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11 - English Brown Ale
11 - English Brown Ale

English Brown Ale beer styles

Ever ordered a ‘Bottle of Dog’ or had a ‘Newkie Brown’? Where do Milds get their names from? How do Southern English and Northern English Browns differ? Read on to find out…

11 - English Brown Ale
11 – English Brown Ale

Previously we examined American Ales, in this article we will cover BJCP Category 11, English Brown Ale, which includes the following Beer Styles:

First we will cover the history of the category, then take a look at the specifications of each style highlighting the similarities and differences. We then sample commercial examples of each style.

History

Brown ales were originally brewed using Brown malted barley as the base malt but were stronger in alcohol content than their modern day UK versions. US versions of Brown ales tend to be both stronger and are often higher hopped than their UK cousins.

According to BJCP.org, Milds may have evolved from early Porters with the name ‘mild’ describing the lower levels of hop bitterness and not being as strong, as well as being younger i.e. not aged. Over the last 20-30 years this style of beer has become rarer in the UK with the change in tastes to both stronger and more hop forward beers.

English Browns are split stylistically on geographic lines into Southern and Northern with the former being rarer and only found in bottles now. Northern English Browns on the other-hand are pretty much dominated by Newcastle Brown which is available in the UK in clear glass pint bottles. In the USA there are 12oz bottled versions and this beer can be found widely available on tap. Newcastle Brown has a couple of slang names such as “Newkie Brown” and “Dog”.

Overview

According to Jamil Zainasheff in his book, Brewing Classic Styles, English brown ales are similar to many other English beers with a roasty/biscuit malt background and a fair amount of yeast-derived character.

These beers should all be as follows:

  • Mild – a lower-alcohol, easy drinking beer with plenty of character and very low hop presence.
  • Southern English Brown – a malt-oriented brown ale with caramel and dark fruit complexity.
  • Northern English Brown – a nutty and biscuity English ale with less sweetness and caramel character than a Southern English Brown.

The following table* shows how the 3 styles of English Brown Ale vary:

Characteristic Mild Southern English Brown Northern English Brown
Original Gravity: 1.030 – 1.038 1.033 – 1.042 1.040 – 1.052
Final Gravity: 1.008 – 1.013 1.011 – 1.014 1.008 – 1.013
ABV (alcohol %): 2.8 – 4.5 2.8 – 4.1 4.2 – 5.4
IBU’s (bitterness): 10 – 25 12 – 20 20 – 30
SRM (color): 12 – 25 19 – 35 12 – 22

The above table shows that the Northern English Brown is generally the stronger of the three in alcohol content. Although the Southern English Brown can have a higher starting gravity than the Mild, because the finishing gravity can be higher means that the alcohol content of the two are similar and surprisingly a Mild can actually be stronger. The Northern English Brown has the highest starting gravity and attenuates down to the same as the Mild.

Bitterness wise the Mild and Southern English Brown are very similar with the Northern English Brown generally being the highest hopped. Color wise the Mild and Northern English Brown are similar with the Southern English Brown being the darkest.

In the following sections we will look in more detail at each of the above Beer Styles.

Mild

Commercial examples of this style include Moorhouse Black Cat, Gale’s Festival Mild, Theakston Traditional Mild, Highgate Mild, Sainsbury Mild, Brain’s Dark, Coach House Gunpowder Strong Mild, Woodforde’s Mardler’s Mild, Greene King XX Mild, and Motor City Brewing Ghettoblaster. We could not get hold of any examples whilst writing this article but have previously sampled Banks’s Mild.

Banks's Mild
Banks’s Mild

Banks’s Mild has the following characteristic which is within style for alcohol content:

  • ABV = 3.5%

Typical ingredients used when brewing this style include the following according to the BJCP Style Guidelines:

  • Pale English base malted barleys (often fairly dextrinous), plus Crystal and darker malts should comprise the grist.
  • May use sugar adjuncts.
  • English hop varieties would be most suitable, though their character is muted.
  • Characterful English ale yeast.

Southern English Brown

Mann's Brown Ale
Mann’s Brown Ale

Commercial examples of this style include Harvey’s Nut Brown Ale, and Woodeforde’s Norfolk Nog. We managed to get hold of Mann’s Brown Ale to sample.

Mann’s Brown Ale has the following characteristic which is at the bottom of the style for alcohol content:

  • ABV = 2.8%

This beer is brown in color and the head goes quickly. Slight chocolate aroma. Chocolate and nutty flavors with low bitterness. Low carbonation and a thin mouth-feel.

Typical ingredients used when brewing this style include the following according to the BJCP Style Guidelines:

  • English Pale ale malted barley as a base with a healthy proportion of darker Caramel malts and often some Roasted (Black) malt and Wheat malt.
  • Moderate to high carbonate water would appropriately balance the dark malt acidity.
  • English hop varieties are most authentic, though with low flavor and bitterness almost any type could be used.

Northern English Brown

Newcastle Brown Ale
Newcastle Brown Ale

Commercial examples of this style include Riggwelter Yorkshire Ale, Wychwood Hobgoblin, Tröegs Rugged Trail Ale, Alesmith Nautical Nut Brown Ale, Avery Ellie’s Brown Ale, Goose Island Nut Brown Ale, and Samuel Adams Brown Ale. We decided to sample Newcastle Brown Ale and Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale.

Newcastle Brown Ale has the following characteristic which is within style for alcohol content:

  • ABV = 4.7%

This beer is red in color with a small head that goes. A little aroma and slight malt and hop flavors. Moderate carbonation and average mouth-feel with a lingering taste.

Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale
Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale

Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale has the following characteristic which is within style for alcohol content:

  • ABV = 5.0%

This beer is red in color with an average head that goes. A nutty aroma and nutty, malty and hop flavors with some bitterness. Moderate carbonation and good mouth-feel.

Typical ingredients used when brewing this style include the following according to the BJCP Style Guidelines:

  • English Mild ale or Pale ale malted barley base with Caramel malts.
  • May also have small amounts darker malts (e.g., Chocolate) to provide color and the nutty character.
  • English hop varieties are most authentic.
  • Moderate carbonate water.

What next?

Our next article will look at BJCP Category 12, ‘Porter‘, where we will examine the three styles making up this category.

If you have any questions or comments about this article, please do not hesitate to contribute to the discussion below.

* Beer Styles’ data is courtesy of BJCP.org.

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