On tap at Shepherd & Knucklehead, sweet bourbon-honeyed brown ale expands stylish horizons. Made in oak bourbon barrels, its brown chocolate continuance picks up dark cocoa, molasses, vanilla, toasted coconut and toffee illusions. Nutty tobacco roast found at recess, but advertised ginger influence seems nebulous.

On tap at Aidan’s, impenetrable autumn ’14 seasonal never clearly defines ‘brown ale’ status since stylish mocha nuttiness plays possum. Instead, minor molasses-like Vermont maple syrup adjunct barely affects latent dark-roasted chocolate malting and leafy hop oiling. Timid brown-sugared spicing and barren nuttiness lost in a wave of carbolic fluff.

Insufficient canned brown ale suffers a tad from a certain phenol hop aridity that interferes with the dark-roasted caramel creaming, toffee-candied brown chocolate sweetness and wavered coffee midst. Mild molasses milking seeps thru thin Graham Cracker spine.

Fabulous medium-bodied brown ale relies on toasted coconut uprising, milky black chocolate follow-up and creamy caramel malted sweetness. Subtle ashen hop char  embitters mighty mocha mesh. Beneath prominent chocolate-fudged coconut resilience lies sugared almond, vanilla, cola and hazelnut whimsicality. A perfectly sweet dessert.

Enticing “ancho brownie ale” (loosely defined as a porter or strong ale) brings lightly roasted chili pepper burn to massive mocha malting and sedate nuttiness. Bittersweet black chocolate, dried cocoa and cacao nibs perfectly juxtapose heavenly jalapeno heat. Cola, hazelnut and salted nut illusions shuffle below the surface next to lesser molasses cookie, bourbon and cinnamon snips.

Efficient canned brown ale brings dark-roasted walnut and creamy hazelnut to rangy mocha contingent. Black chocolate, sugared coffee, cocoa powder and peanut buttered nougat illusions reinforced by burnt caramel sweetness.

Naturally nuttier than brewers’ Ultrahighfrequency, draping dark-roasted chocolate malts across maple-glazed walnut, pecan and hazelnut illusions. Smoky mocha assertiveness gains prominence after the first few sips. Piney citrus hop bittering deepens over time.

Though its brown ale styling may be a misnomer, pleasantly crystalline holiday seasonal (2014) wisely keeps it simple. Toasted almond, roasted chestnut and walnut-shelled pecan nuttiness fleetingly affects delicately wintry nutmeg-cinnamon spicing and red-fruited caramel malting. Subtle cherry, grape, peach and apple illusions forge forth above ashen nuttiness and soft spruce salience. Delicate hop zip adds mild finishing astringency.

Consummate rich brown ale loads hickory-smoked walnut-hazelnut-pecan peanut shelling inside dark-roasted chocolate malts and buckwheat-toasted cookie dough yeast. Embittered charcoal-stained hop char contrasts sweet mocha side as ancillary Blackstrap molasses, ground coffee, vanilla bean and espresso llusions fill out the deep back end of this unspecifically stylized, yet distinctly defined, autumn ale.

Fabulously hybridized coffee-infused brown ale skirts imperial stout and mocha porter comparisons thanks to nuttier pale malt dryness overriding dark-roasted chocolate fudging. Cold-brewed One Village espresso roast gets mixed with post-fermented Kimberton coffee to climactic perfection as its sharp hop char lingeringly enlivens the creamy java theme. Hazelnut coffee, espresso, vanilla and maple molasses tones reinforce the nutty bottom. Serve to pale ale lovers sitting on the fence about coffee-flavored brews.

On tap at Biggie’s Clam Bar in Ramsey, ill-defined brown ale loads candi-sugared Belgian yeast and caramel-roasted dried fruiting into winter warmer-like spicing. Lack of stylistic nuttiness is stifling. Distant chestnut, pecan and praline tones lack luster. In the midst, sharp peppery hops contrast black cherry, bruised banana and fig notions as well as treacly vanilla sweetness. In the bottle, wintry copper-cleared moderation layers sporadic holiday-spiced caramel, toffee and chocolate sweetness above Belgian-sugared dried fruiting as well as roasted wheat malting. Fizzy carbolics deaden peppery yeast impact and subtle raisin-fig-plum conflux, leaving phenol hop astringency in its wake. 

Generously detailed mocha-nutty dried fruiting sweetens above minor citra hop bittering. Black cherry, black grape, blackberry and soured prune influence roasted chocolate-cocoa malting as well as penetrating hazelnut-walnut-cola nut resilience. Black-breaded pumpernickel spine picks up brown-sugared molasses sapping.