Brown Ales

[marshbrewer]

I'm looking to create a list of British (or almost British) brown ales that are available as its a style I wan't to re-kindle my acquaintance with. I used to neck a lot of it in my youth. I think as underage 14 year olds* we thought it would increase our chances of getting served over asking for, say, cider. I must have ended up quite liking it, and even when I'd got to the ripe old age of 16* and was onto Batemans XXXB or Old Peculiar, I'd always drop back to a brown ale in pubs where the cask ale was non existent / suspect. However, I've sort of lost contact with it, so wanted to see what was out there these days - It was mostly Newkie and Sam Smiths when I was a young'un. Newcastle Brown is terrible (was it always that bad?), and Manns surprised me ~ I quite liked it considering its almost alcohol free. But, what else can people add to this list? Its just got to be available in bottles, and British in style.

Cat Asylum Nutty Brown
Ashover Thor Cake
Blue Monkey Nuts
Sam Smiths Nut Brown Ale
Shipstones Nut Brown Ale
Maxim Double Maxim
Heineken International Newcastle Brown Ale
Marstons Manns Brown Ale

* Obviously, plod, I've made all the ages up to look cool. I have never drank beer underage. That was someone else who looked like me.

 

[Dutto]

No Brown Ale list would really be complete without Newky Broon. However, I too think that it's gone down the tube. Not surprising really. It was brewed in Newcastle back in the day but it's now brewed by Heineken at their Zoeterwoude Brewery in Holland!

After one morning "smoko" spent drinking Newky Broons with whisky chasers in a quayside pub I woke up in a ladies bed at about 6pm and have never really enjoyed the brew ever since; mainly because her neighbours told her husband and he called in on the ship I was sailing on the next morning looking for the "swine who had violated the wife". As I was pulling the gangway, in the lady concerned (complete with a black-eye) snuck out from behind a crane and asked "Are you coming back next trip?" to which I answered "Of course." and signed off the ship at the very next port of call!

Happy Days!

 

[Sadfield]

I was half way down your post and already thinking of Manns. Surprising good beer considering its abv and the fact it's often seen on the shelves of bargain stores. A largely unfashionable drink these days, so I'm suprised your list is that expansive. It does pop up now and again, brewed as a one off by small micros and craft brewers, but rarely as a core beer. Ones that do come to mind are Stokey Brown by Pressure Drop, although it's more American style, and Nogne Ø Imperial Brown.

 

[Cwrw666]

I have been known to have a Manns on occasion down the pub - strangely it tastes fine when swigged from the bottle but tastes rubbish from a glass.
Double Maxim is disgusting. It tastes fine as you swallow it, but then there's a foul aftertaste that took me straight back to the seventies. Yuk.
Newcastle Brown is kind of bland and dissapointing which is not as I remember it from long ago, but then again in those days I was comparing it with really bad keg ales.
I while back I downloaded a pdf of rules and regs for entering competitions with homebrew including definitions of beer styles. Under brown ales it gives a few classic examples including Hobgoblin. Now I know it says on the bottle it's a ruby ale, whatever that is - marketing jargon for brown ale which won't put punters off? - but if you drink it thinking it's a brown ale, then it suddenly becomes clear that that is what it definitely tastes like.

 

[Covrich]

No Brown Ale list would really be complete without Newky Broon. However, I too think that it's gone down the tube. Not surprising really. It was brewed in Newcastle back in the day but it's now brewed by Heineken at their Zoeterwoude Brewery in Holland!

After one morning "smoko" spent drinking Newky Broons with whisky chasers in a quayside pub I woke up in a ladies bed at about 6pm and have never really enjoyed the brew ever since; mainly because her neighbours told her husband and he called in on the ship I was sailing on the next morning looking for the "swine who had violated the wife". As I was pulling the gangway, in the lady concerned (complete with a black-eye) snuck out from behind a crane and asked "Are you coming back next trip?" to which I answered "Of course." and signed off the ship at the very next port of call!

