I’ve had browns nuttier than a flat earther, smoky suds smokier than a five alarm fire, and honey lagers sweeter than Saccharin.* When it comes to flavoured brews I’m an avid advocate of the KISS principle (keep it subtle sudsmaster). A smoked honey brown sounds like a dangerous triumvirate of potentially overboard flavour adds.
Royal City tells us this beer should be shared “with friends and enemies”. I’m not sure about enemies but the COMDB Guide to the Fine Art of BBQing tells us how to deal with unwanted guests. “Keep the beers you aren’t partial to (hate) in order to foist them on those unwanted guests who drop by unannounced in hopes that they won’t come back or won’t ask for a second one.”
Royal City graced us with an audience previously, with their super suds Bootleg Cream. Time to see if this Tuckamore honey and beechwood brew will attract bees or flies.
A dark pour, they say brown, I say black. Consistent with the look, the aroma is roasted malt, more like a black lager on the nose. It has a very creamy almost nitro mouthfeel to it. The first taste is roasted malt slightly sweet with a flat dry finish, it’s a black lager out of the gate. A touch of smoke just wafted through the quaff with some honey sweet in tow. The smoke turns this brown from nutty to roasted malt and the touch of honey makes the medicine go down quite nicely.
Well balanced, with subtle smoke and sweet, the KISS principle adhered to. It’s more like a black than a brown in my book, and glass, and I’m good with that.
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