BruRm Raven Haired Beauty
The Brü Room at BAR

Served on-tap in a Solo cup at New England Brewing Co.

A: Poured a very dark, almost black amber color with a fine head of loose carbonation which wisped away to nothing but a thin, sparse film.

S: Smells of toffee and coffee malts, an interesting sweet roasted aroma.

T: The taste is semisweet and bitter up front, with a burnt coffee malt flavor running through the mid palate and finishing a tad tea-like and buttery sweet. Very mild aftertaste and palate.

M: Mouthfeel is on the thin side and a little slick. The palate of flavors is very soft too, lending to a mild mouthfeel.

D: Not my favorite ale, but a unique beer nonetheless. It's tailor-made for a session, as per the low ABV. It does have a good flavor, but for being a mild ale, the taste would cloy and get to me after a while.

I would put the Raven Haired Mild in the category of beers you should try, but might not particularly like or stick to all night. Jeff does some good work at BAR, particularly the new Hommobock, so be sure to sample others besides this mild.

L: Pours a nice dark amber black color. It is almost black but has a very nice reddish hue to it. The head is a tall thick tan color that fades fast to a small ring around the top.
S: It smells of sweet deep roasted malts and a hint of chocolate and some sweet fruit.
T: The taste is very good as it has a very deep but not too bitter roasted malt base underneath hints of some fruit, chocolate, and something sweet that I can't put my finger on.
M: Very sweet, smooth, fresh, with the right amount of carbonation. It has a similar feel to the damned good stout which I always liked.
D: Very drinkable and I would definately get this again.

black ale, 3.7% abv

appearance: dark with slight crimson highlights. little to no head or carbonation. inviting.

aroma: malty and chocolatey. smell invokes thoughts of mocha and hazelnut. sublime and mild but full of flavor nevertheless.

taste: coffee body with mild malts. odd chemical tinge in the aftertaste but light and good overall. very nutty, a good exercise in the style. drinkable. only 100 calories means drinkability goes through the roof on this one.

Started out my tasting in this place with their light beer. 100 cal. per 12 oz. Might as well start here, with lowest expectations, and work our way up.

Well, this in indeed a raven hair beauty. A nice dark color, little head but it holds the glass and stays for the entire drink. Very pretty. The smell is nothing to write home about. No hop presence noted, the malts dominate, with a slightly sour tinge. As with the smell, the malts dominate the taste as well. That sour note hits the mouth first, but it fades quickly to a smooth chocolate aftertaste. It feels good going down, not overly carbonated, it doesn't feel thick either. Certainly one of the better light beers I have had, I think I could drink this for a while. Now if only I could get a growler of this stuff to go, I could drink it all afternoon. Oh, wait. I'm in connecticut. Oh well. In any event, this bodes well for the rest of the beer menu. We shall see...

I had several pints of this brew at the bar tonite. Beauty is it makes a terrific session beer! Barely even a buzz, and some great depth and complexity to the brew.

The beer was served cold in a pint glass. It exhibits a deep dark brown color with a soft creamy beige head of 2 cm floating on the surface. Aroma is soft and mild with a bit of caramel and some roasted malt scents as well.
First sip reveals a slightly thick body that goes down smooth and easy. Average carbonation.
The flavor is very nice and complex. I get a brief hit of sweet caramel up front and some mild chocolate too, which flows to a long roasted malt flavor that coats my palate. The brew is not heavy on the belly or swallow and goes down very easy. Again this brew makes and excellent session beer at 3.7% and is my second favorite brew after the bunghammer. Easily worth a pint or two when visiting new haven

Sampled at NERAX 2004.

This mild ale poured a cloudy, coffee brown color with thin foam that settled. The smell was a pleasant butterscotch and toffee aroma. The taste was butterscotch and toffee with a touch of bitter caramel and coffee. The finish was tangy and slightly sour. The mouthfeel was smooth and creamy and dry overall. The body was medium with low carbonation. The flavors lingered nicely. This was an easy drinking mild ale.

I enjoyed sampling this pleasant ale at NERAX on Saturday. The ruby brown ale was quite impressive. While there was a hint of butterscotch, it seems that the cask had improved since opening as diacetyl was no longer a problem. The flavors were predominated by dark fruits: raisons and figs. The roast malt undercurrent and finish provided a pleasant counterpoint to the fruitiness.

NERAX 04

The glass is a dark brown coca cola color, with a glint of ruby at the bottom. The sweet toffee aroma is followed by a swirl of caramel and toffee and roasted malt that puts me in mind of Old Peculiar.

The medium body finishes with a lingering sweetness that verges on cloying. I wouldn't have two in a row, but it was just as good on the next day.

Served @ NERAX 2004 in a pint a glass.

First dark mild of the night, as soon as they started pouring it a billowing butterscotch diacetyl presence loomed over this ale. The first sniff was a bit overwhelming with diacetyl with hints of a cloying sweet vanilla as well. Slight resiny burnt malt and dark fruit struggle to break through the diacetyl barrier.

Diacetyl can be a beautiful thing if it is held to a minimum and does not take over the beer like this one. Unfortunate as this would have been a great dark mild IMO.