How Now, Brown Ale?

HOW NOW, BROWN ALE? Brown Ale: History, Brewing Techniques, Recipes Ray Daniels,Jim Parker BrewersPublications 239pp; $14.95 reviewedby AThomasCizauskas "It's brown,it's an ale-.trewe going to fast for you?" So readsthe title of Chapter2 of this newestinstallment, Brown,4/e, issue no.14,of the ClassicBeer Series, published by the Associationof Brewers,through their subsidiary,Brewers Fublications. Brown ale oftenis the first beerattempted by novicehomebrewers. It is, however,a beerstyle whose definition is often disputed by beer authoritiesand commercialbrewers. Homebrewing emphasizes hops and "lots of everything",whereas "craft brewers considertheir brown alesas a naturalantidote to a highlyhopped flagship pale ale." Is brown ale definedby its color, or by a flavor commonto all beersunder the rubric of its name? Jim Parker,formerly of the AmericanHomebrew Association, and Ray Daniels,a beer author andeducator, adroitly addressthis duality in their book Brown AIe. Andthey do offe1an answer. They begin, sleuthingits historicalbegirnings, drawing thought provokingconclusions. Some of these may influence our understandingof not only brown ale,but of porter, stout, mild, AND paleale. The authorssuggest that pre-1700beers may not havebeen as dark, murky, or smokyas other writershave claimed. Brewers, beforethe 1700's,often relied on raw grainsin place of maltedbarley, because of their easieravailability and cheaperprice. Malstersthemselves preferred straw to wood when kilning the barley malt, becauseof lower cost, but also becauseof better results.Both of thesepractices would haveproduced beer, as an old sourcestates, "yellow as the gold noble." Danielsand Parker quoteanother passage, this from 1542:"It [beer] must be fresheand cleare,it must not be ropy nor smoky."And eventhough Englishbrewers were slow to embracethe use of hops,their judicious infusion of spices,produced ales, which were not nearlyas sweetas has been claimed. In a laterchapter, the autlrorsprovide a fascinatingdigest ofthese herbs and flavoring agents. The authorsturn from there,to the introductionofhops, to kilningwith coke,and to the consequentindustrialization ofbeer. It is here that the historiesof mild, brown ale, porter, and stout are simultaneouslyintertwined yet confused.Malts were changing; procedureswere being modernized;the nomenclaturebeing used to describedarker beers became all jumbledup. Onebrewery's mild could be anothedsporter; there were mentionsof brown and pale(!) stout.In fact, the earliestbrewery reference to brown ale,which the authorshave discovered, is from 1748! It was not until the 20th centurythat brown ale returnedin a substantiveway. Accordingto the headbrewer at Fuller's Breweryin London, London-stfe brown ale was developedas the bottled versionof mild. (By the 1950's,mild itself had evolved dramaticallyinto a darb low-alcohol,usually somewhat sweet, ale, servedon cask.) In 1924, Colonel Jim Porter (what an appropriatename!) of Scottishqnd NewcostleBreweries in northernEngland, developed NewcasileBrown Ale. Thebottled ale became instantly popular, and is now considereda classic.Locals and fans refer to the beer as 'Newkie'andalso, the dog.' Possiblyto ensurematrimonial harmony, the euphemisticnugget "walking the dog" hasarisen to describegoing out to the localpub for a pint. @y the way, the authorsindirectly define Nut-Brown ale: "Despitethe nut brown name,(the beer)is opaquelydark." Thusthe term nut-brown refersto color, not flavor.) The mostrecent evolution of brown aleoccurred in the early 1980's.Homebrewers, in local competitionsin Texasand Califomia, createdbrown ales which were much hoppier and maltier than their English counterparts.Since then, many American craftbrewershave adopted this as their stylebenchmark. Thus Danielsand Parkerdemonstrate that brown ale, until recenthistory, was a descriptivedistinction. They suggestthat brewers andbeer experts should look to moderninterpretations to actuallydefine the style. And what are thosemodern interoretations? Danielsand Parkerlist 350 commercialbrown aleswhich were availablein 1996.They analyzetwelve of thesebeers, choosing bottledbeers, to facilitateaccessibility to the reader.This is a smallsample, to be sure,but it includesimportant breweries such as Brooklyn, Great Lakes,Pete's, Pyramid, andGoose Islond. Suchanalysis helps to illuminatethe reasoningbehind their assertions, (t think that Danielsand Parkerhave never found a statisticthey didn't liket For example,in a later chapter,they mentionthat, of the recipesin StephenBeaumont's Brewpub Cookbook, l0olo use brown ale as an ingredient,whereas 8o/o ue servedwith a brown ale.) Comparingthese analyses with the publishedbrown ale guidelinesof the Associationof Brewersand the AmericanHomebrewers Association,the authorshave found that "morethan90Yo of thebeers fell outsidethese parameters. If commercialpractice dictates styleparameters, then clearly American brown aleneeds a newset of values." So, basedupon actual commercialand homebrewpractice, Daniels and Parker have redefinedthe style. They identify five sub-categories:Northern Englis[ Londorq Texas,American, and AmericanSpecialty. They depict eachstyle quantitatively, with establishedbrewing pa.rameters, such as SRM,IBU, specificgavlty andthe like. Theyalso use qualitative descriptors more useful to the non-brewingbeer enthusiast,such as arom4 appearance,flavor, body, finish, etc. They list severalbottled commercial examplesfor eachofthe stylesthey describe- The NorthernEnglish style is basedupon the profile of NewcastleBrown, moderatelyattired in all aspects. LondonBrown is similarto the moderninterpretation of a mild ale (exceptin someNew World models,which though alike in flavor, are richer in content.)The authors cite Rock CreekNutrageorJ as one example. AmericanBrown Ales are higherin alcohol,darker, hoppier in aromaand taste, and morebitter than their British cousins.Try Pete'slI/icked Ale, "tlte granddaddyof the Americanbrown ale style." TexasBrown AIes are more bitter still and emphasizeAmerican variety hop aromaand flavor, resiny and citrusy. The authors look to Red Hook Nut Brown AIe as one ercample(Texas Browns were nearly contemporaneousin birth with the American HomebrewAssociation, but arestill not accordedstylistic recognition by that organization.) AmericanSpecialty Brown Ales simultaneouslyhearken towards historical re-creations and modern creations. The commonpoint' is the use of unuzualingredients. Homebrewers are most adventuresomein this regard.To samplea commercialspecialty, Parker invitesyou to visit him at the Wo$Tongte Brewpub,in Nederland,CO, wherehe plansto brew a maplesugar brown alel "Brewersonce used spices out of necessityand sugarsout of economy.These days... we brew with odd thingsjust to seewhat theywill tastelike." Danielsand Parker offer a fascinatinglist of herbswhich were at onetime usedto brewbeer, (Theydo warn that one should always check before using an unusual herb, as some are poisonous!)Two herbs,alecost and alehoof sound appropriate,if only for their names! The authors discussthe use of, not standardcane or corn sugar,but flavored sugars,whose very impuritiesimpart distinctive characteristics.Molasses (the British call it treacle) was once a frequentlyadded ingredient. The authorsmake mentionof other flavoredsugars, offering procedures,and zuggestingproportions. As mentionedearlier, past brewerspreferred NOT to brew with smoky-flavoredmalts. Daniels and Parker, however,do ofer instructionsfor creatingsmoked malt. They describetechniques to duplicateother older malts,such as brownand amber malts, which are no longer readilyavailable. But what makesa brown ale a brown ale? It is in this chapter,that Danielsand Parker point to the most likely candidate:caramel malts. When brewers infuse these caramel malts, especiallythe darker varieties,into the grists of their brown ales, they produceales of rich color, malt complexity,and a "sweet, deep caramellike flavor that many beer lovers describeas "luscious." It is this wonderful duality, full flavor, yet drinkablequality, which is the hallmarkof brown ale, " ...the sublimeresult- a beerthat is at onceluxurious and quaffable." Brewers may be surprisedto find that some33olo of commercialAmerican Brown alesalso containroasted barley, an ingredient morecommonly found in stouts. (The kettles of older brewerieswere directly heatedin a processsimilar to a homebrewer'spot on a stove. At the high temperaturesproduced of over 400"F, malt sugarswere furthercaramelized, imparting an extradimension of complexity.Most craft breweries,however, utilize kettles indirectlyheated by low-pressuresteam, in which the interfacebarely reaches 230 "F. Maybeall thoseold advertisementsfor "fire-brewed"Stroh's were onto something!) The authorsmuse out loud about mashingwith mild ale malt in placeof pale malt, as the baseor principalcomponent in a brown ale grist. (This revieweris an advocate,having employed mild ale malt conunercially.It is somewhatdarker than pale malt, and imbuesa beer with flavorsranging from nutty to slightly smoky. We also sharea fondnessfor SpecialB, a Belgianspecialty malt, that impartsa blackcurrant fruitiness.) Whendiscussmg hop formulatioqthe authorsturn againto commerciallyavailable brown ales. Theylist hopsaccording to their bittering flavor, andaroma. Ecrst Kent Gotdings,for example,which many consider the sinequa non of Englishhops, Daniels and Parkerdescribe as "spicy,almost sweet [in] flavor andaroma." That maybe a ostensiblecontradiction, but it's an apt description. Danielsreintroduces

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