Against the Grain The Brown Note

The brown ale to end all brown ales. Enjoy it, because there is no longer any reason to drink another. You’ve reached the pinnacle. A healthy blend of traditional British malts give this popular style a semi-sweet, biscuity, slightly roasted flavor. Oats thicken the mouthfeel, and a handful of specialty malts add complex chocolate, toffee, and caramel notes. The hops are mostly traditional, earthy British hops, but we cocked it up a bit with some Cascade late in the boil just to show those snooty Brits that we don’t approve of that Constitutional Monarchy crap.

3.5

278 reviews

Louisville, United States

Community reviews

3.4 Pours clear mahogany with full, tan head. Aroma is strong roast and light caramel. Taste is caramel, moving to rich roast. Finish is roasty. Uncomplex, but drinkable, brown ale.

3.2 can at home. the beer poured brown I had this after having a roast dinner and it was great as it had a coffee flavour

4.1 On tap @Mad for Beer (Rome). Bruna, intensa, schiuma avorio media, discretamente persistente. Al naso note tostate, nocciola, caramella d'orzo, zucchero di canna, leggero erbaceo. In bocca è pulita, morbida, equilibrata, attacco dolce con finale amaro leggero, secca. Corpo medio-leggero, carbonazione media. Da bere e ribere, gradevolissima!

3.5 Draft at Khyber Pass. Poured a hazy very dark copper brown with beige foam. Medium-dark roast malts. Chocolate caramels. Carob. Vegetal variants. Marmite. Black walnuts. Oats are adding body. Slightly punchy big Brown Ale.

3.2 Una rica Brown Ale con un diseño de lata igualmente gamberro. Una cerveza marrón oscuro con reflejos caoba. Abundante espuma beige esponjosa al servirla, que va desapareciendo progresivamente hasta quedar una delgada capa. Textura demasiado acuosa y cuerpo muy ligero. Aroma a malta tostada, nueces, tiramisú y melaza. En boca es acaramelada, con notas de pasas y vainilla, pero con final amargo moderado y algo seco. Una cerveza de trago largo. Hecho de menos algo más de cuerpo, pero en líneas generales muy disfrutable.

3.4 16 ounce can at the house. Has somewhat yeasty aromas. Pours dark brown with medium size beige head. Taste sweet like brown sugar. Got some malted taste also. Medium bodied and smooth. Sugary after taste which lingers. Nice and drinkable. Cheers!

3.6 Much impressed. Toasty smooth flavor with very nice light bitter finish. This was done right

2.8 Can, thanks to my nephew Gab. I would never have bought a beer with this presentation. It is off-putting. The brown ale is quite nice, but as most of the american versions of this modality, it is just too herbal. Not my taste either.

3.7 Deep dark brown, almost black beer with good and stable, cloudy head. Aroma has malts, roasted nuts, vanilla and milk chocolate. Taste has roasted malts, nuts and dryer coffee at the end. Nice brown ale.

3.3 Very dark brown - almost black - with very little transparency. Average head that is almond brown, with very good lacing. Roasted nut aroma, with some underlying earthy spice. Tastes of dark baking chocolate and black walnuts. It has a slight sweetness and has a long finish that is fairly bitter. Overall, I think this is a solid brown ale, and I will probably keep a couple of these in my beer fridge. Samuel Smith's nut brown is my benchmark brown ale, but this is a nice substitute at a lower price.

3.8 Keg at Exmouth Arms, Farringdon. Deep brown. Big roast malt aroma. Flavour is manly biscuity malt, with a little hop bite.

3.8 473ml (1 US Pint) Can from Coppers, Newcastle. Hazy dark brown-black with a thin white head. It has a chocolate and nutty flavour with oak, vanilla and milk chocolate on the smooth finish. Very good.

3.4 Nice aroma of roasted malt, bitter chocolate and chestnut. Deep brown color with a huge tan head. Rich sweet malt up front with hints of chocolate and molasses notes. Watery mouth feel in a nice way, dry bitterness balanced nicely. Nice.... label art withstanding.

3.3 Copenhagen 11/9 2018. 47,3 cl can from Voldby Købmandsgaard Webshop. Drawing of chubby guy with dirty undies om the can. Pours clear dark brown with a red hue and small off-white head. Settles as thin layer of foam barely covering the surface of the beer. Crawls a little bit of the side of the glass. Moderate lacing. Aroma is intense, sweet and nutty. Caramel, nuts, brown sugar, roasted malts and biscuits. Soft carbonation. Creamy, slightly thick, flat, soft texture. Flavor is medium sweet. Followed by stronger bitterness. Aftertaste is bitter sweet. Lingering. Very much on the sweet side - but not without a bitter bite. And a innovative can design.

2.7 Bue à la pression. Couleur brune foncée propre. Mousse légèrement beige et crémeuse. Nez pas très violent. Bon... franchement... je ne sens rien... En bouche c'est à la fois doux mais puissant avec des notes de torréfié et de tabac. Caramel bien en retrait. Amertume faible. Corps correcte. Une bière de fumeur j'ai envie de dire...

