Newcastle Brown Ale
It feels a bit weird to be reviewing this. It's like reviewing breathing. But after drinking a lot of other beers lately maybe it is time to go back to an old favourite and see if it still works for me.
Details
- Brown ale, 4.7% ABV
- 550ml bottle
From the website:
Newcastle brown ale is a true one and only. It is brewed with a unique blend of a pale malt and darker caramel malt to give its smooth, characteristic flavour and colour, with an ABV of 4.7%.
Expectations
I have drunk this before, many times. I've never really thought much about what it tastes like though. Apparently the recipe was changed a bit about ten years ago and I haven't had much of it since, but I'm still expecting a strong taste that matches the dark colour.
Experience
It's brown, a dark brown that is easily visible through the clear glass bottle, and it stays that colour when I pour it into a glass. There's a couple of millimetres of head on top and lots of tiny bubbles rising up to replenish it.
The smell that hit me when I opened the bottle was very familiar. It's a kind of yeasty malty aroma, and somehow also smells like freshly ground coffee beans.
The beer tastes bitter, malty, a bit sweet, maybe a bit nutty. The taste is not as familiar as the smell, but it still triggers random memories. Not very interesting or exciting memories, just times when I had a bottle of Newcastle Brown that picked me up a bit.
It's really smooth and easy to drink. It's giving me a huge dose of nostalgia, which is far from the worst aftereffect I have ever suffered from drinking this stuff. I'm only having the one bottle today though, so I won't be recreating any morning after events.
Verdict
5/5 : There is a reason I used to drink so much of this. I really like it.
