Buffalo Brown Ale - Shooting Creek Farm Brewery

birderbeerer

Virginia

3.58/5  rDev -5.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Medium brown (chestnut?) beer with big, frothy, off-white head and good lacing.

Coffee and roast aroma covers up lighter, lager-ish barley malts.

A lot of roast in the flavor with toffee too. Some chocolate. Good richness of flavor. A little too sharply carbonated and the lighter malts are a bit too prominent behind the richer dark flavors.

Serving type: bottle

05-09-2011 22:27:35 | More by birderbeerer

rootbeerman

Virginia

3.65/5  rDev -3.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

from notes 1-9-11

A: pours with a two finger initial head, which settled slowly with huge lacing all around the glass. the body is dark brown.
S: light malt, huge coffee and chocolate, warmth brings about some nuttiness
T: tastes more like a porter than a brown ale, with coffee and bitter chocolate.
M: rather bubbly, overall smooth
O/D: just barely on the line between a sipper and a regular drinker.

Serving type: bottle

03-17-2011 05:47:58 | More by rootbeerman

89Vision

Virginia

4.45/5  rDev +17.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Poured from a 12 oz bottle into a chalice.

I've had this beer on tap and in the bottle several times, and is quite good. It pours a deep brown, almost black color, with a thin one finger tan head.

The smell is nice.. woody, roasted smell, with some definite chocolate/cocoa coming through. The hops come through some as well.

The taste is about what you'd expect from the smell: malty, chocolate flavors with some fairly strong hoppiness. I've had this beer straight from the bottle on a camping trip, and tasted quite a bit different; mainly the chocolate/cocoa flavor didn't really come through, and was dominated by the strong hop profile. The alcohol comes through a little as well, but compliments the flavor nicely.

The mouthfeel is a little thin for the flavor, and isn't quite as smooth as I think it could be. Its definitely drinkable though. I could drink this all night on a cool fall evening.

Serving type: bottle

10-29-2010 02:55:42 | More by 89Vision

MrOH

Pennsylvania

3.95/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance: cloudy dark brown with big fluffy tan head and decent lacing. Only real detractor is HUGE chunks of yeast from overzealous pour

Smell: raisins, prunes, sherry, chocolate wrapped together and delivered quite elegantly

Taste: the nose with a definite bready, roasty malt sweetness

Mouthfeel: medium bodied with a good carbonation and a slightly sticky finish

Drinkability: A great fall beer for sitting on the porch as the world passes by, but I wouldn't want to drink more than one.

Over all, the best I've had from Buffalo Creek, and the only real detractors were the appearance of flocculated yeast and that it's kinda reaching into Dubbel territory. Hell, they ought to just label this a dubbel and it might have gotten better marks.

Serving type: bottle

10-04-2010 23:29:49 | More by MrOH

CpnYates

Virginia

4.08/5  rDev +7.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Purchased at the exceptional Vintage Cellar Blacksburg.

2.10 for the 12oz single. 1 Liter bottles available as well.

My second offering from this small local brewery, and I must say, I am really pleased with this one. Almost a stronger more potent version of Legend's Brown ale this beer strikes a good balance of hops/ malt for me.

Poured into a non descript pint glass, this beer has a diet coke like apperance. A product of the roasted malts maybe? But Im digging it. The smell is really dominated by the hoppiness, but the malt comes thru in the taste and the mouth feel.

A really good beer, happy to have this as a local option.

Serving type: bottle

11-03-2009 01:53:06 | More by CpnYates

hopdog

Pennsylvania

3/5  rDev -21.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

12oz bottle shared courtesy of Josh.

Poured a medium reddish/brownish color with an averaged sized off white head. Aromas of roastiness with some nuttiness. Tastes of roast, nuts, and some lighter caramel. Drinkable if not memorable.

Notes from and tasted on: 8/15/09

Serving type: bottle

08-16-2009 00:23:41 | More by hopdog

bamadog

Kentucky

3.58/5  rDev -5.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from the bottle into a pint glass.

Appearance: Pours a nice deep dark brown that has some very slight ruby highlights when held to the light; head is just over one finger in depth and is a light tan color and fades very quickly -- th ehead is made up of mostly larger bubbles and looks more like the bubbles that sit on top of a glass of chocolate milk.

Smell: The first that jumps out of the nose to me is actually a slight hoppy bitterness that holds a mild citric attribute, but beyond that, the nose is weak.

Taste: Wow - the hop is definitely in the forefront of the mouth and it definitely exhibits that orange peel aspect; there is also a sweet and burnt sugary maltiness with a faint hint of chocolate in the backing, but the hops really kind of own the flavor; in the aftertaste there is a slight burnt coffee roastiness as well.

Mouthfeel: A slightly thin body that is just a little creamy and smooth; it provides a very slight stickiness that holds the bitterness to the palate.

Drinkability: It's not bad; I like the mouthfeel, and while I would have expected something that is just a bit sweeter, I can also appreciate the taste despite scoring it a little lower.

Serving type: bottle

07-19-2009 01:14:14 | More by bamadog

msubulldog25

Oregon

3.8/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Prior to his West Coast vacay, Metalmonk sent ahead a handful of bottles from this Virginian brewery. This is a 12 oz. bottle, poured to a pint glass.

A: Brown, very brown. It would be hard find a more brown Brown Ale. Nice head, a creamy/sudsy off-white finger's worth, drops but never dissipates.

S: Modest earthy/cocoa shavings aroma.

T: Heavier toasted/burnt malt flavor, spiced chocolate (nutmeg?). Strong ' nutty' roast gives way at times to sweeter toffee and maybe some vanilla.

M: Thickened feel, not surprising as it tops 7.5% abv. A little heavy, but coats nicely, has a creamy consistency.

D: A tasty beer, even if a little less 'drinkable' with that elevated ABV. Glad to have received two, and definitely glad for the try from a rather obscure, otherwise unreachable brewery - thanks, Jeff!

Serving type: bottle

05-23-2009 19:43:48 | More by msubulldog25

Metalmonk

North Carolina

3.78/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Well heck, it sure is brown--a nice, chocolatey brown with a thin tight head that simmers down quickly to a skim, at best.

Prominent roast in the nose, lightly nutty and even subtler chocolate, with a lactic sweetness that provides welcome depth. Overall pretty tame but it has a pureness that is appreciated.

At first flavors of cola and root beer jump out, but then a strong coffee/roast flavor comes through, as does a deep dark chocolate bitterness, which lingers into the finish along with the roast. Fairly dry, light to medium bodied, with a healthy carbonation that's just rounded enough to keep it from spiking like soda.

A smoother, chewier texture would've made it a true treat, but all in all this is a strong brown ale for fans of the style and even those, like me, who generally don't get too excited about your basic American browns. Shooting Creek are certainly a welcome addition to the Blue Ridge landscape.

Serving type: bottle

04-28-2009 02:12:52 | More by Metalmonk

wchesak

Virginia

4.15/5  rDev +9.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

put in a La Fin du Monde Tulip

A - very dark, almost stout like in color, with barely a hint of red at the bottom of the glass, one a half fingers worth of tan head that leaves very nice head already

S - good roasty malts at the front with citrus hops at the end

T - dry and malty, with an almost cocoa mixed with coffee flavor that leads to a bitter, dry hop finish

M - good carbonation and smooth

D - hardly pick up on the abv at all, the other flavors mask it well, so glad this brewery got off the ground

Serving type: bottle

03-28-2009 02:07:58 | More by wchesak