Classic English brown ale so it’s about time to taste it... Thick, moussy, pale greyish beige head retaining quite well, over a clear deep reddish bronze coloured beer with burgundy hue, translucent. Aroma of caramel candy and butterscotch, damp cloth, wet paper, candied cherry, honey, hazelnut paste, dried tree leaves, ’haemoglobin’ iron, sugared English tea, lots of fig. Clean, sweetish onset of fig and dried banana countered with a dull elderberry sourishness, soft carbo, very smooth and slick body, very caramelly maltiness with nutty accents, a bit metallic, going from sweet to subtly bittersweet in the end, very juicy but with the bitterness further enhanced by a dash of earthy, leafy hops, lingering in the back of the mouth for a while. CAMRA has tried to distinguish between northern brown ale and southern brown ale and apparently this one belongs to the former category, like the famous Newcastle Brown; yet it seems to surpass its renowned congener in subtlety and balance. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to get acquainted with English brown ale: this is a classic in many senses of the word. Thanks to Samuel Smith for keeping alive waning English beer styles - did they not reinvent porter and imperial stout as well?

(Bottle) Pours deep brown with good dense off-white head. Nice aroma - toffee, hops, hints of nuts. Great carbonation gives smooth creamy palate. Nice taste too - foretaste is mainly toffee or dark treacle with some grassy hoppy balance; in the mid plate nutty notes and some dark roast bitter notes start to develop; these dark roast bitter notes are joined by some hop bitterness for good finish. Excellent.

Bottle from Cotteridge Wines; clear chestnut brown pour with a frothy light tan head, aroma has nutty action and toffee, taste has sweet toffee, malt loaf, nut brittle toffee, autumn leaves, traditional brown not like the hopped up juans, I’ve had recently trying to be BIPAs.

Rated from old notes. Medium bodied, creamy, with nutty and sweet caramel undertones. Tart, fruity slightly winey aftertaste lingers on tip of the tongue. Smooth. Remains consistent for the duration, but also fails to develop further. Pleasant.

Bottle. Clear light brown/copper sporting a decent beige head. Aroma of nuts, raisins and earthy and slightly herbal hops. Taste of caramel, malts, toffee, nuts and minerals. Pretty dry finish. Moderate bitterness. Medium carbonation. To me this is an autumn beer and I imagine it would go quite well with let’s say beef or venison with mushrooms.

Review based on the BJCP2015 guidelines (style 13B). Bottle 35.5 cl - Batch L15092. AROMA: slight dark caramel aroma with a light fruitiness. APPEARANCE: dark ambar color and clear. moderate ivory head with good retention. TASTE: malt flavour dominates with notes of toffee, dark caramel, slight biscuity and dark chocolate. medium-low bitterness with balance towards malt. no hop flavour discernible. finishes medium-dry. PALATE: medium-light body with moderate carbonation. OVERALL: a nice english brown ale with a lot of caramel notes.

Shared 550 ml. bottle. Brown color, tan head. Aroma of roasted malt, caramel. Tastes of roasted malt, caramel, some nuttiness. Smooth. Simple but nice.

Botle from 100 piv. Dark Amber color with thick off-white head. Caramel, nuts, light coffee in aroma. Sweet caramel malt with coffee, light hoppy bitterness in finish.

0,355L bottle. Pours copper with beige head. The head stays. Aroma is malt, grains, caramel. Flavor is sweet and bitter, caramel, fruits, nutty. Finish is dry bitter. Overall: ok.

Clear reddish-brown beer with a bubbly head which quickly dissipates (this may be because I had to cart it home in my backpack.) Nutty malt scent with a flavour to match, as well as having a bit of fruit in there and a rich, earthy chocolate taste in the aftertaste. A pity it went a bit flat but very nice all the same.