What's Bob Drinking Now? And B.R., Too?!

No, I don't have a shaved head.

While shopping at New Beer for some nice Thanksgiving Day beers to sip while B.R. chefs it up in the kitchen, I noticed one that I had never seen before -- Anchor Steam's Brekle's Brown.

It's described as a 6% avb all malt, single hop (Citra) brown ale. I believe that it's a limited edition release, in honor of Anchor's and San Francisco's long brewing history. Well, long for North America, at least. Apparently in 1871 brewmaster Gottlieb Brekle was the first brewer of what would later become Anchor.

Anyway, I figured that it might make a pre-Thanksgiving Day drink! (We saved the Abbot 12 and the St. Botolph's Town that I picked up for the actual holiday!)

It's an ear ring.

There's a rich roasty brown maltiness throughout, but without any acrid bitterness. You can pick up a slight tang amid a touch of malt sweetness. There's ample hop bitterness, too, particularly evident in the finish, which also leaves you with a little lingering malt reminder in the aftertaste.


If it were lower in alcohol, it would make for a really nice session brown. But who's gunna complain about that -- you just drink more slowly!