Gianduja Chocolate Ale
Humboldt Brewing Company in Arcata, California, United States 🇺🇸
Brown Ale Regular|
Score
6.81
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Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Bottle. Brown pour with a finger of tan head. Aroma is light roast and milk chocolate. Tastes sweet and a little earthy. Lots of chocolate malt, some light roast, and earthy bits.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
12 ounce bottle into pint glass; no bottle dating, but is a recent release. Pours slightly hazy deep ruby red/brown color with a 1 finger dense light khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Light spotty soapy lacing clings down the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, toasted biscuit, milk chocolate, and cocoa; with lighter notes toffee, coffee, nuttiness, herbal, floral, and roast/toasted earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and complexity of dark/bready/roasted malts, cocoa/hemp, and light earthy hop notes; with solid strength. Taste of caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, toasted biscuit, milk chocolate, and cocoa; with lighter notes toffee, coffee, nuttiness, herbal, floral, and roast/toasted earthiness. Light herbal/spicy hop and roast bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, toasted biscuit, milk chocolate, cocoa, light coffee/nuttiness, herbal, and roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Very nice complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready/roasted malts, cocoa/hemp, and light earthy hop flavors; with a great malt/bitterness balance, and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Slight dryness from hop/roasted bitterness, lightly increasing through the glass. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth, moderately creamy/bready/grainy, and slightly sticky/chalky mouthfeel that is nice. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 5.7%. Overall this is a very good American brown ale. All around nice complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready/roasted malts, cocoa/hemp, and light earthy hop flavors; very smooth and easy to drink. Very flavorful with nice well rounded malt complexity, and balanced cocoa/hemp notes without being overdone. A very enjoyable offering.