Attack Of The 50-Foot Brunette
Nebraska Brewing Company

Canned 9/16/22. Drank 12/7/24
Pour is a deep brown with some gnarly chunkies - granted, we're a bit over 2 years old here, good khaki cap of foam with good retention and lacing.
Nose is faint and sort of muddled. caramel, maybe some bourbon, toasted malt - starts to come into focus as the beer warms with bourbon, toasted malt, caramel, nutty, hints of chocolate
Taste has hints of bourbon-y vanilla, caramel, nutty, bourbon, gets a little chocolatey. lightly warming in the belly.
Full bodied, a bit creamy, moderate carbonation.

I'm of the mind that fresh beer is pretty much always beer than aged. But two years, in a can, in a fridge isn't bad. No idea if that plays a role in the muddled nose, which does improve as it warms. ANYWAY. Haven't had a brown ale in ages, you forget how good they are. This is a good, not great beer. I'd prefer a bit more barrel character, but it certainly isn't absent.

A: Poured into a snifter to a deep brown topped by a dense two finger cream colored head which retains well and leaves decent lacing
S: Smells of nutty maltyness with a hint of toast along with some vanilla, caramel and oak
T: Taste is slightly roasted up front before a nice blast of nuttyness followed up with some alcohol, caramel, vanilla and oak before the toasted malts come back toward the end. Swallow is oak, toasted malts, nuts, vanilla, and a hint of caramel with a slight sweetness lingering in the finish.
M: This beer is big and thick on the palate with a slightly silky texture. Carbonation is low but adequate while the beer has a slightly drying finish.
O: Overall a decent proposition but the execution could have been better. The beer has some complexity but it isn't integrated as well as it could be. Flavors are good at times but at others things seem to go off on a tangent with a little too much tannic oak.

 

 

 

 

 

Dark auburn draft pour with off white head; not much cap or lacing; decent clarity. Caramel malt nose. Caramel malt and boozy. Medium mouthfeel, moderate carbonation. Semi sweet caramel linger with a little alcohol bite on the tip of my tongue.

this was an interesting brew, tastes a whole lot darker than it is, pouring only a werthers candy milky caramel color, with a frothy head that dissipates quickly. lots of sediment in this one, but its not chunky to the texture, rather rich and big. it smells a lot like whiskey, like the barrels must be freshly drained and then filled immediately, or maybe the whiskey itself is really intense, although i havent had any of the new holland spirits yet (looking very much forward to it though). the base beer seems almost short of being a brown ale though, it doesnt even really get into the chocolaty realm on the malt, although there is a weird roasted bitterness aspect for a second that suggests a much darker brew, despite not making itself known in the appearance. lots of sugars here too, i bet they could have fermented this out to like 14% abv if they let it dry all the way down. its still got a lot, and seems almost incomplete as a result, although the sugar is really flavorful, like maple and honey, and like a good toffee. its really pretty solid, despite being so sweet, boozy, and under carbonated. i have been stoked on most of the large format nebraska brewing stuff, and this is one of the more unique ones to have come out. do not expect a conventional strong brown ale here, this is more like barleywine or old ale in my opinion, but very tasty. definitely a bottle to share at this strength though!!! whew, stronger than it needs to be.

 

Poured into a snifter at cellar temp (55ish degrees). Pours brown color, on the lighter side, with generous white head that fades after a few minutes. This beer has nice lacing. Smell is vanilla, oak, and whiskey. Lots and lots of whiskey. Taste follows the nose: its kind of a two trick pony, with whiskey dominating and a nice vanilla undertone. The finish tastes a bit like a whiskey and coke in that you get that sweetness both from the barrel and the beer...but that's all you really get from the base beer. I'm a big barrel fan and I'd like a bit more beer presence here. The mouth is fine carbonation-wise, but its surprisingly thin, especially given the abv (which the bottle has as 11.7%).

Final verdict--this is a good, but not great beer. If you are really into getting a whiskey-dominated beer, this will be up your alley. I'd be interested in having another if I sat on it awhile. If that happens, I'll check back in.