Tallgrass Brewing Company's Tallgrass Ale

Well, after about three weeks of vacation, to places where there is little or no beer, I'm back and for some reason decided to celebrate in style by reviewing a beer from.... Kansas. One named after grass.

I don't get it either. But it's cold, so here goes. I also haven't had a beer in a month, so it should be interesting to see if my taste buds have reset.

This one pours a loosely filtered coppery brown, with a decent tan head for a brown. It fades to a sheet, but even that's more than many browns, including some of my favorites.

The label says something about a toffee aroma, but I don't smell it. I do smell the standard slightly nutty smell, but also a yeasty sweet bread that leans slightly to the Belgian side.

Ooof. Much nuttier in the taste. It almost punches you, in fact. It fades to a weak yeasty bread similar to the smell, but I still don't taste any toffee. Slight wet tobacco taste to it.

It's big for a brown, especially an English brown. There's something a tad off about it though, like it's been filtered by that red tallgrass that grows in the Flint Hills or something. Leans further toward a Belgian (which I dislike) in both smell and taste as it gets warmer.

Eh, it's Kansas.

Rogue Brewing Company's Hazlenut Brown Nectar

Rogue is one of my favorite breweries, despite the cheesy artwork. Still, they make an impressive variety of beers and give lots of information on the bottles. Their Imperial series are great offerings as well and their Imperial Pilsner is one of my all time favorites. So I do go back to even their more pedestrian offerings from time to time, sometimes just to see what I think about them a second time around.

Like this one. I distinctly remember thinking that I didn't want to really try this again because it was too nutty, but it was given to me as a gift so what the heck.

Pours a clear, deep copper with a light tan head that thins fairly quickly despite pretty strong carbonation. Smells mostly malty. Like they may have toned it down.

Ack. Nope. Tastes like I'm drinking a peanut butter sandwich. Otherwise it's appropriately crisp and malty for a brown, and I bet the next few sips are better because I know what to expect, but I'll have to keep in mind that free or not, it'smy least favorite of the Rogue beers by a damn sight. The taste smooths from peanut butter to a more raw hazlenut taste as it warms, but it's still too much. I wish brewers would make an effort not to over do things like nut, fruit, or other added flavors. Too much of a good thing is just not good.

Sand Creek Brewing Company's English Style Special Ale

It's hard to get excited about an English Brown Ale, but they can be solid beers that are god to go to when you want something a little more robust than a pilsner or kolsch, without all of the hoppy nonsense of a pale.

This one pours more like an imperial red than a brown, at least in color if not body. Light tan head that stays longer than any brown I can remember, and that's a good sign. Moderate carbonation.

Another malty, bready beer for tonight. I've had so many uber-stouts lately that I've kind of lost touch, but it's great to have a few in a row that are more mild but perfect for their type.

Malty with a nutty, almost coffee bitterness. A great alternative to the in-your-face grassy bitterness that comes from hops in unadulturated quantities that mask every other thing about a beer. Solid malt backbone to it, although the bready smell doesn't really translate to the taste. This is a well balanced brown that I wish was more widely distributed.