The Brown Shades of Fall

I recently stumbled across a new issue of Maxim magazine, it was the October edition. Not a magazine I frequently peruse, I prefer Esquire for the manly side of life, The Atlantic for news and cultural commentary, and a gift subscription to Food & Wine (I’m still waiting for Beer & Fare to hit shelves). For me, Maxim will always be a slightly to seriously immature, frat-boy toilet reads, and a place for overlooked actresses and musicians to reinvent themselves as vixens and pinups. But I digress … This particular issue caught my attention with a one page article for the “Arena” section, specifically on beer.
Titled “Autumn’s True Brew,” you can imagine I was sucked in to read on. The gist of the two paragraphs and side bar was basically, while everyone is hot for all things pumpkin this time of year, the real winner is brown ale, and I couldn’t agree more.
Increasingly and aggressively every year, folks seem to fall into two categories on the pumpkin beer rage:
1.) Support the bandwagon trend, as these seasonal beers are likely the best way to get macro drinkers into the craft world, and a solid revenue stream for many of our favorite breweries.
or
2.) The bane of the craft beer fall season, these more and more candy-like beers, once very amber and brown ale or even sour related releases, are showing up too early, are being marginalized, and seem to be, along with the foot long beard and the selling of hoarded rare releases, the shark-jumping side of the craft beer world.
Where Maxim is concerned, the magazine seems to be nearing the end of its awkward adolescence, and this particular article was pretty spot on. The first suggestion was Lost Coast’s Downtown Brown. Not my favorite choice by far, yet still a beer I drink and would certainly not turn down. It’s a brown for which I possess many fond memories.
Next up was Ellie’s Brown Ale from Avery Brewing. Frequent readers know my adoration for this Avery favorite, although I have to strongly disagree with the review that “this ale goes down like a pilsner but is aggressive enough to satisfy IPA devotees.” Not a clue what they’re talking about here. Sounds like drunken beer blather.
Then the submission is Old Brown Dog from Smuttynose Brewing. Again, a beer I love, and one I’ve drank often. Described as having toffee and caramel notes, they recommended pairing with bbq ribs. This is fine in my book, I can’t deviate from that description and advice.
Last and somewhat staid, simple, and safe —like all of the recommendations, even if this one is the most adventurous of the lot — Dogfish Head’s India Brown Ale is chosen for its “dark complexion, thick head, and medium-bodied sweetness.” Not sure if they were describing the beer or the ‘supermodel’ in the center-spread, still a beer which we can agree on, and one I’ll likely enjoy again soon enough.
Honestly, aside from the bodacious bikini-clad surfer babe next to the American Spirit tobacco ad, I can’t say that one page of Maxim is going to sway me into a another magazine subscription. But it’s nice to know that sometimes people, and magazines, can change, just as do the leaves. Happy fall, y’all. Enjoy the brews … Cheers..
Gene’s Haufbrau has at more than 200 beers in bottles or on tap. Gene’s is located at 817 Savannah Hwy. 225-GENE. E-mail the Beer Snob at publisher@westof.net.