Founders Brewing Frangelic Mountain Brown

If I were to ever want a boozy coffee that wasn’t Irish, this would be it.

While not a straight coffee beer in the vein of Founders Breakfast Stout, Frangelic Mountain Brown encapsulates all the warming and tasty parts of a flavored cup o’ joe that even non-coffee drinkers might enjoy. This is thanks to the beer having been brewed with hazelnut coffee (their website says “coffees,” the bottle says flavoring) which imparts lots of pleasant aromas and tastes. It’s got an 89 on Beer Advocate.

The most impressive thing about this beer is how welcoming it is right out of the bottle. Despite a 9 percent ABV, alcohol isn’t easily detectible as it hides behind amazing chocolate and hazelnut coffee aromas. There is no bitterness you might find from coffee beans, as Frangelic rolls one sweet smell after another with heavy cream, vanilla and caramel wafting out of the glass. I’d dare say cinnamon also had a seat at the table, which could simply be residual from the hazelnut flavoring. Just a heavenly nose on this beer.

There’s a dairy smoothness to this beer’s mouthfeel, only intensified a general lack of carbonation. Tastes of cream and hazelnut sit on the forefront of each sip with a solid roasted coffee-like finish. Jabs of chocolate nip at the tongue. Any alcohol taste never even stops by.

A malt-forward brew, Frangelic still manages a slight hop-driven, earthy bitterness that rested on my palate after each gulp. That was easily replaced by the wonderful, sweet characteristics of the brew on my next sip.

The biggest downside of this beer? It’s part of Founder’s Backstage Series, which typically consists of one-off brews that may never be brewed again. Hope is not lost, however, as adventurous beer lovers can try beer trade forums like Reddit to find a bottle.

Frangelic Mountain Brown stats:

• ABV: 9 percent
• Brewery: Founders Brewing of Grand Rapids, Michigan

+Bryan Roth

Cigar City Maduro brown ale

“Brown ale has never been the most popular beer, but there always seem to be customers for a beer that is a little toastier and less hoppy than pale ale.”
- Randy Mosher’s Tasting Beer

Some beers are made to simply not offend and that’s OK. Some beers offer an array of smells and tastes, but nothing remarkable.

Sometimes that’s the point.

Cigar City’s Maduro brown ale is an expected malt-forward entry into the brown ale style, leading with a base of bittersweet chocolate malt aromas, brown sugar and molasses. It’s simplistic, straight-forward and easy. On the tongue, Maduro brings forth tastes of hazelnut, caramel, toffee and more of that chocolate malt. Light carbonation keeps mouthfeel smooth. Cigar City insists espresso is part of the package, but only as the beer warmed considerably could I get a sense of that.

This brown ale is easy-drinking and sessionable, although at 5.5 percent ABV, it technically isn’t British “Sessionable.” With it’s unoffending characteristics, it does, however, have potential to please a wide array of palates.

By Bryan Roth

+Bryan Roth

Widmer Brothers Kill Devil Brown Ale

Like I said, I’m a fan of beer series.

Widmer Brothers is no exception with their “Brothers Reserve” line of beers, which have included a Cherry Oak Doppelbock (meh), Prickly Pear Braggot (pretty solid) and Barrel Aged Brrrbon (home run), among others. Their Kill Devil brown ale is number six in their series, and could be argued to be at the top of the leaderboard for these seasonal releases. It’s only got eight reviews on Beer Advocate as of today and they fall in at about 3.75 out of 5.

I’d fall higher in that camp and even broke out of my (mostly) vegetarian diet to pair this beer with a bison steak. I figured an earthy, sweet meat would go well with the bite of an imperial brown ale. It’s worth noting that Widmer ages Kill Devil in Puerto Rican rum barrels to gain flavors of ingredients used by Caribbean distillers. I didn’t get any glaringly obvious barrel-aged flavors from this process (oak or vanilla), but it definitely adds to the overall complexity of the beer.

A first whiff of Kill Devil is exactly what you may expect from a brown ale – biscuity and some caramel, which gives it some sweetness. There are most definitely notes of brown sugar and licorice, which, after checking out the Widmer Brothers’ site, tells me that’s what they’re going for. So high five to them for nailing it.

