Cornerstone Berea Brown

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

Edit 1/3/05: The brewer contacted me and apparently the take-home menus at the brewpub were incorrect. This beer isn’t loosely based on a quad, but instead a Flemish brown. This beer much more closely resembles the Flemish Brown than it does the quad. The courant/date fruitiness fits in to the style and the "loosely" modifier still applies as the brewer said this beer didn’t have the tartness of the original style. I’ve adjusted my overall impression and flavor scores up to take into account this new info. Original 12/31/04: Ok, I will say that I really loved this beer. I’ll start off with my original review where I was under the impression is was just your average English-style brown ale and finish up with style annoyances. Dark ruby, almost a little purple, with a head that laces nicely. Very mellow and with a light aroma. There’s a slight bit of roast in there, and a nice, warm nuttiness. A bit of courant or dried date is mixed in there. Quite possibly the best brown since Boyne River stopped brewing. Unfortunately, the brewery calls this a beer "loosely based on a Belgian quadrupel". That would explain the courant/date fruitiness, but this is far from a Belgian style. That really bugs me. I counted a bit off on overall for calling this a Belgian-style beer when it doesn’t carry any of the yeast-derived flavors expected from the base style.