Sixpoint Brownstone

Brewed by Sixpoint Brewery
Style: Brown Ale
Brooklyn, New York USA

Serve in Dimpled mug, Shaker

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It’s not bad, just a bit thin, and I am not looking for thin in my browns. Some unique flavors though: not a semi-red at all. Pretty spicy, pretty malty.

Tap at Publick House, Dark brown pour with a light beige head. Aroma is rich toffee, some caramel, chocolate, light roast, some mild hoppiness, nut. Flavor is nutty, rich toffee, some roast, chocolate. Pretty damn good.

The beer pours a brown color with a tan head. The aroma has some nice light cocoa and toffee malts, as well as a good bit of grass and some earth. The flavor is very similar. The toffee and dusty chocolate notes come through initially, but there is also a decent amount of bitterness for a brown ale. I also get a little bit of grass flavor from the hops. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation. A nice take on a brown ale.

Mini growler from Half-Time. Pours a deep dark brown bordering on black with a medium sized dark beige head which falls off quickly leaving wisps of lace. Lots of toasted malt on the nose, with a touch of roast, and hints of vanilla and caramel. Medium bodied and creamy, light roasted bitterness. Finishes with a little more light bitterness.

Can - Pours clear brown with a thick, creamy light tan head. Nose isn’t pungent at all. There is some baking spice and bready malt, but that’s about it. Taste has notes of cocoa, toasted bread, hazelnut, caramel, and a dash of herbal hopping on the finish. Malt is the star here. Fluffed-up carbonation makes this feel bigger than it is, and it’s smooth. Good stuff.

It seems like everyone is throwing hops in everything for the hell of it these days and that doesn’t necessarily make the beer better. Case in point: Sixpoint Brownstone. Sure it’s an interesting, unusual brew for the style (though that’s typical for this brewery), but the dry bitterness from the hops seems to overpower the sweet, malty, brown ale core.

I poured a 16oz can into a mug.

Appearance: Mahogany hue that’s dark but translucent. Forms a huge, tan, foamy head which laces and retains very well.

Smell: Light perfumey flowery hops and an underlying coffee scent. Otherwise quite mild in the nose.

Taste: I’ve had Brownstone many times this year - at just about every beer fest I’ve been to and on tap at a local restaurant last week, but never had it out of the can until now. It’s never let me down, but it’s never knocked my socks off the way a lot of other Sixpoint beers have. It’d be easy to simply describe it as "a hoppy brown ale" but that’s not entirely accurate. It’s more like a malty ale with a significant hop component and some familiar brown ale notes.

Though the can indicates it’s 45 IBUs, this brew seems a little more bitter than that. Sharp dry bitterness hit the palate right away with a bit of floral hop flavor through the middle. The finish is the best part as there’s a mixture of sugary coffee, caramel, and peanuts. These flavors are short lived, as the bitterness from the hops comes back to envelope the tongue. I really liked this malty taste and found the hoppiness distracting. That’s not to say it tastes bad, no, it’s definitely a tasty, appealing beer. I appreciate the uniqueness to the palate, but sometimes traditional is better.

Drinkability: Though this beer is bitter for the style, it’s remarkably drinkable. The mouthfeel is rather thin, but there’s a creamy texture which makes it very comfortable and enables it to go down extremely smooth. I’m surprised Sixpoint Brownstone is 6% ABV as it seems much lighter than that, but it’s definitely not a filling beer. It probably works best as a meal complement than anything else.

Can. Pours a brown amber color with huge foamy head. Smells of nuts, malt and chocolate. Consistency of a stout in some ways. Overall pretty good stuff

Draft. Pours murky brown. Tan head. Nose and taste of malt, light cocoa, bitter hops and light sprinkling of brown sugar. Medium body. Solid.

Aroma has some bread and caramel qualities. A nice toasted bread note along with light caramel and toffee. A light nuttiness and chocolate is also present. Clean yeast character with little to no esters and no diacetyl. No hops or alcohol present in the aroma. Pours a somewhat cloudy brown with a thin, slightly off white head that recedes to the edges fairly quickly. Light lacing with no legs. Flavor is all malt. Lots of caramel and toffee as well as nice toasted bread crust. Hints of chocolate and a nice nuttiness. A faint resinous hop flavor helps balance the malt, but the finish is mostly dark caramel and toasted bread. This has quite a bit of a Munich and Vienna malt flavor. Medium low bitterness. Medium body with medium carbonation. Finishes with some sticky sweetness to it. Low astringency and medium low alcohol warmth. Overall this is an interesting take on a brown ale. It doesn't have the hop character that one would expect from an American Brown Ale. Some of the malt character is nice but it is also a bit muddled with a bit too much going on. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Rated 3/22/13. 16 oz can into a pint glass. A: Pours an attractive chestnut brown color. The head is a two finger offwhite shade that isn’t particularly creamy-looking. The lacing, however, is fantastic. S: On the first inhale, it seems like it’s overly hoppy...but the hop profile seems to fade a touch as it warms up. This allows the notes of brown sugar, molasses, cola, and nuts to appear next to the citrusy/grapefruit hops. I’m actually intrigued - this smells like it will work! T: And actually, it kind of does. Dry nuttiness opens the flavor profile up, before finishing with a combination of citrusy hops and sweet, vaguely chocolaty malts. Good cohesion between the hop/malt interplay helps make it surprisingly pleasant, but there is a lack of depth here. M: A bit thin, and not particularly creamy. The feel is nicely balanced between sweet and bitter, though, and it drinks easily. O: Very solid - one of the better Sixpoint offerings I’ve had. Hopped-up dark beers tend to be hit or miss, and I’d reckon this is an almost unqualified hit (and needless to say, it works FAR better than Diesel did). I say almost because it does lack a couple things, such as complexity, but I’d have no trouble revisiting this one again.