Crunch Bot
Rusty Rail Brewing Company

Nice surprise…. A solid brown ale with peanut character both aroma and taste. Caramel sweetness comes thru as well. This will be my go to brown ale for a while.
PS… pairs well with pistachios!

Poured into a wide mouth, grip shaped goblet: color is copper , head is off white with fine bubbles, head presents 1/4 inch thick and quickly dissipates to nothing, ring along edge, no lacing.

Smell is heavy peanuts, light caramel, not much brown ale character.

Taste is peanut forward, more caramel, light toffee, popcorn like note, limited malt character, touch of grassed hops; strength is hidden well by the strong flavor additions.

Mouthfeel is low/moderate carbonation, moderate sweetness, moderate bitterness.

Overall an interesting peanut ale - want more brown ale character (color is lighter than amber ale).

16 oz can from West Virginia ($3.75) served in a Tervis at the Fall 2024 Albino Skunk Music Festival.

Appearance. Slightly hazy copper colored body with a decent off-white head.

Excellent aroma that features the promised ingredients of caramel, peanuts along with a substantial bready backdrop. Tasting finds an ale that is too boozy but does have a good bitter/sweet balance and an appealing peanut flavor.

 

If you enjoy peanut butter porters and stouts this one will hit the spot. It's balanced and there is no alcohol burn or overwhelming sugar notes. The aftertaste is scrumptious and makes you eager for the next sip!

 

A- amber color that is clear. less than a finger head. minimal lacing on pint.

S- popcorn and peanut butter nose. hints of caramel.

F- caramel peanut butter popcorn flavor.

M- medium bodied and thick. not as smooth as i would like but its tasty.

O- not a bad beer. one is good more than that is too much.

Canned on: 03-03-23 (???)

A - Dark amber caramel colored pour with aloy of haze and dense, bright white lacing. Odd looking for a brown ale, that's for sure. (Looks more like a =Strong Ale or Barleywine.)

S - BIG peanut butter popcorn nose dominates in every way.

T - All toasted caramel popcorn along with peanut butter from start to finish with a light bitterness on the backside. The taste could also pass for peanut brittle candy nibus some of the sweetness.

M - Medium body with light prickly carbonation.

O - This easily sits on the side of "unique" for a Brown Ale. Worth a try if you're up for something a little different.

 

This beer caught me off guard at first. I purchased a 4 pack and about halfway through the first one the flavors really started hitting me. I found the smell to be amazing smelling almost like peanut brittle. I found the taste to resemble a caramel peanut popcorn.

I also found that this beer was wildly different when warm and prefer it cold. The flavor loses itself a bit when warm.

Overall I really enjoyed this and will definitely be buying more

I am trying this beer off the tapper at The Daily Growler in Powell, Ohio as part of a six sample flight. It poured a clear golden with very thin white ring head that is leaving a spotty lace. The scent had peanut brittle galore. The taste was nicely balanced and easy to drink with peanut and maple syrup mix. The mouthfeel was lighter in body with good carbonation. Overall it is a great beer.

This beer tasted horrible to me. I literally couldn't drink it. Poured it out. Also this is the second time I've bought a beer and got it home to find it contained artificial flavors and colorings. Is that ok with other beer lovers? Because I've got a real problem with that. They have the German purity law with only 4 ingredients and I love German beers. I don't have a problem with additives to beer as long as they are real like honey or raspberries or peppers. I love a good lager with a jalapeño kick. But artificial flavors and colors? This in my opinion is not a good trend. Convince me I'm wrong.

 

16oz can into a pint glass. Canned 2/23/22, so a little over 3 months old.

Odd look for a brown ale. Hazy glowing amber body. Small off white head shrinks to a thin ring, specks of lacing.

Sweet caramel aroma.

On tasting, caramel. Abv quite well hidden. Not finding the peanut.

Mouth just about medium, finish sweet caramel.

Overall, found this an odd tasting, beer. Not something I'd want to repeat.

Rusty Rail Brewing Co. "Crunch Bot"
16 fl. oz. can coded 021122" and sampled on 041422
$3.99 @ Total Wine & More, Cherry Hill, NJ

