After Dark
Nelson Brewing Company

 

 

 

This is a tasty brew from a solid brewery. NBC was making organic beer long before it was fashionable to do so, and they generally do it well. This is a rich ale, full of roasted malts, chocolate, and faint coffee notes. It looks good, smells of malt and dark fruit, and fills your mouth. It's a bit rough around the edges, but it provides a dry, somewhat warming finish. This is in my regular rotation when I'm the mood for something rich.

Can poured into a standard pint glass at the Bottlehouse in Calgary. A murky flat chocolate brown brew with three fingers of frothy beige head.

Aroma is at once sweet, floral, earthy, and fruity. Prominent raisin-like sweet note, sour apple, rum, spicy perfume that recalls incense.

Palate is chocolate cake, light molasses, toasted dry nuts, biscuit, a slight cherry juice fruitiness, cola-like brown spice. Improves as it warms. A minor oxidized off-note that recalls cardboard. On the dry side.

Drinkable light body although the dark flavors create an impression of more heft. Carbonation on the high side for the style. Finishes dry and nutty with more sour apple esters and subdued earthy hops.

This one grew on me as I made my way through a can. Pleasant chocolate maltiness and dark fruit coupled with some earthy spice flavors to provide added interest. However, things might get dull if one actually tried a full session and the sweetness would probably get overbearing. Seems bulkier than your average mild.

Had this out west. Really enjoyed it. WISH WE COULD HAVE IT IN ONTARIO!!!!

 

I really liked this beer when I first tried it over a year ago, back when it came in bottles instead of cans. Will my experience be the same now?

$10.95 plus deposit for six cans.

A: Deep reddish brown, a couple fingers of slow-dissipating tan head, clear but dark.

S: Dark fruits, caramel, nuts.

T: Fairly mild, as expected. Cocoa, maybe coffee, raisins. Bitter, metallic aftertaste.

F: Smooth and drinkable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appearance- Pours a dark brown with 1/4 finger width of bubbly head.

Smell- Plum, cherry, toffee, caramel, roasted nuttiness.

Taste- The plum, cherry, toffee, caramel are there nicely followed by the supporting roasted nuttiness. Malt forward with light hop presence.

Mouthfeel- Light to medium bodied with moderate carabonation.

Overall- An easy drinking English Dark Mild by Nelson. The roasted characteristic to the nuttiness makes this stand out. I would of liked to see a little more to the appearance (in particular the head) otherwise, this brew is session worthy.