Exceptionally alert readers will be aware that the last 239 blog posts have often featured considerable coverage of pale ales, particularly India Pale Ales. Malthouse management looked to call me out on this using Facebook. [1]

Their link to that blog about those famous Burton ales was previewed with the line “we here of IPA (quelle surprise!).”  Putting aside the egregious misspelling of “hear”, they make a fair point – I do talk about pale ales a lot. I will openly admit that if I was choosing beers for a tasting based solely on my preferences I’d probably be serving a pale ale, an India Pale Ale, an Imperial India Pale Ale, an American Pale Ale and two Double American Pale Ales.

That is why I think Colin the Handsome yet Softly Spoken Scottish Proprietor secretly took great delight in making this week’s topic “brown ales”. [2] I vaguely recalled having written about brown ales recently and a quick Google search confirmed my worst fears. Here is how I described brown ales in July – “While not quite as pointless as fruit beers, brown ales only really excite people who watch Coronation Street.” I also referred to the people who drink brown ales as “cloth capped whippet lovers.” Several brown ale aficionados felt this was unfair as they did not have a whippet. Consider this as close to an apology as is forthcoming.

Given my poor attitude to brown ales, it seemed appropriate to consult the near-sacred Oxford Companion to Beer. The entry for brown ale was written by Alastair Gilmour, beer journalist from Newcastle upon Tyne. Newcastle is the home of the famous Newcastle Brown Ale which he describes as “the classic Northern English example” of a brown ale. [3] Here are the highlights of his entry:

“Brown Ale is a term covering a broad range of styles united by colour and the practice of warm fermentation by ale yeasts. Although the German Altbier style fits this description, as do Belgian Dubbel and Oud Bruin styles, these are rarely referred to as ‘brown ales’, and the term is usually reserved for the beer styles with roots in Britain.

The term ‘brown ale’ can easily be confusing, or at least not much more useful than the term ‘red wine’.  At one time, before the advent of pale malt production in the 1700s, most commercial beers could have been described as brown ales…  At first these beers were made exclusively from brown malt but, with advances in kilning technology, pale malts – which also had the advantage of higher yields – became a cheaper and more reliable alternative.  The colour and flavour profile was subsequently determined more by modern-style dark malts, crystal malts and caramelised sugars. 

Once every English brewery included a brown ale in its portfolio, but the popularity of brown ales has declined with the loss of heavy industry and the redeployment of the hardy individuals who rewarded their skilled efforts with glasses of foam-topped dark beer.  By the latter half of the 20th Century, brown ale had acquired a ‘cloth cap’ [4] working-class image, and people who aspired to office work set brown ales aside in favour of paler beers.

Craft brewers in the United States, unencumbered by any class images surrounding brown ale, have taken the style up enthusiastically and transformed it in the process… Craft brewers outside of North America have paid little attention to the brown ale family of styles, but a few versions have recently popped up from Scandinavia to Brazil, and it can be supposed that the evolution of the brown ale will continue apace in future years.”

Malthouse currently has a surprising number of brown ales available. One of the most popular has been The Dudes’ Grandma’s Pecan Brown (6.9%), the flagship beer from The Dudes’ Brewing Company in California. Brewed by “just three dudes who love craft beer” who describe it as a “real fun beer”, Grandma’s is an English-style brown ale with a healthy addition of toasted Georgia pecans. The final product has notes of chocolate, toffee, caramel, nuttiness, grassy hops and perhaps a hint of spice.

Also on tap is Hopmonger Yeah Naa Brew (5.8%). [5] Hopmonger Brewing Company is the brainchild of Edward Valenta, a travelling beer lover and brewer who writes a deeply entertaining blog called The Beer Less Traveled. Yeah Naa is a surprisingly hoppy 50 IBU brown ale with notes of burnt toast, chocolate and late fruity hops.  It is designed to showcase Gladfield malts, particularly the Brown and Vienna malts, but also uses Gladfield Pale, Weyerman Crystal and Baird’s Pale Chocolate malts.

Edward stresses he named the beer well before the “yeah nah – no more beersies for you” ad came out but is realistic enough to acknowledge no one will believe that now. Instead, he simply revels in all the free publicity. The beer’s name was almost changed to “Last Call” after his cellphone fell into the mash tun and was destroyed during the original making of this beer.

My earlier vitriol about brown ales came from a post I did on 8Wired Brewing which included 8Wired ReWired (5.7%) brown ale. Brewer Søren Eriksen said brown ales are “misunderstood” and “often overlooked” which prompted my outburst. However, 8Wired rarely makes a bad beer and the ReWired has been characterised as “malty, hoppy, roasty, flavoursome and refreshing.” [6]

Another American offering is Lost Coast Downtown Brown (5%). This brewery was found in 1990 by Barbara Groom, a pharmacist, and Wendy Pound, a family counsellor. Barbara is the award-winning head brewer to this day. In addition to its slightly disconcerting label, Downtown Brown is smooth and balanced with notes of toasted grain, chocolate, cocoa, nuttiness and late peppery hops.

Despite what the Oxford Companion might say, the final beer this week is not English – it is Belgian. The iconic Bourgogne des Flandres (5%) Flemish brown ale is made using the ancient technique of ‘Lambic infusion’ which sees a selection of Lambics (wild fermented beers) blended with a top-fermented brown ale. This beer has been matured in oak barrels and blended at the legendary Timmerman’s brewery. This brew is quite extraordinary – tart fruit, raisin, spice, wood, winey, sweet and sour, plum, caramel – and has more than once been described as being somewhere between a beer and wine.

Next time we drink to the plucky little Pukeko, beaten to the title of New Zealand Bird of the Year by the Mohua (Yellowhead) which even the organisers admit is simply a “splashy bush canary.”  Roll on 2014 – Year of the Pukeko.

[1] The only real way to solve any problems these days – apart from Twitter spats obviously.

[2] I have a theory that Colin is growing his beard solely so he can stroke it and laugh manically when he comes up with particularly evil schemes. The alternative theory is he will be starring in a New Zealand on Air remake of Castaway.

[3] Sadly, I could find no photos of Mr Gilmour wearing a cloth cap or posing with a whippet. The closest I came was his Twitter profile picture which is a cowboy wearing a Stetson hat.

[4] Well colour me vaguely vindicated.

[5] Even the brewer seems to switch between Yeah Naa and Yeah Nah.

[6] It should be noted that this reference was given by one Mr Søren Eriksen.

Cheers

Beer Writer

Beer and Brewer Magazine

Cuisine Magazine

Links

The Dudes Brewing Company – http://www.thedudesbrew.com/beers.php

Hopmonger – http://beerlesstraveld.blogspot.co.nz/p/hopmonger.html

8Wired Brewing – http://8wired.co.nz/

Lost Coast Brewery – http://www.lostcoast.com/main.php

Bourgogne des Flandres – http://anthonymartin.be/en/

Malthouse Facebook – www.facebook.com/pages/Malthouse/7084276173

Malthouse Twitter – www.twitter.com/#!/malthouse

Malthouse Taps on Twitter – www.twitter.com/#!/MalthouseTaps

Neil Miller on Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/#!/beerlytweeting

Beer and Brewer Magazine – www.beerandbrewer.com/