Two brown ales in a row! Weird, I know. But I was at the store today and this bottle caught my eye. Also, I haven't taken a look at a beer from these venerable Newport, Oregon brewers since I had Santa's Private Reserve since way back in December. That is far too long. Time to remedy that with a tall glass of this 6.2% ABV 33 IBU brown ale brewed with hazelnut extract. To the beer!
Hazelnut Brown Nectar is a very pretty beer. A deep, hazy chestnut brown topped by a tall layer of finely bubbled tan head. Lost in the above photograph is the beautiful cherry hue that appears when the glass is held to light.
On the nose I get plenty of nutty hazelnut up front backed by a more subtle chocolate malt. An interesting floral hop character and a touch of raisin and date fruitiness add a bit of welcome complexity.
The hazelnut flavor is ever present on the sip. Not in an overpowering way, but in a way that compliments the other flavors that are present. For example, the nuttiness combines with a roasty malt to create a sweet flavored iced coffee like character. Subtle chocolatey notes add more malt flavor. Everything is balanced by a subtle earthy hop bitterness. A mild carbonation gives way to a fairly light body and very drinkable beer.
In drinking this beer I kept thinking that it was in some way the little brother to Chickow! Both beers are similar in flavor, but Chickow! is much bigger, bolder, much more intense. That comes off like it's a dig, but I really don't mean it as such. Hazelnut Brown Nectar is an excellent beer. Drinkable yet incredibly rich and flavorful. Chickow! is absolutely wonderful, but one is enough. As soon as I finished that bomber of Rogue's I was wishing I had a couple more in the fridge.
HD
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