BruRm Big Man IDA
The Brü Room at BAR

Enjoyed at a tasting in Vernon, CT, this great hop brew shows off a blackish-brown colored ale with a decent tan collection of big bubbles on top and similar lacing. The aroma brings a sort of stinky, skunky, veggie hop with a bready malt backbone. Kind of different but enticing with hop promise. The flavor follows with more of a sweet malt prominence along with purposeful herbal hop. I get some brocolli / brussel sprout and grassy hop bite. There's a vague charcoal and raw licorice hanging around as well. It's medium plus bodied with a glassy-chalky feel, if there is such a thing, with full but polite carbonation. Neat stuff, plenty of hop pleasure that leaves the tip of your tongue tingling.

On-tap at the brewpub into a shaker pint. I didn't make note of the ABV, but I think it was somewhere in the 6-7% range. This beer is also notable for the fact that BAR's house English ale yeast crapped out midway through fermentation, and they had to turn to NEBCO's Chico yeast to finish things off; I found this out after having reviewed the beer, but it helps explain its cleanness compared to most offerings from this brewpub. Oh, and the Big Man in question is local bluesman Greg Sherrod, a figure well worth having a beer named after him.

A: Slightly cloudy vermillion body capped by a patchy layer of persistent tan foam. Light lace. Not bad at all, albeit a shade too light for the style.

S: Big citrusy hops on top of a touch of herbal character and some chocolate malt. Slight chalky minerality on the back end, which is a major departure from the usual cooked vegetables that I get from BAR beers. It's a strange aroma, but distinctly better than I expected.

T: Follows the nose, with far more hops than malt (which is great), but here the underlying house diacetyl does show its head just a bit. It's tasty enough, but the butterscotch finish keeps it from being really great.

M: Medium body, spiky carbonation. Meh.

O: This is one of the better seasonals that brewer Jeff Browning has come out with lately, and in the end I really enjoyed it. The yeast substitution made a big positive difference for me, particularly on the nose. It's interesting to drink a beer here that doesn't have the full dose of the characteristic house flavors, and definitely a welcome change of pace. Oh, and since the Greg Sherrod Blues Band rocks, I'm going to award it an extra half-point Overall for having a great name.

Cheers!