Moose Drool Brown Ale
Big Sky Brewing Company

3.37/5  rDev -9.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

LOOKS: Mahogany up to the light, with loads of small bubbles rising. Light tan, creamy head, that sticks around awhile. Mild lacing.
AROMA: Lightly roasted malt, mild coffee, and caramelized sugar. Mild overall, but pleasant.
TASTE: Sweet and malty up front, that goes quickly to a mild bitter bite, and ends up in the middle. Light roasted malt and slight caramel flavor is about it.
FEEL: Quite thin. Average carbonation, and quite dry on the finish.
OA: Maybe good for a game day brew, if you're not in the mood for lager. I'd take CC Maduro over this 10/10 times, for the same price, with a more robust feel and and more complex flavor.

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3.71/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

12oz can, served in a tumbler glass. Date on bottom of can was smeared - couldn't quite make it out but I'll assume it's fresh.

Appearance: Dark brown with some clarity when held up to the light. Initial white head died back, but decent lacing on the glass noted.

Smell: Roasted malt, a bit of some underlying citrus/pine type hop, but mostly malt.

Taste: Lots of roasted malt with a bit of coffee and cocoa powder notes. Lightly bitter finish with maybe a tiny bit of citrus/pine.

Mouthfeel: A little thin, light carbonation, but still sticky on the teeth.

Overall / Drinkability: An easily drinkable brown ale. Nothing special, but with a decent malt profile. I think this needs to be paired with food. By itself it was okay, but I kept feeling like it would be better if I had it with food - something hearty.

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3.65/5  rDev -1.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

12 oz bottle split with my wife, paired with a caramel flan. Pours a medium brown with a quickly fading head. Aroma and taste feature caramel malt with some citrus, bitter coffee, and a hint of floral hops. Pretty average.

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4.23/5  rDev +13.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.25

On draught:

Beautiful dark brown color. White head doesn’t last long. Laces fairly well.

Aroma is mainly malt with some sweetness (maybe vanilla?) and mild spices. Some hops present.

Initially the taste is rather sweet and malty, but the hops and spices follow soon after. Not very complex but it is a really pleasant and well balanced taste.

The feel is smooth as can be. Very dry finish. Medium body and medium carbonation. Very drinkable. Just as drinkable as any of your typical cheap commercial American Lagers, but WAY better taste. Quite underrated in my opinion.

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3.71/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

Great looking beer, pours dark amber producing a thick lacy head. Mild malty aroma. Roasted grain flavors, a little bitter, slightly sweet, dry finish. A good beer, not a lot going on but a good easy drink

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3.53/5  rDev -5.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

Based on a review from 2013. Had it on draft.
A: pours dark brown body with off-white head with nice retention and lacing
S: sweet, vanilla caramel smell
T: sweet, roasted caramel taste with a sweet, caramel aftertaste
M: medium bodied and pretty smooth; fairly solid
D: nice mouthfeel and taste combo; nice drinking beer overall

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3.99/5  rDev +7.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12oz can

Pours two big fingers of off white head into my can-style glass. Pretty pillowy. Retention is very good, not losing anything after a few minutes. Body is a very dark brown, with hues of ruby when held up to the light, which also reveals clarity, and a fair amount of bubbles coming up. Looks really great so far.

My nose is a little stuffy at the moment, but plenty of distinguishable aromas here - caramel, molasses, coffee, bread, a little roasty. This is a really unique nose, especially for such a mass produced beer; it’s really well balanced, not landing quite on sweet or savory. Certainly some sugars here, but a fair amount of roast to balance it out. Also really complex for a brown, very very nice.

Flavor is also very nice, but certainly more down to earth. Some sweet dark malts collide with a little roast and a somewhat dry mineral finish - again, still well balanced. Not nearly as potent as the nose, but this is still a nice beer, right around the 3.75/4 range.

Mouthfeel is pretty straight forward. Body is on the lighter side. Carbonated perfectly at about medium carbonation. Aforementioned, not too sweet, not too dry. Maybe a tad bitter from the roasted malts. Nice mouthfeel.

Drinkabiltiy is very high, this is well balanced and tasty.

The appearance turned out phenomenal. The head dissipated down to a sliver, but retention overall was great. Lacing was thick all the way down the glass.

Overall a really nice beer. Flavor was by no means bad, but I just wish it carried over more of the aromas.

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3.75/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

There is no date on the can just a number code on the bottom. This beer has lovely can artwork, great use of color. The pour is brown. On the aroma i'm getting i'm just getting some roasted malts. I'm getting big roasted malts on the taste as well as some caramel, & little bit of nuttiness near the backend. The mouthfeel is near medium. All the flavors come together quite well in this beer, this is a darn good brown ale. I'm glad to have tried from a beer from the OG craft brewery Big Sky Brewing Company. Cheers! B

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3.54/5  rDev -4.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Very malty taste with a nutty finish. Satisfyingly dark color and slightly intoxicating caramel scent. Minimum carbonation with a light white head, therefore the feel is too light and leaves more to be desired. Overall, it's very similar to Newcastle, just slightly livelier. Might have rated higher if this beer didn't have such a cult following around it—I don't taste enough of a difference to justify buying this over the more affordable and just as satisfying Newcastle. Doesn't hold up to my standard-bearers of brown ale, Bell's Best and Jackie O's Chomolungma, but still an enjoyable glass.

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3.98/5  rDev +7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

This is a beer I have been hunting for a while, so I am glad to finally nail that down. Big caramel nose here atop a clear brown hue.

Big caramel flavor in the taste as well, nicely offset by plenty of spicy and floral hops for balance. Really nice cocoa note in the afertaste as well.

