Upon prying the cap on the chosen, beer a moderate hiss escaped. I was expecting a little bit more of a pop. As I poured into my glass, the color through me off a bit, as the Brewery’s web site classified this as a bold nut brown ale. The beer appeared more blackish brown than a typical walnut brown in brown ales. There was minimal carbonation, which became even more after the pour. This beer (at least mine) had a thin brownish head that disintegrated rapidly after the pour, with little signs of carbonation.
Digging my nose in my glass, there wasn’t a great deal going on. I picked up on a bitter mocha odor, but at the same times noticed sweet malty characteristics, brown sugar, and fruity notes; namely raisin and figs.
As the I tipped my goblet, the light pouring through the side revealed the amber ale color I had been looking for. The taste was thin. Not thin in comparison to any other typical light ale, but thin in respect to the name–Messiah BOLD. The complex hop flavor I was looking for was elusive but present. Typically, I notice hops more in the finish of a beer. This time is was right in the middle. There were thin caramel and chocolate notes, but overall, a simple flavor. There is a pleasant spice/peppery nuance that makes the drinking experience enjoyable. The beer finishes with a very sweet punch; however, the after taste is of the bittering hops.
My overall experience was, to be honest…confused. I, personally, would characterize this beer as a porter, not a nut brown ale. Admittedly, this is gray area, as a porter is technically an ale and hard to categorize. Nonetheless, this looked like a porter, smelled like a porter, and tasted like a porter. Am I way off here?
Would I drink it again? Sure. It definitely is not a first or second choice based off flavor, but the marketing of beer and religion is familiar enough for me to go back to. I also think of this as a nice stepping stone beer for the un-craft-beervangelized consumer.
Nate’s Rating:
Overall Satisfaction: 
Among other Brown Ales and/or Porters:
I’ve not had much porter (or nut brown ale) and this review and the whoe Hebrew Messiah thing is enough for me to want to try it.
‘Course, will I be able to find it down here
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Yeah David. If you want to try a great Porter, look at our Samuel Smith’s Tadcaster Porter review. Another that you might be able to get fairly easily is Flag Porter by Darwin and Sons. Good stuff. By the way, if you have some recommendations to try we are always up for suggestions.
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That’s surprising to read but as we all know it isn’t easy to classify a beer into a certain category and as you said there can be grey areas. I guess this one just falls in there.
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Hey all. This is Zak from Shmaltz Brewing Company. Glad you enjoyed Messiah Bold, sorry for the style confusion. We don’t really brew any of our beers to style, so we generally choose that which is closest. Messiah Bold was one of the first two beers that we started brewing, so it does stick a little more closely to a defined style. Actually, the beer was originally called Messiah Stout, but we changed the recipe in 2003 and started calling it a Nut Brown Ale. One reason why we don’t call it a Porter is because the body is quite light, when compared to a Porter or a Stout that tends to have a more creamy mouthfeel. You’re definitely on point though with the caramel and chocolate notes. That’s actually why I love this beer. It’s got a light body and is very drinkable, but doesn’t come across as diluted. If you’re interested in any of our other stuff, I’d suggest trying a bottle of the Bittersweet Lenny’s RIPA. It’s a 10% abv rye-based double IPA. It’s a big hitter, but very malt forward with a great balance. Thanks again for the love. L’Chaim!!
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Thanks for stopping by! I definitely alluded to the fact that this beer was pretty uncategorizeable, which isn’t a bad thing. I looked for the Lenny’s RIPA (as per suggestion of http://mikelovesbeer.com) but couldn’t find any in the stores around here. I’ll keep looking though!
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Nate I would recommend emailing Zak. He can put you in touch with their distribution manager for your area and then can tell you where to find it. He did that for me when I was looking for it. Zak and Darren both went above and beyond to help me find Lenny’s. Oddly it was right at my local beer store but just the first time I went looking for it they were out.
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Zak! Thank you for the love, too. It’s really nice when a humble beer blog like ours gets some attention from the brewery. We’ve had a couple others link to our site (one has us a a permanent link), but you are probably the first to actually comment. Thanks for that!
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You’re quite welcome. I like trying to touch base with the people that are drinking our beers. Just showing appreciation where appreciation is due. Cheers!
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