Nutbrown Porter
Bluegrass Brewing Company
Louisville, KY
?? ABV
Style: Brown Ale

C: Clear
H: Brown/Amber
N: Smells like a brown ale….just kidding! No really it does. Sweet Malt and hints of dark fruit

CCL: A very nice brown ale. That is all. My mom would love it. That is not particularly a commendation. It’s a nice beer. Would session well, I suppose. An excellent version of the style. If you love that style–find it. Otherwise. Meh.
Score; 3.10001

The Ferm: Thanks to my buddy @TheWildCicerone for bringing this back for me from his travels to NY. This beer seems to be pretty odd, considering that there is no reviews of it on BeerAdvocate or RateBeer (that I can find at least). My initial thoughts were….WOW! This is a brown ale! HURRRRRAYYYYYY! Finally someone that can brew a solid brown ale. But seriously this beer has a nice nutty flavor to it, hints of dark sweet fruits, and a tad bit of roasty qualities. Overall just a damn solid beer. It is exactly “to style” and nothing overly special.
Score; 2.901

Overall: 3.000505

Short’s Brew Good Humans
Short’s Brewing Company
Bellaire, MI
8.20% ABV

C: Quite clear
H: Brownish red
N: Hops and a strong sweetness

La Cocinera; This one was interesting. The label says it’s a dry hopped double brown ale. You definitely get the hops and the brown ale characteristics, but it is not really what you would expect. The aroma was sweet, roasty, and fruity with some citrusy hops. The flavor is pretty similar to the smell– Sweet and fruity with some caramel and chocolate. I’m not sure what makes it taste unique, maybe the roastiness or fruitiness? It’s something I can’t quite put my finger on. I can’t say I’ve ever had a brown ale, or really any beer, that tastes like this one so I’d definitely say it is worth trying, at least for it’s unique characteristics.
Score: 3.604

The Cerveza Chica; I was interested in trying this beer although I am not familiar with the brewery at all. I do tend to like brown ales and this was a dry hopped double brown ale. I was not impressed by this beer. I thought it was not easy to drink and it didn’t keep me coming back for more at all. I was quite disappointed in this beer. I do not know the ABV but I do feel like I get some of the alcohol in it, and I don’t think it is just simply die to the dry hopping. I would not recommend this beer to someone who likes brown ales.
Score: 2.77

Overall: 3.187

Cigar City Vanilla Aged Maduro Oatmeal Brown
Cigar City Brewing Company
Tampa, FL.
5.50% ABV

C. Clear
H. Dark Brown with Red Highlights
N. Hints of Tootsie Rolls, Carmel, Milk Chocolate

El Guapo; Thanks to “The Ferm” for bringing a growler of this down from the Hunahpu release party. Wish I could have been there… I was too busy in California drinking over-hyped beers *cough* Pliny *cough*. So this beer had a pretty weak nose with Tootsie Rollish notes. The vanilla hit hard the first sip then died down a bit as I kept drinking… then came back as it warmed up. A vanilla roller coaster if you will… Not that I have ever ridden one. Nothing too crazy great about this beer. Just Maduro with a lot of vanilla. Some chocolate/caramel notes as well and again that Tootsie Roll thing coming through in the taste. I liked it but wouldn’t want to drink more than one at a time. I think the vanilla would get obnoxious after a while. Anyways I love how CCB experiments with their beers and ages them on a bunch of different crap.
Score: 3.45678910

The Ferm; If Cigar City was to make a beer of theirs into a syrup for pancakes (I love pancakes btw), I think this would be a prime selection. The beer is sort-a sweet but not over-powering, has a very strong artificial vanilla flavor to it, and a hint of weak coffee. The aftertaste is almost maple syrup-y. Very interesting beer. Sadly, this is probably my least favor Cigar City Beer, but it is still very good. Just like all of their beers it is easy to drink and enjoy more than one. Good but not Great Beer!
Score: 3.42

Overall: 3.43839455

**Keep in mind that the scoring is done completely separately, we were pretty close on this one.**

Cubano Espresso
Cigar City Brewing
Tampa, FL
5.50% ABV

C. Clear
H. Dark Brown
N. Smells like straight espresso coffee

Dos; Soooo good. I had this beer for the first time a couple of weeks ago when I had my first trip to the brewery. Super “coffee ness”! I liked it enough to get a growler of it, and it was well worth it. Reminder: I hate coffee, but I love this beer. You get more of it in your nose from the aftertaste than in your mouth. I dated this chick that smoked (gross), but she was such a good kisser that I totally dug it. Her new name is Cuban Espresso! Yum!
Score: 4.410

Ferm; Ok this is another one of those I think I might accidentally attempt to order this beer at Starbucks instead of at a bar. Straight coffee on this one, although it is very refreshing and light bodied. Unlike the Wake N’ Bake from Terrapin this beer is smooth, light, and not very filling. There is a hint of brown sugar and cinnamon lingering around the taste of the beer. This bee is pretty dangerous.
Score:4.018

Overall: 4.214

Maduro Oatmeal Brown Ale
Cigar City Brewing
Tampa, FL
5.5% ABV

C. Clear
H. Dark Brown with a SEXXXY Brown Head
N. Very little odor at all

Dos; This one is very very drinkable. Maybe not a 6-pack in one night thing, but nice and light. Honestly, nothing special, but not a bad beer for brown ale. Really not too much of a smell though. I hate to say it since I am drinking this beer at the brewery, but I have had better brown ales. This beer is just like that one chick (name won’t be mentioned…Amanda) that isn’t bad but isn’t good, but I keep going back to it because it is available and always satisfies when the night is over.
Score: 3.21

Ferm; Once again not the first time having this beer, but first time having it to review. This is Cerveza Chica’s favorite Brown Ale, and I can see where she is coming from. This is a very drinkable brown ale, that is smooth and light bodied. It has a bit of a nutty taste to it, but nothing over powering to it. I personally had a hint of alcohol burn at the very end of the taste, but nothing that was crazy. I personally can not wait to try the Vanilla Maduro which I was able to snag a growler of. Overall solid beer!
Score: 3.98

Overall: 3.595