Totally envious of the old school Chris Craft on the logo of the Sebago Brews. Whenever you see one of those boats on the lake, you know some work went into making it look so good. Kai was telling me about the summers he spent refinishing the family boat. We never had the kind of upkeep with our family boat, but anytime I remember being out on the water, I never bother to remember the work that went into it.
We had a class in high school called Boatbuilding. I made a kayak, but there were other guys that made canoes; the wood they used was cedar. Do not mistake the beautiful mahogany Chris Crafts for cedar, their owners don’t take kindly to that assumption ;-)
Let’s learn about Brown Ale! Unfortunately, going to the wikipedia brown ale page, you get an ad. Sometimes you just get an ad. There are some real wiki trolls out there trying to push brands, but this page is an example of one of the worst. Let’s see what we get over at the BJCP site:
American Brown: A strongly flavored, hoppy brown beer, originated by American home brewers. Related to American Pale and American Amber Ales, although with more of a caramel and chocolate character, which tends to balance the hop bitterness and finish.
English Brown: May have evolved as one of the elements of early porters. In modern terms, the name “mild†refers to the relative lack of hop bitterness (i.e., less hoppy than a pale ale, and not so strong). Originally, the “mildness†may have referred to the fact that this beer was young and did not yet have the moderate sourness that aged batches had.
Paraphrasing from the book Brown Ale – History, Brewing Techniques, Recipes:
Before the invention of Pale Malt, all beers are believed to be smoky and brown since malts were dried over a wood fire, so the history of brown has to start with the history of brewing. Looking at publications mentioning beer (and not specifically recorded by brewers or beer media) we find that not all beers were smoky and brown. Speculation that the beers brewed by monks in 1300 were brown exists.
From what I can gather, the history of Brown Ale goes back to a time where it is hard to exactly figure out the origin.
Sometimes you just have to accept beer for beer!
Just The Facts
Appearance: Mahogany!
Smell: Toasty caramel and cocoa
Taste: Sweetness from the malt and tartness from the hops
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied, medium carbonation
Drinkability: A sessionable 4.8%
If you like this, you might like:
Porters, Ambers, Other Browns
Where to find them online
