Texas Beer Nerd

Dogfish Head, from Delaware, is known for their aggressively hopped IPAs. Before this, I hadn’t tried any of their non-IPA beers. They claim Indian Brown Ale is similarly hopped twice on the label and while it might be hoppier than most brown ales it’s still not what I would call a hoppy beer. In fact, it’s flavor has more to do with stouts than anything else. The color is much darker than a standard brown ale. The flavor has a roasted, smoky, malty thing going on, which is why I made comparisons to stouts. The label says this beer is brewed with caramelized sugar and this does make itself known but mostly in the finish. Thankfully though, this doesn’t mean the beer is too sweet. The caramel hint is really the only thing that’s overtly brown ale like about this beer to be honest. I guess there’s a bit of nuttiness that characterizes many brown ales but it’s so slight as to be almost unnoticeable. The hops also make themselves known in the finish. Ultimately though, the stout-like flavor dominates. This is far from being a bad thing but I was expecting something different. If it was up to me, I don’t think I’d call this beer a brown ale. I don’t know what to call it. Brown stout maybe?