He'Brew Messiah Nut Brown Ale - Shmaltz Brewing Company

jar2574

Missouri

2.55/5  rDev -29.4%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 3

Dark brown beer, ruby red at the edges when held up to light. Some lacing on the way down but not that much head after my pour. Smell is pretty faint, smells like malts and mollases. Tastes slightly sweet like maple syrup. Nutty. No hops to speak of. A thin mouthfeel with a dry finish and slightly chalky residue on the tongue. A below-average beer. Not hard to drink but not exceptional in any way, and I'm not a fan of the mouthfeel.

Serving type: bottle

05-10-2012 01:39:29 | More by jar2574

TMoney2591

Illinois

2.83/5  rDev -21.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Served in an Ohio State shaker pint glass.

It's only fitting I be drinking this stuff here at Jon's. If only he were here... Anyway, this stuff pours a very dark sienna topped by a finger of glowing khaki foam. The nose comprises light cola, very light nuts, and a vague sense of toasted/roasted malts. Things sorta resemble old Coke that's been left out by a basket of peanuts. Something like that. The taste holds notes of light walnut, light dried maple syrup, mild toffee, and light toasted biscuit. The body is a light medium, with a light moderate carbonation and a sorta/kinda watery feel. Overall, a weak little brown ale, one that just doesn't step up enough for me.

Serving type: bottle

12-14-2012 10:59:44 | More by TMoney2591

BB1313

Ohio

2.88/5  rDev -20.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

12oz bottle poured into a snifter. Pours a very dark brown with deep ruby hues. There's an off-white head which fades pretty quickly, decent lacing and retention. The aromas are so faint and subtle. It doesn't smell bad, but it barely smells like anything. Tons of malt along with a touch of chocolate and caramel. The flavors are a little more bold, but nothing too impressive. There's a touch of maple. Subtle oak/wood flavors. More chocolate and caramel, but those flavors get lost in the big picture. There's a bitterness that lingers. Finishes dry. Mouthfeel is fine, maybe too much carbonation, but it's the least of my worries. It's still relatively smooth. But where's the nuttiness? You should really let this one warm up for the flavors and aromas to come to life.

I'm not too impressed with this one. I've always liked brown ales and I'm a sucker for "Nut Brown Ales", but this one just didn't do anything for me.

Serving type: bottle

05-06-2012 20:27:37 | More by BB1313

GossageBrewery

Missouri

3.1/5  rDev -14.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Poured this American Brown Ale from a 12 oz bottle into a pint glass. This ale poured a dark brown color, produced an average tan head, poor retention and left little lacing on the glass. The aroma consisted of toasted malt and some mild nuttiness. Medium in body, the foundation of this ale is of toasted malt, caramel and roasted nuts. Overall, this is an average brown ale, better then most, not as good as some. Decent session beer, its worth a try.

Serving type: bottle

10-24-2012 01:58:01 | More by GossageBrewery

BucannonXC5

California

3.1/5  rDev -14.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3

Type: 12-oz. bottle
Glass: Firestone pint glass
From: Holiday Wine Cellar in Escondido, Calif., on Jan. 5, 2013
Price: $1.39
Misc.: N/A

Poured a brown color with 1-2 fingers of grayish head. Sporadic lacing on the sides on the way down. Average retention on the top.

Smelled roasty nutty malts up front. Then got caramel, toffee and chocolate malts. That’s about it, but it was plenty. Nice on the nose.

Tasted a lot darker than the smell. Got roasty nutty malts up front, but much more bitter and grainier than the nose. Some bitter coffee beans. Grindy and earthy.

Medium-to-full body. Creamy texture. Average carbonation. Long, slightly bitter finish.

Just wasn’t really digging the taste. I don’t think I’d have this again.

Serving type: bottle

01-09-2013 06:34:20 | More by BucannonXC5

Fatehunter

Oregon

3.13/5  rDev -13.3%
look: 2.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

A thin, tan head formed but was quickly gone. The body is dark brown.
The aroma is mild roasted and chocolate malt backed up with caramel candy.
The taste maintains a moderate bitterness throughout with roasted malt and dark chocolate just showing through.
The texture is crisp with moderate carbonation.
Not bad just an average brown ale.

Serving type: bottle

02-17-2013 21:25:44 | More by Fatehunter

avalon07

South Carolina

3.15/5  rDev -12.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

A: Poured from a bottle to a pint glass. Had a brownish color, with ruby tints and a slightly hazy consistency. There was an inch of creamy, fairly long-lasting, off white head. Good lacing.

