Arcadia Ales – Nut Brown Ale

POURING A RUDDY brown with mild haze and a small fizzling head, Arcadia’s Nut Brown Ale is actually more toasty than nutty from the first aromas through the finish. A walnut shell dryness and texture do emerge towards the back end and hint at another layer of complexity, but their presence is not persuasive. The brewery also highlights dark berries, though if there is any fruit here it’s of the dried variety—actually verging on sour. Swirling the glass didn’t do much for the aroma, only seeming to make it more clinical and the finish almost brackish. Otherwise the body was a little thin, heavy enough on the dark toasted malts to verge on astringency. The color and overall character are light enough that the dry impression could come from oversparging instead of the malts themselves.

Munich or Caramunich seem apparent here, otherwise a little caramel and likely something roasted for that final edge of crispness at the finish. This is a little overdone.. The hop character was also constrained to a mild bitterness on the back of the tongue despite 35 IBUs. By no means high, of course, but some more pronounced earthiness, spice, or floral notes were expected from a beer in this category. Many of these qualms could stem from age, it should be noted, as this bottle appears to have endured some rough treatment. (On the other hand, perhaps age wasn’t so large a factor, since most of the traits noted here seem consistent with the general consensus.) Still there’s some peculiar appeal to the beer—perhaps that touch of tang at the end that encourages one to take another sip. But ultimately it lacks the balance to be appealing in the long run and the effervescence to be refreshing in the short—’real ale’ inspiration or no.

Served: 12 oz bottle

Rating: 71

Smuttynose Brewing – Durty Mud Season

SMUTTYNOSE BREWING maintains a ‘Short Batch’ series, typically brewed 20-30 barrels at a time, which is used for field testing of experimental recipes. Standout beers can then move onto to the ‘Big Beer’ series, a slightly more structured group of limited bottlings that describes flavor profiles as well as ABVs. Both designations are in addition to the company’s seasonals, which to date have numbered rather few in comparison.

Stands to reason, then, that one of their most popular Short Batch offerings would be chosen to leapfrog the Big Beer series wholesale, becoming the fourth (and final?) of Smuttynoses’s official seasonal offerings. This is Durty Mud Season, described as a “big, brown & hoppy” ale that brings some serious punch to an otherwise rather clement rotation.

Big and hoppy are right on—brown maybe less so. For Durty looks more like a stout in the glass, at least 30 SRM and only revealing some peripheral shades of cola in the dregs. The color derives from three kinds of darker specialty malts—Chocolate, C-60, Brown—in addition to a base in 2-Row and Munich 10. Durty’s head is also rather densely packed, not on par with a nitrogenated cream pie but neither the big-bubbled stickiness more common to robust brown ale. But this beer was never quite normal to begin with, being 8.4% ABV and hopped like an IPA—97 IBUs of West Coast aggression, including double dry-hopping.

Experimental brews are typically streamlined for broader release, but Smuttynose took the opposite course here, opting for CTZ and Chinook in the dry-hopping stage instead of Simcoe. While none of the above is mild by any stretch, the C-hops deliver an even more aggressive, cutting kind of bitterness that the brewers felt was a stronger riposte to the dark malts than Simcoe’s relatively citric profile.

The resulting aroma is piney, herbal, a little dank, and with onion rising to the fore as the temperature warms (CTZ the suspected culprit there). The hops sit further back in the flavor—at least initially—where the high percentage of darker malts thickens the mouthfeel like dark crusty bread. Caramel sweetness is subdued overall in favor of toasted grains. Carbonation is on the lower side, too, making the body seem a little heavier than medium. Yet for all the beer’s focus on malts it doesn’t offer a very complex core—the layering is left to the flavor hop, Nugget, which asserts its herbal earthiness in the midpalate, filtering into the malts like spices into a stew. Magnum was used for bittering and quite dependably lays down a solid plank of bitterness that corrals all Durty’s darkness (hop and malt alike) and sends it to the back of the tongue. The finish is thus rather one-note, at least until the alcohol warmth begins to grow.

Overall Durty is an interesting concept, striving to balance a dark malt bill with the flavor and aroma additions characteristic of IPA. But it doesn’t entirely work. Perhaps the citric notes of Simcoe would have remained the better choice, offering a brightening contrast instead of CTZ/Columbus’s gritty emphasis. Still it is a worthy experiment, and likely a fine pairing for shepherd’s pie or goulash.