Happy Days!

Surprising over the years I managed to never try newky brown until this Xmas when around my brothers and he gave me one.. (he doesn't drink actually which is why they somehow had it in stock) , I wouldn't quite put it in the Green King and Fosters category but it wasn't far off. It was just so bland, plain brown beer.. It was like a bland old past sell by date beer kit brewed with a kilo of cane sugar type.. May have been very different years ago like a lot of people say Boddingtons was

 

[Gunge]

Surprising over the years I managed to never try newky brown until this Xmas when around my brothers and he gave me one.. (he doesn't drink actually which is why they somehow had it in stock) , I wouldn't quite put it in the Green King and Fosters category but it wasn't far off. It was just so bland, plain brown beer.. It was like a bland old past sell by date beer kit brewed with a kilo of cane sugar type.. May have been very different years ago like a lot of people say Boddingtons was

I had a bottle a few weeks back, for nostalgia's sake you understand. I can tell you right now, it ain't a patch of what it used to be, to the point where it bears little resemblance to the Newky Brown of yore. Your description is all that needs to be said. But get this... in the 'Brown Malt' thread, I made a beer with no definite outcome in mind but as the beer ages it is inexorably creeping towards 'old' Newky Brown. Quite unintentional but that is no bad thing, and a little surprising as I haven't read anywhere that they ever used brown malt, only crystal. There's a word for this type of happy accident... serendipity, I believe! I also read that they changed the recipe to suit the Yanks, by omitting caramel and tweaking the crystal percentage. I don't think that is the whole story, not by a long shot. You can bet it involved satisfying the bean counters as a priority, and that only has one unfortunate outcome for the consumer.

 

[marshbrewer]

I have been known to have a Manns on occasion down the pub - strangely it tastes fine when swigged from the bottle but tastes rubbish from a glass.
Double Maxim is disgusting. It tastes fine as you swallow it, but then there's a foul aftertaste that took me straight back to the seventies. Yuk.
Newcastle Brown is kind of bland and dissapointing which is not as I remember it from long ago, but then again in those days I was comparing it with really bad keg ales.
I while back I downloaded a pdf of rules and regs for entering competitions with homebrew including definitions of beer styles. Under brown ales it gives a few classic examples including Hobgoblin. Now I know it says on the bottle it's a ruby ale, whatever that is - marketing jargon for brown ale which won't put punters off? - but if you drink it thinking it's a brown ale, then it suddenly becomes clear that that is what it definitely tastes like.

I think I downloaded a similar document, it gives Hobgoblin and Riggwelter as examples? I sort of did a double take on that, as I'd say Riggwelter was a strong / old ale really, but I'm no expert. But your right, hobgoblin is like a hoppy brown.

 

[Cwrw666]

Yeah, I prefer my browns a bit more hoppy. I usually do the Greg Hughes recipe for northern brown but I upped the chocolate malt content and the hops as well. It's nice.

 

[Slid]

I think I downloaded a similar document, it gives Hobgoblin and Riggwelter as examples? I sort of did a double take on that, as I'd say Riggwelter was a strong / old ale really, but I'm no expert. But your right, hobgoblin is like a hoppy brown.

Hobgoblin and Riggwelter might have been typical of the style, when people actually drank it. Done clones of both of these and they are a decent drink, alright, as is the GH recipe that Cwrw666 refers to.

 

[terrym]

I have been known to have a Manns on occasion down the pub - strangely it tastes fine when swigged from the bottle but tastes rubbish from a glass.

But surely...
Manns is the best brown ale, best brown ale, best brown ale
Manns is the best brown ale
So lets have have one now!

Er, I'll get me coat:sad1:

 

[marshbrewer]

I'm having a crafty Hobgoblin now, for research purposes you understand.

