Carolina Nut Brown Ale - Carolina Brewing Company

SIRIUS2

North Carolina

3.9/5  rDev +8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Sampled in a pint glass at the brewery during one of the weekly Saturday tours.

A: Sort of a hazy medium brown in color with about 1/4" of light brown head. Good retention with little lacing.

S: A bit malty, with an earthy, nutty smell underneath. The malts seem to be moderate and sweet, and there is a hint of hops as well.

T: I was a bit surprised at the hop presence right off the bat on this one. It wasn't overpowering or anything but it was a nice addition. Flavors are a bit malty, something moderate like a caramel toast. There is an earthy nuttiness that is to be expected but this is different from most nut browns I've had before. There's a complex finish of hazelnut, malts, and hops that lingers for just a while.

M&D: Mouthfeel is on the lighter side of medium with lighter carbonation. Flavors stay together nicely for an enjoyable experience. Nice change of pace for the style.

Serving type: on-tap

03-17-2008 01:55:16 | More by SIRIUS2

MuddyFeet

North Carolina

3.48/5  rDev -3.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Enjoyed fresh and on-tap at the brewpub during the free tour.

Pours a clear brown in color with nary much of any head. Essentially flat in appearance. Nose is malty with just a slight hint of sugared almonds.

Flavor is quite nice and smooth for the style. Rich in malts. Just a slight hint of smokiness. Both canided almods and pecans rise up throughout the flavor but came out more pronounced in the after taste. Medium body. Nice session choice if you are looking for a rich flavored beer.

Serving type: on-tap

12-23-2006 22:11:08 | More by MuddyFeet

sponberg

New York

3.68/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Medium dark amber - sorta like Grade B Maple Syrup in color but thankfully not in taste or aroma. The nose is sweetish malt with a bit of nut/roast.

Starts out with a malty-sweet background along with a good amount of nuttiness. Some bitterness in the background, along with a "just ground it" chocolate malt graininess that's rather interesting. The nuttiness continues through to the end. Medium bodied, a decent nut brown of the sweet side of the spectrum.

Serving type: on-tap

03-27-2003 06:58:59 | More by sponberg

dpodratsky3

Georgia

3.39/5  rDev -6.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

12 oz bottle poured into pint glass

A: Brown with orange hues, lighter than chestnut, head is bone white, settles to just a thin film around the edges of the glass

S: Nice warm toasted malt, light caramel, and bread

T: Wheat toast, pretty one dimensional, but easy and pleasant, hops are very, very light, floral flavor, gets a little sweet

M: Low attenuation and full body accentuated by low carb, good for the style, but when combined with the one dimensional flavors it feels a little lackluster

O: Ok, nothing wrong but not much flavor there either

Serving type: bottle

01-29-2013 02:09:02 | More by dpodratsky3

macrosmatic

Florida

2.93/5  rDev -18.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Thanks to dogdoc for throwing this one into a recent box. Reviewed from notes. Poured from 12 oz. bottle into a CCB pint glass.

A: Medium brown, clear, with low carbonation and a thin white head.

S: Sweet malt, grainy, toffee. Not much else.

T: Follows the nose. Toffee, heavy grains, a smidge of hop bitterness. The graininess here has reached the point of detracting from the other flavors present.

M: Thin body, low carbonation sensation. Essentially no alcohol presence.

O: This isn't very good. English brown ales are not a favorite style of mine, but this one falls short.

Serving type: bottle

12-17-2012 03:04:58 | More by macrosmatic

fastrodney

North Carolina

3.48/5  rDev -3.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Had this one a few times but for this review, the sample came from a pick-yer-6 from Whole Foods in Raleigh. Poured into my standby weizen glass.

A: Nice dark amber. A decent head with reasonable retention.

S: Amber malt.

T: Slightly toasted malt balanced with a light hoppiness.

M: Just shy of heavy carbonation with a medium thickness.

O: Not bad; a good example of the style. A good balance of toasted amber malt and indistinct hops. I have to give this one props for not exhibiting the cloying sweetness that plagued the last few brown ales I've tried.

