Brown Ales

BROWN IS THE LONELIEST COLOR

If one is trying to sell a house or a car, perhaps, it's unlikely the real estate agent or car salesman would describe it as brown. Instead it would be chocolate or burnt umber or chestnut. Maybe russet, smokey topaz, taupe or perhaps even kobicha. But brown? Probably not. Yet if one wanted to describe where one lived they'd likely say something like "'It's the brown house third down from the corner." To say "It's the kobicha house" might "muddy" the descriptive waters. Red is a sexy color, Amber somehow exotic and Dark (as in dark beers) denotes an air of mystery. But Brown - meh. In truth brown is a warm often rich color with a myriad of tones and hues. And so it is with Brown Ales, which are first cousins to Red Ales, Amber Ales and those Dark beers like Stouts and Porters. In color they can span the spectrum from a near black to reddish to amber. Traditionally Brown Ales, a British staple for years, are more malt-heavy than hoppy with taste that can be bready, yeasty, biscuit-like with undertones of toffee, caramel, coffee and sometimes chocolate. However, with the explosion of craft breweries here in the states Brown Ales, like all other styles of beer, have been tweaked. Or not. The result being that you can find very traditional Brit Beer style Browns out there or Brown Ales with a little more hop to their step, so to speak.
This month the BOTB Guys grabbed some Brown Ales and a thesaurus (because, how many times can you just say the color was brown?) and went to work.

THE BROWN NOTE

AGAINST THE GRAIN BREWERY

THE BEER FACTS: BREWERY: Against the Grain Brewery, Louisville, KY; ABV: 5%; IBUs: 20.0; MALTS: British malts and oats, with specialty malts; HOPS: Traditional British hops, Cascade.

WHAT THE BREWER SAYS: "The brown ale to end all brown ales. Enjoy it, because there is no longer any reason to drink another. You've reached the pinnacle. A healthy blend of traditional British malts give this popular style a semi-sweet, biscuity, slightly roasted flavor. Oats thicken the mouthfeel, and a handful or specialty malts add complex chocolate, toffee, and caramel notes. The hops are mostly traditional, earthy British hops, but we cocked it up a bit with some Cascade late in the boil just to show those snooty Brits that we don't approve of that Constitutional Monarchy crap."

COLOR: Brown

POUR: Decent Head

AROMA: Nutty, bready

BODY: A bit beyond Medium

TASTE: Tends toward sweet with lots of notes of Malt, bread, nut, coffee, chocolate, toffee and caramel.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: Between "I Could Drink This" and "Can't Get Enough!"

COMMENTS: "Clean at the end (wiped?); Like a thinner porter; I like this - nice beer; Once I get passed the label, I like it; I really like it - no shit!; I've seen this on the shelf and actively avoided it because of the label - really turned me off. I mean, I like the humor used by craft brewers - but this is a bit too juvenile and in-your-face  Not exactly subtle or clever . The beer itself is really good, though; It's rich, full flavored; A case of 'Can't judge a book by its cover' sort of thing I guess."

HAZELNUT BROWN NECTAR

ROGUE ALES

THE BEER FACTS: BREWER: Rogue Ales, Newport, OR; ABV: 5.6%; IBUs: 33; MALTS: 2-Row, Munich, C15, C75, C120, Kiln Coffee, Brown and Rogue Farms Dare and Risk Malts; HOPS: Rogue Farms Revolution and Independent Hops; YEAST: Pacman Yeast; BONUS INGREDIENTS: Hazelnut extract, Free Range Coastal Water."

WHAT THE BREWER SAYS: "From the hazelnut capital of the United States, this nutty twist on a European brown ale was originally crafted by Rogue Brewmaster John Maier's good friend and avid home-brewer, Chris Studach. Hazelnut Brown Nectar offers a hazelnut aroma with rich nutty flavor and a smooth malty finish."

COLOR: Dark Amber

POUR: A bit better than Decent Head

AROMA: Bready, Yeasty, Nutty

BODY: Medium

TASTE: Sweet, malty, nutty with hint of vanilla

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: Between "I Could Drink This" and "Can't Get Enough!"