 

[Covrich]

The Centennial Brown Ale which has bounced around here is pretty nice too

 

[Sadfield]

Another one of those twisted transatlantic things. British craft/home brewers, brewing hoppy American Brown ales with chocolate malt for colour, and American craft/home brewers do the nutty, subtly hopped dark crystal thing.

 

[Ajhutch]

Apologies for the moderate hijack but I have a question about the history of this style. Is there a reason why British brown ale is always bottled?

I was planning on brewing something very soon that would probably be in the ballpark of a brown ale, using quite a lot of medium and dark crystal malts and some victory malt for nutty / toasty. But am I committing some kind of heresy if I pressure barrel it?!

 

[Dutto]

I hope not because I have a Wilko Keg filled with Oatmeal Stout and just about ready to drink!

 

[Druncan]

Long ago working in the North East I remember some hard core workers at the factory had a bottle of the Dog before their morning bacon buttie, It's wot keeps ya reet man.
Later in another life I used inspect the S&N brewery filling lines. I remember the concrete supporting the 72 head filler being eroded by the dripping Dog from the occasional exploding bottles leaving pebbles sticking up. - Keeps ya reet man and eats concrete!
My latest keg brew is Cu-donn, gaelic for; Brown Dog.
Now to find some concrete for the final quality test,,,,

 

[marshbrewer]

Mmmm... Aldi have a brown ale in their look a like range, 'North Bridge Brown Ale'. Going to have to try this, as some of the reviews says its a 'poor imitation' of Newkie. Given how appalling that is now, I struggle to believe Marstons have managed that! Mind you, some of the reviews say its like Newkie used to be ~ so its got to be worth a £1.20 gamble.

Coming back to Newcastle Brown Ale for a moment; lots of the all grain clone recipes on the net talk about brewing two ales - an old ale and a 'young' Amber Ale, and blending them (e.g. here), as this is how the commercial; product is made. Is (or more probably, was) that true, or is it an urban myth. Anyone know?

 

[Druncan]

Wiki has a great summary here; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newcastle_Brown_Ale#Other_Newcastle_brands

I love this; In the North East, Newcastle Brown Ale is often given the nickname "Dog", alluding to the British euphemism of seeing a man about a dog.[26] It is also known as Broon, "brown" pronounced in the Geordie dialect. Elsewhere in the UK, it is known as Newkie Brown.

Also; Newcastle Exhibition is a draught pasteurised keg beer (4.3% ABV) first introduced in 1929 and commonly found around the Newcastle area.[32] (Never liked it and don't miss it!)
Newcastle Amber Ale (1032 OG) was a light ale available until the 1980s. It was a diluted version of Exhibition. Amber Ale and a much stronger aged stock beer were formerly blended to create Newcastle Brown Ale.[33] This method was discontinued sometime before the brand was moved to Dunston.

Dunston Fedwas a great brewery. I loved my visits there, it was so hi-tech for the time. Shame it's all gone,,,, I used to know the man that designed their LCL PILS (Lose Control Ladies) dangerous stuff,,,, :thumb1:

 

[marshbrewer]

Once I get my all grain skills up to speed, I definitely want to brew an old ale and an amber ale and blend them, then. Sounds ace!

 

[Druncan]

I am on the horns of a self made dilemma as we speak.
Tonight I will be transferring bright beer for the SIBA keg championships in March into Eco kegs from my Cornies.

I have two Gyles of Cu Donn (Brown dog) 4.5% with the same recipe, but different yeasts.
a.) Oct 2017, BRY 97 yeast, (FG 2.008) tastes slightly sweet, dark amber, awesome head and smooth, but lost some the biscuit and nuttiness from the steeped grains it had, low bitterness.
b.) Jan 2018 CML Ale yeast. Tastes drier (att 2.005) darker amber, lighter head, smooth with loads of biscuit and big nutty aftertaste, low bitterness.

I am tempted, but do I blend or not? It's got to be bright kegged ASAP!
We are booked on the ferry to leave the Island on Sunday 11.30,,,