“Brown ale has never been the most popular beer, but there always seem to be customers for a beer that is a little toastier and less hoppy than pale ale.”
- Randy Mosher’s Tasting Beer
Some beers are made to simply not offend and that’s OK. Some beers offer an array of smells and tastes, but nothing remarkable.
Sometimes that’s the point.
Cigar City’s Maduro brown ale is an expected malt-forward entry into the brown ale style, leading with a base of bittersweet chocolate malt aromas, brown sugar and molasses. It’s simplistic, straight-forward and easy. On the tongue, Maduro brings forth tastes of hazelnut, caramel, toffee and more of that chocolate malt. Light carbonation keeps mouthfeel smooth. Cigar City insists espresso is part of the package, but only as the beer warmed considerably could I get a sense of that.
This brown ale is easy-drinking and sessionable, although at 5.5 percent ABV, it technically isn’t British “Sessionable.” With it’s unoffending characteristics, it does, however, have potential to please a wide array of palates.
