For today’s craft beer review I’m going to be trying the Flashback India Style Brown Ale produced by the Boulder Beer Company located in Boulder, Colorado.

I have reviewed a few Boulder products on this blog before and have thought that they were solid, however I’ve never tried or even seen this brew before, so I’m eager to taste it.

From the website, boulderbeer.com, we learn this about the Flashback India Style Brown Ale.

Citrusy with a prominent hop aroma, finishes clean, crisp and dry with dark roasted flavors from the biscuit and chocolate malts perfectly complimenting the bountiful cascades.  

Sounds pleasing enough.

This brew comes in a 12 oz. bottle and it has an ABV of 6.88%.

The beer poured a mostly clear, light brown to copper/orange color with some burnt orange highlights around the edges.  The slightly off white head was very thick, bulbous, frothy and rocky.  It had very nice retention and it left some decent looking lacing too.  Very attractive standing in the glass I must say.

The aroma brought forth a very mild grapefruit citrus intermingled with a more robust, dark, earthy tone.  It kind of smelled like a caramel apple with an inclination of light sweetness.  Toasted biscuit and bread crumb hints were easily noticed as well as an underlying nuttiness.  It was decently complex, however nothing too crazy was noticed.

The taste seemed to let the caramel sweetness stand out a touch more.  Some toffee was noticed as well.  A nice, citrusy hop bite (grapefruit) and bitterness jumped out for a few moments, although they weren’t strong enough to stand in the way of the toasted biscuits and caramel.  As the brew warmed I grabbed a slight “woody” flavor, which gave way to even further morsels of nuttiness.

The mouthfeel was medium bodied.  It was suitably dry and smooth with a minute crispness.  This brew left a pretty good amount of flavor behind, but not as much as most typical “India” styled beers.

The Flashback India Style Brown Ale is a solid beer.  It wasn’t anything extraordinary, yet it was nothing to overlook either.  It showed fairly well I thought.  It’s easily drinkable with a good dose of flavor.  The brew wasn’t quite as balanced as some others that I’ve tried, but that wouldn’t stop me from enjoying a couple of these during a session.  I doubt this would be the first beer I would reach for if presented with several options, but it’s not a bad substitute.  If you see it… sure, give it a go.

Thanks for reading and commenting guys.  Have a safe and happy New Year.  Until next time.

Cheers.

Score:  3.7 out of 5
Grade:  B