The Session was created by the folks at Appellation Beer who thought it was high time for beer bloggers to write about the same topic on the same day. Determining the monthly topic is rotated among participating beer bloggers.

The beer zoo is the theme for this month’s beer blogging session. It’s the brainchild of Rick Lyke at the blog Lyke 2 Drink.

Hey Rocky! Watch me pull a beer review out of my hat! Nothin’ up my sleeves, Presto!

Fearless Leader, I am pleased to report ve ‘ave moose and squirrel!

Although Moose is not native to northwest Iowa, it can be found in southeast South Dakota.

As for squirrel? Well Fearless Leader, the good squirrels – the fat ones – can be found in Wisconsin where I am told they fly off the shelves. All you have to do is bribe a fellow no-goodnik to transport six of them across state lines.

I don’t want to come off as a Mr. Know-It-All, but even though these are both brown ales, they are two very different beasts.

Moose Drool Brown Ale from Big Sky Brewing Co. in Missoula, Mont. seems more comparable in flavor to a light-ish stout than a brown ale.

The beer poured a deep brown – almost black – and had a short dark tan head. It has a nice malty aroma with a very faint whiff of apricot.

Predominant flavors were of caramel and coffee. The beer has very good rich malt flavor with nice supporting hop bitterness. There was a touch of hazelnut astringency in the finish.

This beer is very good. But, I feel like it’s a little too coffee-ish as a brown ale and a little too light as a stout. It is however, very worth trying so you can make up your own mind.

Moose Drool, weighing in at 5.1% ABV, was purchased at Miller’s Liquor in North Sioux City, SD.

New Glarus Brewing Co.’s Fat Squirrel is a much more traditional tasting nut brown ale. Where the coffee flavors in Moose Drool were very forward, Fat Squirrel’s coffee notes showed up in the finish as a light coffee flavor. The Fat Squirrel is more layered and refined in its roasted malt flavors than the Moose Drool.

Fat Squirrel pours a deep reddish-brown color and has a rich malty flavor and slight caramel and banana aromas. The beer has a very nice mouthfeel – it just sort of rolled around in the mouth very much like a cream ale does. The beer has a moderate hop bitterness which really compliments the malty character of the beer.

Squirrel is a nice brown ale – not exceptional, but very good. If I lived in its native habitat, it would surely be one of those beers that I would keep in the beer cave.

Fat Squirrel weighs in at 5.8% ABV.

Although Fearless Leader threatened to send me to Frostbite Falls if I divulged my secret New Glarus connection, I am allowed to say the beer was purchased at the brewery.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 7th, 2007 at 8:09 am and is filed under Beer reviews, The Session. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.