Nut Brown Ale - Ithaca Beer Company

depechemode1983

Texas

4.03/5  rDev +11.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A- Pours a very dark brown color, almost black. Its has a brown head with excellent retention. Minimal lacing on this one.

S- Excellent nose. Sweet toasted caramel, dark fruits like raisins and plums. Semi sweet bitter chocolate comes through, and lots of roasted nuttiness. Very aromatic.

T- Very tasty. Mainly toasted oats, roasted coffee, and dark chocolates come through. The nutty quality come in towards the finish and leave a lingering toasty aftertaste.

M- A bit light bodied. Smooth and with medium carbonation.

D/N- This one has awesome drinkability. Its comparable to Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale, one of my favorites.

Serving type: bottle

01-15-2011 22:11:08 | More by depechemode1983

John

New York

4/5  rDev +10.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A fine example of the brown ale style. Medium-full bodied, rocky tan head.

Serving type: bottle

10-18-2001 15:56:13 | More by John

kbub6f

New York

4/5  rDev +10.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

On tap at the Pier House restaurant in Geneva, New York.

By the time the beer arrived at the table, the whitish head was mostly gone, leaving a ring and film. Some spotty, runny lacing. The beer is dark brown, kind of a dark tar-like caramel. Nice.

There's toffee, malt and a little chocolate in the nose. The front is deep and malty toffee. A nice touch of fruit pops up in the middle: plums? There's also lots of chocolate and a little coffee with burnt sugar. The finish is fresh, leaving toasted grains, coffee and chocolate. I really quite like this.

Serving type: on-tap

06-04-2003 14:51:55 | More by kbub6f

WesWes

New York

4/5  rDev +10.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

The beer pours a dark amber/brown color with an offwhite head that laces the top of the glass. The nose is of toasted malts and nuts. The taste is good. A nice balance between pale, crystal, and victory malts. There is low hopping and a nice "brown type" aftertaste. The beer is medium bodied and is quite drinkable. I'm from this area and drink this beer often. The Nut Brown Ale is one of their best sellers and best tasting beers. It's not the best one of this style, but it's also not the worst.

Serving type: bottle

06-20-2003 14:48:46 | More by WesWes

kkosmoski

New York

4/5  rDev +10.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

A nice dense tannish head atop a medium brown/red brew. Some pretty good stick to the side of the pint.

A very nice aromatic malt smell wafts out of the pint with toasty, caramel, and roasted qualities.

Some roasty malt flavors to start out followed by some sweeter undertones and a nice grainy base malt foundation. There are some 'nutty' flavors in there suggesting some toasted malts, as the name would suggest. A very malty brew, hops are barely recognized and only there for balancing out the malt.

A little more carbonation than I would like to see for an English Brown. Light to medium-bodied. This would make a pretty good session beer, nice flavor and drinkability.

Serving type: on-tap

09-20-2006 20:24:48 | More by kkosmoski

tgbljb

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +10.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured a deep reddish brown color with sparse off-white head.
Smell is a nice combination of chocolate, roasted malt and over-ripe fruit.
Taste also shows a dark fruitiness, along with some coffee and chocolate notes.
Rich and full in mouth with a nice nutty finish. A opleasant mild bitterness also begins to show through as the beer slowly warms.
Nice beer with good drinkability. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Serving type: bottle

01-09-2007 00:19:33 | More by tgbljb

GratefulBeerGuy

New Hampshire

4/5  rDev +10.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

AP: Dark brown with ruby-red hues...looks a bit like rootbeer. Also features a nice constant, mocha colored head dssipates slow and remains very foamy with minor lacing.

Nose: Roasty coffee, nutty malt, brown sugar, zesty and lively hops.

Flavor: A honey-roasted coffee malt delight with a subtle current of vanilla and peanut butter and a very nice peppery bite-like hop finish. Very effective.

Feel: Medium bodied, crisp but soft and smooth going down.

DA: This is a good brown ale.

