The funny thing about brown beer is that beer is basically brown. All beer is brown. OK, almost all beer. Daniels and Parker say at the outset of Chapter 1 of their book Brown Beer:
While exploring the history of brown ale, we wound up visiting nearly every other style of British ale. From mild and pale to porter and stout, and even old ale, they all have some bearing on the development of brown ale.It's not all bad. Even though it is pretty pervasive, brown is at least better in beer than, say, on suits or cars. But brown beer these days means only a few things in the English speaking and brewing world - northern English tangy, southern English lush or US hoppy.
This brown ale by Bell's is by my guess of the middle sort - rich and malty more-ish. At 5.8% according to the brewer, it's definitely a notch above it's junior form, a mild, yet amongst this brewery's lineup of stout after stout lacks the burned toasted notes that beers further up the dark ale spectrum display. Chestnut ale under a light tan head, this beer could be a dubbel. On the nose there is nut and malt but no Belgian burlap to keep up the impersonation. In in the mouth dry cocoa, twiggy hop and sweet soft water over a slightly milky yeast. A little date and plenty of grainy texture like a fine pale ale.
97% if BAers like this one.