Notes via stream of consciousness: I have to admit that the label was part of what led me to try this beer, but I also found it interesting that they were doing a peanut beer as a brown ale rather than a stout. It's also got caramel in it, and it's an Imperial at 8% ABV. It's poured a very hazy deep amber/copper colored body beneath a finger's width of "antique white" foam. The aroma is loaded with peanut butter. Did they use real peanut butter, or one of the dried peanut butters out there? Nope, sorry, the label reads "ale with natural flavors & caramel color". - - - Just an aside on that, when t says "natural flavors" it usually takes more chemicals to derive the flavoring from natural ingredients than it does to just make artifical flavorings although I completely understand why people want to buy "natural flavorings". - - - There's definitely caramel in the aroma as well, and I don't care what it's made with, it smells great! On to the tasting though... the aroma suggests a lot of sweetness, and there's a lot of sweetness here as well so that works. Is it a dessert beer? I definitely think it could be. It could also be used as an ingredient in a dessert, but it also works just as a beer for drinking. Ahh, I shouldn't have said that until I get further into it as it could become cloying; I doubt it but you never know until you get there. So, what's in the flavor? Sweet malt loaded with caramel and peanut butter flavors. There are no hops, nor would I expect there to be. The alchol has a restrained presence which is good. I expect a little bit in a strong beer, and what's here is just perfect. There's a stiff bitterness to it that helps it to dry in the finish. What else? There's a little bit of an apple -like fruitiness that gives it just a little bit more character and keeps it from being to cardboard-like - meaning basic and dull. That's not to say that this isn't a "one trick pony" of a beer because it is, but it's not exactly one-sided as some beers can be (I'm thinking fruited sours, some golden lagers without hop character, some schwartzbiers... there are others as well). The head held up OK for a peanut butter beer although they didn't actually use peanut butter which has oils that kill the head I'm not sure how much credit they should get. There's no lacing left and I'm about halfway through it at this point. In the mouth it's medium bodied and gently crisp. Going back to the aroma, it's interesting that when I first put my noes in it I get a lot of peanut butter, but if I then put it down and quickly pick it back up I get more of the caramel. All in all I've enjoyed this beer and I'd go for it again. It's not something you'd drink all of the time but every once in a while you feel like having something sweet and this would do the trick.
Review #7,887

 

- Carmel peanut butter Imp. Brown ale.

A: Light tan/beige and bready textured head is 1.5 inches and is well retaining. Light ice tea colored pour sits a bit darker in the vessel with some rich caramel tones. Tiny carbonation bubbles about with a good rush sensation. Long streaks of milky thin lacing remains.

S: Dark rich peanut butter really stands out, mixes with sweet caramel just as described. A high level of awareness and authenticity. Roasted peanuts, warm chocolate chip cookie dough straight from the oven along with some walnuts and brownies. Very pleasing.

T: Deep caramel-fudge and peanut butter richness on the flavor just as with the nose. Some walnut nuttiness, tons of creamy peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies as well dark baked brownies. Light cream coffee roast. The backbone of peanut butter and caramel is very sturdy here and really shines making a difference. Some back-end alcohol appears post swallow.

M: Medium mouthful, not as full as the flavor with a light mention of carbonation. Smooth texture, light creaminess.

O: Overall as a fan of peanut butter I am of course going to be either very judgmental and disappointed or a bit over enthusiastic. Of course I went the latter. Very impressed with the aroma with its strength and natural elements. Very dominating and defined. If you a big fan of peanut butter you will no doubt love this beer. The 8.0% abv feels right at home and never interferes with the flavor. The label looks similar to Clank from Ratchet and clank as a random throw out.

 

Crunch Bot brewed by Rusty Rail Brewing Company. This American Brown Ale has an ABV of 8.00% The brew pours out of a 16oz can into a pint beer glass. Color is a nice light brown color with red copper notes. There is also a nice white head, with a nice amount of lacing. The lacing sticks to the side of the glass well. The smell is rich with sweetness, lots of caramel notes,mixed with peanuts at first. Then you pick up on the roasted grains an malts. To tie it all together, is a nice mild roasted hop bitterness. So far, Crunch Bot is a nice inviting brew. Now for the taste, it is Bold with flavors. Lots on nice roasted goodness at first then the caramel an peanuts sweetness at the end. This is a very well put together , American Brown Ale. The body of this brew is a solid medium. There is nothing overpowering about this brew, it has a super nice balance too it. I can't get over how smooth this brew goes down. It is really hard to pick up on the 8.00% ABV in this brew. This brew would go nice with dinner or a cool night. The mouth feel is Bold, Sweet, Carmel, nutty, smooth, clean, and Refreshing. Overall I am going to give Crunch Bot a 4.25 out of 5. I would definitely look this brew up again givin the opportunity too. Rusty Rail Brewing Company, did a super nice job with this American Brown Ale.
If you are a fan of peanuts or caramel, you should look this one up.

Poured from the can into a nonic(k) pint glass.

Body color is pretty light for a brown ale. Pale amber and more of an orange color, with faint hints of chestnut brown along the edges. Some lively carbonation, and an off white almost khaki to yellow like head at three fingers. A bit styrofoam like, and no lacing, settling to a small collar. Nice looking, but looks more like an IPA minus the big retention and clingy head.

The aroma is certainly unique that's for sure. Lots of breakfast cereal flavors. Sticky caramel, peanut butter captain crunch sweetness, and lots of sticky caramel toffee all over. It's kind of fun, but it's also a bit excessive without much brown ale character. Still it is fun.

Palate ends the fun a bit abruptly. Extremely watery backbone, very poor for an imperial in particular. Mid palate is a bit of dull grain, and a bit of numbing qualities. Muted almost medicinal peanut butter flavor, topping with a bit of burnt pine like hop. Watery caramel finish mixing with a real cereal grain quality.

This feels like someone dunked a breakfast cereal in at the last minute of a weak beer. There's some neat qualities but the final result is lacking in taste and enjoyment. Drinkable just barely at least, luckily isn’t a boozy mess either.