High abv brown ales seem to be pretty common these days, with DFH Palo Santo Marron, Cigar City Bolita Brown and now Founders Sumatra Brown being pretty visible offerings. Do you think this constitutes its own style? These beers tend to have very different characters than standard brown ales, often coming closer to barleywines. What are some of your favs besides the ones listed above?
I enjoyed Muy Bonita. That's about the only Brown I can think of that I've had that was over 7%. There was an Alltech one I had a while back. Can't remember the name, though, if that tells you anything about it.
No. American Brown Ale Description: Spawned from the English Brown Ale, the American version can simply use American ingredients. Many other versions may have additions of coffee or nuts. This style also encompasses "Dark Ales". The bitterness and hop flavor has a wide range and the alcohol is not limited to the average either. Average alcohol by volume (abv) range: 4.0-8.0%
There are several good ones in Wisconsin. Besides the one Rio mentioned (which is one of my absolute favorite beers), there is Big Buck Brown Ale by Black Husky and Pantheon by Ale Asylum. Big Buck is a fall seasonal, and Pantheon was only bottled once but shows up periodically at the brewery. I love all those beers, but I'm not sure it really constitutes a separate style. For one thing they end up all being very different; Wrath of Rocky tastes a bit like a Scotch Ale, Big Buck is just a monster beer that you'd have trouble pegging as a brown (like Palo Santo Marron, I have trouble calling that one a brown ale, and it bugs me when people say it's their favorite in that style). Pantheon is the only one of the three that really tastes like what you'd expect an imperial Brown to taste like. I'd love to see more beers like it, but I haven't found any. And of course, Ale Asylum decided not to bottle it this year so they could fit in more IPAs...
DFH Indian Brown Ale is also very good and it has a more moderate ABV of 7.2% That said, If I have the choice, I go with Palo Santo Marron.
There's also a huge price difference, but palo is just an incredible beer. It's such a great cellaring option as well, it's awesome fresh and holds up for quite a while.
Palo's awesome. It's such a unique beer too, basically halfway between a barleywine and imperial stout, I agree it's a great candidate for the cellar. It probably gets overlooked as much as it does cause it's one of the few DFH brews that's not incredibly gimmicky.
Here's a barrel aged imperial brown from Black Market Brewing in one of America's little-known beer centers, Temecula, California Black-Market-Ashcroft-ImpBrn by
I don't think it qualifies as its own style yet. In time, if more brewers follow the trend they seem to be, then I would consider it. After all, DIPA and Imperial Pilsner are relatively new. That being said, I like unusual hybrid styles, like Element Brewing's Altoberfest, and I've had a few that call themselves India Pale Lagers. I also am planning to brew a maple braggot at some point, if I can find Grade B syrup at a good price (more flavorful). This should be the time of year to track it down. If that works maybe some day I'll make a braggot with birch syrup too. Better start saving my change now for that. That stuff's wicked expensive.
