Samuel Adams Hazel Brown
This flavorful dark brown ale has a distinct hazelnut aroma and taste. Slightly sweet caramel and toffee malt notes accentuate the pleasant roasted hazelnut character. This medium-bodied brew finishes smooth with an underlying spiciness from the hops.
3.5
326 reviews
Boston, United States
Community reviews
Rich deep brown coloured body with a thick, three centimetre tall tan head and a nice copper glow at the bottom. Aroma of coffee, nuts, earth, malt, pistachios, hazelnuts and a lot of nutty depth - very nice. Medium-bodied; Slight coffee flavours up front with a rather large bitterness, but the caramel and earthy malts follow behind with a super strong hazelnut flavour that persists. Aftertaste shows quite the depth with the malt and nuts really coming through, a little bit of sugar and some minor bitterness at the end. Overall, a great nut brown with an amazing hazelnut flavour throughout. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle pulled from a sampler case, purchased from Costco in Arlington (Pentagon City) on 20-October-2013 for US$25.99/24 pack, sampled at home a few steps away from Costco on 15-December-2013.
From the 12 fl. oz. bottle with an April expiration date (no year associated with that month). Handsome looking medium mahogany pour with a lingering off-white head. The aroma is malty and full of toffee and hazelnuts as promised. Spicy and toasty to say the least. Inviting. The body is medium to full. The taste has a subtle bitterness but a downplayed hop character. It’s all about the hazelnuts, which was nice.
Poured from 12oz bottle. Flavors of hazelnut are overpowering here. Really not much else comes through.
--you've been Dubbed.
The aroma was sweet and nutty. Brown color that was like wood with an typical head. Average weight and carbonation. Was also relatively smooth. Flavors were of hazelnut and a little sweet and woodsy. This did not have a strong roasted malt character that I typically prefer for this style but it worked nonetheless. A decent seasonal.
Pours a dark brown with a beige head. Smells of hazelnut coffee and tastes of creamy buttery chocolate roasted coffee.
Clear amberish copper with a thin sticky white head. Nose is full of hazelnut tones and biscuity cocoa-ness. Flavor is rich with hazelnut and light milk chocolate tones. Basically tastes like the beer form of a ferot rochert. Lots of hazelnut, a bit of chocolate, on a medium body. Lovely!
From a bottle. Pours dark brown with a creamy beige head and some lacing. Tastes like chocolate, creamy, buttery, hazelnut, with hints of coffee. Low/medium body and carbonation. Smells like sweet, nutty, creamy chocolate.
Bottle: Pours a light chestnut color with a mountain of fluffy beige head. Good retention and thick lacing. Nose is exactly what you’d expect from fresh hazelnut coffee… good roast, lightly, nutty, and some milk chocolate. Flavor is roast forward with the coffee trailing slightly. Gets a little metallic in the end. A little floral component keeps away that soapy/bitter finish that detracts from the style. I think I’d enjoy this more without the hazelnut, but pretty good stuff nonetheless.
Bottle. Pours clear brown with thick, creamy beige head. Aroma is cereal and cookie malts, light toffee, hazelnut, floral notes, and some fig. Flavor is dry, toasted malts, light caramel, dark fruit esters, and toasted nuts; dry finish. Light/medium body and medium carbonation.
Poured into a shaker. Brown pour smell of nuts. Hazelnut taste just an okay brown ale.
Bottle. I bought this variety pack and I'll be damned if I don't rate all six of these. Pours clear, chestnut brown with 1 finger of frothy khaki head that lasts forever. Aroma of grass, biscuit, a little bit nutty. Not the beer's fault, but doesn't smell like anything that's going to excite me. A little more toffee and lightly sweetened roasted nuts as it warms - okay, I'll be an adult and reserve judgment. Tastes somewhat sweet, light bitter finish, some more roasted, almost chocolatey notes. Short, pleasant finish. Light-medium body, average carbonation, creamy, almost milky texture. Overall: I was ready to dismiss this one almost before I started, but it's been my favorite of the set - enjoyable. Still, based on this I'm not going to be seeking out Sam Adams variety packs again.
Poured from 12 oz. bottle.
Clear, dark ruby red with a large khaki head and excellent lacing.
Aroma of toffee, bread, hazelnuts and brown sugar.
Taste of toffee, brown sugar, nuts, caramel and grass.
Medium/full body and low/medium carbonization.
Rated on 10-26-2013 (Bottle) When poured into my glass, the head is medium sized and smooth with a beige head. The body is transparent, amber, fair amount of lacing, and slow rising carbonation. The Aroma is caramel malt, nutty and sweet. The Taste is sweet, caramel malt, hint of spice, nutty, and lightly roasty. This beer has a short dry finish. The Palate is smooth and this beer is light-medium bodied. Overall, this beer is a quaffable session beer, worth trying and a beer I would drink again.
