Sweet Nikki Brown - Half Pints Brewing Company

pootz

Ontario (Canada)

3.98/5  rDev -2.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

660ml Bomber ( Thanks Kris)

Pours a deep dark chestunt brown turbid, ale in the glass with a glorious sticky-rocky mocha-colored 3 finger cap.
lasts and laces the glass sides.( lots of malt protiens in this brew kids)

Wonderful American ale aromas...pungent cascade floral-citrus in the nose is balanced by sweet crystal malt tones and a bit of cocoa from the black malts...delicious!

Light in character but rich and medium bodied with a distinctive balance.

Flavor starts well balanced between chewy nutty malts and fruity esters in balance with sturdy floral bittering from the hops....mid palate the savory impressions develop as the flavors mingle on the palate: walnut skins with biscuit, chocolate, tobacco, tart fruits cedar bitters...then the finish breaks clean with increasing metallic bittering from the hops mingling with the astrigency from the "char" of the black malts....in a blind taste I bet a lot of people would say this was a porter.

A delicious dark brown ale in the American style ( which almost comes off as a porter)...I envy the brewer if his wife has the character this beer displays ;-)

Serving type: bottle

03-06-2007 00:50:55 | More by pootz

biegaman

Ontario (Canada)

4.08/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Pours with a huge head - bubbly and off white. A beautiful colour, dark brown with both darker and lighter shades of brown acting as highlights. A vivid and peppy aroma - spot on for the American Brown Ale style. Robust with that "cola" like malt. A sandy, gritty malty mouthfeel with flavours being nutty, earthy - reminding me of figs and leaves - great malt with underlying hop bitterness. A strong balance with good character. I'd say this is about as good as it gets for this style. Again very impressed with Half-Pints.
Big thanks Viggo!

Serving type: bottle

02-25-2007 22:21:38 | More by biegaman

demcorhip

Ontario (Canada)

4.43/5  rDev +8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

This is one fine kick ass american brown. Move over DFH Indian Brown, and make way for this treat, my new favorite example of this style.

Appearance
Pours a clear deep brown, almost as dark as a cola. A one finger light tan coloured head formed on the pour, and its ruby hued body reveals itself where it allows light through its dark body. A mildly carbonated ale that produced thin yet intricate lacings.

Aroma
Cascade hops please the nose with their aromas of ruby red grapefruit. Nutty malts with a hint of toffee also present, along with lesser hints of chocolate. The goldings are also noticable with an earthier, more floral and milder presence than the cascades.

Flavour
I love this beer, it happens to be my favorite from this fine brewer so far. Nice nutty character of creamy hazelnut and more bitter walnut form a tasty malt backbone which is further enriched by slight hints of buttery toffee and cocoa powder. These rich malts are perfectly counterbalanced by an aggressive dose of cascade hops with their essence of ruby red grapefruit. More subtle goldings are also there to provide a more floral and earthy hop character.

Mouthfeel
An awesome american brown, light to medium bodied, and its rich nutty malts are wonderfully balanced with a good dose of hops. Mild level of carbonation present, and the cascades provide for an almost lingering hop bite.

Drinkability
A very drinkable and certainly sessionable brown ale. Would also serve as a great introduction to hoppier beers, making a great gateway beer to IPAs. Highly recommended to fans of this style.

Serving type: bottle

02-07-2007 15:56:50 | More by demcorhip

trevorwideman

Manitoba (Canada)

3.83/5  rDev -6.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

660ml Bomber poured into a pint glass.

Pours a deep, deep thick brown colour, nearly opaque. Hazey and unfiltered, mild carbonation, with a 1/2 inch brown head subsides to 1/4 inch, some nice lacing. Smell is quite delicious. Cookie dough, chocolate, floral hops in the nose. Citrus in the background.

Taste starts with a slight sourness which quickly gives way to the big bready malt character. Chocolate, a slight caramel sweetness, but the grapefruity hops take over quickly afterwards. Finishes very bitter and dry, asserting the unsweetened chocolate and sesame flavours again. Definitely a huge brew, balls out in its presentation leaning on the side of bitterness in the balance. Carbonation is near perfect, very mellow, and very thick in the mouth giving away the big malt presence. I think I'd come back to this one, it's a good sipper for a Winter evening.

Serving type: bottle

10-31-2006 20:35:23 | More by trevorwideman

fisherman34

Manitoba (Canada)

3.6/5  rDev -12.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Very dark brown in colour with medium carbonation. Surprisingly hoppy aromas, with some notes of pine and grapefruit (must be the Cascades) mixing with elements of milk chocolate and mildly spicy rye bread. The rye bread (caraway seed) flavors assert themselves first, then evolve into a sharper toasted sesame seed, hops, and white grapefruit attack. The mouthfeel starts out fairly thick (not too sweet), but dries out leaving no residule sweetness on the tongue. This is unlike any brown ale I’ve had before, because it is so dry. Against the grain style wise, but I’m the type of person that can appreciate that. Definitely worth trying again.

Serving type: bottle

10-28-2006 23:02:31 | More by fisherman34

canucklehead

British Columbia (Canada)

4.18/5  rDev +2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

This is a really flavourful Brown Ale that has all the right caramel notes with plenty of hops ( Much better than say Downtown Brown from Lost Coast). After a pint or two of St James this was a flavour shock as the beer is big and finishes with just the right amount of sweetness. Perfect with food and still just right for a cold evening in The Peg.

Serving type: on-tap

01-03-2010 17:38:41 | More by canucklehead

oakbluff

Manitoba (Canada)

3.9/5  rDev -4.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On tap in my basement. yahoo. Been looking forward to the second go round of this tasty seasonal. Pours out a deep chestnut, with frothy off white head. Nose- nutty, and some mocha. Taste- very nutty and biscuity with a woody finish. Some hops come out and play giving a cirtrus flavour. Seems slightly less hoppy than last years, but could be just me. Very rich in flavour, but still light bodies and highly drinkable. Excellent brown ale.

Serving type: on-tap

10-21-2007 20:57:13 | More by oakbluff