Woodburner Brown Ale

Woodburner Brown Ale
1 draught pint, $3.75, 6.4% ABV

Purchased at Cambridge House Brew Pub, Granby

woodburnerDo you know what a “woodburner” is? I didn’t until something compelled me to simply Google the term. It’s an actual thing; sort of an artist’s instrument to burn patterns, words and pictures into wood. You can buy one for nine bucks.

Now, what that has to do with brown ales is completely and utterly lost on me. I am sitting here struggling to figure out some obscure connection but alas, I cannot.

I was going to lay off the Cambridge House Brewpub “work” for a while, but everytime I turn around, they brew up a couple new beers and I find myself up in Granby one more time.

(Of course, there are worse problems to have. And a bonus is that I can drive a couple miles north of here into Massachusetts for some appreciably cheaper gas.

CHB says:

“A rich chocolately and caramelly brown ale with a dry finish. A dash of smoked malt adds complexity.”

I thought this beer was really quite delicious. The balance of the chocolate and caramel was pretty much nailed. I don’t think I noticed any dashes of smoked salt though.

Have you noticed that that’s the thing now? Salted caramels, chocolates with sea salt – that whole thing? It’s very rarely done right though. I bought my wife a high-falutin’ salted chocolate caramel thing at a top notch chocolatier recently and she sadly reported that it was over-salted.

Keep in mind Hoang is Vietnamese – pretty much ground zero for the whole sweet/salty, hot/sour, sweet/spicy cuisine. She knows when too much contrast is too much contrast, so don’t front.

Hey, did you know that there’s an “official” Chocolate Trail in Connecticut? It’s true. And yes, of course, we’re completing it, here.

Back to CHB… The fact that I didn’t notice the salt in my beer was probably a good thing. This brown ale was smooth, roasty and as I said, very well-balanced. It also hid the slightly higher ABV (over 6%) really, really well. A good way to start off 2013 in Granby.

Overall Rating: A
Rating vs. Similar style: A

Beer Advocate’s Reviews of the Woodburner Brown
Cambridge House Brew Pub
Back to CTMQ’s Reviews of Cambridge House Brew Pub beers
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