S: An underwhelming aroma of malt and the typically brown ale, nutty quality.

T: Tasted of malt, a little chocolate, light hops, and that aforementioned nuttiness. Not an awful flavor, but certainly very average, and a bit thin.

M: A good amount of carbonation with a smooth, dry finish. Medium-bodied.

O: This beer has some good attributes, but never rises above the average.

Serving type: bottle

04-16-2012 12:11:21 | More by avalon07

britzdog

Ohio

3.15/5  rDev -12.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

nice deep brown pou12 oz bottle poured into a pint glass. No freshness information.

A nice deep brown pour looking ruby in the light with decent lacing.

Has a slight nutty malt aroma with minimal hops. Not overpowering malt in the taste, actually weaker then I expected.

Not one of my favorites in this style. But definitely not the worst.

.

Serving type: bottle

07-04-2012 18:33:15 | More by britzdog

KajII

North Carolina

3.15/5  rDev -12.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25

[Suggested Glassware: Dimpled Mug]

The pour was a dark chestnut brown with an average (1-2 finger) light brown frothy head that receded at a quick steady pace, down to a very thin film and medium collar with good runny lacing.

The aroma was of roasted dark malts, light resin hops and an earthy leathery yeast with notes of toffee, chocolate, coffee and a decent nutty presence.

The taste was rather malty with a touch of chocolate and a nice toffee sweetness from the start, progressing with a slightly bitter coffee taste and a mildly roasty nutty finish. The flavor lasted an average time after the swallow with a slightly bitter roastiness left behind.

Mouthfeel was between light and medium in body and watery in texture with a medium carbonation.

Overall this was a decent enough Nut Brown with all the taste you would expect but was really nothing over the top, to sum it up it was pretty basic for the style. That being said it still was a good drinkable and tasty brew…

http://www.facebook.com/KAJIIsBeerReviews

Serving type: bottle

04-21-2013 15:25:10 | More by KajII

TheSixthRing

California

3.35/5  rDev -7.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Appearance - Pours dark brown with reddish tinge when held to the light. An off-white/light tan head builds to less than finger width before dissipating quickly, leaving behind a sparse lace.

Smell - Subtle, but malt forward aromas; faint chocolate, caramel and the faintest whiff of coffee. It's very hard to pick up.

Taste - Lots of malt sweetness up front; sugary caramel and hints of chocolate. Slightly nutty. A touch of light coffee on the back end.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied, with a fair amount of lively carbonation. The standout part of this beer.

Overall - A little too sweet and sugary for my tastes, but then again most browns are. Decent, but forgettable in the land of average browns.

Serving type: bottle

07-06-2012 04:21:53 | More by TheSixthRing

GPHarris

Alabama

3.4/5  rDev -5.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

a - poured a one finger thick bubbly, tan head into a snifter that left a thin ring throughout. the body was dark brown with some red tints.
s - bready with some semi-sweet chocolate.
t - toffee and chocolate malts with some nutty flavors.
m - medium thickness.
o - solid beer but definitely not in the top half of brown ales i have had in my life.

Serving type: bottle

12-17-2012 15:38:43 | More by GPHarris

DrDemento456

Pennsylvania

3.45/5  rDev -4.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Wow not many reviews on this one. Picked up at my local place for about 3 bucks.

A - Looks to be a great brown ale, a touch dark but clear dark wood in color with a 1/4 inch of mocha colored head that turns into a thick lace.

S - Very little actual nut or brown malt smell in the nose. Mild hops and sweet malts. Weird.

T - I want to say it's balanced but really nothing sticks out in this one. You get brown malts, mild peanut taste at best and some blended hop bitterness in the finish with again mild brown malts. Not bad overall just nothing that screams "nut brown ale"

M - Light to medium it drinks quite nice.

Overall with it's "limited" release and availability it's really not going to be in my fridge again any time soon. Hopefully the dry hopped session ale will be better.

Serving type: bottle

04-24-2012 23:53:03 | More by DrDemento456

UCLABrewN84

California

3.45/5  rDev -4.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours a clear but super dark brown with a 1/2 inch foamy khaki head that settles to an oily film on top of the beer. Small streaks of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of toasted malt and some nutty aromas. Not too much going on in the smell department unfortunately. Taste is of toasted and almost burnt malt, toasted nuts, and slight caramel flavors. There is a mild roasty bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a good level of carbonation with a crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a pretty good brown ale with some nice toasty and roasty flavors.

