Mornington Peninsula Brown Ale
Mornington Peninsula Brewery

 

The can I had was brown and no longer had "commonfolk" in the title, but it was the same ABV and my reading of the reviews indicates it is the same brew.

And a good one it is. My two non-Brit favorites are Cigar City's Maduro and New Glarus' Fat Squirrel. Mornington's is close to both... which is pretty good for a market that likes there malt light and their beers hoppy. So it was refreshing and even good to see this can. Glad for this impulse buy.

Mornington's Brown Looks like the right stuff and particularly Smells like it... mostly sweet and malty. Tastes ? Delicately roasted malts and brewers' brown sugar creating a dark fruit richness. In the mouth, it could be smoother with less bubbles and is a touch to the thin side. (Hint: take a cue from Cigar City and try oatmeal.)

I may never have this again (unless I get lucky and find it in the States).... but I wish I could.

A: Poured from the 330ml bottle into a pint glass. Bought from an expat grocery store in Shanghai China. This beer is not called Commonwealth Brown, as the picture indicates. The beer is a deep cola brown with a tan head that fizzled out somewhat quickly.

S: A somewhat sweet, molasses aroma lurks deep inside. Otherwise, caramel and ready malt.

T: Complex taste that includes, paradoxically, a hint of dark fruits almost like cherries underneath a solid base of caramel and toffee and roasted malt. Brown sugar and other sweet notes add a candy-like character to the brew. I really like this - a unique combination of flavors.

F: Goes down very smooth.

Overall: I will be picking this one up again for sure. Each sip reveals something new, but it never gets old or overpowering. Nice one!

This one has been on my to do list for a while now - someone ages ago, I forget who it was, raved about this being the best Aussie Brown Ale... admittedly there isn’t a great deal of competition in that sector... Balter Alt Brown is the only other one I can think of off the top of my head, so little competition there. Also I think Mornington Peninsula are more in their element with darker beers (at least Russel Brown and Dog’s Bollocks have been 2 favourites of mine), so I think this mystery person from yonder past may have been on to something with their “best Aussie Brown Ale”. There is however only one way for me to truly know if this is the “best Aussie Brown Ale” and, as always, it involves my pie hole.

Poured from a 330ml bottle into a nonic pint.

A: Slightly hazed deep mahogany body with a thin, and it must be said: overly active carbonated head, with a tan hue. Not looking forward to that amount of carbonation at all, but the colour is alright. 7/10.

S: Sweet milk chocolate character mingles with brown sugar and toffee notes, very prominent malt aromas at play here with an ever so slight earthy hop hint lingering in the background. Touch of nutty character as well - there you are nutty, I wouldn’t accept a Brown Ale without you. The whole thing could be a touch more amped up though. 7/10.

T: Milk chocolate upfront, brown sugar/toffee comes in towards mid palate... so far so sweet... earthy/nutty notes towards the finish, which has a nice easy-going dryness that balances out the sweet malt flavours. Rather well balanced this Brown Ale, I was expecting it to be sweeter - which would have been a bit too much IMO - but yet again Mornington have shown that they know how to brew a decent dark beer... shame about their paler brethren. Hint of tobacco in there too - nice! 8/10.

M: Body needs work: Mid to light, touch thinner than other (better bodied) Browns, with a slightly over-gassed carbonation (but we expected that from the crazy carbonation action above). 6/10.

D: Overall this was a treat of a brew - Mornington’s own Russel Brown still beats it, however that was more of an Imperial version of a Brown, and Imperial versions almost invariably beat non-Imperial versions of beers for me. If Mornington upped the 5% ABV of this to 6% it would all-round be a better brew in all the areas it was lacking... although it would probs be sweeter too. 8/10.

Food match: Starts with “S” and ends with “W”: Swallow, an African one, roasted.

 

One of my favorite Brown Ales, this brew is surprisingly session-able, drinks great out of the bottle but even better off a tap.

