Brekle's Brown - Anchor Brewing Company

Brekle's Brown
American Brown Ale
Anchor Brewing Company
San Francisco, CA

I like the feeling of walking into a beer store with no shopping list, and finding something new and unusual... and it's extra nice when its from a brewery I like. That's what prompted me to snatch up Brekle's Brown when I saw it on the shelf.

Anchor in a big bottle!? I did a double take when I first saw it. I haven't noticed too many 22oz bombers from Anchor - either I'm not looking hard enough, they don't make enough or they do and it doesn't make its way to Jersey. It was like the first time you played World 4 on Super Mario Brothers 3 on NES - where the turtle shells are huge, the pipes are huge, and the blocks are so gigantic, they break into 4 normal sized blocks when you smash them!

...also, I know this bottle will look sharp in my ever growing collection of empty bottles.

Apparently Gottlieb Brekle, the first brew master of what would become Anchor in the late 1800's, was pretty into malts. For this recipe Anchor's put an emphasis on malt as a tribute to Gottlieb, a man who most likely was a prospector and found his gold in beer instead of in dirt. With one foot in the past, Anchor also plants a foot firmly in the future of American Brewing. This beer spotlights Citra, a new hybrid of hops that started popping up in beer in the last few years.

Citra isn't just a clever name. This stuff is potent.

When I poured it, the burnt color sort of sets off a Pavlovian response, and I thought I knew what I was in for. I really enjoy brown ales, and I have had enough to think I know what brown ale should taste like. Anchor proved me wrong.

The beer has an intense and super complex flavor. The malt character is strong - and with a lot of cinnamon and brown sugar in the front end. But the flavor of the citra hop defies what I'd expect to follow, making the beer bitter but tasting really citrus-y. It reminds me of orange flavored chocolate - something we had in my house as a kid around the holidays. I know that "orange flavored chocolate" might be one of those nuggets that end up being thrown out with the heart-shaped box they came in, but in this beer, it works really well.

If you like Brown Ales, this is worth checking out. It takes a couple sips to let the beer break you in, but when it gets you there, it's a great place to be. Gottlieb's legacy has left us with a beer thats worth thinking about, and a beer company worth drinking to.

--Joe

Research:

anchorbrewing.com
http://www.brew-dudes.com/citra-hops/557