Style: Brown Ale

ABV: 6.5 IBU: 65.0

95/100

Aroma:	12
Appearance:	3
Flavor:	19
Mouthfeel:	4

Hidden Cove Bucko's Hoppy Brown Ale

What the brewers say

“A roasty brown ale with layers of chocolate and citrus.”

What our panel thought

Aroma: “Hops, hops, and more hops! Grapefruit, tangerine, lemon, piney, dank. Heavy on the pine; you’d think they rung out lumberjack sweat directly into this beer. Underlying chocolatey, roasty malt hiding between hops bales.”

Flavor: “Resinous and citrusy hops (with some strawberry and peach notes) are still dominant, but they are balanced nicely with some nice sweet malt notes. Some toast and roast. Moderately low sweetness and moderately high bitterness. Dry finish. The malt bill definitely plays a supporting role to the hops in this one. The hops flavors morph between fresh pine and East Denver grow-house dankness, but given the touch of toasted character, both work well.”

Overall: “Big hops character with fairly low malt character. Making American Brown Ales great again, one bushel of hops at a time. A wonderful sendoff and reinterpretation of the American Brown, with an aggressive and reimagined hops profile. A hoppy brown IPA, if that were possible.”

What our editors thought

Review printed in: The Soul of Beer (December 2017-January 2018) (View All Issues)

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Russian River Brewing Co - Santa Rosa Janet's Brown Ale

Smells like a pine forest after a spring rain. Fresh American hops aroma: herbal, floral, fresh, with touches of sweet orange, sandalwood, cherry, peach. Lots of hop flavor, but the bitterness is restrained and balanced. Toasty, smooth, layered malt complexity, light chocolate, low caramel. Somewhat dry. Just enough bitterness to balance. Fresh spruce tips linger. Overall impression of a softer, sweeter IPA. Very pleasant and satisfying.

Civil Life American Brown Ale

Aroma: “Toasty malt with a hint of roast and chocolate and a touch of cherry and raspberry followed by piney and citrus hops. Nice toasted nut flavors. Bright chocolate, biscuit, and caramel malts followed by balanced hops and yeast esters.” Flavor: “Light malt sweetness followed by firm bitterness that sticks around well past the finish. A touch of rye or pumpernickel spice adds intriguing complexity. The hops come through more in the flavor with pine, grassy, slightly earthy, and grapefruit pith character.” Overall: “The lightly roasted interpretation of the style is endearing—it lacks the sharp edges typical of so many browns. This is what I want to drink on a crisp autumn afternoon—it’s so crushable and balanced, you could take down two of these while looking for pumpkins and still have enough of your wits about you to PR a corn maze.”

Telluride Face Down Brown Ale

Aroma: “Chocolate and biscuity malts, dark fruits, citrusy hops, light esters. The grassy character from the hops and the grainy character from the malt play off each other nicely. Toast-forward with some medium dark caramel and classic West Coast hops. Earthy, piney hops notes up front, with a touch of toast and malt sweetness.” Flavor: “Toasty malt with a bit of coffee roast. Toast and caramel with a touch of chocolate and classic West Coast hops. Grassy hops with a bit of herbal and pine. Moderate sweetness into moderate bitterness that all finishes clean and dry. Very well-balanced. A fairly hops-forward brown.” Overall: “An excellent brown ale. Malt is still up front, but the hops are there and support nicely. Malt sweetness is cut with hops bitterness perfectly, and it all finishes clean and dry. Very nice! A more aggressive hops-forward version of an American Brown than many consumers may be accustomed to.”

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