Served: On tap (Clementi’s, Arlington Heights)

Rating: 83

Samuel Smith – Nut Brown Ale

BROWN ALE CAN BE perfect tedium: an utterly neutral embodiment of beer’s most pedestrian qualities. Moderate in every way, even when done well it is not designed to dazzle like a brilliant tripel, leveling stout, or explosive IPA. How, then, to distinguish exceptional brown ales from the mediocre when the style itself seems to resist superlatives?

By starting with Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale, for one. Simultaneously workaday and uniquely inspired, this northern English brown is one of the world’s benchmark brews. One sip of it will dispel all fuzzy philosophizing about style paragons; the beer’s simple brilliance is not to be trammeled with any of that claptrap. Just drink it and delight.

The beer’s color is indeed similar to the brown of its label and name, but not drably so. The hue is mid-amber, partly leathern, nutty, or like toffee—a host of reassuringly earthy associations with persistent albeit small effervescence percolating up to the two fingers of foamy white head. Its aromas are correspondingly warm—creamy caramel, some toasted nuts (almond, pecan, walnut—take your pick), a milky chocolate background, and warm dark bread. 31 IBUs are a touch elevated for the style and impart a light earthy hop counterpoint early on the palate. The body is smack-dab middling (3 Plato), but oriented enough towards specialty grains to ensure a final impression that is wholly malty. Fruity esters are very gentle, showing only a light bit of red berries before the clean diffusion of the finish and a bit of retronasal roast. This closing note is quietly masterful, very balanced with just a touch of 5% ABV and mineralic residuals that prevent the malts from lingering too long. Altogether a true classic almost too humble for its own good. But then again, that’s brown ale.

Served: 550 ml bottled February 26, 2013 (SB26M1)

Rating: 94

Revolution Brewing – Working Mom

“COME BACK LATER,” said the volunteer, gesturing impotently at the pitcher before him on the table. It was supposed to hold Revolution Brewing’s Working Mom, the imperial brown ale that took gold in the strong dark beer category at FoBAB 2013. At the moment, though, all it contained was foam: an appetizing, creamy concoction the color of golden marshmallows, but foam nonetheless. Working Mom was putting in overtime, it seemed. Even once the keg was appropriately chilled it still dispensed a thick and globular head that half-filled each glass. The ale itself looked a worthy counterpart, colored deep black-brown like soaked wood chips with hardly a flash of light at its edges. Despite this imposing presentation the beer’s aroma is unexpectedly clean and orderly, showing medium-toasted malts, corn, some alcohol, and light herbal hops on nose. On the palate its full, velvety body cracks a boozy whip (11% ABV) while the gentle yet firm hops keep the malts in line from beginning to end.

This Mom is a member of Revolution’s series of Working [something or anothers], all of which are brown ales or dark milds. True to these unassuming origins the beer is surprisingly refreshing, showing few roasted malts despite its dark hues and settling more easily on the tongue than porters or stouts of comparable strength. Perhaps it’s also reminiscent of Revolution’s Co-Conspirator Doppelbock in this regard, hefting a high-gravity but cleaning up neatly. Also like Co-Conspirator, Working Mom draws some flavors from Appelton Rum barrels, plus extra time in those from Woodford Reserve. The combined aging lends a spiciness and balanced oak character with neither bourbon nor rum intruding too heavily on the beer’s core flavors. A tasteful example of how to balance several large commitments at once. Hmm…

Served: On tap (Skyline Loft, FoBAB 2013, Chicago)

Rating: 93

Rogue – Hazelnut Brown Nectar

LIGHTLY HOPPED with Perle and Sterling, this round brown ale is shy with its hazelnut at first. A little earthy and spicy early on, the nut presence only dusts the finish of the first couple sips, perhaps invoking Samuel Smith’s charming Nut Brown Ale. But once coaxed out by warmer temperatures (or exposure to oxygen?), Rogue’s Brown Nectar shows an unmistakably American confidence in its slick sweetness from front to back. Yet as far as additive brews go (actual hazelnut extract was added) it’s fairly restrained, even a little light-bodied at an estimated 2.5 Plato. The malt profile is also rather complex, tapping numerous medium-kilned varieties to ensure enough nooks and crannies to sop up the hazelnut nectar without it running messily all across the palate. But it remains more a dessert or specialty sort of beer, and thus wisely served in a 22 oz bomber. Have it with a friend—and a cheesecake.

