Cavalier Brown Ale

Part two of my strictly journalistic mission to the Wayside Inn.

This was matched with the pulled pork sandwich (again great) - nice idea, but the beer itself was just a little bit short of the job in the end.

The head on this is a little light and fizzy, agitating unsettled beneath the blanket surface. It's a really excellent nose full of roasty coffee notes, chicory and an edge of chocolate, putting me in mind of fresh chocolate covered coffee beans. It's the taste where it disappointed.. this beer is completely without the body that's expected, nay required, of this style. It resembled more a light watered Japanese ice coffee with chicory than a typical malty cakelike brown. It's not empty as such and the roast flavours do get through, just.. but it all just felt a bit pale and removed, which was a genuinely saddening experience exacerbated, if anything, by the promising aroma.

The reason for this became apparent when chatting to a Good Beer Week staffer who'd been to Cavalier earlier that week to find them working on this batch of brown. They filtered it. Filtered it.

I'm more confused than angry. Devo'd. 5.5