Old Mann Brown - The Tasting

I mentioned back in April that my parents were coming to visit us here in Virginia, and that I was planning to brew a clone of Mann's Brown Ale as it is a beer my dad quite often talks about. I made one change to the recipe as the homebrew shop didn't have any Kent Goldings hops when I popped in to get my ingredients, but they had Fuggles, so I switched.

Last night, after a week and a half in the bottle, I decided to see how it was coming along and popped open a couple of bottles for myself and my dad to try.

Early indicators are good, the carbonation is good, the colour is a rich mahogany with a light tan head, it certainly looks the part, and at just 2.9% definitely a session beer. The nose has a touch of apples and pears hidden in with caramel and chocolate notes. Tastewise, the chocolate and caramel are there again, with a good bready backbone and a spicy hop bite from the Fuggles. Three mouthfuls later the glass was empty and I was headed to the cellar for another bottle.

Overall, a very encouraging start to what could be my beer for summer...