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3.71/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

One reviewer below notes "thin mouthfeel & heavy flavors are an interesting mix". I agree with this, however I have a positive take on this combination. I like that I get the taste of a good brown/amber, but with a lighter mouthfeel. Makes it more drinkable/sessionable. The taste is a bit watery though, so overall this is a mediochre beer.

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3.62/5  rDev -2.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

A well-executed amber ale is a good rejoiner to me to not write-off amber ales. This one came praised by my drinking buddy but I found it still too malty all the same. I got a lot of the sweet caramel and rich malts, but not enough hop contrast to balance things out.

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3.65/5  rDev -1.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.75

First rated Montana beer.
LOOK: Pours a crystal clear dark brown, with red hues. Strong 2-3 finger tan or light brown head that looks great until it quickly settles to nothing along with minimal side glass lace.
AROMA: Malt aromas, burnt bread, semi sweet chocolate, toffee, molasses.
TASTE: Caramel not much if anything noted from the hop side.
FEEL: Comes across as thin and too watery. What started out to seem to be a hearty brown ale falls well short.
The malt aromas get too watered down and for me the beer was too sweet.

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3.75/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

From undated notes.

Nose is of caramel malts.

Murky brown, but still see-through.

Very light lacing.

Flavor is autumnal; hints of burnt leaves linger. Slight coffee notes as well.

Thin with enough heft to avoid pounding.

The thin mouthfeel & heavy flavors are an interesting mix, but ultimately this is a tad unbalanced.

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3.84/5  rDev +3.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Fairly nice, albeit safe, brown ale from a solid brewery. Pours a darker chestnut color with just a little foamy head and very scant lingering lacing. Smells mainly of malt, roasted nuttiness, some milk chocolate and vanilla. Taste follows the nose, along with some grain and caramel. Smooth thin mild mouthfeel, decent carbonation. An enjoyable beer, just not that exciting.

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3.46/5  rDev -7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

From notes 4/15/12: Pours dark cola brown with a 2 finger, tan variously bubbled, soapy moderately lasting head that leaves a pasty webs of lacing. Aroma is toast, roast, subdued cocoa, brown sugar with a dusting of dark fruits. Taste is toasted dark bread and caramel with hints of cocoa, dark fruits and brown sugar in a faint hop background with a peppery finish. The aftertaste is malty, lightly bitter and faintly astringent. Reminiscent of chocolate cola.

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4.65/5  rDev +25%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

This one was a supper for me. Nice body in beginning and crisp end with a mostly smooth finish which was remedied by the next swig. Not dark like Guinness but brown like a moose. It became family famous during a round of golf.

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3.87/5  rDev +4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4.25

Poured into a 5 oz taster, then drank the rest from the can.
Look: Deep red-brown color that was crystal clear, and a thick light brown head that sticks around forever. Leaves awesome lacing in the glass.
Smell: Coffee grounds and dark chocolate, and some quality dirt (not meant to sound bad, maybe it just smells like the outdoors)
Taste: Surprisingly light for a brown ale, a chocolate sweetness and chocolate bitterness on the finish. Really delicious, just needs a bit more power to it.
Mouthfeel: Pretty light overall
Overall: great beer, really enjoyed this one, and I don't particularly care for brown ales. The aroma was great, it was like they canned Montana and released it into the room. Flavor could be more intense, but it was really good all the same.

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3.73/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

12oz bottle poured into a pint glass

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Look
Pours a reddish-brown color with some light coming through, like a Coke; Had a 3 finger foamy light head

Smell
Vanilla bean, maple, nutty, toasty, oatmeal

Taste
coffee, caramel, toasty malt, yeasty

Mouthfeel
Fizzy, medium bodied mouthfeel, but felt thin

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A very drinkable, flavorful, brown ale with the right characteristics. Finished a little malty and thin for me. I think it’s better than Newcastle. Would get again but not a “special” beer.

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3.5/5  rDev -5.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

I fell for this beer during a trip to Montana in 2005 and just discovered it on draft at the Mucky Duck in San Francisco. This beer fits comfortably into a group of non-boat-rocking browns that neither impresses with quirkiness nor offends, but is solidly made with toasty malts and a woody, earthy hop quality that is well-balanced and equally drinkable on its own or with tavern food.

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3.97/5  rDev +6.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Good lacing from a modest head. Brown color but light shines through easily. Clear.

A better Brown Ale because the malt is flavorful with lots of semisweet chocolate. Good body and lower carbonation. Nice lingering darker crystal malts in the aftertaste.

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4.17/5  rDev +12.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

One of the best brown ales that I've had. Flavor is subtle; it doesn't try to do a lot. I'd recommend it to anyone who doesn't like a lot of hop flavor. Being from Connecticut, I needed a Pacific NW trip to finally try this beer.

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3.79/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Been drinking this stuff on visits to Missoula for many years. It’s a slightly bitter and slightly chocolate beer that has a decent flavor and crispness to it. A bit thicker in feel, this one is a classic out here. Not the most complex but this was one of the first “craft” brews that I latched onto in the 90’s.

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3.77/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Good brown ale. Pours a dense brown color with a medium size off white head. Decent retention and thin bands of lacing on the glass. Slightly sweet malty aroma with a little chocolate and roasted malt. Flavor is about the same but with a little mild hoppiness that balances out the sweetness. Mouth feel is a bit light with mile sweetness balanced by a little hoppiness. I don't often order Brown Ale but this one is OK.

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3.08/5  rDev -17.2%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Poured from a 12oz bottle into a trillium glass.

Look is a dark reddish brown with little to no head.

Aroma is a medicinal malt.

Taste is astringent.

Not to my taste.

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