Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale

Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale has gotten many great reviews from other places, including a mention in Michael Jackson's Beer Companion.  So, I decided that I would put this English Brown Ale to my own test.  I have to say that at the end of the day, I didn't have many disagreements with prior assessments of this beer.

The pour is a deep amber brown with a light tan head.  The head is glorious and it sticks around through the entire experience.  The aromas that I got from this beer where of toffee, caramel, and walnut.  It was a very inviting smell and the taste wasn't that different from the smell.  There were subtle hints of sweetness along with the strong presence of malt and walnuts with a bitter finish.

Bittersweet is the best way to describe this beer.  This is a wekk made beer that I believe would satisfy a wide range of tastes.  The sweetness will appeal to those who like sweeter beers while the bitterness and rich flavors of caramel, toffee, and walnuts will appease the beer drinker that desires a rich and full flavor.  I have to say that this was well done.  I don't think that it impressed me enough to warrant a 10 out of 10 however.

I felt that the aftertaste lingered on for longer than desired, and that detracted from the experience.  And although the flavor was quite rich, no particular flavor among the many I was tasting really stood above the crowd.  I was expecting the walnut tastes to be dominant, but they only appeared toward the finish.  Overall, this was a great beer though.  I score it a 9 out of 10.

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