Your Favorite Brown Ales

Until recently, outside of more extreme versions of the style such as the DFH beers mentioned above, I have never been a fan of the brown ale style. The reason for this new found love starts with a beer that I received as part of a beer of the month club, Uinta Bristlecone. While this particular one has a strong malt backbone, the dry, nuttiness is undeniable, and a quality I love. Since trying this beer I have explored the style further as I come across them. Just yesterday I found a bottle of Port Brewing Board Meeting from May 2014 on the shelf. This beer has the quintessential dry, nutty body, but with coffee and cocoa added that I can only imagine were even more intense when the beer was bottled. It was delectable. Another nice one is Voodoo Wynona's Big Brown Ale.

 

Don't know why, but the two best brown ales I've tried both come from Iowa: Great River Farmer Brown, and TG Smoove Offerator.

 

Grand Teton Bitch Creek and Epic Brewing's Santa Clara Brown. Both a tad hoppier than the typical brown ale. Maybe what I like about them!

 

Sierra Nevada Tumbler is my favorite followed closely by AleSmith Nut Brown and Smuttynose Old Brown Dog.

This one is next on my radar to try!

 

Palo Santo for me. Need to revisit it soon.

 

Avery Ellie's. Nuff said.

 

Smuttynose Old Brown Dog
DFH Palo Santo Marron
Avery Ellie's Brown Ale

 

In order of preference:

1) Pretty Things' Saint Botolph's Town
2) Kelsen Paradigm Brown Ale
2) Sierra Nevada Tumbler

 

Kind of funny - a few years ago there was a thread in the Mountain forum about how Colorado had no good brown ales. At the time, it was kind of true. This year we ended up sweeping the category (American-style) and there's a local resurgence in the style that's bolder and more in-line with the current craft movement's direction. I'm usually a traditionalist, but I really dig what places like Telluride and Upslope are doing. If your impression of brown ales comes from Newcastle, Brooklyn, or Smutty - some of the new stuff might really change your opinion.
For better or worse, it's like comparing Harpoon IPA and something like Sculpin. Not necessarily better - but very very different.

 

Came here to mention Palo Santo. I dislike Hoppy Brown ales. Yet age a Brown Ale on some wood and call me a fan!

 

Rogue Hazelnut brown Nectar
8 wired c4 double coffee

Both amazing.

 

Avery Brown, Smuttynose is my Fav. Dark Horse is good but not great. Like the Clown shoes

 

Hands down it's Kelsen's brown ale. Not a huge fan of brown's but this one knocks it out of the park!!

 

Yeah Tumbler is great, I forgot about that one..

 

For me, it is Town Hall's Project 3106, a bourbon barrel aged imperial brown with chocolate and cumquats. Definitely makes my top three beers of all time.

 

At a bar I used to own, we sold a BUNCH of Ellie's Brown Ale from Avery, and Moose Drool. Later, Upslope's Brown Ale sold very well too. Ellie's is probably my favorite of the three.

My favorite mentioned in this thread is probably Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale though maybe it pushes into "brown IPA" territory?

And I guess Bristol Laughing Lab doesn't qualify. It's brown, and an ale, though. But they (correctly, I'm pretty sure, but where the line between the two is I don't exactly know) call it a Scottish Ale.

 

#1 Dogfish Head Palo Santo "Brown Ale" (excellent beer, but borderline to style)

In actual brown ale category:
Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale
Avery Ellie's Brown Ale
New Holland Cabin Fever
Bell's Best Brown
Sierra Nevada Tumbler
and going by distant memory, Moose Drool.

 

Against The Grain's The Brown Note, despite the crude label.

 

A no-brainer for me...
1. Upslope Brown Ale
2. DFH Palo Santo Marron
3. Avery Ellie's Brown Ale
4. Midnight Sun Kodiak Brown

 

DFH Indian Brown Ale