COMMENTS: "Sweet!; Like a creamy brown ale; Very drinkable; Fall-leaf-raking ale; Rogue makes some good beers, and this is one of them; It's a little different from your typical brown ale; I taste some vanilla in there - took me a minute to identify the taste; Yeah, it's that vanilla that kind of gives it the sweetness, I think; And hazelnut nutty taste of course, which sets it apart."

BEST BROWN ALE

BELLS BREWERY

THE BEER FACTS: BREWER: Bell's Brewery, Constock, MI; ABV: 5.8%; HOPS: American

WHAT THE BREWER SAYS: "A smooth, toasty brown ale, Best Brown is a mainstay in our fall lineup. With hints of caramel and cocoa, the malt body has the depth to stand up to cool weather, but does not come across as heavy. This balancing act is aided by the generous use of American hops."

COLOR: Mahogany

POUR: Decent Head

AROMA: Not a strong aroma, bit of bread, perhaps.

BODY: Medium

TASTE: Tending toward the sweet with notes of brown sugar, caramel and a slight whisper of  chocolate

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: Between "I Could Drink This" and "Can't Get Enough!"

COMMENTS: "Less of a mouthfeel than the others - a little thin; No particular taste is overpowering in this, subtle; I could actually drink more of these than some of the others simply because it is a pretty easy-drinking beer; Nice blend of flavors; It's a nice solid ale."

OLD BROWN DOG

SMUTTYNOSE BREWING CO.

THE BEER FACTS: BREWER: Smuttynose Brewing, Hampton, NH; STYLE: Brown Ale; ABV: 6.5%; IBUs: 29.5; MALT: North American 2-Row, Munich 10L, C-120, Chocolate; HOPS: Bittering: Cascade and Galena, Flavoring: Willamette; YEAST: American Ale

WHAT THE BREWER SAYS: "Old Brown Dog has been cited as a classic example of the 'American Brown Ale' style of beer. Compared to a typical English Brown Ale, Old Brown Dog is fuller-bodied and more strongly hopped."

COLOR: Ruby Brown

POUR: Decent Head

AROMA: Malty

BODY: A bit less than Medium

TASTE: Tends toward the sweet end of the spectrum with strong malt taste as well as toffee, bit of nut and caramel.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: Between "I Could Drink This" and "Can't Get Enough!"

COMMENTS: "Most mellow yet; Soothing and mild come to mind; Sweet all the way through, and finishes that way; A bit thin, but quite tasty; It's got some hoppiness to it; Kind of silky smooth feel to it; Another nice, easy-drinker."

BOFFO BROWN ALE

DARK HORSE BREWING

THE BEER FACTS: BREWER: Dark Horse Brewing Co., Marshall, MI; STYLE: Brown Ale; ABV: 7%; IBU: 26

WHAT THE BREWER SAYS: "Boffo Brown Ale is a favorite to many of us here at the brewery. Like most of our beers, it's robust full body and soft mouth feel is pushing the envelope of what an American Brown Ale is to most people. Flavors begin with malt, caramel, toffee, and finish with a nutty, mild earthiness. Boffo is extremely versatile and can be paired with hearty food and sips of bourbon or mild cheeses and sunny days."

COLOR: Between Brown and Mahogany

POUR: Decent Head

AROMA: Caramel

BODY: Between Medium and Full

TASTE: Malty, Caramel, toffee with a bitter tinge, burnt chocolate

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: Near "Can't Get Enough!"

COMMENTS: "Borders on being a really nice Stout; Delicious!: There's like a burnt chocolate thing going on there - and I mean that in a good way - maybe dark chocolate; Bitter on the end; Smooth in the middle; Maybe a bit of coffee in there as well; Nice bit of hoppiness gives it the bitter bite that is a real nice counterpoint to the sweetness."

INDIAN BROWN DARK IPA

DOGFISH HEAD BREWING

THE BEER FACTS: BREWER: Dogfish Head Brewing Co., Milton, DE; ABV: 7.2%; IBUs: 50

WHAT THE BREWER SAYS: "Forget about the car companies, this is the original hybrid. A cross between a Scotch Ale, an India Pale Ale and an American Brown, Indian Brown is well-hopped and malty at the same time (it's magical!). The beer has characteristics of each style that inspired it: the color of an American Brown, the caramel notes of a Scotch Ale, and the hopping regimen of an India Pale Ale. We dry-hop the Indian Brown in a similar fashion to our 60 Minute IPA and  90 Minute IPA. This beer is brewed with Aromatic barley and organic brown sugar."