Serving type: bottle

09-03-2012 20:12:11 | More by fastrodney

Morey

Pennsylvania

3.73/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

APPEARANCE: Pours brown in color, but it's really more of a reddish-brown when held to the light. It also has really good clarity for a Brown. The head is cream colored, and stood about a finger tall initially, but settled pretty fast. There's some decent lacing on the glass.

AROMA: Chocolate, Coffee, Toasted Nuts, Tree Bark, and some Earthy aromas.

TASTE: This is where this beer really shines in my opinion. It's got really nice flavor for a thin low ABV Brown Ale. There's a nice nutty flavor right up front, but it doesn't take long before some really impressive chocolate/cocoa flavors start to sweep over the palate. There's a bit of malty sweetness near the back-end as well. The finish is pretty clean with a touch of coffee.

MOUTHFEEL: At first, the body seems to be a bit on the thin side for the style, but then all of the sudden there's a powdery chocolate flavor that coats the mouth. Pretty low carbonation.

MOREY'S BOTTOM LINE: This beer was given to me as a gift from a friend who went down to NC. I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I would definitely sip on this beer in the fall if I lived near the brewery. Cheers!

Serving type: bottle

08-01-2012 23:19:34 | More by Morey

Arborescence

Finland

2.58/5  rDev -28.5%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Appearance: Dark amber, virtually brown. Pours a very thin head.

Aroma: Pretty basic brown ale, a little underdeveloped. Malty.

Taste: Somewhat bland, mild. There's a pleasant maltiness and a little bit of sweetness, but frankly this is quite close to some non-alcoholic beers I've had.

Mouthfeel: Light bodied, quite smooth.

Overall: Easy to drink and thirst quenching, but lacks character, depth, and flavour.

Serving type: bottle

03-13-2012 23:14:35 | More by Arborescence

VncentLIFE

North Carolina

3.9/5  rDev +8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours light translucent brown color. Off white head with decent lacing.

Smells very dry. Like pistachios. Slight notes of caramel sweetness.

Taste is very nutty, dry. No real subtlety here. Up front dryness. Fills the mouth with flavors. Medium body, and clean finish.

Serving type: bottle

02-13-2012 21:40:28 | More by VncentLIFE

Cyberkedi

Georgia

3.88/5  rDev +7.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Strong, malty aroma has a firm overtone of molasses and hints of brown sugar, caramel and chocolate. It pours a lovely clear cola brown with a typical pale tan head that leaves minimal lacing. Flavor is crisp and malty with a molasses undertone and hints of chocolate and burnt wood. Smooth texture has average body and fizziness, but is still pleasing.

Serving type: bottle

12-30-2011 03:22:19 | More by Cyberkedi

MacQ32

South Carolina

3.28/5  rDev -9.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

A - Pours a nice deep brown into my brooklyn snifter, nice looking half finger of caramel colored head that dissipates rather quickly. Minimal lacing that slides down the glass rather quickly

S - Slightly roasty nuts and roasty/chocolaty malts, a wee bit bready, little yeast as well.

T - A little roasty and nutty, some sweet malt character. Pretty simple, a little underwhelming

M - Really really light, which is good in some ways, super drinkable, appropriate carbonation. Way too light though

O - As the appearence would hint at, this beer is very very light, weak body. Decent smell, decent (but mild taste) mouthfeel isnt doing it for me, as i said, super drinkable though. just not bold enough for me, but that could be a plus for many

Serving type: bottle

12-28-2011 20:30:46 | More by MacQ32

adevans

North Carolina

3.75/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

12oz bottle poured into a pint glass.

A - Rich brown liquid with a slightly brown head: ~1 finger. Didn't dissipate quickly and had moderate lacing.

S - Smelled of bread malts, some yeast, and a touch of roasted nuttiness.

T - Not terribly sweet. Starts out mostly nutty with a little hops. Near the end of the beer, it tastes more of caramel malts. Pretty dry, however.

M - Good carbonation, good mouthfeel.

O - With the easy drinkability and not-too-sweet taste, I could go for a few more of these...