Serving type: bottle

05-27-2012 21:20:44 | More by UCLABrewN84

EricCioe

Montana

3.45/5  rDev -4.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours deep brown with a khaki head. Nose is lots of wet grain and roasted malt without a lot of heft behind it. In the mouth it opens up a bit with some chocolate and roast and an excellent, totally drinkable body. Carbonation makes it feel almost on nitro.

Overall this isn't a bad brew but there are better nut browns available locally for me.

Serving type: bottle

12-02-2012 01:06:09 | More by EricCioe

lacqueredmouse

Australia

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

Purchased at Berkeley Bowl West in Berkeley, CA.

Pours a mild brown colour, with good clarity, but almost no head—what forms is a fine ring of flimsy suds. Very light body, no lacing. Overall, it looks pretty insipid, to be perfectly honest.

Nose is mild and pleasantly grainy, with an organic, musty wholesomeness to it, but very little else. No, I lie, there is a hint of something hoppy to it, giving it a mild sweet lemon character. But this is hidden under the malt, which while dominant, is not particularly strong.

Taste is mild and grainy, with a crispness on the back that seems to come more from the carbonation than from hops. Wet malt sits on the back, cloying slightly, and giving a mustiness to the aftertaste. Feel is suitable—pretty light, but with a slickness that speaks to the malt.

Overall, it's a bit dull, but not bad. It's light, obviously designed not to overwhelm the palate. It succeeds there, at least, but there are much better beers that do the same thing.

Serving type: bottle

06-17-2012 21:45:14 | More by lacqueredmouse

MoreThanWine

Massachusetts

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

Poured a 3" beige head with good lifespan. The body in masstone is really quite dark - a burnt umber brown. Held to the light it reveals a clear mahogany. Probably the darkest nut brown ale I've seen. It smells mildly of malt, cocoa, and coffee. The taste is very mild, even milder than the smell, and it's kind of like and ultralight porter. Medium long finish. A nice enough brown ale.

Serving type: bottle

09-25-2012 09:03:58 | More by MoreThanWine

thagr81us

South Carolina

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

Served from tap into a sampler shaker. Poured a reddish brown with a half finger khaki colored head that subsided to a minimal amount slowly. There was no lacing evident throughout the glass. The aroma was comprised of sweet malt, grape, and fruit. The flavor was of sweet malt, grape, fruit, and apple. It had a light feel on the palate with mild carbonation. Overall this was a decent brew. I have to be honest that I was quite hesitant on this one as I have not found a Hebrew beer that I like yet. So I was a little afraid to try this one. However, this one wasn’t too bad. I think they made a good move making this one so simple as I think that’s where they lose me on their other brews I’ve had. This one was easy to drink, which was a nice change. Worth trying if you get the opportunity.

Serving type: on-tap

04-06-2012 15:35:06 | More by thagr81us

joemcgrath27

Alberta (Canada)

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

A - clear deep brown, thumb of tan head dissipated to a thin covering with fairly consistent lacing
S - nutty and toffee malts, brown sugar and a somewhat artificial sweet aroma, subtle citrus
T - molasses and roasted nut malt, mild earthy and citrus hop notes, burnt sugars in the finish
M - slightly heavier than medium, pleasant carbonation, a little teeth coating sweetness
O - its a solid tasty brown ale, no real wow factor anywhere, but worth a try as usual with Shmaltz

Serving type: bottle

07-31-2012 02:55:37 | More by joemcgrath27

Darkmagus82

Montana

3.53/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured from bottle into pint glass

Appearance – Pours a deep brown color with a one finger cream head. The head has a good level of retention, fading slowly over time to leave a decent level of lacing.

Smell – The aroma is one the lighter side for a nut brown. It does however have a nice sweet brown bread aroma, mixed with notes of chocolate and some nutty smells.

Taste – The taste starts out a nice blend of roasted malt and some caramel sweetness. A lighter nutty and cocoa flavor comes to the tongue more toward the middle in the taste. In the end some lighter bitter hop flavors of an earthy flavor come to the tongue and leave a roasted bitter flavor to linger on the tongue.

Mouthfeel – The body of the beer is on the thinner side with a carbonation level that is rather average. A thicker body would have definitely been better, as it would have played well for the roasted, nut and earthy flavors.