This bottled brew from a grocery store poured a small sized head of foamy light brown colored bubbles that were and left behind a typically carbonated hazy with floating yeast chunks light cola brown colored body and an excellent lacing. The nice aroma was nutty and brown malt. The semi-flat crisp mouth feel was tingly at the start and at the finish with a medium malty aftertaste. The nice flavor contained notes of hazelnut sweet and brown malt. A decent one that I would consider drinking again.
DATE TASTED: October 11, 2013 ... GLASSWARE: Kisatsky’s Tavern pint... OCCASION: drinking--enough said...APPEARANCE: dark brown body supports a dreamy white lacing; effervescence slows to a small stream of bubbles... AROMA: oaky, nutty fragrances merge with subtle, sugary/caramel hints to give the brew an intriguingly welcome wrinkle to the usually blander genre; a bit astringent at times...PALATE: medium-bodied, reasonably creamy and suitable for a crisp fall evening such as this...TASTE: toffee, sweet caramel and vanilla swirl to a palatable balance; moves beyond the average brown...OVERALL: a surprise in a mix pack of seasonals; I found this to be a beer I’d revisit when hosting Thanksgiving this year--and I believe the guests would appreciate it as well...
From the bottle at a party. No assessment of appearance. Aroma was caramel, hazelnut, maple syrup. Flavor is sweet malt, hazelnut, faint hop spice. Light to medium bodied, neither thick nor thin, high carbonation.
12oz in MA. Light greyish brown. Big perfume aroma, hazelnut coffee creamer. Oddly artificial or pumped up nut malts. Liquid tootsie roll essence. Strong bodied but not my favorite.
Wow pleasantly surprised with this. A 12 pack was broken up and was able to pick up just one of these and wasn’t expecting much. I was thinking that it would be like a lot of beers that advertise a flavor and not deliver. Totally wrong nice brown ale with noticeable hazelnut flavor.
Pours an excellent deep ruby brown with lasting head and good lacing. Aroma is very good, tons of hazelnuts, caramel, brown sugar, and light holiday spice. Taste is nice as well, with an earthy malt base to the hazelnut flavor. Great beer.
Sampled from a 12 oz brown bottle this beer poured a ruby-brown color with a medium sized foamy brown head that lingered and left decent lacing. The aroma was sour nut, a strong vegetal presence and a hint of dark fruits. The flavor was definite hazelnut with toffee, sour caramel, a hint of vegetal malts and cocoa. Long finish of hazelnut and cocoa. Medium body though somewhat undercarbonated. Ok.
Pours an amber brown with a medium-sized head. Nutty flavor and aroma. Not as rich or full-bodied as I expected but not bad, either.
Bottle. Garnet with a beige head. Caramel and grain aromas. Strong, toasted caramel flavor.
The Hazel Brown pours a very deep amber brown with a thick, frothy sand-colored head that lasts and lasts leaving thick lacing. The aroma is hazelnut and spice. The flavor is dominated by hazelnut with spice and a touch of pine hops. This brown is packed with flavor. I am definitely amazed with how much this brew has to offer. Definitely worth trying.
Bottle from Sam Adams mixed 12 packs. Pours a dark reddish amber. Large tan head. Big sweet nutty aroma. Sweet nutty flavor. I don’t know much about hazelnuts, but I’m imagining that this is what they taste like. This beer is certainly all about nuts and that’s OK. I found it tasty. Palate was on the thin side, but still a nice seasonal beer.
Mahogany pour with a light head. Aroma is hazelnut. Taste is caramel malt followed by roasted hazelnut flavor. Little sweet, very tasty. Nice lacing.
12 ounce bottle from Sampler Pack, tons of sligthly-sweet nutty aroma, with a nutty finish. Very effervescent.
Poured a 12oz bottle into a snifter. Pours a deep brown color with a very light bubbly head. Subtle aroma of coffee and chocolate but the aroma is somewhat funky like a tootsie roll. The taste is much better than the smell. Instantly crisp mocha flavor that quickly dissipates to nothing with zero aftertaste. It leaves me wanting more full flavor.
Tasted from 12oz brown bottle, part of the fall seasonal mix-pack, into a nonic pint glass. It poured a beautiful clear deep reddish brown colour with fluffly, long-lasting beige foam and fine lace. The brewers’ description is fairly accurate: caramel, toffee, hazelnut, blah, blah, blah...but you know what it really smells and tastes like? Tootsie Rolls. It’s EXACTLY like liquified Tootsie Rolls. Medium body and carbonation, stickly pudding mouthfeel, lingering malty aftertaste. A bit too syrupy sweet for my taste, but overall a tasty and memorable brown ale.
12 ounce bottle from a sample pack. One of the best new Sam Adams creations I have tried recently. mellow but with a good twist of hazelnut in the initial taste. Good coffee like finish. Would buy again
Not my favorite Sam Adams, but I found it to be a good beer to drink with dessert. Drank this while eating a hazelnut biscotti, and the salted caramel and toffee was exactly what the biscotti needed. The only drawbacks to the heavy, heavy caramel taste is the aftertaste.