With another pair of tickets to see the Red Sox, my wife and I found ourselves at Boston Beer Works for a second time this week. We had arrived two hours before the game thinking we’d get some food before going into Fenway, but the bar was already full and a long line wrapped around the block. Undeterred, we waited and eventually lucked into a pair of seats at the bar.

Bunker Hill Blueberry Ale was getting a lot of attention from the patrons again, but Friday was much warmer than Tuesday and it seemed the most popular beer was the Haymarket Hefeweizen — much to the consternation of the bar staff, as the frothy wheat beer took a longer to pour and garnish than anything else on tap.

In addition to beer, Boston Beer Works serves wine, but I didn’t see any of this ballpark crowd drinking from stemware. They also have hard cider — Woodchuck — which helps me tremendously because my wife won’t drink beer.

I decided to try the Beantown Nut Brown Ale.

Beantown Nut Brown Ale came dark, with a nearly black body and a narrow white head. It had a lightly toasted aroma with a sugary malt, a chocolate aroma, and the barest hint of nuttiness. The taste was surprisingly sweet. Toffee struck my tongue immediately, followed by a nutty malt and a toasted chocolate malt with a hint of smoke on the exhale. The mouthfeel was thin and a bit chalky, but I couldn’t get over the impression that the sweet toffee flavor was coming from Kayro syrup.

I regretted the choice almost immediately, and each sip seemed to confirm my conclusion. It wasn’t a bad beer — far from it — but Beer Works’ Beantown Nut Brown is hardly the beer to pick if you’re only having one.

Related posts:

1. Bad Penny Brown Ale
2. Old Chub – Oskar Blues