Serving type: bottle

08-18-2007 17:15:04 | More by GratefulBeerGuy

OldSchoolGamer

Ohio

4/5  rDev +10.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Ithaca is definetly one of best brewers out of New York. Almost all their beers have been quite good. This is another solid outing from them. Here is my review:

A: Pours a very dark, brown. Almost opaque with just touches of red around the edges. Head is on the tan side, but is actually quite minimal.

S/T: The aroma is very robust. Lots of caramel, brown sugar, nuttyness, and toasted malts. Flavor is also robust and quite complex, which is uncommon for a Brown Ale. Lots of toasted and roasted malts. Also quite a bit of coffee, brown sugar, caramel, and a touch of chocolate. The nuttyness is also present. I am really surprised with this one. Loads of excellent malt flavor and complexity. Easily one of the best Brown Ales I have had to date.

M/D: Mouthfeel is medium-bodied. Nice and creamy with a somewhat dry finish. Drinks very well. Like I said, this is one of the best Brown Ales I have had to date. So if you like Brown Ales, don't hesitate to pick this one up.

I wasn't expecting much from this brew, but I was more than impressed. Considering I have been drinking a lot of Imperial Stouts lately, I am still impressed with this beers strong, complex, and robust flavor. The only other Browns I like are Mikkeller Jackie Brown, Rogue Hazelnut, and Dogfish India Brown. This one is right up there with the best.

Serving type: bottle

01-31-2010 20:43:53 | More by OldSchoolGamer

mikesgroove

South Carolina

4/5  rDev +10.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a thick dark brown, almost black with a 1 inch caramel head, quickly fades, with some residual lace. Smell right off is chocolate, spice, and caramel. Taste is almost coffee like, very nice actually, with a good hoppy after taste. This was very smoothe, somewhat thick but not overally so at all. Its seems very drinkable and I was suprised

Serving type: bottle

05-21-2011 00:17:58 | More by mikesgroove

tdm168

North Carolina

4/5  rDev +10.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a deep brown with a reddish hue. There's a 1/2" of brownish, thick, foamy head with decent retention. The nose has notes of caramel, coffee, and roasted malt. The taste nutty with notes of coffee and caramel. The coffee and roasted malts play a large role here. The nutty flavor is earthy and hangs around on the palate for quite a while. The mouthfeel is medium bodied, smooth, and well carbonated.

This is a pretty good beer, but for the style the roasty, coffee-like notes are a little intense. It's definitely worth checking out.

Serving type: bottle

12-08-2011 20:57:27 | More by tdm168

Brabander

Netherlands

4/5  rDev +10.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

This is overall a very nice English brown ale! I got this bottle a few weeks ago in a trade.

Poured in my Struise glass this beer looks good, nice darkbrown fluid with a decent head. Nice carbonation and hardly no lacing.

Smell of coffee and dito coffee taste. I also thought that there were some hazelnuts in this beer. Soft sweet.

Serving type: bottle

01-29-2012 21:32:11 | More by Brabander

Edwaka01

New York

4/5  rDev +10.8%
look: 3 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Poured into imperial pint.

A - Dark brown. Garnet hues shining through when held to light. No head worth talking about, lacing on top of beer though.

S - Coffee, roasted malts, vanilla.

T - Coffee, toffee, roasted malts, hazlenut?, vanilla.

M - Full bodied, nothing special here.

O - One of the first craft beers I ever loved, so I'll always have a soft spot for this one, no matter how many better beers I try. All biases aside, this is still awesome.

Serving type: bottle

03-10-2012 23:58:52 | More by Edwaka01

Chaney

District of Columbia

4/5  rDev +10.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I had this on-tap at Valhalla in NYC.

Served in a pint glass.

A: Poured out a brown color that was substantially more cloudy in the middle and fairly transparent around the edges. The slight head, while small, still stuck around for a good bit.

S: Both nutty and caramely, farily potent, and with a fresh brown sugar bill along with a lit-kerosene lamp type of fiery smokiness.

T: Yep, lots of roast on this one... more so than many people had given it credit for even. It reminded me somewhat of Alaskan Smoked Porter in this regard.

M: Much more nutty and smokey that mapley or syrupy, with no booze detected, and some moderate lacing left on the glass.