Serving type: bottle

12-16-2011 16:01:21 | More by adevans

tdm168

North Carolina

3.6/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a dark, brownish amber with little head. The smell is caramel malt with some faint nutty notes. The taste is nutty and with faint bread and caramel. There's just enough hops for balance. The mouthfeel is medium bodied, but at times thin with decent carbonation.

Overall, not a bad beer. The balance is there, it just comes across a little thin.

Serving type: bottle

10-07-2011 23:07:39 | More by tdm168

halfbeer

North Carolina

3.85/5  rDev +6.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Overall, a nice brown ale and lives up to the name. Carolina was one of the original Triangle (Raleigh/Durham/Cary area) North Carolina microbrews. It just isn't spectacular. If you are looking for a better similar beer from the same area, you might go for Big Boss's Bad Penny or Lone Rider's Sweet Josie (Yum! But Shotgun Betty is better). You could probably have a keg of it for a party and be ok. It just isn't tasty (maybe a little bitter for a brown). I think I might get sick of it in a kegerator (even though the Carolina Summer Bock is awesome to have around). A 6 pack every once in a while (ok, maybe a few, it really is not bad), and worth a buy.

Serving type: bottle

09-29-2011 01:16:30 | More by halfbeer

smakawhat

Maryland

3.75/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Poured from the bottle into a small nonic pint glass at The Pit in Raleigh.

Creamy two finger light brown head is given off the pour, sitting on a simple chestnut brown body. Straight forward pretty simple and good looking.

Nose is kind of spritzy clean and weak for a brown ale. Weak sense of nut and malt. No roast character, also a strange smell of banana.

Taste though is big improvement. A just right enough thick body with a very distinct taste of milk chocolate. There's that banana again also in the palate, but big roast dryness coming through on the finish. That spritzy feeling comes through also kind of wet and clean on the finish.

Overall this was really quite surprising, it's very different from what seems to be coming on the nose. If it didn't have that banana character to it I would have scored it higher.

Serving type: bottle

07-02-2011 13:20:50 | More by smakawhat

KajII

North Carolina

3.33/5  rDev -7.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

[Best served in a Dimpled Mug]

Poured a clear medium brown with an average sized off white creamy head that was mostly lasting and had excellent lacing. The aroma was of a nutty bread malt and a sweet doughy yeast with notes of coffee, brown sugar and milk chocolate. It tasted rather mild yet slightly bitter with a hint of coffee in the beginning and finished quite malty with a note of chocolate and had a nutty flavor at the end with the flavor lasting only a short while. Mouthfeel was light to medium in body and creamy in texture with a medium carbonation. Overall a nice nut brown, very smooth and easy to drink.

Serving type: bottle

06-04-2011 21:21:09 | More by KajII

cnjohn19

North Carolina

3.93/5  rDev +8.9%
look: 2 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

this was my super bowl XLV drink of choice...

looks flat to the pour with a typical dark brown color...smells delicious with sweet caramel dominating...

the rest speaks for itself above in my numeric review...but all in all not bad for a local brown ale...

cheers...

Serving type: bottle

02-07-2011 03:28:56 | More by cnjohn19

twiggamortis420

Texas

3.83/5  rDev +6.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

12 oz bottle pours a clear amber color with minimal tan foaming. Average retention and some spotty lacing.

Nose is a little bit of toasty malt, bready yeast and light nuttiness. Smells more like an amber ale to me and shows a touch of piney hops.

Taste is a nice mix of chocolate and toasty malt, maybe even a little coffee. Tastes much more like a brown ale than it showed in the nose. Not a huge amount of nuttiness, but enough to compliment the other malt flavors. Decently clean finish, with a lightly hopped bitterness. Body is a little thin and carbonation low...but overall this is a pleasant, easy drinking session beer.

Serving type: bottle

09-25-2010 17:58:01 | More by twiggamortis420

kneeland

North Carolina

3/5  rDev -16.9%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

When first opened I took a whiff. Nothing special at all about the scent. I typically enjoy nut brown ales, but this one didn't do it for me. It tasted like a flat New Castle with some chocolate nut flavor added in.

Other than the taste, it's a good beer. A good amount of foam, decent mouthfeel, good enough drinkability.

