Nut Brown Ale
Granville Island Brewery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Picked this one up at the brewery during a trip to Vancouver. I've had quite a few brown ales lately, so we'll see how this one stacks up.

The aroma is exceptional! It's got a nice amount of hop aroma that isn't always common in the style. There is also some slightly smoky, chocolaty, malt coming through.

The flavour is dry and nutty to start. There is a hint of chocolate as the malt flavour come through. There is also some biting bitterness at the end that rounds things out. It has quite a strong finish.

Overall, this is a really nice beer! It's got a bit more character that the average brown ale, making it less sessionable, but still really tasty.

22 oz bottle.

Pours a clear dark orange, some light reddish highlights, thick off white head forms and settles down to a thick ring around the glass, solid layer, good retention and quite a bit of lacing sticks.

Smell is nice, deep and roasty, toffee, toasted nuts, chocolate, lots of biscuit, some light floral, a bit of fruit, very malty aroma, I'm digging it.

Taste is similar, sweet and malty up front, pretty heavy caramel and nuttiness, some biscuit, toasted nuts, roast and some chocolate, lightly fruity, a bit of raisin, touch of floral in the finish, quite nice.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied with low to medium carbonation. Best nut brown I've had in a while, this had some great maltiness.

Pours a clear deep brown color with a decent tan head. Aroma of roasted malt with a slight nuttiness to it. The taste is very malty with chocolate and nuts. Somewhat light mouthfeel and quite smooth. This is a well done nut brown ale, very drinkable. Another solid seasonal from Granville Island!

Sampled on tap at the Granville Brewpub as their current seasonal offering.

First, what a weird look for a nut 'brown' ale. It was the same very light amber color as the maple brew sitting next to it, without a hint of brown or any other dark color. OK. Smell is very tame, hints of fallen acorns & distant malts.

Taste follows closely. Bare amounts of nut & malt are discernable, but vanish quickly. I'm gettin' nuthin' off this one - if not for the odd coloring, this would define a so-so craft beer.

Not much to this. It's beer.

Pours a brown/deep red color with a dense off-white head that has good retention and leaves a lot of lacing.

Smells of roasted malts, some toffee and a bit nuttiness.

Taste is roasted malts, bready, some toffee coated nuts, little hops and a hint of coffee in the finish.

Medium body, smooth with little soft carbonation.

I'm a big fan of GIB's seasonals. Here's one I've never tried. Until now. . .

This nut brown pours a beautifully clear, deep copper/brown with a two finger off-white head in my Duvel tulip. Retention is decent with lots of bubbly lacing remains on my glass.

Aroma is of roasted malt (chocolate, nuts and coffee some through nicely) with subtle hints of hops and toffee. Very intriguing.

Taste is malty up front with loads of bready, caramel and chocolate notes with nutty nuances. The hops also come through mid-sip and stay through the finish, finishing this beer off well-balanced and clean. Indeed, a nice nutty flavour on the linger.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied and creamy but with a relatively high level of carbonation that keeps it clean and simple.

At 5%, this would make for a great session ale. It's simple enough to drink a bunch of and tasty enough to keep things interesting. Props to Vern at GI, I'm happy to see that his seasonals are still coming out strong!

On-Tap at the Granville Island Tap Room March 1, 2009.

Appearance: Chestnut brown, no head.

Smell: Malty graininess. A little nuttiness. Hazelnuts, if anything but very faint.

Taste: This is basically a copy of their Pale Ale, only more bitter. There is a little more chestnut, almond flavour in there. But I would call the flavour sub-par, overall. Too bitter and sour.

Mouthfeel: Solid overall. Not too carbonated, but not very lively either. Just kind of...."Normal"

Drinkability: I could probably drink a few of these but I found that the bitterness was a bit too much for a "Nut Brown Ale".

Overall: Not my favourite seasonal from GIB. I could imagine this being one of their canned beers, since they seem to be lacking in appropriate flavours. As a seasonal though, I expected more from Granville Island as they are generally very good.

Another excellent BC nut brown ale. Good mahagony brown-red appearace with a decent foamy head. Smells of malt, chocolate with a definite nuttiness.

Tastes of malts with a hint of hops. There is a definite trace of nuttiness and chocolate. This presents a good, rich flavour and like GI's other seasonals, does not disappoint.

What a nice surprise it was to find a limited release nut brown ale from Granville Island on my recent trip to Vancouver. An often overlooked style that always makes my heart go pitter-patter when it's done well.

Poured out of a 650 ml brown bottle, just a quick splash of sticky biege head before it subsides, but leaves some lacing in its wake. The body itself is true to the description on the side of the label, a very fine walnut hue. The aroma seems a bit subdued, but has all the proper fixings for a good brown: both toasted and roasted malt, a bit of woodiness, and the scent of nut shells and husks, with the faintest trace of grassy floral hops. The flavour itself is not very overpowering either, sweet roasted malt, toffee, with a nutty coffee-like finish. This would make one hell of a session beer, a shame I didn't pick up several more bottles of it. It has a velvety light mouthfeel to it, ideal for the style, it rolls over the tongue like a persian rug. This is the finest Canadian-made brown ale I have tried thus far, a shame that it is only a seasonal, but I am more than happy that I had the opportunity to try it while it lasted.