Hitchcocks Forum

whatever happened to bottles of brown ale at the pub?

I remember from way back in the day during my formative years, drinking bottles of Ansells Nut Brown, Whitbread Forest Brown & the occasional Newcastle Brown, (which was classed as a Fighting Beer & to be avoided!) though never to excess ocifer!...Ahem!

You just don't see them nowadays apart from Newcastle brown....even Mild is becoming an endangered species!

Anyone else out there remember these bottled beers or what happened to them? What was your favourite?

Oakhill stout, when I was in my early teens, then later Sam Smiths OBB, Why do things change? bring back the good old days !!

Currently produced:-

English Brown Ales

• Hazelnut Brown Nectar
• Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale
• Alesmith Nautical Nut Brown Ale
• Naughty Goose
• Newcastle Brown Ale
• Smuttynose Old Brown Dog Ale
• Double Maxim
• Manns Original Brown Ale

Aaah Double Maxim! - I remember it well from when we lived up in Teesside - went to the brewery once, a great day! Manns is some kinda rip-off, cheapo, low-alcohol stuff sold in budget supermarkets nowadays I fear but correct me if I'm wrong.

I didn't know about all the others as we don't see them in the pubs & clubs around here?

I suspect the near demise of brown ale is due to it flatulence causing properties.

Ah, brown ale, rather sweetish and most excellent in cooking, can't seem to find any hereabouts, but I don't class Newcastle Brown as proper brown ale.

Here's another:



https://www.harveys.org.uk/shop/lewes-castle/



A.

Blame it on the young. Pint o Mild, Brown, Porters or Stout was something associated with the flat cap working class.

What young man is going to drink the same stuff as his father? Exotic lagers, Pilsners was the choice of the seventies.

Small independent brewers where taken over by the conglomerates and dark ales all but disappeared, save a few notables like Guiness..

However fashions go round and no doubt we will see a resurgence of brewed/matured in the barrel types making a comeback with the next generation of wannabes..

Think i read Fullers of London won awards last few years for dark ales..

Porters and stouts are definitely in with the hipsters, quite a few of them about these days. Bit of a niche taste but popular. Dark Star is my favourite, always try and get a pint in their pub when I'm working in Brighton.

REgards, Mark

I remember my dad teaching me about beer. One of our favourites was a brown split. A half of brown ale in a pint glass topped up with bitter... Bloody lovely it was too...