COLOR: Chocolate

POUR: Decent Head

AROMA: Caramel, maple

BODY: Somewhat more than Medium

TASTE: Malt, Bread, Nutty, Caramel, Brown Sugar, Molassas, touch of Dark Chocolate

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: Just shy of "Can't Get Enough!"

COMMENTS: "A little zestier - you can tell it's an IPA; Malt forward, kind of reminds me of Wookie Jack; Dogfish Head - it's great!; One of my favorite Dogfish Head beers; Really good beer"

WYNONA'S BIG BROWN ALE

VOODOO BREWERY

THE BEER FACTS: BREWER: Voodoo Brewery, Meadville, PA; STYLE: Brown Ale; ABV: 7.3%; MALT: Brown Malt, Marris Otter; HOPS: Simcoe, Amarillo, Northern Brewer.

WHAT THE BREWER SAYS: "A robust dark brown ale brewed with generous amounts of brown malt and Marris Otter and hopped with Simcoe, Amarillo, and Northern Brewer to enhance the flavor and aroma for your enjoyment."

COLOR: Dark Brown

POUR: Decent Head with nice light brown lacing

AROMA: Sweet malt

BODY: A bit beyond Medium

TASTE: Nicely complex beer with the taste of malt, nut, chocolate and yeast (bready), bit of coffee and molasses

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: Close to "Can't Get Enough!"

COMMENTS: "Nice smooth body; Right alcohol level for hop heads; Clean finish; What's not to like?; Real nice roasty malt taste in there, maybe a bit of vanilla, all those good Brown Ale flavors."

OUR RANKING

This month was another one in which we really didn't have a bad beer. All of them came in above average if we consider "I Could Drink This" as average - which we do. The "I Could Drink This" rating means it's a beer we would enjoyed and would be glad to see on a menu in a restaurant or at a sports bar but it might not be a beer we would actively seek out. Anything above that - and all of these beers were - is a beer we consider to be a better than average craft beer. The interesting thing here was that, despite all of these beers being Brown Ales, they didn't all taste exactly alike - an issue we have found in the past with certain styles particularly Oktoberfest brews. While all of the Browns we reviewed shared certain taste profiles of malt and nut, each one seemed to tweak those flavors along with coffee, chocolate, toffee, caramel, molasses and others to create a uniqueness while staying true to the Brown Ale traditions. Here's what we thought:

1. Dogfish Head Indian Dark Brown Ale - This one eked out a win over Wynona and Boffo both of which were up near the "Can't Get Enough!" level. A real nice full-bodied beer that just bursts with flavor. Nice, complex which appeals to both malt lovers and hopheads.

2. 3. - Wynona's Big Brown Ale and Boffo Brown Ale pretty much tied for second. 
            -Wynona we found to be a really smooth beer with a nice combination of Malt, Nut and chocolate.
            - Boffo was darn near of really tasty Stout with a great finish and a hint of bitter dark chocolate to compliment the Malt.

4. Hazelnut Brown Nectar - We really liked this beer from Rogue Brewing. Very drinkable with a nice hint of vanilla along with the nutty maltiness.

5. 6. 7. - Another log jam here as all three scored the same - roughly a 4 out of 5 or right in the middle between "I Could Drink This" and "Can't Get Enough!" So alphabetically by Brewery:

      - Against the Grain The Brown Note - Stepping away from all the puns generated by the label design, we found this to be like a thinner Porter. Very tasty with all the requisite Brown Ale notes - Malt, Bread, Nut, Coffee. Really good beer.

     - Bell's Best Brown - A little thin compared to the others but still a nice beer with a pleasant taste of brown sugar in there.

     - Smuttynose Brewing Old Brown Dog Ale - We found this very mellow, soothing and sweet all the way through with a nice toffee taste in there.

Next Month: New New York State beers. Until then.

Slante,
The BOTB Guys