Brown ales
Peter Sachs
Welcome to Beer Primer, Decider’s never-ending quest to help readers attain a better understanding of all things boozy. Last week, Decider covered India pale ale, and this week, we bring you brown ale.
Brown ales get their color and flavor from roasted malt (usually barley). Roasted barley can end up tasting a bit like chocolate, nuts, or even a sort of oaky smokiness if you're really paying attention. Malt contains sugar, so beers with extra malt have a sweeter taste, and even though those sugars convert into alcohol during beer production, brown ales aren't extra-alcoholic.
A great entry point for brown ales is Downtown Brown from Lost Coast Brewing in northern California. It’s downright delicious and really easy to drink. The beer is really dark, but the flavor is mild and very smooth, without the bitterness that usually turns people off some other styles of beer, like last week’s India pale ales. Take a sip or two of Downtown Brown and you’ll notice flavors of roasted nuts and wheat bread. It’s also really sweet compared with many other beers, with flavors reminiscent of molasses or brown sugar.
As a darker beer, it’s a little more filling than others, but its mind-blowing smoothness means several pints should go down without a complaint from anyone. The complaints depend on how drunk you get in public.
A great entry point for brown ales is Downtown Brown from Lost Coast Brewing in northern California. It’s downright delicious and really easy to drink. The beer is really dark, but the flavor is mild and very smooth, without the bitterness that usually turns people off some other styles of beer, like last week’s India pale ales. Take a sip or two of Downtown Brown and you’ll notice flavors of roasted nuts and wheat bread. It’s also really sweet compared with many other beers, with flavors reminiscent of molasses or brown sugar.
As a darker beer, it’s a little more filling than others, but its mind-blowing smoothness means several pints should go down without a complaint from anyone. The complaints depend on how drunk you get in public.
Where to find it: Handlebar.
Try it with: Ground nut stew. The sweetness of the coconut matches the sweet notes in the beer, which in turn has enough body to withstand the stew's heartiness.
Try it with: Ground nut stew. The sweetness of the coconut matches the sweet notes in the beer, which in turn has enough body to withstand the stew's heartiness.
