BJCP Beer Style Guidelines: 13B British Brown Ale

I’m continuing my series of BJCP beer styles.  The Beer Judge Certification Program sets out style guidelines for 120 beers and is used in competitions.  It is useful for beer drinkers as it allows us to understand what may be in our glass.  I am going to investigate all of the styles listed in the BJCP guidelines, so make sure you are following the Love Beer Learning socials to see when the next posts go live.

Today we are looking at British Brown Ale which sits in section 13 Brown British Beer and is style 13B.

To read more of my posts on different BJCP styles check out these blog posts.

British Brown Ale History

Surprisingly, this beer style has got an interesting history and as with a lot of beer history, there's a bit of mystery around it. Variously, people say that it has come from porters and stouts. With the innovation in the malting process in the 1800s. Brown Ale was made without roasted barley, which gave it a nutty caramel and more malty flavour than the roastiness that you got in porters and stouts. It was also sweeter, but Pale Ale was on the rise, and it almost killed off this beer style until the early 20th century.

Depending on what story you read, brown ale was either saved by Mann's brewery in East London or by Newcastle Breweries in the north of England. Interestingly, though, when Newcastle breweries first brewed their brown ale, their brewer, Lieutenant James Herbert Porter (slightly ironic name) was actually trying to brew a Bass pale ale and thought it was a failure. That beer as we know it today is now Newcastle Brown Ale.

Southern or Northern Brown Ale?

A British Brown Ale can be categorized into southern brown ale, sometimes also called London brown ale, and northern brown ale. The northern brown ale is usually stronger, less sweet and more bitter and is red amber in colour. The London or southern brown ale has a lower ABV, is sweeter with a lower IBU and is brown in colour.

British Brown Ale Style Guidelines

What we're looking for in a brown ale is a malty but hoppy beer, often with chocolate or caramel notes, sometimes nuttiness but it never has roastiness.  The hop flavour and aroma should complement the malt flavour.

Colour: Amber to brown (12 to 22 SRM)

ABV: Lower to normal (4.2 to 5.4%)

Perceived Bitterness: Moderate (20 to 30 IBU)

Serving Temperature: 7 – 12oC (45 – 55oF)

Serving glass: Nonic pint or a dimpled pub glass.

British Brown Ale to try – Hobgoblin by Wychwood Brewery

I've always contested that Hobgoblin by Wychwood Brewery is not a brown ale; I would say it's more of a ruby ale. I think that's a UK thing. And after trying it against the style guidelines, I think this was actually very within the style guidelines more than the other beer that I tried. This version of a British Brown Ale has a very toffee malt aroma, some nuttiness and light chocolate.  There's no discernible hop aroma. But there is some subtle fruitiness coming from the English ale yeast.  The beer is dark amber. It's got brilliant clarity, and it has a moderate off white head that's got very good head retention. 

In the taste there is a trace of light bitterness from the hops, just to balance out the malts. It's got caramel and toffee notes with moderate malt sweetness and a light nutty character behind this, which makes it very tasty. There's no hop flavour and they're only low fruity esters - think dried fruit.  It has a medium finish, with a touch of sweetness lingering in that finish. This version has a medium body and medium carbonation.  Hobgoblin is a very caramel-centric version with lots of nuttiness, and I think I have been swayed to believe that this is now a brown ale rather than me keep calling it a Ruby ale!

British Brown Ale to try – Newcastle Brown Ale

I pitted the Hobgoblin against Newcastle Brown Ale. Unfortunately, it is in a clear glass bottle which I believe has added some faults to the beer. It's got a sweet malt aroma with some nutty notes. However, as soon as you open the bottle there's a real skunky aroma. I believe it has been light struck because it is in a clear glass box which has afforded the beer no protection from UV rays. But once you get past that there is a light buttery caramel aroma. There's no discernible hoppy aroma and no fruity esters in this version.  Newcastle Brown is clear amber with very good clarity and a foamy white head with moderate retention.

The flavour profile has a moderate malt sweetness like caramel and some subtle nuttiness. It's got a dry finish, unlike the Hobgoblin there isn't any sweetness hanging around in the linger. It's got medium bitterness, no discernible hop character, and no fruity esters. This one's much nuttier and caramel than got the fruitiness that the Hobgoblin had. It's got a medium-light body and medium carbonation - I found it slightly thinner than the Hobgoblin. It's nuttier and has bread crust on the palate. I think the clear bottle is an issue with this and I just I didn't enjoy it as much as I did the Hobgoblin.

Have you tried a British Brown ale?  Let me know in the comments if you’ve tried a different version to my choices and if you thought it was any good!  If you would like to learn more about beer styles, come join me in my beer membership The Beer Tent Society.  Every month we look at a new beer style and have a live tasting to really dig into what we like about that beer.  Find out more and join us in The Beer Tent here.