The Ale pours a deep brown with maroon hints to it, it has a nice creamy head on that holds well.

The scent is subtle, but still has a sweet toffee on the nose with some slight coffee notes coming through.

The taste has some soft hopped notes to the front, the malt coming through on mid-palate but it has a nutty finish. These flavours are far from over-bearing making the beer very approachable and by extension something you can have multiple Pints/Stubbies of without becoming to tired of it.

One of the many winners to come out of this Southern Victorian based brewery, something I would happily buy again.

 

 

 

I had a 330ml bottle. This beer won a bronze medal at the 2014 CBIA Craft Beer Awards in the 2B English style brown ale.
Appearance: pours dark brown and reddish tinges. Short light brown head that does not hang around much.
Aroma: brown sugar and toffee and alcohol present. Reminds me of my mums Christmas pudding mix before it is put in the boiler.
Alcohol ABV is 5%.
Flavour: more toffee flavours coming though upfront but finishes a with a light bitterness and dark chocolate flavours.
Overall: A good example of the style with toffee flavours. Carbonation is low and mouth feel is mild but it is still a full bodied drop with solid bitter finish that makes it very appealing.

 

 

 

Clear dark brown colour with a smooth tan head. Good head retention.

Slightly alcoholic nose. A touch nutty. Some roasted notes. Good.

Toasted and nutty with a light black malt flavour. Some fruit. Quite simple.

Medium body with moderate carbonation. Good.

A really solid brown ale. Nothing amazing but it ticks all the boxes.

330ml bottle poured into pint glass 6/4/14

A hazed reddish brown, almost maroon when held to the light, thumbs width of beige foam has decent retention and leaves lots of unorganized lace

S lots of brown sugar, faint milk chocolate, nutty, some leafy hops, over ripe plum, and lots of hard toffee

T tastes much like the nose but a little stronger, bruised apple, and a little dark bread crust, not bad at all

M medium bodied, creams up well, leaves a little behind on the palate, bread and brown sugar linger

O tasty brown ale with no real weaknesses, super easy to drink with lots going on in something I could session

I picked this one up at the brewpub along with most of their available line up. Everything I've tried from these guys so far has been solid and I hope that trend continues

 

On tap at the Brewery.

A: Served a deep Mahogany color with a nice tan head that fades slowly to some lacing.
S: Aroma of roasted malt, some caramel and dark fruit.

T: Taste of roasted malt, some caramel sweetness with dark fruit and a hint of chocolate in the background. Nice bitterness and the finish is quite dry.

F: Medium body, smooth and creamy texture. Nicely balanced.

O: Enjoyable beer that goes down quite easy.

 

Birthday present from Slowbeer from the lovely @epiclurk.

Pours a fine, deep brown colour, with a firm and pretty persistent head of light ochre. Patchy speckled lacing forms as the beer goes down. Body looks a little thin, but suitable enough—the carbonation is rather loose, however.

Nose is light with touches of roasted malts and sweeter dried fruit notes. Above this is a surprisingly crisp fragrance, almost like a clean hoppiness giving some lift and buoyancy to the nose. Almost a touch of preserved lemon or pawpaw. Very pleasant.

Taste is very light and mild, but with some lovely toasty characters on the back, giving a hazelnut smoothness and a lightly cleansing dark bitterness. Quite a smooth mouthfeel despite the relative lightness of the body—the carbonation is very subdued on the palate.

Very easy-drinking brown ale, with enough characters to tickle the palate, but a smoothness that makes you want to gobble it down. MP seem to have the uncanny knack of making flavoursome beers that are rippingly easy to drink. Great work.

Pours a deep mahogany hue with nice carbonation that leaves behind a two finger creamy head and a rim of lacing,the smell is raisins,roasted nuts,chocolate ane ripe berries,the mouthfeel is light bodied and has tastes of raisins,dark bittersweet chocolate,roasted peanuts and finished with a ripe dark berry fruitiness and overall i was expecting more but its easy enough to drink cheers.