Take 16 Sundown Nut Brown Ale Review

Name: Take 16 Sundown Nut Brown Ale
Style: Brown Ale
ABV: 5.6%
IBUs: 28

So I have a beer from a brewery that I, quite frankly, never heard of before.......and I'm kind of ashamed to admit it. The brewery in question is Take 16 Brewing, and the reason why I'm somewhat embarrased is because they're a Minnesota-based brewery. In fact, I only heard of these guys when I saw this beer featured on a Mix-A-Six rack.

I did some research on these guys and it turns out they're based out of Luverne, MN, which is a town I've never heard of before. Thanks to Google Maps, I've found they're located about 3 hours away from Minneapolis in the very southwest corner of Minnesota. Also according to the brewery's website, they've been open since 2014. Maybe it was my geographical location at the time in Duluth, but I'm kicking myself for never hearing of these guys before.

So the beer we have today is their Sundown Nut Brown Ale, which turns out, is a fall seasonal. They also have a few other bottles listed on their website, so I'll be sure to check them out should I see them in stores.

Appearance - Fairly clear dark brown color with a light crimson tinge. The head is off-white in color and takes on a fairly thin appearance but there's a good amount of lacing left behind.

Aroma - Chocolate & toffee malts & toasted cashews with some mild hoppiness. I'm also getting some roasted barley in here as well. Regardless, you can definitely smell the nutiness in here.

Taste - Chocolate & toffee malts with a strong nutty profile that reminds me of cashews and pistachios. I'm getting some mild roastiness towards the back and in the aftertaste along with some mild bitter hops, which lingers for a couple moments.

I often see a beer call itself a nut brown ale, only to devoid of any "nutty" flavors. Sundown has the nutty factor in spades here and the malty and roasty aspects of the flavor compliment it quite nicely and this makes it one of the best brown ales I've had in a while. So to anyone out there whose a fan of brown ales, you owe it to yourself to try this out.

Take 16 Sundown Nut Brown Ale - 9/10