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Thu, 07 Jun 2007
Wachusett Nut Brown Ale (20:06)
This is the 2nd of the six pack of Wachusett brews I picked up the other day. The style is a "Nut Brown Ale," a common brew in upstate New York.
On the pour
This brew looks great! It has a nice dark brown color and a rich creamy head, full but not not so thick it's all head. With a light behind the mug I see that the color is a dark amber rather than a true brown (which is more of a yellow if you're an artist or graphics person). And the aroma... was not right. Typically a nut brown ale will have some malt, some spice, maybe a wisp of hops. This had a sour smell, not a bad sour smell, but the aroma you get from some yeast used for lagers and hefeweizen, and other brews.
The flavor
Another surprise, this didn't have the big caramel taste I would expect from the color, and in fact didn't have much malt to be found. There was a bit of tingly hop on the tip of the tongue and front of the roof of the mouth, nothing in the back of the mouth, and essentially no aftertaste.
Overall
Terms like bland and boring come to mind. If looks make a beer, this was great, but unless your taste buds were shot off in the war, you are going to want more flavor and character than this brew delivers. I can't think of any foods or bar snacks which would improve or be improved by this one, I bought a bottle, several of us shared it, it got a unanimous rating of boring.
Sorry Wachusett, I give this one a failing grade, it lacks enough character to even seriously dislike it.