Saranac Season's Best - Nut Brown Lager - Matt Brewing Company

Jason

Massachusetts

3.58/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Presentation: 12 oz brown bottle with no freshness date.

Appearance: Deep amberish brown, very clear with two fingers of head … good head retention.

Smell: Bit of nutty dextrin with a faint malt sweetness

Taste & Mouth Feel: Medium body with a thin crispness off of a moderate carbonation. Lots of highly toasted malt on the palate right from the beginning, with a lingering burnt caramel and husk flavor. Touch of soft hop oil shows enough bitterness to balance. Clean with a semi-dry finish.

Drinkability & Notes: Well balanced, lots of malt character for a filtered beer. One of the better beers I have had from this brewery.

Serving type: bottle

02-04-2005 23:20:13 | More by Jason

sackboy

New York

3.75/5  rDev +7.4%

05-13-2013 20:12:28 | More by sackboy

OldhouseRecs

North Carolina

3.25/5  rDev -6.9%

05-12-2013 02:08:50 | More by OldhouseRecs

schaffer9252

New York

3.5/5  rDev +0.3%

05-04-2013 17:44:11 | More by schaffer9252

brheuer

New Jersey

4/5  rDev +14.6%

03-24-2013 15:03:15 | More by brheuer

BGsWo22

New York

1.25/5  rDev -64.2%

03-20-2013 23:41:30 | More by BGsWo22

CountryRock2001

New York

3.75/5  rDev +7.4%

02-24-2013 22:28:12 | More by CountryRock2001

ChrisCage

Alberta (Canada)

3.88/5  rDev +11.2%
look: 5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

From Notes....

A- Pours a mainly clear coppery color with orange/red hues lurking in the background. The head is superb, being a solid three fingers thick, and it slowly settles down into a thick meringue like layer over the brew. I should note that it is also a light caramel color overall. The lacing is also excellent, as thick, dense bubbles cling to the glass throughout the entirety of the brew. A very impressive looking beer!

S- I can't say that this has an overall Vienna Lager type aroma. While I did find this to have a much more dominant hop aroma than I would have envisioned, it still does have malt sweetness, that smelled somewhat honeyed. I suppose there is some nuttiness hidden in there as well, but it is muted.

T- The flavors follow the aromas fairly close, with nice caramel malts that are sweet like toffee/honey, but there is also quite a bitter hop flavor profile that reminded me more of a pale ale, with citrus like tang and some cloves/pepper spice mixed in. The finish is bittering and dry.

M- This wasn't a thick beer, but has a solid medium body. The carbonation was somewhere in between creamy and palate scrubbing, but it helped to enhance the richness of the flavors.

O- This is a very decent beer, although I don't find it to match up to the style listed here. It is well balanced between sweet and bitter, and it is more suited to be an APA in my opinion. I like it and think it would go better with a steak dinner rather than on its own. I would get this again if given the chance and recommend it to fellow BA's!!

Serving type: bottle

01-30-2013 22:50:17 | More by ChrisCage

DmanGTR

New York

3.5/5  rDev +0.3%

01-29-2013 16:38:28 | More by DmanGTR

FCRICH

New York

3.25/5  rDev -6.9%

01-24-2013 01:35:56 | More by FCRICH

phishbone23

New York

3/5  rDev -14%

01-23-2013 19:54:14 | More by phishbone23

OldTime

Georgia

3.75/5  rDev +7.4%

01-12-2013 03:22:24 | More by OldTime

chefduff2

New York

2.5/5  rDev -28.4%

01-05-2013 22:46:39 | More by chefduff2

kizyle

Georgia

3.25/5  rDev -6.9%

01-04-2013 18:10:59 | More by kizyle

Sipchue

Pennsylvania

3.5/5  rDev +0.3%

12-31-2012 00:11:50 | More by Sipchue

chucksim

Pennsylvania

3.5/5  rDev +0.3%

12-26-2012 17:22:28 | More by chucksim

cliff1066

Virginia

3.5/5  rDev +0.3%

12-11-2012 02:01:39 | More by cliff1066

stxp

New York

3.1/5  rDev -11.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

appearance: dark brown, very clean/clear, frothy head, long lace

smell: malty, slight hops, slight fusels

taste: dry bready malt, a bit peppery, slight bitterness up front, fast, slightly dry

mouthfeel: hoppy spice at the beginning, smooths out to a malty alcoholic feel, thick, dry finish

overall: not overly spicy as the style would indicate, hoppy for a brown, hops a bit unbalanced and simple

Serving type: bottle

12-11-2012 01:01:42 | More by stxp

Damian74Shensky

South Carolina

3/5  rDev -14%

12-07-2012 22:53:47 | More by Damian74Shensky

GFD400

New York

3.75/5  rDev +7.4%

12-05-2012 02:35:43 | More by GFD400

tempest

Pennsylvania

3.28/5  rDev -6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Cracked open a bottle to wash down some korean takeout. It poured a clear brown with a short, white head. The aroma is a mix of toasty malt and honey. The flavor has a slightly nutty character with the caramel malts, but it also tastes like a there's a little adjunct (corn, I think) mixed in. Overall, this kind of tastes like a slightly darker Yuengling lager. Saranac makes better beer. I'd stick to with the Black Forest.

Serving type: bottle

12-02-2012 02:33:18 | More by tempest

Thunderballroom

New York

4/5  rDev +14.6%

11-28-2012 03:57:28 | More by Thunderballroom

LJWalker

Alabama

3.75/5  rDev +7.4%

11-19-2012 03:12:08 | More by LJWalker

flannelandbrews

3.43/5  rDev -1.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5

A pretty good season beer.

Head pours up with a shade of deep brown. acceptable for a nut ale.

Its best to let it breath well before you drink it. It had a wonderful spice note complemented the powerful nut flavor. only down side is the spice sat pretty heavy in my mouth after I drank. Overall a pretty good beer.

Serving type: bottle

11-09-2012 14:13:23 | More by flannelandbrews

cbord459

New York

4/5  rDev +14.6%

11-01-2012 15:50:25 | More by cbord459