Brown Ales

The People's Pint Farmer Brown if you are in MA, is pretty darn good.

 

I am not a fan of the nutty maltiness common in many browns - sometimes it's great, don't get me wrong, but my tastes tend to run toward hoppy pales, bittersweet stouts, and lush barleywines. A brown is kinda tepid for me - not typically very hoppy, but not really deep and rich. I've actually really enjoyed some brown English ales more than most brown American ales.

 

Palo Santo is quite tasty.

 

Agree with the Frangelic Mountain Brown by Founders. I've wanted one for a year.

 

Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron.

 

i didnt like brown ales until maybe a year ago now i go wild for those bad boys. why do i like them now? i dont know maybe im an adult

 

Perrin's in Grand Rapids has two very good brown ales on tap right now. Lil' Griz is aged in 12 year Van Winkle barrels. Perrin's describes it as sessionable but I wouldn't call it that. I can kill a growler of anything sessionable in one evening but I couldn't drink a growler of Lil' Griz like that.

They also are currently serving Big Konas. It's the best brown ale I have ever had. The coffee is outstanding in this beer. I will copy and paste the beer's description from Perrin's website. Don't let the poop scare you off. This really is a great beer.

Big Konas ABV 7.4% IBU 33
Big Konas is the 4th installment in our Killing Craft Series. This beer was brewed with some of the finest ingredients in the world including cacao nibs from Equador and Ghana, Pacari Piura Nube chocolate bars (winner of the 2013 international chocolate awards) and Indonesian civet coffee. Civet coffee or “kopi luwak” is one of the rarest and most exquisite coffees in the world. The Asian Palm Civet, a small mammal, eats wild coffee berries and poops out the seeds. The seeds are then collected, washed (thoroughly we hope), roasted, and sold at top dollar. The digestion process of the Asian Palm Civet makes for the smoothest coffee in the world. Also, we used wild harvested civet coffee, as opposed to caged civet coffee.

 

Rogue's Hazelnut Brown Nectar is one of my favorites.

 

Since this thread's been resuscitated I'll note how nice it is to down a bomber of the Slumbrew seasonal brown, Attics and Eaves. It's fairly big for a brown (about 7%, I think), full bodied, and toasty.

And who can forget the heart-touching magic of the great brown by Alesmith?

 

Just had surly bender and coffee bender. Bender much more balanced, coffee bender just too strong coffee flavor couldn't taste much beer flavor at all. Big fan of bell's jupiter. Trying to find time to make a trip to try funky buddha brewing no crusts.

 

I do like brown ales, especially traditional English style ones.

 

Browns are definitely one my go to styles for when I'm not in the mood for my other go to styles.

 

Not in love with the style but picked up a couple Stone Mutt Browns (I'm a sucker for the word Imperial) but definitely the go to would be Big Sky Moose Drool.

 

Agreed! While an excellent beer, DF IB is not the typical-to style brown ale. Maybe Indian Brown Ales should become their own style.

 

Not a huge fan of Brown Ales but Coffee Bender and Palo Santo Maron really stand out to me as great reps of the style.

 

Love Moose Drool. Had my first when I was in Seattle. Good option.

 

Had my first Coffee Bender this past Sunday. It was excellent, but the coffee dominates. Not sure I got a good representation of regular Bender. I'll be trying that soon though.

Can't go wrong w/ Old Brown Dog.

 

And that is why I love brown ales so much! I wish it was a more popular style, or at least a more respected style. My favorites are Alesmith's Nut Brown, Anchor's Brekle's Brown Ale, Avery's Elle's Brown Ale, Bigsky's Moose Drool, Smuttynose Old Brown Dog, Abita Tourbodog, Tommyknocker's Mapple Nut Brown, Newcastle, & Sam Smith's. But honestly, I haven't found a brown ale that I really don't like!

 

Farmer Brown from Great River

 

Well, they are both great beers, but neither really an example of the basic brown ale.