All Hail Michael Harkness once more, for he was most generous in providing me with another beer to sample: Bell's Best Brown Ale. I'm enjoying this one tonight with a fine bowl of Beef and Barley soup. Ya see, as a recent college graduate living on my own, much of my food & beer pairings consist of what Chefs Campbell and Progresso have made available to me.Appearance: Umm, brown? Hazy and hard to see through. Perfect match to my soup, which is also quite brown (I promise this will be a review of the beer, not the soup). The beer poured a nice 2 or 3 finger head which settled to a thin covering that remained until the end. Pretty serious lacing as well.
Smell: Roasted malts are prevalent here, with a little hop bitterness at the edges.
Taste: The taste was the same deal. Very smooth malt flavor, with a nice bitter hop kick that sticks to the back of your throat.
Mouthfeel: Moderately carbonated, felt a little smoother and thicker than the Brian Boru from yesterday.
Drinkability: This was very drinkable. Smooth and toasty, felt light enough to have a few in a row.
--Edit: Fixed the ABV
3 comments:
Had this same beer on Sunday. 5.8% abv, not what you stated. Nothing jumped out to me...just a hint of oak nutty malts and no hops on my palette. It is a well made beer from an awesome brewery Bell's, but a Brown ale is just not my favorite style I feel.
Fixed the ABV. I think it went well with the meal I was having, but its not a beer that hits you in the face by any means. Pretty subdued.
I think we are seeing a trend with the Brown Ales that they aren't really our favorites, even though we are tasting some good quality ones for the style.
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