American Brown Ale
Slipstream Brewing Co.

Wow! What a name for this Slipstream beer! American Brown Ale! Sooo imaginative those people down at Slipstream. Hey Slipstream, if you need a copy writer to come up with names for your beers I’m keen and available, my rates are cheap, call me. In all seriousness, I do like Slipstream, their beers do speak for themselves and what they say is “I’m a beer. Drink me, you’ll like me.” and generally I do, so here is Slipstream American Brown Ale. Although judging by my previous ratings [it’s always a bad sign when I look up my scores for a brewer, it’s a bit of a “What are these beers like again?” moment, and you never want to instil that moment in your customers] I haven’t been swept away by anything they’ve done yet. Always a chance for American Brown Ale to shine though.

Poured from a 500ml can into a nonic pint.

A: Good colour, hazed deep chocolate/cola brown body with a khaki cappuccino foam head that leaves a trail of sticky lace as it goes down. No false advertising here – American Brown Ale is what it says on the tin. 8/10.

S: Nice and hoppy too, pine resin/earthy hops mix with a broad biscuit base and a touch of grassy hops in the background. A balanced hop/malt aroma that is centred around an earthy theme. This is shaping up to be a rather decent example of the ABA [not to be confused with ‘ABBA’ - please God no!] style. 8/10.

T: Bit of chocolate character upfront followed by the usual suspects: pine resin/earthy hops, biscuit base, hint of caramel, long dry finish with a herbal and grassy hop bitterness. One thing that’s holding this beer back is the malt – it needs more of it, it needs to be sweeter. As it is the balance is more towards dry/bitter, whereas a leg-up in the malt department would bring out a better side to this brew. There are 2 schools of thought when it comes to ABAs, 1) make it dry/bitter (ala Brooklyn Brown, and 2) make it more bitter/sweet (ala Rogue Hazelnut Brown), I definitely and emphatically ascribe to the Rogue school here. 7/10.

M: Mouthfeel needs a bit of work too – mid to light, on the watery side, with an active/dense carbonation. Bit too much fizz here. 7/10.

D: Still this is hardly a terrible beer by anyone’s logic, in fact it’s a very drinkable brew, this is simply a case of my personal preferences clouding my judgement somewhat. Nitpicks aside I enjoyed this ABA more than Brooklyn Brown Ale, so Slipstream is doing alright versus a well established US brewer. 7/10.

Food match: Mushroom & truffle risotto, which I feel full after [Seinfeld reference].