Honey Brown Ale
Haliburton Highlands Brewing

Appearance: Produced a thumb's worth of head that laced well, but sadly did not stick around too long. The body is a clear brown that showcases a lovely crimson when held up to the light, revealing steady carbonation.

Smell: Honey in front of caramel malt with a touch of strawberry and maybe a slight earth touch. Warming helped it come out a bit, as the potency just isn't there without it.

Taste: We start off with nice easy toffee and caramel malt that turns to a floral honey note that gets trampled by a muddy, decaying vegetation hop note that despite not seeming particularly potent, seems to stand out like a hippo in a flamingo pond. It seems to ease up over time though, which is good.

Mouthfeel: The carbonation is spot on, as it helps out the entire beer but never too aggressively. The transitioning is great too, up until the hops take over, and when they take over they seem to take the aftertaste down with them, as I think the honey is causing it to cling and stick past its welcome.

Drinkability: On the lighter end of the medium body, which isn't where I expected this one to reside. Its is refreshing and would be easy to drink if something could be done with the hops.

Final Thoughts: I suspect that there are two hop varieties I can't stand, as this one seemed to use the muddy hop that I found in "Simple time" beers (see my reviews of Galt Old Knife Style and Bruce County Larger). The other is mossy hops that I find in Stella and Grolsch. Regardless, this beer at least managed to overcome most of the issues here, but I would like to see the hops get swapped out.

 

 

 

500 mL bottle from the LCBO; dated Aug 20 2017 and served well chilled. Reviewed on my phone.

Pours copper-brown with some chill haze, capped off by a solid inch of frothy off-white head. It steadily seeps away over the next five minutes, leaving behind a filmy cap. Great lace; looks fine to me. Not very aromatic, with only some grainy doughy malts, caramelized sugars and a light honey sweetness to speak of.

A decent-tasting little honey brown with good balance; not too saccharine (which is my most typical complaint with these). The ever-present honey sweetness is tempered well by a clean pale malt backbone that tastes of gritty grains and doughy, nutty bread. The profile is rounded off by some earthy, leafy hop bitterness on the back end, followed up by a malty, slightly sweet aftertaste that soon fades. Light-medium body, with moderate carbonation and a relatively smooth feel on the palate. Excellent drinkability, as I can now attest personally.

Final Grade: 3.68, a B grade. Haliburton Highlands' Honey Brown is one of the best brown ales of its type that I've had in recent memory. I cut my beer geek teeth on beers like Sleeman's Honey Brown, so I'll admit to having a soft spot for these. I'd buy it semi-regularly if it were sold in these parts, but until that happens I can only give it a thumbs up, and a recommendation to any BAs seeking out a decent craft honey brown.

500ml bottle served cold into a pint glass. Purchased from the LCBO for around $4 CDN. Review from notes.

Appearance - hazy brown, plenty of off white head. Lots of bubbles and decent retention after the finger and change of head reaches it's pinnacle.

Smell - grainy, some subtle caramel and honey sweetness.

Taste - line the nose, but sufficient malt and just enough earthy hops to keep it interesting.

Mouthfeel - smooth,plenty of carbonation and reasonably light body.

Overall - Good beer for the style and certainly worth a sample.