Beer Name: TBA

Brewery: Fat Head’s Brewery, Bear Republic Brewing, and Stone Brewing
Beer Style: American (Texas) Brown Ale
ABV: 7.1%
IBU: ?
Size: 12oz bottle
Beer Advocate: 84
RateBeer: 95

Well as you can see, it’s Collaboration Week here at Ohio-Beer. For my first collab review, I decided to try a beer that not only was worked on by three of my favorite breweries, but also one from Ohio: Fat Head’s Brewery. Fat Head’s hails out of North Olmsted, which is a short drive down 71 from Cleveland. Knowing that Fat Head’s is a multi-award winner at the Great American Beer Fest and having had a couple of their beers before, I was looking forward to what these powerhouse breweries brewed up.

TBA standing for Texas Brown Ale. I was expecting a more mild beer, but this was anything but mild. TBA pours a clear brown with a light brown quarter inch of head that is slow to dissipate and laces all the way down the pint glass. The smell is very hop forward followed by a sweet caramel malt with a faint hint of coffee in the background. The taste is very much the same, with the piney hops coming through up front with a carmel/toffee/molasses malt flavor that arrives mid-drink and finishes the beer off. The beer is well carbonated and the head has some staying power as there was still some left as I finished off the beer. I would say TBA learns more toward IPA than Brown Ale with all the hop flavor, but overall I enjoyed this beer.

Ratings

Sessionability: TBA tastes like a mild Brown Ale meets an IPA, and for me that makes it pretty easy to drink. 4-pack.
Overall: I thought TBA was a solid collaboration by all three breweries and I wouldn’t hesitate to buy this again. 4-pack.
Would Be Best Consumed: With the hoppiness of this brown ale, I think this would be great with some BBQ.