American Brown
The Civil Life Brewing Company

 

2026-02-14
12oz can served in a stemless rastal. Canned 05/30/25. Got it long ago from @not2quick, discovered recently in a dark and dangerous corner of my beer fridge.

Pours dark brown with a modest head, good retention around 1-2mm thick, mostly even with a few bigger bubbles. Light shines shyly and attractively through the dark liquid. Smell is darkly nutty, toasty / bready, some bark and / or wet wood.

Taste is roasty, tons of nuts, nice barky bitterness though not too strong. Biscuit / bread / toast, some earthy characteristic. Moderate sweetness underlying all of it.

Mouthfeel is medium to light, smooth and clean. Very nice brown ale.

 

Another beer that I've had many times and can't believe that I haven't reviewed it. From a twelve ounce aluminum can, it pours a deep mahogany brown color. The head a a cream color, medium in thickness, and has good retention. The aroma is of roasted grains. Straightforward and balanced taste. Medium in body, drinkable, and solid. Not outstanding, but quite good.

 

American Brown Ale from Civil Life. 12 fl oz can, received in a trade with @not2quick. Reviewed 26/11/24 (Review 3403). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Stamped on can bottom rim “CANNED 09/13/24”. Stored at 34 degrees at home. Served at 54.8 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature was 58.2 degrees F.
Appearance – 4
First pour – Medium Amber (SRM 12), clear.
Body – Brown (SRM 20), opaque. Under direct light, same. When rear-lite, translucent hazy amber brown.
Head: Average (Maximum 4.0 cm, aggressive center pour), wheat, high density with a rocky top. Quickly collapsing to a 0.3 – 0.8 cm crown, and a rocky partial cap.
Lacing – Poor. Just a couple of tiny, narrow islands above the crown.
Aroma – 3 - None. No yeast, no hops, no malt. No ethanol (4.8 % ABV according to BA: marked on neither can nor website).
Flavor – 3 – Begins slightly bitter with dark chocolate, slightly burnt as well. No yeast, no hops flavor. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Slight gastric warming
Palate – 3 – Medium: creamy; soft carbonation.
Style: Follows the style guidelines as loosely condensed by BA.
Final impression and summation: 3.25 – OK but not a brew I’d choose to drink again.

I don't know if a brown ale can get any better than this! It's perfectly crafted to its respective beer style. It's an incredibly underrated beer in my opinion.

 

Poured from a can. Brown with a head head. Smells of caramel, malt and a nuttiness. Flavors of toasted malt, caramel, dark grains and a nuttiness hint. Comes together really well.

 

Tall pour at the STL airport. $10 ain’t bad at an airport these days. Rich and roasty, pretty darn tasty for the style. Haven’t had an ABA in a while and this is a nice return to the style. Like a lighter Stout/Porter with their flavor and a lighter body.

I had this on draft 10/2/23 @ the Beer Temple.

Opaque brown/orange appearance.

Nice tan head; frothy lacing remained.

Autumn leaves, brown sugar & a hint of peanut butter in the nose.

Creamy medium mouthfeel.

Autumn leaves, brown sugar & mild cream flavors up front; dry acorn notes on the finish.

A fine fall sipper, here.

Look - brown slight head nice rimming
Smell - caramel cocoa slight nutty roasted malts, slight sweet
Taste - roasted malts pretty easy going
Feel - medium light body with a slight creamy fizz medium light carb
Overall - pretty nice brown

 

Had on tap. Pitch brown body with a khaki head and full rings of lacing. Aromas of toasted nuts, earth, dark caramel malts, cocoa and roast with a kiss of floral tones. Taste is much the same with some toffee sweetness and tobacco bitterness emerging as it warms. Feel is fantastic: smooth, warm, very full yet not heavy at all, chewy, with malt and yeast starring fully.

 

 

 

 

i love st louis so much. had this many times but currently on tap at the local hangout. a deep dark brown brew with a nice bit of light tan foam on top, with some heavy clinging lace following it down, leaving rings in its wake. aroma is full of deep toasted bread, medium roast coffee and the slightest hints of a nice dark chocolate, with a balancing earthiness keeping it all in line. on the tastebuds theres a lot of that same toasty goodness, with a balancing hit of some chocolate and a big lingering earthy bitterness and a strong woody thing going on that i absolutely love. its quite warming for its fairly low abv, and is quite full bodied but extremely easy to drink. a personal favorite and my standard for a good brown ale, i'd take one along with me wherever i go