This may be Maine Coast's best brown ale, but it definitely isn' t the best that I've had. This pint poured a lighter brown color with a small head and very lethargic carbonation. It looked clean but somewhat flat. A heavy malt smell was present in the aroma, with a bountiful addition of aromatic , fresh-smelling hops. A slight bitterness was first present up front and in the aftertaste, followed by a heavier maltiness that made a quick appearance. Both hops and malt quickly disappeared, though, leaving me feel somewhat cheated. A decent bitterness remained in the aftertaste, but it was too little, too late. The mouthfeel was thin and light, oddly discordant with the style. Overall drinkability was fair, and the appealing smell helped out a bit. Still, not a first choice for me when I return to Maine.

Picked this 12 oz bottle up at the brewpub in Bar Harbor, but didn't have time to stick around to enjoy the tasting that was going on. This pours a clear, ruby/chestnut body with a beige head that drops into collar lacing in a matter of seconds. Very sparse, patch lace on the glass.

Aroma is one dimensional, with a dominant chocolate maltiness.

Mouthfeel is light bodied, with medium to low carbonation.

Taste is chocolate malt, but the understated, hops presence is sufficient to lend a balancing, bitterness.

A decent, brown ale. I'm just not very keen on the brown ale style, even if they're fresh from the brewpub.

Pours a translucent brown with a thin tan head. Smells of nutty brown malt with a the light hint of some hops.

Tastes of light caramel malt. Nutty and lightly bitter. Very smooth. A sticky aftertaste with some lingering bitterness. Very very smooth.

This is a straight up brown ale. Nothing fancy but very true to the style. If you look "smooth brown ale" up in the dictionary, there's a picture of this beer.

More red than brown. Kind of a weathered terra-cotta color with an off-white head that leaves a solid collar.
Sweet and malty aroma with a mild roastiness.
The taste is sweet and malty too. There is a very mild bitterness that joins the party mid-glass and stays for the finish.
Medium light body, mild carbonation and highly drinkable.
Benny, send more please!

Tawny deep bronze hue with a slight haze. Light tan, well retained, uniform head yields loose lace. Aroma is comprised of soft toffee and mild whiffs of bitter cocoa, contrasted by a subtle spicy hop nose with a floral tinge. Simple and inviting aromawise. Snap of dryish, burnt toast bitterness upfront tapers promptly, yielding to a stately medium lovibond caramel malt and biscuit combination. Mildly bitter, understated sweetly earthy hop presence provides adequate overall balance. Faint hint of woody, date like sweetness surfaces late along with a light, grainy tartness. Light in overall body, with a passably crisp, but thinnish and carbonic mouthfeel. Finishes with fleeting notes of sweet, whole wheat cracker and trace orange citrus. A soft, balanced brown ale that delivers drinkability, but nothing outstanding flavorwise. Fairly tasty, but ho hum.

As it sets in my glass a transparent dark amber to mahogany color, the head modest in size, frothy in texture, the color a nice light tan, and the resultant lace a fine covering sheet to conceal the glass. Nose sweetly malt, crisp and clean, with the start malt sweet and the top middling in its feel to the palate. The finish has a moderate carbonation, the hops persistent in their bite, dry and lingering aftertaste, a quite drinkable beer and another treat from the state of Maine.

Another easy drinker from bennybrew. Poured a rich copper color with a descent sized head which receded into almost nothing, but a little foam along various parts of the glass. Smell was nutty and malted and hinted at coffee and caramel. Taste had a fair bit of bitter hops thrown into the mix of toffee, caramel, nuts which made for a rich flavorful brew. Carbonation was medium bodied and very refreshing. I would love to try this one on cask at some point. Perhaps the quintessence of session beers.

Another solid success from Maine Coast; though a dark caramel rather than brown, this relatively mild ale is satisfying. There's not much of a head, and the smell is of toffee and something a little sweet--cherries? The taste is distinctly malty--sort of like pistachio nuts, balanced nicely with hops. A thin, slightly buttery mouthfeel with just a touch of carbonation. A pretty good brew.

A willowy brownish-amber with a retreating bone-colored head.
Bready and yeasty nose. Lightly caramelly and malty.
British all the way. A light toffee backing provides support. A plummy underbelly provides interest. Toastedness is subtle but easily recognized. Doughiness accompanies a caramel-drizzled raisin midsection. Turns softer and yeaster with further bread notes. Tobacco hues pop up late. Exits green-tea herbal with lingering yeasty fruit tones.
Med-Light bodied. Akin to a hybred Mild and English Brown Ale.
Gone in a flash.
A beer that better suited by way of a full pitcher and a view of the waves crashing onto the Bar Harbor shore. It's still tasty and oh-so-drinkable sitting in front of a computer mid-continent.

Nice one, Benny.

Jack Russell’s emerges from the bottle somewhere between a light brown and a full garnet. The head’s a beigish, off white and shows signs of surrender after a few moments, leaving a splotchy cover for the dog below. The aroma is a medium-powered toasted caramel breeze. It smells subtle, fresh and lovely—so malty and sweet. This beer is no American brown—in my mind, it falls firmly in the categories originated on the other side of the Atlantic, however, beyond that I’ve not sampled enough British ales to be positive on the next deduction. Is this beer more a Mild or a Southern English Brown Ale? The fruitiness and fullness of body, combining with the lighter color suggest that Roger Protz would likely consider it in league with the brown ales brewed south of Sheffield as opposed to the disappearing Milds. However, it’s not quite as toasty as Sam Smith’s Nut Brown or the others of the same ilk. Oh well—it makes a marvelous session beer, regardless of the box it doesn’t fit into.

The medium body and surprising fruitiness (peaches, plums, pears, apples and raisins all come to mind within the first 2 seconds of taking a sip) leave me with an intense desire for another sip. I believe Michael Jackson refers to this sensation as “moreish”? The hop aroma and flavor are negligible, as is any lingering bitterness—this one’s all about how yeast meets malt. A lovely session beer is the result.