Barley John's Wild Brunette Review

Name: Barley John's Wild Brunette
Style: Brown Ale
ABV: 7%
IBUs: 50

This post marks the second time that Barley John's has graced their presence on this blog. The first time I had anything from them was back in 2014 (I can't say last year anymore) when I visited them during Minnesota Craft Beer Week. Since that time, they have opened up a brewery in New Richmond, WI as Minnesota State Law currently, at the time of writing, doesn't allow for brewpubs to distribute to stores.

Thankfully, the brewpub in which Barley John's is based out of in New Brighton, MN is still open so people are still able to have a beer where it all started. Which brings us to Wild Brunette, a recipe which, according to what I was told, was from the original brewpub that is made with wild rice. It's been a while since I've had a brown ale, so let's break that trend, shall we?

Appearance - Clear dark brown color with a mild amount of visible carbonation. The head itself takes on a light khaki color and the amount of lacing left behind is quite abundant.

Aroma - Chocolate malts with some roasted barley. I'm also getting some moderate floral hoppiness and a good amount of wild rice. I've had wild rice maybe a handful of times in my life but the aroma is unmistakeable if you're familiar with the food itself.

Taste - Chocolate malts and moderate floral hoppiness, followed by some light roastiness and a very pronounced wild rice flavor in the middle. Back end of the palate is made up of some cashew nut notes, chocolate sweetness and some more wild rice notes.

To say I was a bit skeptical about the inclusion of wild rice in this beer would've been an understatement, thanks in part to the lack of familiarity with Barley John's as opposed to say.....Fitger's. With that said, I enjoyed this beer a great deal enough to where I can say that this is one of the best brown ales I've had in a long time. For sure worth checking out if you so happen to see it.

Barley John's Wild Brunette - 9/10