An American brown ale pours light to very dark brown, clear under an off-white to light tan head. You taste chocolate and caramel from the malt, then American hops that sit alongside the malt: a little citrus, pine or fruit, with a moderate bitterness. It drinks at standard strength, 4.3–6.2%.
Where it comes from
American homebrewers made the first ones, and theirs ran hoppier and stronger than most brown ales sold today. The commercial versions settled into a balanced, malty-hoppy beer; the strongest, hoppiest browns now count as brown IPAs.
Brewers use pale malt with crystal and darker malts, usually chocolate, and American hops, sometimes continental or New World varieties.
How to serve it
Pour it at 10–13 °C into a nonic pint. It suits grilled meat and vegetables and an aged Gouda.
Next to its neighbours
It has more chocolate and caramel than an American pale or amber ale, with less bitterness. Against an English brown ale it is more bitter and hoppier, with richer malt and usually more alcohol.
American Brown Ale in numbers
- Original gravity
- 1.045–1.060
- Final gravity
- 1.010–1.016
- Food
- Grilled meats and vegetables; aged Gouda; pear fritters
- Classic examples
- Brooklyn Brown Ale; Big Sky Moose Drool; Bell’s Best Brown; Avery Ellie’s Brown Ale; Smuttynose Old Brown Dog; Telluride Face Down Brown
- BJCP style
- 19C American Brown Ale
Sources
Checked .
- 19C. American Brown Ale, 2021 Beer Style Guidelines — Beer Judge Certification Program
- American Brown Ale — CraftBeer.com, Brewers Association