O: Either I was just in the mood for this type of brew or maybe I'm just more of a fan of this style than most. Nevertheless, I thought this was tasty.

Serving type: on-tap

09-09-2012 23:28:00 | More by Chaney

JCBears

Pennsylvania

3.98/5  rDev +10.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Had this at a real nice resturant/bar in Newark NY My frst impression was the weak head how ever once getting a wif of this ale i couldnt help but think of deep rich wanut trees. The lacking mouthfeel was more than made up for in flavor however I was hoping the whole time this was naturally produced flavor and not from extract. Nice brew worth another one just for the smell.

Serving type: on-tap

05-03-2006 20:12:34 | More by JCBears

LarryV

Massachusetts

3.98/5  rDev +10.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a deep reddish brown color with a disappointing head. Malty aroma with hints of molasses and caramel. Taste is robust with a big malt backbone, strong hints of molasses and overtones of caramel and chocolate. Not overly sweet, rather nicely balanced. Medium bodied mouthfeel with slightly agressive carbonation.

Seems like a well done version and one of the better nut browns that I've tried. Pretty easy to toss a few of these back.

Serving type: bottle

09-08-2006 11:19:32 | More by LarryV

TheManiacalOne

Rhode Island

3.98/5  rDev +10.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 12oz. bottle into a US tumbler pint glass.

A: The beer is a deep brown color with a thin off-white head that fades quickly and leaves a thin lace on the glass.

S: The aroma is strong with roasted nuts, caramel, dark malts, some chocolate and a little bit of hops.

T: The taste is smoky and malty, with flavors of nuts, caramel and chocolate. There’s a little bit of hops in there. The after-taste is bready and slightly sweet. This one certainly put the “nut” in “nut brown”.

M: Crisp and very smooth, medium body, medium carbonation, finish is clean.

D: Tasty, goes down very easily, not very filling, excellent representation of style, this is easily the second best beer in Ithaca’s mix 12-pack behind Cascazilla and one of the better beers that I’ve had in the style.

Serving type: bottle

02-15-2007 05:45:10 | More by TheManiacalOne

aepb1

Florida

3.98/5  rDev +10.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A big thanks to BA vapodge for letting me in on this one!

A- Deep brown body with a tan, airy head

S- Caramel and spice and a little hint of maltiness

T- Roasty caramel and coffee maltiness, sweet middle and a spicy finish

M- Medium-bodied with moderate carbonation

O- Not had such a big roasty presence in this style and I dig it

Serving type: bottle

06-11-2011 15:25:37 | More by aepb1

smcolw

Massachusetts

3.95/5  rDev +9.4%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Nice beige head that dies too quickly for my tastes. Light slippery lace. Nice reddish brown color, quite clear.

Excellent chocolate aromas. No hop smells, but smells great regardless.

Pleasant dark malt tastes, although the chocolate is far more muted here. The body is very good for the style. Hop bitterness shows up on the swallow.

This is an easily consumed ale. Very flavorful and aromatic--a beautiful brown.

Serving type: bottle

06-14-2007 22:57:08 | More by smcolw

HopDerek

Pennsylvania

3.95/5  rDev +9.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Pours a clear deep ruby red color with 2 fingers of bubbly tan head that settles into 1 finger of creamy tan head and good lacing. Smells of nuts, chocolate, roasted grain, and a hint of citrus. Tastes of molasses, nuts, toffee, chocolate, and roasted grain with a touch of citrusy hops in the finish. Medium in body with good carbonation, sweet, nutty, and roasty with a slight citrus finish. More sweet and less roasty than other nut brown ales, but quite enjoyable and easy to drink with a good balance of flavors.

Serving type: bottle

07-07-2008 11:59:02 | More by HopDerek

lovindahops

New York

3.95/5  rDev +9.4%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from bottle into tulip glass

A- another dark brew with a decent head that disappears quickly.

S- coffee, chocolate, and pecans. Some earthy tones as well. I do like the presence of the pecans to make the theme credible.

