Moose Drool Brown Ale

I have always liked the products from Big Sky Brewing Company in Missoula, Montana. They have been around for awhile and have a pretty consistent product. The other thing that I like about the Missoula Breweries in general is that they just brew their product and let it stand at that. I like that in a company. So often it is the rule of business that in order to make a profit, one must sell ones soul and pander to the masses in order to gain acceptance. Some have done just that and prospered and some have rightfully fallen by the wayside. Meanwhile, breweries like Bayern and Big Sky in little Missoula, Montana have been doing themselves and beer drinkers proud by serving up some pretty respectful beer.

Lets visit this current example. First of all, when I read on the label that what I am drinking is a brown ale, I tend to think in my mind about the standards in the brown ale business. Samuel Smith and Newcastle come to mind as good tasting, pleasant drinking brown ales. The brown ale is not to be too ungodly hoppy and represents a working mans beer in its structure and alcohol content. I am not getting technical to be sure but when you brew a beer and declare that it is this brew or that, you have to go back to the originals and determine in your mind whether or not that the beer in your hand actually starts in that same arena.

Clearly, this beer does come from the same pedigree as the others I have mentioned. With a smooth, sweet, mild smoky beginning at first sip segues into the hop profile which is crisp and present but not overpowering. The mouth feel reminds me of Newcastle but yet more so and I am left with a nice satisfying finish. This is a wonderful beer and with winter coming on, I sure wish I had a case of this at home now. There are a bunch of people that favor the barleywine style beers for the winter months and that is fine but I can drink one heck of a lot more of this and I feel that I look better without the bitter beer face. Look them up at www.bigskybrew.com