Full Pint Festivus

I admit, the name of the beer intrigued me more than anything else about it.  I've had one or two Full Pint beers before, and as I recall, they were pretty decent, so I grabbed their Festivus:

Vittles:
American Brown Ale
6% abv

Score:
Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 21/25
Taste: 36/40
Mouthfeel: 8/10
Style: 5/5
Drinkability: 8/10
Overall: 86/100

Impression:
The head is on the thin side, and it didn't seem like there was much carbonation swirling around as I poured -- seemed like it would be mostly flat.  The aroma has a nice toasty malt quality with biscuit, caramel, bread, toffee, and spice (cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg) notes.  Warmer spices like vanilla come through more as the beer warms, adding an interesting complexity to the brew.  The flavors largely match the nose, and they bring some herbal and earthy tones into play.  Fairly well balanced overall.  The carbonation was lacking, as was the mouthfeel, which can across as medium-light, smooth, and somewhat creamy.  I enjoyed this one quite a bit, but I think it would've been better with a little more carb to it.

Cheers!

Goose Island Sixth Day

I can't recall how Goose Island Sixth Day wound up in my keezer (I hope I'm not forgetting to thank anyone!), but it seemed like a good beer to try tonight:

Vittles:
American Brown Ale
8.3% abv
55 IBU

Score:
Appearance: 9/10
Aroma: 23/25
Taste: 37/40
Mouthfeel: 8/10
Style: 5/5
Drinkability: 8/10
Overall: 90/100

Impression:
I'm pretty impressed with the pour, though the head didn't have much linger to it.  Biscuit, caramel, and toffee dominate the aroma, with spicy, herbal, floral, and fruity notes in the background.  I enjoyed the complexity in this one quite a bit.  The malt backbone is prominent, but not out of balance with the more delicate hops characteristics, and there's just enough of sticky-sweetness to offset the mildly bitter bite.  Brown sugar and molasses came to mind, as did cherries, raisins, and something like cloves or nutmeg.  The flavor profile becomes more interesting as it warms, with some minor earthy and floral hints in the background.  Overall, I like this one quite a bit.

Cheers!

Goose Island Nut Brown Ale

I liked the other Goose Island beers I had, so I hope their Nut Brown Ale doesn't disappoint:

Vittles:
American Brown Ale
5.3% abv
25 IBUs

Score:
Appearance: 9/10
Aroma: 22/25
Taste: 36/40
Mouthfeel: 8/10
Style: 5/5
Drinkability: 8/10
Overall: 88/100

Impression:
The aroma is very nutty and fairly yeasty, with a decent helping of roasted malt, so it's pulling me in right off the bat.  The flavors are very similar but more distinct: dark toasted bread, hazelnut, coffee, chocolate, and some toffee jump out at me, and there's a nice earthy/woody tone behind it all.  A medium-full body rounds it out nicely.  This is a very well done brown ale -- not too bitter, not too dry, and the malt-heavy body brings forward some nice complexities.  Very enjoyable.  I'll have to look for this again in the future.

Cheers!