T- dark malt and nutty themes. The malt overthrows some slightly bitter hops. The nut-like flavor remains which is good

M- creamy and filling

D- good brew. Not many profiles out there like this. The biggest advantage for me was that the beer stayed true to it's malty flavors that was expected. I recommend it

Serving type: bottle

04-11-2010 03:25:42 | More by lovindahops

ngeunit1

California

3.95/5  rDev +9.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A - Pours a dark brown color that is just slightly clear around the edges and a find of frothy off-white head atop. The head fades down to a ring around the edges lacing nicely in the process.

S - Aroma is a mix of sweet roasted caramel malts and lots of nutty aromas. Also a touch of coffee mixed in as well.

T - Starts off with some nice roasted flavors and a bit of coffee flavor mixed in. Through the middle some nutty flavors come out alongside some stronger roasted flavor. The finish is a mix of roasted coffee and some sweet caramel that lingers nicely.

M - Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Feels smooth and fairly crisp. The roasted flavors really linger nicely on the tongue. Feels a touch watery.

D - Very drinkable. The flavors are for the most part nicely balanced and I like the nuttiness in the beer. The sweetness and roasted flavors are also really nicely balanced.

Serving type: bottle

05-20-2011 21:16:26 | More by ngeunit1

tobelerone

New Jersey

3.95/5  rDev +9.4%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Very small fizzy head dissipates almost instantly; leaving pretty much no lacing at all. Semi-opaque, reddish-brown color.

Nice nose full of dark malts, vaguely roasty and nutty. A hint of sweetness.

Taste follows the nose and is led by the dark malt, with a very subdued hops presence; extremely low bitterness. Lightly toasty and nutty with traces of caramel and maybe a little coffee in the finish.

Medium carbonation, fairly short and dry finish. Easy to drink, a nice brown, nothing earth-shattering but very pleasant on a cool fall evening in upstate New York.

Serving type: bottle

10-25-2011 13:45:37 | More by tobelerone

BlurryVisi0n

New York

3.95/5  rDev +9.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Appearance: pours a dark brown, slightly malty looking head was roughly 1/2" came off a light tan.

Smell: smells off light coffee, not as strong as I would expect but definitely worth inhaling.

Taste: light coffee, slight chocolate. Easy to drink and very easy to love.

Mouth: medium carbonation might be heavy to some. Backwash of the taste if pretty evident.

Overall: one of my better favorites already when it comes to the brown ale category. I would say my 3rd favorite...might be a go to in almost any occasion, hope you enjoy....Cheers to all!

Serving type: on-tap

12-29-2011 00:09:00 | More by BlurryVisi0n

far333

Connecticut

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

Clear ruby-chestnut colo with a beige retiring head. Inviting aroma of sweet toasted malt and some hops. flavor is surprisingly smokey upfront, some toasted malt and resinous powdered cocoa, charred bark, and faint hints of honey and maple syrup. mouthfeel is smooth but somewhat tannic, moderately carbed. Surprised by the smoke in a nut brown, but it's a decent drinkable beer.

Serving type: bottle

02-05-2006 14:18:03 | More by far333

JMD71

Massachusetts

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

Appearance: A medium pour results in a solid head of tight bubbles. 1/2 finger of head remains for a few minutes. Deep caramel brown color with only traces of light permeating.

Aroma: Pwerful Hazlenut,caramel & even chocolate noted in the aroma. Definitely nutty aroma dominant. Sweet with no hop profile detected.

Taste: Rich, flavorful brown ale. Caramel malts contribute to sweet, nutty flavor. Nutty aroma comes through in the flavor as well. Slight bitterness in the middle & finish makes it very well balanced.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied. Perfect level of carbonation makes this refreshing. Crish & clean on the palette.

Drinkability: Highly drinkable. Very smooth & refreshing. Not overly heavy on the palette & not cloying at all.

Comments: I truly enjoed this, my first sample of Ithaca's lineup. Very full flavored without being too heavy or cloying. Very nicely balanced. Look out for this brown ale. Its worth it!

Serving type: bottle

08-27-2006 23:43:40 | More by JMD71