Reverend Brown
Alter Brewing Company

 

Highly carbonated light brown body with a clear bubble ring. Toffee, vanilla, dark fruit, wood, and bourbon fill the nose, and set up the taste that then adds caramel, very dry tobacco, and brown sugar. Body is very bright for a brown ale, and the finish just kind of tapers off.

16.9oz bottle (undated, but the December 2018 release) poured into a tulip glass shows an opaque mahogany brown body and briefly floats a 1/4in cap of medium bubbles reducing to an edge hugging ring. Spotted, erratic lacing is all that remains even after agitation.

Aromas right out of the ice box include an exciting, fruity, almost cherry-like, booze, but warmth brings out the oak, vanilla, brown sugar, and slight char of the bourbon barrel and the flavors match with a solid toffee malt base. The fruit is muted in the gathering warmth.

Mouthfeel is a clean, lighter leaning medium, with a wet finish and almost a booze warmth in the chest.

Overall a very good use of barrel notes on the base brown beer.

Taste: robust malty, toffee, woody, vanilla, bourbon warming finish. Same with the nose. Deep mahogany red hue, mostly clear, nice head and Belgian lace. Medium to full body. 28 IBUs

Had on tap at Alter. This is a Bourbon Barrel-Aged American Brown Ale. This really worked for me. The smell was mostly the bourbon up front. Vanilla, caramel and some oak. The taste was nice and toasty with a bourbon finish. Well done.