Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

Brown ale from a craft brewery in Reading, thanks Craftmember for sharing! Thick and foamy, cobweb-lacing, pale yellowish beige, frothy head on a deep chocolate brown beer with misty vermillion glow. Aroma very hop-forward and ‘American’ rather than English for the style, impressions of dried grapefruit peel, wormwood, roasted walnut, burnt toast, nutmeg, dry tree leaves, wholegrain bread, granola, dried thyme, tea. Dry, clean onset, dried fig and ground hazelnuts, medium carbonation with smooth, lightly oily mouthfeel; very toasty malt character with brown bread and black chocolate associations and a faintly sourish undertone. Malt bitterness connects with hop bitterness in the end, in a leafy, peppery and wormwoody way, with associated aromas of pine, tree leaves and nutmeg. Dry, peppery, bitter but rich and satisfying, long finish. An American brown ale in style, inasmuch as this style is still practiced today – I guess many present-day brewers would try to fit in the IPA association somehow and call this a black IPA of sorts, for pure commercial reasons; indeed hoppy enough for that and in no way at all a traditional English brown ale but definitely classically American in its general make-up. Tasty all the same!