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What Goes Around Comes up Brown - Steven Segletes, Vice President (June 1998)
Greetings! Well, since I've come on-line as secondary fermentor, the monthly styles have all had British origins: Barley Wine, IPA, & Mild. This month is keeping with that theme, by way of Brown Ale. Brown Ale, in its several incarnations, constitutes the closest thing to a dessert beer in merry-old England. It is a brew which highlights the so-called "luscious" qualities of crystal malt. Adjectives such as "toffeeish," "sweet," and "nutty" pervade the lexicon of Brown Ale, and it has been one of the few English styles long recognized as an appropriate accompaniment to desserts such as apple pie.The Brown Ale style is native to London, and is related to other full-bodied, dark-colored, styles such as Dark Mild, Porter and Stout. This geographical tie to the other dark beers is not merely coincidence but is, in fact, related to the suitability of the London (& Southern England) waters to the darker, styles, because of a relatively high proportion of calcium carbonate and some good ol' NaCl. By contrast, the waters of Burton, famous for its tangy pale ales, are rich in gypsum (calcium sulfate).
There is quite some variety, even within the Brown Ale category. In Southern England, a very dark, nearly opaque, sweet, low-gravity (1031-35) variety exists, which is actually available all over England. In the not too distant past, says Michael Jackson, every brewery had an example of this style, though many pubs today just carry a national brand.
Another type of Brown Ale is translucent, deep amber in color and medium (1042-48) to strong (1052-58) in gravity. In contrast to the southern-type Brown Ale, this type has increased in popularity in recent years. Samuel Smith's "Old Brewery Strong Brown Ale" (known in the U.S. as "Nut Brown Ale") is considered, by Michael Jackson, to be the most characterful brew of the northern Brown Ale style: "It is indeed nutty-tasting, well rounded, complex and rich," Jackson goes on to say. Despite the character of Sam Smith's, however, the best known example of the northern style is the Brown Ale of Newcastle Breweries. Because of Newcastle's links to several Scottish firms, though, its Brown Ale is sometimes wrongly thought to be a Scottish Ale.
Fortunately for us in the Libation Association, many of these fine examples of traditional English Brown Ale are available to us in the U.S. I'm really looking forward to trying some of these, and perhaps comparing them to some of the growing number of domestic varieties, at our next meeting. If past experience is any guide to future performance, the variety of noses, palates and mouthfeels should be both enlightening and delightful. I hope you think so, too.
