Brekle's Brown
Anchor Brewing Company

Brekle's BrownBrekle's Brown
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From:
Anchor Brewing Company
 
California, United States
Style:
American Brown Ale
ABV:
6%
Score:
83
Avg:
3.68 | pDev: 13.59%
Reviews:
315
Ratings:
867
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Apr 09, 2020
Added:
Mar 07, 2011
Wants:
  17
Gots:
  102
Single hopped with Citra.
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Ratings by ChrisCage:
Photo of ChrisCage
Reviewed by ChrisCage from Canada (AB)

4.26/5  rDev +15.8%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A- Poured into a standard beer glass, and the coloration is brownish, with a fair amount of red hues in the background. It is semi-clear, with some small carbonation seen to be rising to the top. The head on this beer is amazing I have to say!....it is a caramel color, is dense and creamy, and retains as well as any beer will, going from a couple fingers thick, settling down to about a finger. The lacing is decent too, leaving behind thick foamy goodness, but it does slowly slide back into the brew unfortunately!

S- Malt sweetness dominates the nasal cavity, with some pleasant notes of mouth watery inducing citrus hints. There is some fresh leafy bitterness noted on the finish as well. Very yummy smelling indeed!

T- This is quite malty, yet very refreshing at the same time. Sweet hints of caramel, roasted barley grain, and cocoa/coffee bean blended start this one off. This somewhat gives way to a satisfying, lighter tartness of citrus...I found it to be primarily of grapefruit, tangerine, and a lemon/lime rind tinge to it. The finish is a mix of astringent, yet thirst quenching bitterness, with a touch of soft sweetness that ends this beer with a perfect balance!

M- While this is a medium bodied beer, it really has a quality about it that says, I'm thin bodied, and therefore really easy to drink! It's creamy, due to the carbonation factor being mild too...it's a nice blend between rich and quenching.

O- I quite like this beer and will definitely seek it out again in the future. It has a great blend of rich flavor, creamy yet easy to drink body in any environment, and I think it's a unique take on the Brown Ale style.
Jun 21, 2012
More User Ratings:
Photo of ForetSaison
Reviewed by ForetSaison from California

5/5  rDev +35.9%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
I maybe only tried it twice, but I've been looking for this beer ever since. Not sure if Anchor Steam produce it anymore. This is the best brown ale out there; and I must tell you, I've tried some of the top notch brown ales from the UK and the USA. This is Anchor Steam for you. World class quality beer at a fair price.
Apr 09, 2020
 
Rated: 3.52 by jglipschultz from Minnesota

Mar 02, 2019
Photo of Nass
Rated by Nass from Florida

2/5  rDev -45.7%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2
This was not what I was expecting either, this beer such a harsh dark fruit taste. This beer is simply not for me. Cheers! C-
Oct 31, 2018
Photo of stcules
Reviewed by stcules from Italy

2.94/5  rDev -20.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3
Dark amber, clean, one finger of standard brown foam.
In the smell fresh hop, peach, caramel malt and dark candy sugar. Quite strange, but a good mix.
In the taste the maltiness and the sugarness are more strong, and a bit cloying. A bit too much caramel. Not a great drinkability.
Average body, malty and caramel aftertaste, sugary finish.
Jan 15, 2018
 
Rated: 3 by 1971bernat from Virginia

Dec 28, 2017
 
Rated: 3.55 by desint from Belgium

Dec 09, 2017
 
Rated: 3.51 by CurtisD from Canada (NB)

Oct 20, 2017
 
Rated: 3.89 by clarknova from Germany

Oct 10, 2017
Photo of josanguapo
Reviewed by josanguapo from Spain

4.5/5  rDev +22.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
From Labirratorium. In Teku glass. Playing 8 Bit Commando. Brown sugar, nuts, even dark fruits in a full mouthfilling body. The citra hops provides a well integrated refreshing herbal touch
Sep 06, 2017
Photo of Lone_Freighter
Reviewed by Lone_Freighter from Vermont

3.87/5  rDev +5.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Poured into a mug, the appearance was a dark milky brown color with a thick finger's worth of eggshell white foamy head that slid off at a mild pace. Light touch of white foamy lace ran around the glass somewhat ringy but sliding after a little bit of watching.
The aroma centered around a blend of brown sugar, roasted malts, milk chocolate, dark fruits and a little bit of dark chocolate. Eventually, a light earthy to herbal hop touch evens out the overall scent.
The flavor leaned towards the sweet side through a blend of milk chocolate, dark fruits, brown sugar and herbal hop quality. Smooth sweet chocolate to dark fruity aftertaste.
The mouthfeel was about medium bodied, perhaps sitting just a touch under making it an absolutely smooth sessionable quality rolling about my tongue. Carbonation felt maybe just a touch under, but somehow I wasn't bothered by that. ABV seemed to match what was projected by the brewer.
Overall, well done English Brown ale or what I thought was an English brown ale. I'll admit that I think that it needed more hops to show an American quality about it.
Jul 04, 2017
 
Rated: 3.75 by SaisonRichBiere from Michigan

Apr 06, 2017
 
Rated: 3.72 by HopBelT from Belgium

Mar 31, 2017
Photo of Skrumpy
Reviewed by Skrumpy from Oregon

3.75/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Brown ale with foamy, tan head. Some streak lacing. The aroma is bread malt and some earthy/herbal notes from the hops. The flavor is a bit the same, a bit of nut flavor and caramel. A bit of bitterness from the pine & herbal characteristics of the hops. Dry finish. An interesting beer, I may have to drink another to fully capture its various, subtle qualities.
Mar 10, 2017
Photo of Harrison8
Reviewed by Harrison8 from Missouri

3.73/5  rDev +1.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Pours dark brown with two fingers of khaki head. Head formation is foamy, with great retention. Lacing forms in patches here and there. Aroma is a mash-up of toasty, bready, and musty malts, with a simple pine hop stick in the back. Flavor profile is soothing malts, with a slightly musty after taste. Toasty, and bready malts drive the flavor profile. Hops are nice present here, but there is a hint of pine hops. Mouth feel is slightly grainy. It does expand and form a thicker consistency as it warms, with the consistency starting around the middle of the road. Overall, a tasty brown ale. It has quality notes going for it, with a great look.

Served in a 12oz snifter.
Dec 23, 2016
Photo of GuyFawkes
Reviewed by GuyFawkes from Illinois

3.66/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Bottled 12/9/15; drank 1/24/16 @ the Yarchives.

Semi-opaque brown/purple appearance.

A rough pour yielded a huge khaki head; frothy tree-rung lace.

Banana, brown sugar & raspberry notes in the nose.

Medium mouthfeel.

Banana flavors up front; caramel & grapefruit notes combine for an American Barleywine-like finish. This smelled pretty good but the taste disappointed. Too bad.
Dec 23, 2016
 
Rated: 3.94 by travelguy from Ohio

Dec 19, 2016
Photo of cjgator3
Reviewed by cjgator3 from Florida

4/5  rDev +8.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
12oz bottle poured into a pint glass. Brekle's Brown is a really tasty brown ale with great character and flavor. This is a really solid brew from Anchor.
Nov 26, 2016
 
Rated: 3.87 by andrenaline from Canada (ON)

Oct 29, 2016
 
Rated: 1.5 by Edie from Oklahoma

Oct 26, 2016
Brekle's Brown from Anchor Brewing Company
Beer rating: 83 out of 100 with 867 ratings