Naramata Nut Brown Ale - Cannery Brewing Company

49degrees

British Columbia (Canada)

4.08/5  rDev +11.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

The Cannery Brewing Company is one of the province's newest microbreweries. Located in the heart of the Okanagan Valley, Cannery swung open its doors in October 2001. While the area itself has fast become world renowned for its high-class wines, the Okanagan Valley (or "Interior" as it is often referred to here in Vancouver) has also seen an abundant growth in the microbrewery community.

The Naramata Nut Brown ale is perhaps the catchiest release (taste wise) from this newbie brewer, as they've recently released this ale in an unorthodox 1000ml (1 litre) flip-top bottle. My particular bottle was hand stamped as Bottle #020746, which is a relatively high number for a micro brew in British Columbia, considering they don’t offer their brews in anything less than a 650ml bottle. Many other regional microbrewies have recently unveiled offerings in the sub 10,000 bottle range, so this one at 20K+, in addition to being the first time I've run across it, is a fairly big endeavor.

As for the beer itself, I was pleasantly surprised. The Nut Brown Ale seems to be a popular jumping off point for local breweries, who have generally pigeon holed themselves in the Pale Ale, Amber, Lager, and Cream Ale varieties. Sadly, most of the Nut Brown releases of late have had a varying degree of success. This one thankfully, would be rated amongst the better quality releases.

Naramata pours a very deep amber-toned brown color with a super large head. The head is very slow to dissipate, never lowering itself below a 1/6" sturdy surface foam. Lacing on the glass is quite hefty for this style featuring long streaming foam patches along the glass.

Aroma-wise, this one presents a nice even blend of malts along with a hearty punch of roasted nuts and even a slight hint of chocolate. Little to no hop factor is present in the bouquet but that makes room for plenty of sweetness including an almost toffeeish tinge.

Taste-wise, the carbonation factor is reasonable for this one, which really helps ensure that the malt combinations don’t overpower the brew itself rendering it as flat mess. Cannery has sufficiently addressed the flatness factor that sometimes plagues this style.

This is a reasonably impressive beer from a market newbie. I anticipate future opportunities to enjoy their beer and hope that finding something on draught will be a reality at some point soon.

[ STATS:>> SERVING: 1000 ml bottle / ABV: 5.5% / PRICE: $7.40 CAD ~ $4.87 USD ]

Serving type: bottle

02-23-2003 08:55:09 | More by 49degrees