The Swagger Brown Ale
Howling Henry's Brewery

 

This next horizontal as part of the eradication of The Bottle Backlog here at Chez Woody is going to be fun, if nothing else. I first met co-owner & brewer Greg Schertzer at the Annual Capital City Invitational Beer Festival, held at Appalachian B.C. in Harrisburg several years ago & continuing. He seemed to be a passionate sort, but I wondered as to his sustainability. I no longer doubt in his longevity & he even came to The FGBS recently for a tasting of his wares. Howling Henry is his beagle, who sits in on every brew day & howls. Ha!

From the bottle: "Crafting Beer Without Rules".

I Pop!ped the cap only to hear Henry howling because I was getting ready to drink his beer. Poor Henry! I gave it a gentle pour so as not to upset him any further. An in-glass swirl raised two-plus fingers of soapy, foamy, rocky, light-tan head with modest retention. Color was Brown to Dark Brown (SRM = > 22, < 27) with NE-quality clarity. Nose had a sharp sourness that others had noted & which are mentioned in the Notes. It kind of put me in mind of the Flanders Oud Bruin from the other day. It has been added by the brewer as an American Brown Ale, but it is a disservice. Mouthfeel was medium. The taste was very sharp, rather sour & had it not been mentioned in the notes, I would have thought that something was wrong in the beer. Actually, something is wrong because it is inappropriate for the style. I could go with malty sweet or even mildly hoppy, but sour is just not on. Finish was dry, but the sourness both lingered & overpowered everything else that was going on in this beer. I'm sorry, but it just was not to my liking.

Also not a fan of sours, thought this would be a brown ale.. More info on label would have been helpful.

 

This is a sour... it is labeled as a brown ale and apparently that is what this brewery is going for. Wasnt looking for a sour which probably put me off from the start but it was so-so even as a sour

Let me start by saying I'm not a fan of many sour beers. I had this in poured from as 12oz bottle into a pilsner glass.

The color is great, very lightly carbonated.

The sour kinda ruins this for me. I was hoping for a slightly sour after taste - but the sour comes on immediately in aroma and becomes overpowering when tasted. Many people who like brown ales are looking for a slightly sweet taste dominated by the malts and only enough hops to balance the beer's character.