Overall – The taste is fairly nice; roasty, lightly nutty and bitter, but the other characteristics, mainly the mouthfeel take away a bit. Overall not too bad, but nothing spectacular either.

Serving type: bottle

11-01-2012 00:41:02 | More by Darkmagus82

mick303

Ontario (Canada)

3.63/5  rDev +0.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Poured a dark ruby brown, near black. A thin pale coffee lacing and film. Quite dark for the style but looks pretty good.

Smell has a ton of roasted malt. Also some fruity pear notes, coffee, nutty notes come through, some lively hop character. Nice mix of flavour here, could be melded together a bit smoother but pretty promising.

Taste has some sweet malt initially, lighter pear and notes, a fair bit of roastiness, some burnt coffee bitterness. Mostly dominated by the malt, hops are slightly earthy but mostly a tad stale and quiet. Finish is dry and slightly malty, slight dried fruit. Could be a bit more interesting.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied, mostly roast malt coating, carbonation is mild, could maybe use a bit more. It feels a quite watery. Drinkability is decent though, quite sessionable and refreshing.

A decent beer, not amazing, seems to have a lot of promise but could hold it together better. Still a pretty good session ale that I wouldn't necessarily buy again but wouldn't turn down either.

Serving type: bottle

01-11-2013 03:27:17 | More by mick303

metter98

New York

3.66/5  rDev +1.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.75

A: The beer is clear dark brownish amber in color and has a moderate amount of visible carbonation. It poured with a finger high dense beige head that gradually died down and consistently left a thin head covering the surface and a coating of bubbles down the sides of the glass.
S: There are light aromas of chocolate in the nose.
T: The taste is similar to the smell, but is a little stronger, having flavors of chocolate and nutty malts along with a very slight amount of bitterness and some hints of earthy yeast towards the finish.
M: It feels a little more than light-bodied on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This beer is quite chocolaty compared to other nut brown ales. It is also rather easy to drink.

Serving type: bottle

02-09-2013 03:19:56 | More by metter98

Blargimus

Colorado

3.68/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

12 oz bottle poured into a pint glass. No freshness information.

Pours a deep brown that turns a deep ruby when held up to light. A finger or so of tan head. Nice lacing.

Nutty malt smell, perfect to style. A hint of bitter hops.

Certainly a malt-forward brown ale. The nutty character definitely comes through strongly. Not much bitterness, but it combines with the nuttiness to cut the sweetness well.

Mouthfeel is surprisingly thin. I'm not looking for an RIS, but I could use a little more to chew on. Carbonation is good.

Another solid brew from a "novelty" brewery that appears to be not-so-novelty after all.

Serving type: bottle

05-10-2012 02:40:15 | More by Blargimus

RunForYourBeer

Indiana

3.68/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

A: Dark brown, almost black with a thin off-white head.

S: On the sweeter side. Toffee with some caramel and a bit of nuttiness.

T: Same as the smell. On the sweet side with hints of nuttiness along with some roasty flavors.

M: Light to medium with normal carbonation.

O: Good example of the style, I would like it to have a bit thicker/creamier mouthfeel.

Serving type: bottle

11-25-2012 04:01:15 | More by RunForYourBeer

Cyberkedi

Georgia

3.7/5  rDev +2.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Malty aroma has caramel and fruity notes and a hint of molasses. It pours a dark, slightly hazy cola brown with a fairly thick, fine-bubbled, pale beige head. Mouth-filling flavor has a malty core and caramel, nutty and apple tones plus a hint of - cola? Rather tasty and enjoyable. Smooth texture has average fizz and body. Worth a try.

Serving type: bottle

03-16-2012 01:40:05 | More by Cyberkedi

brewskifan55

Mississippi

3.7/5  rDev +2.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured into a NOLA beer snifter following the outset of Hurricane Isaac. (Tired of the wind and rain--need beer.)

A: Very dark brown (I like other reviewers use of the word Mahogany). A non-lingering half finger tan head. Minimal lacing.

S: Heavy malts, leather, toffee, a small gathering of nuts.

T: Malts cascaded in with a sweet caramel base, dark chocolate, nuts and lingering low hop finish. Robust. Smooth. Some coffee in the mix.

M: Medium to heavy with creamy, chewy carbonation.

O: A decent brown ale. Glad I tried it. I'd rather have more malts than hops on the finish.

Serving type: bottle

08-31-2012 15:18:11 | More by brewskifan55