3.7 Aroma of malts, molasses, milk chocolate, and oats. Taste is chocolate, oats, milk and toasted malt.

3.6 Can. The most disgusting label I've er seen on a beer . The beer, however, is really good. Roasted grains and tasty.

3.2 Bottle. Best thing about this one is the label. Toasted nuts, some roast, lighter coffee and earthy.

2.6 4/26/2018 (16 fl oz can): Weak, weak aroma that is kind of roasty and maybe a bit of chocolate?; clean brown color, leaning more toward amber color, fluffy light beige head, good level of visible carbonation; roasty and dry, really thin chocolate notes, some mineral-like characteristics, moderate earthy bitterness, balanced, but weak; medium-light body, watery mouthfeel, thin; VERY UNDERWHELMING given the label and description on the can, not really recommended considering the relatively high price point.

3.7 That can art. Ugh. But for the beer, it's good. I don't know if the description on the can, that this is the pinnacle of brown ale, but I think it's at least 90th percentile. Poured with a massive head, like one oz of beer filled my imperial pint glass halfway full of foam. Even being careful, it took me awhile to finish this pour, I was afraid it was infected but I smell or taste nothing to indicate that. Aroma is very mild, biscuity, nutty, with an earthy hoppiness. Flavor similar, very biscuity and earthy, wee hint of bitter chocolate, very lightly hopped, just a balancing bitterness at the finish. Good rich mouthfeel for a moderate ABV beer. Lightly cloudy brown color.

3.5 Keg at BD 7D, 16/04/18. Chestnut brown with a well presented beige covering. Nose is cocoa powder, toffee, mellow roast, chocolate biscuit. Taste comprises dried fruits, raisins, brown bread, chocolate sprinkle, toffee, cheesecake base. Medium bodied, fine carbonation, semi drying close splashed with earthy hop bitterness. Solid for the style.

3.7 16 oz can. Clear dark mahogany color with a huge light brown head and great retention. Minor lacing. Thin mouthfeel for a brown and too much carbonation. Light molasses and nuts flavor. Overall good but muted flavors. A pedestrian brown. Very drinkable.

3.3 Burk brewdogs webshop. Coca cola-färgad. Doft av rostad malt och kaffe. Nötig smak med lätt rökig ton. Tydliga toner av kaffe och rostad malt här också. Lite bittersöt munkänsla

3.5 Burk beställd från Brewdog. Brunsvart kulör med grå skumkrona. Doft av rostad malt, kaffe, nöt och choklad. Halvfyllig, mediumsöt och lätt torr munkänsla. Smak av hasselnöt, söt kavring, honung, mjölkchoklad och lite kaffe.

3.3 Burk beställd från Brewdog. Mörkt brun med ljusbrunt skum. Doft av choklad och rostad malt. Brända smaker med choklad och lite kola.

2.5 Promises to deliver the brown ale to end all brown ales but I can find plenty of reasons to drink other brown ales, this one taste mostly of burnt coffee and waters out in the end. Like the art work on the can 👌😂.

3.4 A pretty good flavor to tgis brown ale though it's crazy carbonated. Truly though the art is horrendous. Actually makes me like the beer quite a bit less.

3.3 Tallahassee, Fl - Beer Stop - 16 oz can - disgusting label with a fat guy crapping his pants. Cola brown pour, thin, khaki colored head, no lacing. Nutty aroma with some light chocolate. Flavor has similar qualities with a nice topsoil like back end accentuating the chocolate and coffee. Thick enough mouthfeel.

4.2 Pint can. Starts with chocolate malt aroma with notes of caramel, toffee, biscuit and a bit of roasted malt pours dark brown with a thin tan head that has little retention or lacing. Starts with dark chocolate, biscuit and caramel malt flavors. Finishes smooth and a bit dry with roasted malt and toffee flavors clinging to the palate. Excellent brown ale!

4.2 DATE: January 6, 2017... OCCASION: letting the annual post-Christmas dinner at Ss. Peter and Paul Church... GLASSWARE: HopDevil nonick... pours a heady, two-fingered clump of brown snow that sits atop a ruby-brown body full of effervescence... aroma reeks of lactose, tobacco, weathered leaves, woody pulp, chocolate, roasted malts, and sweet biscuit--a veritable panoply the opposite of the can's artwork... sips a creamy, textured start and approaches a full-bodied finish... this eschews the usual flat cola/butter consistency, in a favor of a lactic, thickening, substantial mouthfeel... continuing its narrative, the flavor strikes with chocolate, tobacco leaf, caramel, Fuggels-driven grass and herb, light citrus, mint, and mild tea... a truly enjoyable beer that unfortunately may be panned due to its crude can--in fact, I bought it as a gag Christmas gift for my brother.... in his generosity, he left me one of them, and quite a regifting...