by Daniel Barnes and Darcey Self-Barnes

6% ABV

Purchased at Taylor’s Market ($4.99/22 oz. bottle) and poured into pint glasses.

Brewed by San Diego upstarts Saint Archer, Coffee Brown pours a black coffee color with a mid-sized, sawdust-colored head. The nose is more sweet than roast-y, not unlike coffee candy, with aromas of coffee, amaretto, milk chocolate and toffee. Coffee Brown gets sweet on the first swallow as well, with a flavor that feels a little too artificial, and although it finishes with a nice coffee and cream richness, the aftertaste is a little thick and syrupy. There is some nuttiness from the brown ale base, but I would have preferred more bitterness, and a coffee flavor that was slightly more authentic. We have really enjoyed some of the hoppier offerings from Saint Archer, but this one just misses.

Daniel Barnes and Darcey Self-Barnes have been blogging about craft beer at His and Hers Beer Notes since January 2012. Darcey is a freelance designer and illustrator, and Daniel is a film critic for the Sacramento News and Review and a member of the San Francisco Film Critics Circle.