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Downtown Brown
Lost Coast Brewery and Cafe
- From:
- Lost Coast Brewery and Cafe
- California, United States
- Style:
- English Brown Ale
Ranked #74 - ABV:
- 5%
- Score:
- 83
Ranked #24,132 - Avg:
- 3.66 | pDev: 12.57%
- Reviews:
- 425
- Ratings:
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Feb 19, 2024
- Added:
- Jan 01, 2001
- Wants:
- 28
- Gots:
- 156
A smooth, full-bodied nut brown ale, lightly hopped with a hint of roasted chocolate and crystal malts. This ale is dark in color without the heavy taste of porter or stout.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Reviewed by TheBricenator from Oregon
4/5 rDev +9.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
4/5 rDev +9.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Look: Brown on the pour and in the glass with a silky-looking eggshell head that puffs up and holds, slowly settling to a lid and leaving great lacing behind
Aroma: Warm brown bread, toffee, toasted bread, lightly roasted tree nuts, a little caramel, and some earthy notes
Taste: Opens up with bread and a whole lot of it; freshly baked bread, toasted bread, and warmed crust all in play, and quickly followed and joined by layers of toffee that pile on. Lightly roasted tree nuts and caramel come on in the middle and earthy notes peek in throughout until it closes with more bready malt and rich toffee
Mouthfeel: Full, smooth, medium-high carbonation, and soft and smooth on the finish
Overall: This is some good stuff. I couldn’t believe I’d never reviewed this yet so had to and it quickly reminded me of just how damn good of a brown ale it is. Tons of depth and layers of rich malt set the stage throughout with just a kiss of earthiness to keep it from being sweet, plus an awesomely smooth feel. This is the total package when it comes to browns and I’m glad it’s readily available to me. Recommended
Feb 19, 2024Aroma: Warm brown bread, toffee, toasted bread, lightly roasted tree nuts, a little caramel, and some earthy notes
Taste: Opens up with bread and a whole lot of it; freshly baked bread, toasted bread, and warmed crust all in play, and quickly followed and joined by layers of toffee that pile on. Lightly roasted tree nuts and caramel come on in the middle and earthy notes peek in throughout until it closes with more bready malt and rich toffee
Mouthfeel: Full, smooth, medium-high carbonation, and soft and smooth on the finish
Overall: This is some good stuff. I couldn’t believe I’d never reviewed this yet so had to and it quickly reminded me of just how damn good of a brown ale it is. Tons of depth and layers of rich malt set the stage throughout with just a kiss of earthiness to keep it from being sweet, plus an awesomely smooth feel. This is the total package when it comes to browns and I’m glad it’s readily available to me. Recommended
Rated by Steven612 from Wisconsin
4.15/5 rDev +13.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25
4.15/5 rDev +13.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25
Easy drinking brown ale with clean finish. Great taste without the heaviness of most darker beers.
Jan 22, 2024Reviewed by Iamaskier from Idaho
3.65/5 rDev -0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
3.65/5 rDev -0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
L: Two finger head, amber brown body
S: Sweet. Caramel, toffee, cola, nuts, sweet dough.
T: Caramel and cola dominate the body, some toffee as well, with a hint of floral hops, becoming roastier and nuttier through the finish.
F: Smooth, slightly dry, sticky on the lips.
O: A good enough brown, with all the right ingredients, but a bit watery. I suppose that makes it sessionable, but I just don’t think of brown ales when I wanna slam some beers. I can, however, understand how this might hit all the right notes for some.
Mar 01, 2023S: Sweet. Caramel, toffee, cola, nuts, sweet dough.
T: Caramel and cola dominate the body, some toffee as well, with a hint of floral hops, becoming roastier and nuttier through the finish.
F: Smooth, slightly dry, sticky on the lips.
O: A good enough brown, with all the right ingredients, but a bit watery. I suppose that makes it sessionable, but I just don’t think of brown ales when I wanna slam some beers. I can, however, understand how this might hit all the right notes for some.
Reviewed by StonedTrippin from Colorado
3.75/5 rDev +2.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.75/5 rDev +2.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
this is a brown ale like newcastle is a brown ale, meaning its amber at best, more caramel than chocolate malts by a landslide, not a bad thing, and this is way better than what newcastle has become, make no mistake, the comparison stops with the color. nice lively head from the bottle, almost looks bottle conditioned to me, amazing how light this is and they call it brown, cut from the old school cloth here to be sure. a nose of sweet and nutty toasted malt, toffee without being too sugary, and a little bit of earthy roast way in the back, simple and even kind of minimal for the style, drinkable as they come even off dry. i swear i get like peanut in the early flavor journey, roasted like a nut not like darker grain, real interesting, and maybe something bready from the yeast, but this is all quite restrained, in many ways not much more depth than a modern amber, very little from the hops here too. to me this is just sort of an ale, a fermented barley beverage, not without character, but like, this is craft beer as opposed to yellow macro beer, without really having much more identity than that, despite the awesome graphics on the label, its good, but its also just a beer. five years ago i may have found this boring, now i find it refreshing against the backdrop of everything seemingly needing adjuncts and huge alcohol contents and weird processes to stand out. i miss beer like this, comfortable in its own skin. insanely light as brown ale goes, effervescent and mild in body, but the other five in the six pack with get consumed for christmas tomorrow and it will be delightful. perhaps just a little festive...
Dec 24, 2021Reviewed by blazerkor from Nevada
4.6/5 rDev +25.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
4.6/5 rDev +25.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
It's not nutty but the taste is like warm brown buttery bread. It's a little sweet and extremely malty. It feels smooth and barely fizzy on the palet. It finishes with just a hint of burnt bitterness that is overwhelmed by subtle yeasty sweetness. I give this one a 5.5 out of 6 but remember I'm partial to brown ales.
Dec 29, 2020Reviewed by Thomas_Wikman from Texas
4.08/5 rDev +11.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
4.08/5 rDev +11.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
I don't have a lot experience of English Brown Ales so I can't make a good comparison with other Brown Ales, but I enjoyed this beer.
Look: dark brown with a two inch thick off-white head
Aroma: Toasted bread, caramel, chocolate, dark fruit
Taste: Toasted bread, caramel, chocolate maybe some dark fruit.
Body/Overall: medium body
Nov 11, 2019Look: dark brown with a two inch thick off-white head
Aroma: Toasted bread, caramel, chocolate, dark fruit
Taste: Toasted bread, caramel, chocolate maybe some dark fruit.
Body/Overall: medium body
Reviewed by philbundy
5/5 rDev +36.6%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
5/5 rDev +36.6%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
I know nothing about all this nutty floral chocolaty stuff you all be talking about I just buy a lot of beer and almost every time I do I try a beer I have never drunk before and this Downtown Brown is the best damn beer I have tasted in years maybe ever. And it will be the only beer I buy besides Babst Blue Ribbon until (if) I get tired of it, at that point, I will continue as before.
Oct 18, 2019
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