Murder, Mayhem and Brown Ale

I am not a person that watches a great deal of deal of Television. This probably accounts for my utter lack of knowledge of current cultural references when it comes to clothing, music and what-not. Nor am I a person you want to talk to about spectator sports like Baseball or Hockey (like watching paint dry to me). History and useless trivia are more my style. “My Dad is a Square” is what my kids say! Heck Yeah I say and darn proud of it too! I do however have a weakness for English Television, in particular the shows that PBS featured on Mystery!” Whether it is “Prime Suspect” with Helen Mirren, Derek Jacoby as “Cadfael” or the late John Thaw as “Inspector Morse”, I am hooked and will not lift my eyes from the tube until the show has run its course. It is the latter that inspired me to first try, what is now one of my favorite styles of beer, English Brown Ale. Whilst reviewing the facts with his assistant “Lewis” in a Cambridge Pub the good Inspector would gingerly sip his “Jar” of Brown Ale. As the brown liquid receded leaving a delicate lace-like pattern on the glass, our hero would relive the victims last moments and ponder the identity of the perpetrator, all this against a backdrop of his catastrophic personal life and the bucolic English Countryside. Ahh but I digress.

Brown Ale is a style that is contemplative by nature. Similar in many respects to the English Mild Ales, Brown Ales tend to be maltier and sweeter on the palate, with a fuller body. Color can range from reddish-brown to dark brown. Some versions will have a fruitier aroma, while others tend to be drier with nutty characters. All Browns seem to have a low hop aroma and little hop bitterness. To grasp this brew’s subtleties it must be sipped, contemplated and savored. “Newcastle Brown” in the clear bottle is a brew you may have seen in the stores, but this is, in my opinion, is a watered down version of a true brown ale, a brown ale for beginners if you will. Newcastle is a pale shadow of the treat that this style can truly be. For better examples of “English Browns,” consider trying Samuel Smith’s “Nut Brown Ale”, Smuttynose’s “Old Brown Dog” or Wolaver’s “Organic Brown Ale”. More full bodied richly colored than Newcastle these are brews that the good Inspector could sip with pride and determination while reminding Lewis not to be hasty in his presumptions or to avoid the fizzy Australian Lagers (“They don't spell Australian beer with four Xs out of ignorance”). Interestingly, the Boston Brewing Company, the good folks that bring you Sam Adams, have begun bottling a Brown Ale as part of their Seasonal Line-up. The early reviews that I have read are mostly favorable; I think a trip to Red Bank is in order, I need to acquire some … er … um … research materials for a future column. Yes, that’s it Research Material! In the spirit of Tax Season I wonder if I can deduct the cost of said research materials used for this column?

There is also a style recognized as American Brown Ale which traces some it’s roots to the English Version but may feature American Hops at higher levels or a higher level of alcohol. Dogfish Head’s “Indian Brown” and Brooklyn Brewery’s Brown both fall into this category.

I’ll leave you with a bit of humorous dialogue from the show:

Morse : Isn't it your round?

Lewis : Do you think another one's a good idea?

Morse : Think? That's why I want it - to think. I don't drink for pleasure!