Why don't more breweries make Brown Ales?

They're typically sort of boring?

 

Because beer dorks get bored of those styles. They're like any average American consumer. More flavor=better

 

Breweries only make what sells or what complements their brand identity.

"Brown ales" (in name at the very least) are achieving this less and less today.

Don't shoot the messenger.

 

Because breweries are stupid and dumb and should go away?

(I'm going on a Bell's Best Brown hunt this week, and if I don't find any, I'm shooting @zid precisely because he's the messenger )

 

No... please don't go away.

Thankfully, Bell's Best Brown is still around. I love that Bell's hasn't made big shifts in that regard. Isn't this their first year in your area?

 

It is. Bell's showed up in Bryan-College Station, TX, in March 2017. Not sure when they hit Houston/Dallas/San Antonio/Austin (January 2017?).

Bell's Best Brown might suck, but everything else I've tried of theirs has at least been good enough to drink. As much as I love a good brown, I have to give it a whirl.

 

I love a good brown ale! It's like comfort food, or your favorite pair of old jeans that the wife keeps trying to throw away.

 

Hahahahahahaha ... I missed this one. "Stupid, dumb, go away" is a mantra of Danny Balis, the producer of The Hardline on The Ticket in Dallas. Danny is a personal hero and mentor to all the children; he often thinks anything overly popular is stupid, dumb and should go away.

Some of his "work" ... sort of ... I can explain it (it's "drop radio" perfected) but even with no explanation, it's pretty damn funny.

I'd drink the hell outta a brown right now if I had one ... I'm getting some Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale tomorrow if the Bell's Best Brown hunt fails.

 

A good portion of the breweries in the west have a brown ale. Not very many have a brown ale worth drinking though!

 

Actually, I would say beer dorks appreciate a good brown ale. The problem is there aren't enough beer dorks out there to buy it. Of course, I'm not considering the folks who drink nothing but IPAs, sours, and barrel aged chocolate coffee chili stouts as beer dorks. Someone who truly appreciates beer doesn't need/want every beer they have to punch them in the taste buds.

 

Glad to say there is a great local here that is amazing, Newburgh Brewing Company's Brown Ale. It was their first beer out of the gate, and it is a regular in cans now. Other good ones on shelf are from Against The Grain, Avery, and Bear Republic. I think if demand for them was greater they would be made more, but it isn't like the style is dead, or that good ones can't be located.

 

Ellies brown is a great choice, telluride face down brown is another. Brown ale was popular a couple decades ago, but as is the norm people have moved on to newer things.

 

In the NY craft market (downstate) besides Newburgh, only Barrier makes one (actually two now) that I know of that's unadulterated with adjuncts and crap. Barnacle - worth looking for if you like brown ales, its one if my favorite beers, period. Hopefully they make it more often, like everyone else they have been making too many IPAs.

 

Around here they just don't sell and other traditional styles suffer the same fate. A telling incident was a local dropping their long standing ESB for yet another IPA variation.

 

Bell’s Best Brown does not suck.

IIRC Bell’s was introduced into all of TX in March.

For the main topic, I appreciate a well made Brown Ale. The malts can be interesting if you know malt flavors.

 

Brooklyn is readily available in NJ. Also, Trader Joe's has a good one that's reasonably priced.

 

Looking at the American brown ale, and English brown ale lists I'd say a lot of breweries DO make brown ales. Now if only more breweries made rauchbiers...

 

Every Brewery in my area makes at least one Brown Ale or Porter/Stout. I personally think that an English Brown Ale is the ultimate Pub Beer when a ESB or Mild isn't available.

 

Because they're not very popular.