When it comes to the taste of this beer, thank you sir, may I have another? The sweetness that you’re able to find in the smell most definitely carries over into the taste and has just a bit of a sting going down, which I assume is the molasses. I’d never had a beer brewed with molasses before (while I’m actually planning to homebrew one myself) and I really liked it. It reminded me of the same kind of flavor you find from Belgian candi sugars – something you obviously find in Belgian beers. The molasses was definitely sweet, but it was “blackstrap” molasses, which adds some bitterness to it. I didn’t get any hop bitterness from this beer (30 IBUs) so the bitter molasses is a wonderful addition. Honestly, it’s a perfect ingredient for brewing, if you ask me.

While Kill Devil sits at 9.5 percent ABV, the bite of the alcohol is very well hidden behind all the other flavors of the beer. As it warms, it becomes a bit more pronounced, but then it’s left to combat with an increasing sweetness.

*I should note that while I use the word “sweet” often in this post, Kill Devil isn’t some sugary concoction that’s going to give you a rush. It’s all incredibly well balanced to produce a beer that drinks smooth and leaves you wanting more.*

Hit the jump for my “Rate That Beer” sheet.

Kissmeyer Brewery’s Denied Entry

This was a fun one. The bottle caught my eye in my local beer store partly because of simplicity of the label (some of the best foreign beers I’ve had specifically don’t have fancy labels) and partly because of what’s in it. Or, at least, what’s plainly stated on the label of what’s in it. Among other things Kissmeyer Brewery Denied Entry was brewed with pomegranate juice and orange peel. It’s listed as a Belgian-style brown all with a just over four out of five based on a only a few reviews on Beer Advocate.

What I liked most about this beer was you got more than you expected. At 6.5 percent ABV, smells and flavors come through more naturally and you’re not busy working your way through alcohol taste to get to the brew’s complexity. While no flavors truly knocked my socks off, they did balance each other well and offered something surprising. It’s one of those “sum of the parts is greater than the whole” kind of thing.

On the nose, the beer was very citrusy. At first it’s all orange, but sweet. The middle consists mostly of very light malt/bready and a finish of … strawberry? I was surprised at first, but I’ll take it. I needed a few more minutes to actually get the final note – ginger. Considering what’s on the label, I was pleasantly surprised to find these other aspects.

To note, the taste was very much the same. At first the beer comes across rather bitter – something I’ve found is common for me with beers that use orange peel – but that bitterness very easily gives way to fruit and some sweetness. It’s amazing how they balance each other out so fast. There’s definitely what I assume is the pomegranate flavor, which is just a quick flash of fruit.

The coup de grace, however, is that ginger … or whatever is providing that ginger flavor. As the beer warmed and more came out of it, the beer reminded me of pumpkin beers from the fall, as you’d definitely find that kind of spice note in those. At that point, it could’ve easily been a combination of the smell and taste that pushed me over the edge. Or perhaps just me wanting pumpkin pie.

Terrapin + Schmaltz Reunion ’11

Tonight I popped open my bottle of Terrapin and Schmaltz’ Reunion Ale ’11, which I bought a few months ago. I was waiting for some chocolate-related excuse to try it. It’s currently sitting at B+ on Beer Advocate.

This is a strange one – complexity in how simple it is. It pours like a brown with the head of a stout. Smells like a bock and tastes like a chocolate ale. Until the chili peppers come into play. Unique, to say the least. I had it with some chocolate cookies.

Most of my initial response to the beer was very similar to that of Sam Adam’s Chocolate Bock. It’s got a chocolate malt smell and the taste isn’t too far off. Although in this instance, you can sense the higher ABV (7.6%) and hops that are definitely more prevalent. It’s not hoppy at all, but this is the difference I imagine we get between a mass produced beer like Sam Adams and something, well, less mass produced. The taste is very smooth and very light on anything chocolate, but it’s the pepper that really took me by surprise. I didn’t get a taste at first, but after half a glass I could feel it on my tongue. It doesn’t come through while you drink it, but after you’ve swallowed the beer the feeling of pepper is left over. Very subtle. I’ve had a handful of pepper beers before, but this is the first where the pepper doesn’t come through on the taste. I like it, but I also wish I could have a version of this where the chocolate smell/flavor is balanced by the pepper.

It went well with the cookies, although the sugar from the cookies did seem to take away from the beer a bit. This might go better with something much more chocolate-based. I imagine it might help bring out some of the pepper more.