Beer 52 – Pretty Things Saint Botolphs Town

Style: English Brown Ale

Purchased at: Received via trade with Jared @ beeradvocate.com

What makes this beer different: Dark and complex as hell for an English Brown

Will I be drinking this again: If I can get my hands on it again

Grade: A-

12/30/2009: I just received this beer through a trade with Jared at Beer Advocate. I sent him some beer he cannot get here such as Great Lakes and Bells, and he sent in return a ton of stuff from the northeast that I cannot get here in the burgh. Not sure what made me pick this one to drink first but, I am glad I did.

As you can see the color of this beer is kind of a muddy brown. Smells like roasted almonds covered in brown sugar. The taste of this is VERY toasted and malty for a brown ale, but at the same time very complex. If I didn’t know ahead of time that this was a brown ale I would have assumed it was a porter. You can taste roasted malts, brown sugar, a little bit of some kind of sour fruit that I can’t put my finger on, and a tiny tinge of coffee in the aftertaste. Mild hops jump out also. Each sip brought out a little bit of a different flavor. Mouthfeel is heavy for a brown ale, and as I mentioned almost had more of a porter character to it. This whole bottle went down very easy, and might have to get Jared to send me another in the near future.

Random Post – Gifts from Denver

Don’t mind the dusty table! My buddy Kevin was in town for the holidays, and I had him pick me up some beer that I can’t get here in PA. Pretty pricey but I think I got some good stuff. I love the regular Yeti so really looking forward to trying the oak aged one. Also pretty pumped about getting a couple Abyss’. I plan on aging them for one a two years respectively.

From front to back:

Avery Maharaja IPA
Great Divide Oak Aged Yeti
Moylans Xmas Spiced White Lager
Alaskan 2007 Smoked Porter
Goose Island Bourbon County Stout
Deschutes The Abyss (2)
Russian River Consecration
The Bruery 2 Turtle Doves
O’Dells Woodcut Oak Aged Crimson Ale