Serving type: bottle

07-03-2010 18:57:12 | More by kneeland

aelthwin

North Carolina

4.22/5  rDev +16.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12 oz bottle from Harris Teeter

I popped the top off the bottle, and inhaled deeply. What I smelled was nice roasted malts, a nutty and chocolate overtone. The smell was representative of taste. It starts out with a roasted character, shift to a nuttier taste, and finishes off with a chocoloate aftertaste, all the while maintaining a light bitterness to balance it out. It felt smooth and rich going down, and had me reaching for a second.

Serving type: bottle

05-22-2010 22:38:55 | More by aelthwin

Kegatron

Pennsylvania

3.55/5  rDev -1.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

12 oz bottle into a pint glass.

Pours a deep clear coppery amber, with a 1/2 finger of light tan colored head. Thin creamy retention yields a cascade of patchy foam which quickly slides down the sides of the glass. The aroma is full of hazlenut character and lighter notes of roast and malty sweetness. Some earthy and citric hops round of the back of the nose.

The taste is similar, with nuttiness and roast up front, while sweeter caramel tones round out the back. There a touch of an acrid edge to the roastier notes here but it's not too troubling. A tingle of earthy hops and some green citrus run through the profile, finishing this dry with some lingering grit. The mouthfeel is medium bodied, with a softer carbonation in the mouth and generally easy feel. Seems right on target with its ABV.

Completely adequate Brown Ale here, that packed just enough flavor into itself. The easy body on this actually gives this a bit of a sessionable air to it. You could do far worse than a couple of these.

Serving type: bottle

05-12-2010 12:40:48 | More by Kegatron

rapidsequence

Virginia

3.75/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12 oz bottle.

Appearance: Thin off white head of fine bubbles doesnt last long. The beer itself is a clear light brown- ruby.

Smell: Toasty and sweet caramel malt. There's a definite nuttiness to the smell.

Taste: Again toasty malt and hazelnut is now more prominent. Almost nothing in the way of detectable hops or bitterness. Finishes a little dry with lingering toast and nuts.

Mouthfeel: Not too thin or full. Pretty much right. Appropriate carbonation.

Drinkability: I've had many beers from this brewery, but never this one until right now. Its pretty good, but nothing great. I could drink a few.

Serving type: bottle

01-14-2010 00:34:43 | More by rapidsequence

porterwoobie

North Carolina

3.93/5  rDev +8.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Served out of a 12oz bottle into a standard pint glass.

A: medium brown with a slight orange hue, one finger off-white/semi-tan head, slight lacing

S: malty, caramel, some hazelnut notes

T: malts, caramel grains, and hazelnuts blended together with good hop balance. finishes slighly sweet.

MF: medium bodied, medium carbonation

Drinkability: overall a pretty good beer. very sessionable. it has a good, rich nutty flavor.

Serving type: bottle

06-09-2009 19:48:56 | More by porterwoobie

Dodo2step

Pennsylvania

3.28/5  rDev -9.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

thanks skeeordye

A- a nice foamy head that is lightly browned like a creme brulee. a beautiful amber color. quite clear and nicely done.

S- a nutty and biscuity maltness. quite complementary of each other.

T- very malty and quite astringent as well. A roasted burnt caramel finish. Taste was too much malt and not enough nuttiness as i would like in the nut brown ale.

M- a very sour lining on the mouth with the malts. No hops presence in the feel or the throat. not very smooth but alright.

D- really struggled towards the end with the extra added malt. if you like malty beers this one is for you. not bad but not good. a decent brew.

Serving type: bottle

05-14-2009 00:21:06 | More by Dodo2step

gruberbeer

North Carolina

4.43/5  rDev +22.7%
look: 3 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Okay, so I liked this beer more than most I see. But why? Well, I ordered it at a local restaurant. Maybe it just went well with my whole hog BBQ. This beer had a nut brown frat party in my mouth. I would say that there is nothing fantastical about its appearance--it's even a little watery-looking--but man, this beer had a good strong smell and a nice subtle nutty flavor rolling throughout. I'll have it again with something different on my plate, and we'll see how it goes.

Serving type: bottle

03-01-2009 02:40:54 | More by gruberbeer