Why don't more breweries make Brown Ales?

To be fair, though, guys, it's not just IPAs and barrel aged beers that are popular. This year saw the pilsner, Helles lager, gose, and Berliner weisse all become very popular.

 

Special roast, victory malt, chocolate malt. Toasted and roasted flavors. Hops are just hops added to the boil.

 

For true ... and it makes me wonder about the brown. At some point surely a mass hop fatigue is going to set in and have people and their ripped-up tongues looking for something tasty to drink, and now that so many of them same drinkers have drowned themselves in stouts/porters (I certainly have), it seems at least possible the brown ale might have its day.

Or probably not.

This one isn't as good as Bell's Best Brown at first blush, but I got sixers of both and will do the heavy lifting to settle the matter officially:

Cheers!

 

Unsure about popular, but it would probably be delicious. Need to buy some brown ale and/or something aged in bourbon barrels next time I stock up on beer...

 

Helles and pilsners have appeal to the casual beer drinker.

Goses are trendy, but calling them popular is a stretch. People have said the same thing for years. The thing is, most breweries don't have a gose in their regular line up and they aren't wildly common on shelves and tap lists.

 

Grab FW Bravo, it'll show you why its found its way into the Anniversary blend quite frequently.

 

So if *this* is a brown ale:

... I'm winning the U.S. Open before I turn 50.

Such a great brew. NOT a brown ale.

*walks off into sunset, $0.02 left in his wake*

 

Gose and berlinners skyrocketed in popularity a couple years ago it seems. The rise of lagers is no surprise to me, hops can be so abbrasive, it's natural to seek some balance.

 

I think there's an emoji for that now .

Well that sure is a damn shame; it was a mighty fine beer. Thanks for the opportunity to try it, though.

 

It's funny...everyone goes crazy for Kane's IPA's and adjunct stouts/porters, but I've had Drift Line, their oatmeal brown ale, a couple times on draft over the past few weeks and it might be one of the most simply enjoyable beers that they brew.

 

I'm also relatively new to the PNW. What local replacements for Surly do you suggest?

 

Fair enough! In that case I wholeheartedly agree.

 

The more you get into beer the more you realize how few of some styles there are. Brown ales just aren't popular, I love them, but breweries will make what people buy.

 

A lot of people want a beer that is lower in abv that tastes good. Bell's Best Brown is just that. I wish it was sold year round, but understand from a business perspective why it is not.

I'm guessing everyone else doesn't make them often because the best is already made?

Honestly, wish this style was made more. It's only boring if you think every beer has to rip your taste buds out.

 

As popular as IPAs or lagers? No. But probably a majority of breweries I can think of, even ones with huge distributions, have some kind of sour in their lineup.

 

I think part of it is that it reminds folks of an NFL team, or maybe the color brown just sounds bland, but these are excellent browns;

• Surly Coffee Bender
• Surly Cacao Bender
• Founders Sumatra Mountain
• Lakefront My Turn Mike (a one-off but the best of the bunch)

 

...negative connotations?

 

I agree. The pendulum will swing back this way. Dark(er) beer will reign supreme once again!

 

As far as I am concerned, dark beer has always reigned supreme. Just waiting for dark/black IPAs to gain in popularity. Not that I care for them, but it could lead avid exclusive IPA drinkers to take their blinders off regarding other dark beers.

 

I like a good brown ale. Like many English ales and lager styles it is best when consuming a few in a row and not just looking for one bottle to blow your tastebuds away. I do prefer them a bit lower on the alcohol and using an English ale yeast, but Bell's Best Brown is very good and is probably the most readily available and freshest example this time of year in the Midwest at least.