Category Archives: Brown Ale

Not For Nazis Organic Nut Brown Ale – Boundary Brewing (Crannóg Ales)

by Mike

From Boundary Brewing in Kelowna and Crannóg Ales in Sorrento comes their “Not For Nazis” Organic Nut Brown Ale.  This beer was born out of a digital attack that threatened the business and life of the brewer Oliver and his children for hanging an Anti Fascist flag in their brewery.  When Sorrento’s Crannóg Ales stepped up to say hey we have been hanging that flag for many months it moved over to them.  From this horrible situation this beer was born.  If you would like to hear more about the situation take a listen to the Pacific Beer Chat episode where we profiled Boundary Brewing.  The beer pours a deep chestnut brown with a brown head.  The aroma consists of a good nutty start with mild roasted malts, caramel and some residual sweetness.  The flavour was of nuts, caramel, roasted malts, some ash or smoke and a mild bitterness in the finish.  This Organic Nut Brown ale is a great example of what I look for in a Brown Ale.  So get off your couch and help fight hate by picking up a bottle of this brew!

 

Traditional Ale – Big Rock Brewery

by Mike

From Calgary Alberta’s Big Rock Brewery comes their “Traditional Ale” an English Style Brown Ale that is also brewed at the breweries in British Columbia and Ontario.  The beer pours a medium chestnut brown colour with a tan head.  The aroma consists of caramel, mild roast, nuttiness, earth and a sweet finish.  The flavour is of nuts, caramel, mild roast, earth some mild bitterness and sweetness.  The alcohol content comes in at 5% with an IBU of 20.  This beer isn’t going to knock your socks off but that is not what a brown ale is about anyways.  This is a tasty clean brown ale that hits the right notes.

Commercial Description:  A recipe gone untouched since Big Rock’s founding. Toasty malt and sweet caramel up front, finishes with a nutty flavour, medium creamy carbonation and mild hop bitterness.  “The unmatched quality of our Canadian grown barley is still the backbone of this beer over 30 years after it was first brewed. My comfort food in a glass, some things just never get old.” ~Brewmaster Paul Gautreau

Food pairing as per brewery:  Sharp cheeses, red meats and stews.

 

Muy Bonita Double Brown Ale – Funky Buddha Brewery

by Mike

From Oakland Park Florida’s Funky Buddha Brewery comes their “Muy Bonita Double Brown Ale” a beer with apple, cinnamon and vanilla.  The beer pours a deep brown colour with a brown head.  The aroma consists of apple, cinnamon, vanilla, toffee, coffee, chocolate and an overall sweetness.  The flavour is of cinnamon, vanilla, toffee, chocolate, coffee, apple, mild roasted malts with some bitterness and alcohol in the finish.  The beer came in at 8.5% with an IBU of 35.  This beer is desert in a bottle and well worth picking up if you find yourself in Florida or anywhere their beer is sold.  Funky Buddha Brewery is now owned by Constellation Brands.

Commercial Description:  The big sister to our Bonita Applebum Apple Pie Brown, Muy Bonita is a bigger, badder ‘bum. This double brown ale flaunts a bodacious body and a stunning combination of real cinnamon, vanilla, and apples. So thick, she’s like a hip hop song.

Chestnut Brown Ale (Homebrew) – Brooklyn Brew Shop

by Mike

Steve and I have finally finished our second successful all grain home brew.  Once again we used his Brooklyn Brew Shop brewing system that he was given as a gift.  We used the Chestnut Brown Ale mix that comes with everything you need but the optional chestnuts.  We were unable to find chestnuts so brewed the beer as per the package.

The brew went down without a hitch and his little one was even able to help in her first ever brew.

The beer sat for two weeks to ferment and then we transferred our Growler Werks Ukeg‘s to force carbonate.  We set the Ukeg’s to 15PSI for three days agitating multiple times a day.  Today was the day to try the carbonated beer.

The beer poured a deep brown colour with a brown head (different lighting on both photos).  The aroma consisted of caramel, nuts, sweetness and a hint of fruit.  The flavour was of toffee, caramel, nuts, earth and some medium bitterness.  While this beer does not stand up to commercially made craft beer I could taste no off flavours and it was quite enjoyable.  If Steve and I could do our first two batches without off flavours and a pretty darn good flavour I would have to say that I would highly recommend the Brooklyn Brew Shop system.  It is also nice to be able to force carbonate your beer if you have the ability as bottle conditioning can be a crap shoot.  Our first batch 50% of the bottles were way over carbonated.  With the Ukeg it was perfectly carbonated.

Great Plains Brown Ale – Two Wolves Brewing

by Mike

From Two Wolves Brewing a new contract brewery out of Factory Brewing in Vancouver comes their “Great Plains Brown Ale”.  The beer pours a brown colour with a light brown head.  The aroma consists of nuttiness, caramel and some sweetness.  The flavour is of caramel, nuts, hint of chocolate, mild ash, earth, mild resin and some bitterness.  The alcohol content comes in at 5.5% with an IBU of 18.  This is a pretty darn good brown ale and a good release from the new brewery.

Commercial Description:  Our dark brew, Two Wolves Great Plains Brown Ale is a well-balanced beer with a deep copper colour and aromas of roasted malt, cocoa and caramel. This highly engaging beer is medium bodied and bright with a high carbonation and pairs well with most foods.

Food pairing as per brewery:  This all-season beer is refreshing enough to pair with light foods, and bold enough to stand with rich, heavy meals – excellent with pork and beef, root and winter vegetables, stews and barbecues alike.