The Shed Brewery’s Mountain Ale Review

The Shed Mountain Ale

The Shed Brewery in Middlebury, Vt. Is one of Vermont’s first brewpubs, with their roots going back to Stowe, Vt. before they moved to a larger facility. One of their flagship offerings is Mountain Ale, brown ale offered year-round.

Mountain ale pours a beautiful reddish brown with a slightly off-white head. The aroma of malt, caramel, and biscuit stand out. The head dissipated fairly quickly, leaving a ring around the edge of the glass.

The first sip revealed the malt bitterness you expect with a brown ale. There was a nice caramel flavor that gave way to a spicy sweetness, almost like a cinnamon but that is faint. There are also bread notes, a slight hop note, but the malt and caramel notes take the cake here. It is a really enjoyable beer if you like brown ales. This tastes a little different, and the flavors do remind me of Vermont. I can definitely imagine sipping this as the snow falls or even by a lake in the summer.

The sweet notes in this brew help make this stand out from other brown ales. It is a nice take on an English classic with a Vermont twist. It is medium-bodied in the mouth with a moderate amount of carbonation. There is a smoothness to this brew which makes it really easy to sip.

Overall this is a pleasant brown ale that you can sip any time of the year. At 7.4% ABV it does have some punch to it but you can easily drink a few of these. This was a nice surprise and if you like brown ales I recommend giving this a try.

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