Style: American Brown Ale
All StylesStyle Profile based on 1,568 recipes
BU:GU
0.56
Hops
4.6 g/L
Mash pH
5.46
Description
A malty but hoppy beer frequently with chocolate and caramel flavors. The hop flavor and aroma complements and enhances the malt rather than clashing with it. History: An American style from the modern craft beer era. Derived from English Brown Ales, but with more hops. Pete’s Wicked Ale was one of the first and best known examples, and inspired many imitations. Popular with homebrewers, where very hoppy versions were sometimes called Texas Brown Ales (this is now more appropriately a Brown IPA). Style Comparison: More chocolate and caramel type flavors than American Pale or Amber Ales, typically with less prominent bitterness in the balance. Less bitterness, alcohol, and hop character than Brown IPAs. More bitter and generally hoppier than English Brown Ales, with a richer malt presence, usually higher alcohol, and American/New World hop character.
Examples: Anchor Brekle’s Brown, Big Sky Moose Drool Brown Ale, Brooklyn Brown Ale, Bell’s Best Brown, Cigar City Maduro Brown Ale, Smuttynose Old Brown Dog Ale, Telluride Face Down Brown
Typical Grain Bill
- 67%
- 11%
- 8%
- 6%
- 4%
% of total grain weight across all recipes · sums to ~100%
Common Additions
- 93%
- 90%
- 82%
- 55%
% of American Brown Ale recipes using each malt category (addition % in brackets)
Hop Usage by Addition Type
g/L · median with IQR range
Common Hops
- 27%
- 20%
- 15%
- 13%
- 12%
- 11%
- 8%
- 7%
- 5%
- 5%
% of American Brown Ale recipes using each hop
Common Fermentables
- 34%
- 23%
- 16%
- 12%
- 10%
- 10%
- 9%
- 9%
- 8%
- 8%
Colour = malt category · bar = % of recipes
Common Yeasts
- 20%
- 10%
- 10%
- 7%
- 4%
- 3%
- 2%
- 2%
- 2%
- 1%
% of American Brown Ale recipes using each strain
Typical Water Profile
median across recipes with a declared water profile
Similar Styles
Ranked by similarity across OG, IBU, ABV, hop rate, and grist composition.