Avery Brewing Co. Ellie's Brown Ale: An Amateurish Beer Review

Along with hops, malt is another key part of what makes a beer belong to a particular style. Barley is the traditional grain for beer, and the malting process involves first drying and cleaning the grain, and then sprouting it. Once the grain germinates, malt enzymes break down the grain before it is roasted. The roasted malt plays a major role in determining the color and flavor of the beer it is used to produce.

Image credit: Wikipedia (malt)

Originally, a "Brown ale" was brewed from 100% brown malt, which is unsurprisingly roasted to a fairly dark brown color. Ellie's Brown Ale from Avery Brewing Company also adds some darker-roasted chocolate malt along with Munich and honey malts for a more full-bodied taste. Unlike the Voodoo Ranger ale I reviewed earlier, this is not a beer that relies as heavily on hops for its flavor profile, although it includes four hop varieties in the recipe.

Image credit: Avery Brewing Company

My take is fairly simple. This smells like a good brown ale. It looks like a good brown ale with its rich dark color. It tastes like a good brown ale with a full malty flavor. It's simply a good beer without trying to be pretentious, unlike many microbrewery offerings. If you like brown ales, give this a try. If you're new to the style, this is a good introduction. It's certainly better than imported Newcastle Brown Ale. I'm not sure how I would rank it against Big Sky Moose Drool, though.

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