A new brown ale on the Irish market is always a cause for excitement. So steps up Ballykilcavan, with their newest can: Bambrick's. They claim American influence, and the ABV checks out at a sizeable 5.8%. It's a very dark brown colour, with a tint of deepest ruby. There's not much aroma to speak of and I don't get a whole lot of hopping in the flavour. Instead it's dry and a little burnt tasting, crisp and roasty. There's a faint liquorice complexity in the background but that's as nuanced as it gets. This is a simple and straightforward offering, maybe missing the smooth coffee and toffee of really good brown ale, but there's enough going on on the dry and roasted side to compensate.
YellowBelly also jumped on the brown ale wagon (there's plenty of room), beginning with Doc Brown. This is a supercharged one at 7% ABV, arriving murky looking and with a distinct homebrew roughness. That's not necessarily a bad thing: here it manifests as a flinty spice with piquant pink peppercorns. The brown ale standard flavours are missing again, though there is a caramel smoothness even if there's little to no caramel taste. It feels like a bit of a rush job. The soft and luscious beer it would like to be is under there somewhere, but there's too much interference from the construction scaffolding. It left me wishing to see this with more of a polish on the edifice.
And then, hey presto, my wish was granted. Molecules of Freedom is the same base beer, but dry-hopped. Crucially also, it had a little more time to settle and was altogether cleaner and more finished tasting. Still it's not exactly luscious, showing just a lightly creamy texture and adding in extra fresh coffee roast. The hopping brings fruit to the picture -- black cherry and raisin -- and also a pine and grass dankness. This isn't a typical brown ale either but it is a very interesting take. The base provides a complementary contrast with the busy American hops. The parallel with Dogfish Head's famous Indian Brown Ale should be obvious to anyone who's tasted both.Three quite different-tasting beers here, and none of them exactly what I like in brown ale. Best keep trying, brewers.
I for one welcome this resurgence of Brown Ale. Seems to be a common thing now.
ReplyDeleteYellowbelly had a Brown *Porter* (not the same thing I know) last year that was lush. And in recent memory 12 Acres brought out Farmers Tan (Brown Ale) which I can source easily, but the standout for me was Rye River/McGargles Brown Ale which seems to be fiendishly difficult to source (only ever found it in a SuperValu in west clare).
Have you had any of those for comparison?
I think the Rye River one is damned near perfect to me. Farmer's Tan is lovely but too far on the hoppy side to meet the proper brown ale spec. I would almost describe it as a black IPA.
DeleteBrown Paper Bag's Oxman on Cask and the un-named house brown ale in a late '90s Chumley's in New York remain my high points for Brown. McGargles' Toothless Dec and Whiplash's Love is Lost come pretty close when you can find them.
ReplyDeleteHard to believe it's such a memorable style but here we are.
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