Brown ale: the most underrated style ever?

I'm a fan of brown ales but my vote is the similarly categorized scotch ale.

 

Brown ales just seem... blah. Porters always feel like watered down stouts to me, and brown ales taste like musty porters to me. I was a fan of Sumatra Brown by Founder's, but that same beer also got a bad rap from fans of brown ales since it was steeped in so much coffee flavor.

I think the Doppelbock style is underrated, or at least under-discussed. The Doppelbock online tasting was a success, with lots of happy participation. We didn't receive any negativity towards picking that style. It has plenty of flavor and nuances going on, and yet it's never discussed and (unfortunately) rarely brewed.

 

I think the bros were just looking for an overdue personal rant of "You know what really grinds my gears?" for us all to see.

 

any style that is subtle and not in your face with bold flavors will be underrated.

 

It took me quite a while to warm up to Brown ales, but I really enjoy them these days. In terms of the division discussed on the other thread, I definitely prefer the hoppier vs. nuttier versions. Without the hop edge, the nuttiness can be kind of cloying for me. Smuttynose Brown Dog is probably my favorite.

I tend to draw the line at Scotch ales though. Maybe someday....

 

If it's not a quadruple IPA aged in a bourbon barrel for 10years, it's just not for me. It just seems the trend is in your face bitter, or whatever the crowd thinks. PBR isn't any better than any other macrobrew, but in crowd says it is. So my point is brown ales aren't bold enough, and the in crowd hasn't ironically started drinking them. Personally, I like brown ales, because they're middle of the road.

 

Yup, you could add Helles, Kolsch,... to the list.

Cheers!

 

The gose has also been blown out of the water and most people don't know it's a subtle style in itself. Usually not terribly sour at all. Sixpoint Jammer nailed it spot on. On par with leipziger.

Reds don't get much love either. Some of mt favorites being browns, reds, and pilsners, I like the subtlety

 

I primarily enjoy a good brown ale with food, but don't find myself sitting and sipping on one as a stand alone. Probably because many of them are lower ABV or not as complex as other brews. I'm a fan though!

 

My favorite style to sit and just relax, and watch a game on the tube. Bell's Best, SN Tumbler, and Lucky Buckets Jug Thumper, are the go to's. Higher ABV, I like DFH PSM, and Founders Sumatra Brown.

 

There's some love for brown ales around here, as evidenced by this thread:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun...the-most-underappreciated-style.437753/page-3

I love them. One of my favorite brews -period - is Bellaire Brown, made by Short's here in MI. Just started my first homebrew last Saturday, and it's a Best Brown clone.

As for other underrated styles I'd go with, hm, dunkelweizen.

 

As stated above, there are certain styles that will simply never get a lot of recognition on this site. The general consensus always seems to be bigger is always better. It's the same in the American wine industry.

There's nothing wrong with big flavors but the level of emphasis they tend get can be frustrating. Especially when some amazing, yet more subtle styles get overlooked. Oh well, more for me it's not the worst thing in the world that my favorite Kolsch or brown ale will never be allocated and hidden behind a counter

 

Love brown ales !
I agree with the gentleman that said Scotch ales are also underrated.

 

There is no such thing as an underrated style, Comparing the rating from one style to the next is at best just a popularity contest and not a reflection on the skill of the brewer. The correct way to look at ratings is to compare scores only within a style. The top rated brown ale is just as deserving of it's number one spot as the number one DIPA. This "underrating" fallacy has just been encouraged by lists like the "Top Beers" list. A true reflection of the best beers in the US would be a list of the top rated beers in style without regard for it's numerical score.

 

yeah I believe in what you say but when there are 10 different styles of IPA...red white and blue the legitimacy of style superiority has no meaning.

 

Brown ales are great as well as Scotch ales. I prefer porters and stouts before brown ales and in southern CA we have short winters, so I usually drink more porters and stouts during cooler weather.

 

No..... Most of the time at least for me they are too sweet and kinda bland.

 

Every German style is underrated imo. Particularly rauchbier.

I actually think German lagers are going to be a fashionable trend a few years down the road. They'll never overtake imperial stouts or dipa's but I see them as the next focus area of craft on the level that sours are now.

 

Loves me a good Brown.