Served: 22 oz bottle

Rating: 88

Caledonian Brewery – Newcastle Brown Ale

NEWCASTLE’S BRAND is better than Newcastle’s beer. It’s a counterintuitive shame, too, considering their “No Bollocks” blue-collarism and cheeky ads taunting fluffy names like Budweiser or Stella Artois. This jaunty, quintessentially British self-effacement works best when the product is better than it lets on, allowing consumers to root for a perceived underdog. Unfortunately, Newcastle’s play at cutting themselves down to size is a jot too clever, revealing the beer for what it really is–pedestrian and unrefined.

Newcastle pours without much foam and has little head retention, though a slight effervescence keeps percolating up through the clear, light copper body to prevent it from looking entirely drab. The nose is rather tame and generically malty with some nuttiness and slightly spiced toast (if stretching). Hops are quite low, hardly present in the nose and discernible on the palate more as earthiness than bitterness. Thankfully, the body is a notch fuller than its tepid pour suggested. But the finish does itself no favors: too clean, it’s like lager that forgot its crispness, leaving only a soft water envelope around modest carbonation. Easy thirst-quenching for coal-spattered miners? Sure. But still a tepid example of the style and almost wholly superficial; the difference in quality between this and style peer Samuel Smith is jarring. “No Bollocks,” aye–but little else.

Served: 12 oz bottle

Rating: 70

Mikkeller – Vesterbrown Ale

HOPPY BUT STILL WELL-BALANCED middling brown ale in the English style, broadly speaking. Fairly well carbonated, decent creamy head with tight bubbles. Flavor of sturdy malts, but also some pine and enough hop in the finish to clean up neatly. Reasonable strength of 5% enlivens the mouthfeel a bit. Easy drinking and strong session choice. Hence the name (Vesterbro being the neighborhood Mikkeller Bar calls home).

Served: On tap (Mikkeller Bar, Copenhagen)

Rating: 85

Bonus, for a lark: See below and try to guess the name of Mikkeller’s WiFi network:

Emmett’s Brewing – Jolly Nut Brown Ale

A HOLIDAY-SEASON DARK (dark) brown ale brewed with crushed nuts and spices. The additives do more to bulk up the body than the flavor, but some of that nutty sweetness does come through as a nice counterpart to the dark malts. Role of hops quite limited to early-to-mid palate. A little too many residual sugars; a bit more attenuation (and higher ABV—currently around 5%) might have made this more interesting.

Served: On tap (Emmett’s Tavern, Palatine)

Rating: 82

Half Acre – Over Ale

A SLIGHTLY ZESTY BROWN ALE with a touch fuller body and more effervescence than expected, but nothing untoward for its 6% ABV. Root beer brown color with a somewhat creamy head that plumes nicely but doesn’t last too long. Moderate roasted malt notes in the aroma, some edges of caramel in the flavor but more bready overall than sweet. Hops are generally well controlled—piney, pitched towards the latter half of the palate—and balance well in a mild finish. Virtually no hop residuals to be discerned, so any lingering bite is from the roast of the malts. This self-proclaimed “styleless wonder” would pair very well with salty hors d’oeuvres and pub fare alike, and even alone is an estimable session beer.

Served: On tap (Firkin, Libertyville)

Rating: 87

Lost Coast Brewery – Downtown Brown

HAILING FROM CALIFORNIA, Lost Coast Brewery (not to be confused with The Lost Abbey, also from the Faultline State) was founded in 1990 by two women with a passion for English brewpubs. Fusing that European tradition with West Coast grains proved to be a winning proposition, and today the brewery’s beers can be found across half the nation. After the obligatory IPA, one of their best-known draughts is this, the Downtown Brown, though frankly it’s a little perplexing as to why. Pouring a modest tannish head on a nut brown body, the Downtown keeps right on by-the-numbers straight through till the end. Admittedly very smooth and round in flavor, nearly like a crème, with sweet, lightly toasted barley and caramel offset moderately by carbonation. Not too full on body, few hops to speak of, and all in all a bit one-dimensional, despite the cubist promise of its label. Sometimes homage just isn’t enough.

Served: 12 oz bottle

Rating: 78