Duck-Rabbit Brown Ale

Beer: Duck-Rabbit Brown Ale
Brewery Location: Farmville, NC
Beer Style: Brown Ale
ABV: 5.6%



I've written about Duck-Rabbit several times, and have been a fan of the "dark beer specialist" quite a bit since first trying them. I find it quite interesting that their entire lineup of beer is a complete niche of nothing but dark beer. There is a good article in this months issue of Beer Advocate about Paul Philippon, who is the founder and brew master of DR. According to him, DR will never brew a pale ale or an IPA, and that is just the way he likes it. Just out of curiosity do you see a duck's head or a rabbit's head when you first look at their logo? I personally see the duck first, but that is just me, and if you can see both.....well.... look harder. I traded for this beer, and there was some tape on the label and it ripped and you can't really see the logo that well on the bottle anymore.

This beer pours a deep brown maybe chestnut color with a small fingers worth of tan head on it. The scent is dominant of malt and caramel with some background scents of earthy hops and nuts. The flavor profile is full of caramel and nutty chocolate upfront with roasted grain in the middle and a hop bitterness to finish. The flavors are all quite distinct and work well together. This beer has a nice and smooth creamy finish that left no alcohol on the mouth. The drinkability is great on this beer, and temperature be damned, it was very nice to have on an 80 degree day.

Overall this is a pretty solid brown ale with a little bit of hop bitterness to it. Another fine beer from The Duck-Rabbit. They are currently available in North Carolina and eastern Tennessee if you find yourself anywhere near there. I will continue to trade for Duck-Rabbit as often as I can.

Cheers!
Matt