Brown Chicken Brown Cow
Rustic Leaf Brewing Company

16 ounce crowler into tulip glass, filled on 3/17/2019. Pours lightly hazy deep ruiby red, light copper/brown color with a 1 finger dense and creamy light khaki head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Thick creamy soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of caramel, brown sugar, toffee, milk chocolate, cocoa, coffee, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, brown bread/crust, grapefruit, tangerine, lemon, citrus peel/rind, wood, peppercorn, pine, herbal, floral, grass, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and complexity of dark/roast/bready malts and citrus/earthy hop notes; with solid strength. Taste of big caramel, brown sugar, toffee, milk chocolate, cocoa, coffee, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, brown bread/crust, grapefruit, tangerine, lemon, citrus peel/rind, wood, peppercorn, pine, herbal, floral, grass, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel/rind, herbal, woody, floral, grassy, peppery hops; and roasted bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of caramel, brown sugar, toffee, milk chocolate, cocoa, coffee, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, brown bread/crust, grapefruit, tangerine, lemon, citrus peel/rind, wood, peppercorn, pine, herbal, floral, grass, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts and citrus/earthy hop flavors; with a great roast/hop malt/bitterness balance; and no cloying, acrid, astringent flavors after the finish. Light-moderate increasing dryness from lingering bitterness. Medium carbonation and medium-full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/bready, and fairly sticky/chalky/resinous/rindy balanced mouthfeel that is great. Mild increasing warmth of 8.7% through the glass. Overall this is an awesome Imperial American brown ale. All around awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts and citrus/earthy hop flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to drink for the ABV, with the modestly bitter/resinous/drying finish, not overly aggressive. Awesomely clean, rich, and well rounded brown ale malt complexity; with balanced citrus/earthy Chinook/Cascade hops. Light residual sweetness with lingering resin dryness. A really enjoyable offering, and impressive style example for an imperial. On the bitter/hoppy side for the style, but not overdone.