Shipyard Brewer's Brown Ale

Why I tried this: I was sitting at the bar at World of Beer UCF and I had noticed they rotated this brown ale onto the draft menu. I'm a pretty big fan of brown ales, so it was a natural decision for me.

Smell: Lots of malts. Kind of hard to discern, but not overly strong notes, so that didn't help much. Was rather neutral about it, so I went on to the tasting.

Taste: This beer was rather light going down, starting off with a slightly bitter, very malty flavor. At the very end, you catch a little maple syrup. The malts didn't feel like a solid mix, and tasted overall of oak or something similar. I didn't really enjoy the taste that much.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give this beer a 5. It was overly malty with little pleasing flavor, marginally balanced out by a bit of bitterness and then a very slightly sweet ending thanks to the maple. The beer was lighter in mouth feel than your typical brown ale, making it feel a bit watery. Definitely no where near a Tilburg's. Overall, fairly sub par and a bit disappointing, although not awful. I wouldn't get it again, and don't recommend bothering with it.

--Jeff

Tilburg's Dutch Brown Ale

Why I tried this: A customer at work had recommended this to me a while back. After picking up a pack of it, I was pretty pleased. When I saw it on the World of Beer list, I decided Jon and I needed a round. Look at how thankful he was for that!

Smell: Has the aroma of your typical brown ale, with roasted malts and a bit of toffee for a slight sweetness. Quite nice.

Taste: Has a malty and slightly sweet characteristic to it, which I think might be a bit of brown sugar and toffee. It's similar to a Newcastle, but with a sweetness and smoothness that is unmatched by other brown ales. There's no foul aftertaste or anything out of place here, just pure goodness.

On a scale of 1 to 10 I'd give this an 8.5. The smell of the beer is fairly typical, but the taste is very good, especially for a brown ale. The price isn't that bad either. The beer is visually pleasing, pouring a nice thick brown with a solid white head. It's easy to drink and stands out enough that I'd definitely get it again, and highly recommend it!

--Jeff