Nut Brown Ale
Obfuscation Brewing Co.
First let me say that I was impressed, surprised and slightly disappointed all at the same time when i opened the box from PseudoChef. I was welcomed by three homebrews and two commercials from
Terrapin Beer Co.. The disappointment came from the fact that the Impy Stout that the Chef sent was broken in shipment, images of the carnage can be viewed in my gallery. Now on to the first beer.
Appearance:
There was a strong pop upon opening the bottle, it poured slightly cloudy, in part due to not enough settling time. The color was a dark brown with copper highlights, perfect as per style guidelines. Nice thick head stuck around for most of the sampling and clung to the glass.
Aroma:
Right up front the malt comes across sweet in the nose followed up by a roastyness, surrounded by what could be described as a biscuit in a glass. No hop aroma, but has slight fruity esters with small hints of citrus. Alcohol esters creep through as the beer warms up.
Mouthfeel:
This beer has a light to medium body that rolls around the tongue. Carbonation was medium to high, slightly above guidelines.
Flavor:
A toasted bitter bite grabs right upfront, and mellows toward the end. There is a subdued hop bitterness to balance out the sweet malt flavor, but the majority of the bittering comes from the roasted grains. There is a slight extract twang picked up in the front of the mouth. The beer finishes dry and the toasted grain comes out more predominantly as it warms.
Over all I am very impressed as this was Chef's first beer (as per the enclosed marking sheet), it is very drinkable. The only suggestion i could make would be to try a late extract addition to try and lighten the color and reduce the amount of caramelization of the malt extract. But as I understand PseudoChef is moving on more and more from the extracts so wouldn't be an issue if brewed again.
Cheers