brown ale

File:Wm Younger's Castle Brown label.jpg brewer's brown ale label]]

In the 18th century, British brown ales were brewed to a variety of strengths, with original gravities (OG) ranging from around 1.060 to 1.090.London and Country Brewer, Anonymous, 1736, page 36. Around 1800, brewers stopped producing these types of beers as they moved away from using brown malt as a base. Pale malt, being cheaper because of its higher yield, was used as a base for most beers, including porter and stout.{{Cite web |date=2021-03-19 |title=What's the Difference Between a Brown Ale and a Porter? |url=https://www.lowercasebrewing.com/beer-blog/2021/3/18/whats-the-difference-between-a-brown-ale-and-a-porter |access-date=2025-01-19 |website=Lowercase Brewing |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2019-05-30 |title=What is a Base Malt? {{!}} South Austin Brewery Tours & Craft Beer Blog |url=https://southaustinbrewery.com/base-malt/ |access-date=2025-01-19 |language=en-US}}

The term "brown ale" was revived at the end of the 19th century when London brewer Mann introduced a beer with that name. However, the style only became widely brewed in the 1920s. The brown ales of this period were considerably stronger than most modern English versions. In 1926, Manns Brown Ale had an original gravity of 1.043 and an ABV of around 4%.Truman "Gravity Book" document number B/THB/C/252 held at the London Metropolitan Archives. Whitbread Double Brown was even stronger, an OG of 1.054 and more than 5% ABV.Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives. The introduction of these beers coincided with a big increase in demand for bottled beer in the UK. In the 1930s some breweries, such as Whitbread, introduced a second weaker and cheaper brown ale that was sometimes just a sweetened version of dark Mild. These beers had an original gravity of around 1.037. After World War II, most breweries stopped producing these stronger brown ales, with the exception of some breweries in the northeast of England. The majority had an OG in the range 1.030–1.035, or around 3% ABV, much like Manns Brown Ale today.Whitbread Gravity Book, Document number LMA/4453/D/02/002, held at the London Metropolitan Archives.

North American brown ales trace their heritage to American home brewing adaptations of certain northern English beers, and the English influence on American Colonial Ales.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

English brown ales range from beers such as Manns Original Brown Ale,[http://www.refreshuk.com/brands/brands_manns.htm Manns Brown Ale – a bottle with real character] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081221222921/http://www.refreshuk.com/brands/brands_manns.htm |date=December 21, 2008 }} which is quite sweet and low in alcohol, to northeastern brown ale such as Newcastle Brown Ale, Double Maxim and Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale. North American examples include Sam Adams Brown Ale and Brooklyn Brown Ale.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

They range from deep amber to brown in colour. Caramel and chocolate flavours are evident. Brown ales from northeastern England tend to be strong and malty, often nutty, while those from southern England are usually darker, sweeter and lower in alcohol. North American brown ales are usually drier than their English counterparts, with a slight citrus accent and an aroma, bitterness, and medium body due to American hop varieties. Fruitiness from esters are subdued. When chilled to cold temperatures, some haziness may be noticed.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

• Amber ale
• Mild ale
• Irish red ale
• Flanders red ale

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Category:Beer styles