El Oso Brown Ale Review

I've been waiting to review this beer because I wanted to give it some time to mature. I'm fairly happy with this beer, but feel like it definitely could be better. There are some nice flavors, but overall I think it's fairly thin and lacking some character. The beer was kind of a kitchen sink concoction, I threw in some ingredients I had lying around and made a beer using some grains that I had picked up on accident. You can read the story of it here. Regardless, that isn't an excuse, and this beer isn't bad by any means. I had resisted the urge to add some honey, and I think I shouldn't have ignored that instinct. There's some nice biscuity-malty flavors in it, and some honey in the secondary would have given it a nice finishing touch. I digress, onto the reivew:
It pours a nice mahogany brown, with ruby red highlights and a tan head. There's some nice aromas at first of toast, biscuit and malt with a faint nuttiness. It's fairly light, with a bit of a thin mouthfeel, it only clocks in at 4% abv and I think that is noticeable. Some caramel flavors going on, as well as a lot of biscuit. I had wanted it to be fairly biscuity, and I think that was achieved. There isn't as much caramel sweetness I would have wanted, and it lacks some nuttiness as well. Very easy drinking, and it leaves some lingering malty-toasty notes in the finish. Reading through the BJCP guidelines, I think the beer hits some of the marks, such as "A light-flavored, malt-accented beer that is readily suited to drinking in quantity." Where this beer lacks however is in the flavorful category. I think it's very easy drinking, but lacks some umph. I think I have a good base, but next time around I want to add some more late addition hops, perhaps that honey, and maybe something to give it a bit more body. It's almost closer to a Mild than a Brown Ale.
For a throw together beer, not a bad start, but I generally like my Bearded Brews to be a bit more memorable.
Here's the recipe:
2 lbs org 2-Row
1 lb org Crystal 60
.5 lbs org chocolate malt
2 oz org caramunich
6 oz org Vienna
* Mash @ 152 for 1 hr
4 lbs Light Org DME (1 lb @ 60, 3 lbs @ 20)
1 oz Org Perle Hops @ 60
.60 oz Org EKG @ 15
.40 oz Org Admiral Whole Hops@ 5
1056 American Ale Yeast

I will post some reviews of some local beers coming up, as well as an update on the Gringo, which is still fermenting almost 10 days in.
Salud!
Bearded Brewer