Brekle's Brown - Anchor Brewing Company

chocosushi

Oklahoma

4.38/5  rDev +19.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

22oz->Smokestack Tulip
A ~ Pours Brown with a red hue. . .creamy khaki head,
good lacing.

S ~ Banana bread, Orange peels, Vanilla candies...Very floral. Strawberries & Molasses Cookies w/ Caramel Ice Cream. Hint of brown sugared oatmeal. Great bouquet.

T ~ Banana Bread follows through w/ sliced strawberries & lemonade. Raw Vanilla Bean & Orange Peel. Delectable notes of wheat bread baking as well as rich toffee & caramel overtones.

M ~ Great feel here. Sweet, creamy malt deliciousness & fruity flavor hoppiness. The Citra Hop is showcased very well here.
A delicate balance of robust flavor & complex floral sweetness. A substantial body w/ delicate effervescence.

D ~ Citra in a Brown Ale? I'm there. It's a perfect combination. Supreme drinkability here. No heat, tastes great, & the price is very right. Please check this out.

Serving type: bottle

03-04-2012 02:32:06 | More by chocosushi

bluejacket74

Ohio

3.76/5  rDev +2.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

12 ounce bottle. Served in a pint glass, the beer pours a brown/copper color with about an inch tan head. Head retention and lacing are both good. The brew smells like caramel malt, nuts, apples and dark fruit. It tastes like caramel malt, nuts, citrusy hops (grapefruit), apples, dark fruit, and some molasses. Mouthfeel/body is medium, it's creamy with moderate carbonation. I think this is a good brown ale, it's certainly worth a try and I know I'd buy this again.

Serving type: bottle

05-17-2013 23:50:34 | More by bluejacket74

brenty0man

California

3.51/5  rDev -4.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

This is a malt centric beer. There is mostly malt in the nose and taste, very bready. It reminds me of when my dad used to brew beer and I would eat the malt... Carmelly sweetness. It has a decent finish with some slight bitterness. Very roasted flavoring. Pours a beautiful brown copper color though.

Serving type: bottle

05-16-2013 06:22:13 | More by brenty0man

Bouleboubier

Pennsylvania

4.19/5  rDev +14.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

compared to the faceless brown liquid I had from a bottle out east way, this fresher local SF draft sampling was tanfastic-er.

A: beautiful deep chestnut brown, relatively clear, quasi-webby lacing

S: liquid nut (wait, no...).... really (see below), dry-roasted nut, in (dilute) liquid form... mild floral-fruity ester... vague herbal note

T: whereas the bottle version I had a couple years ago came across bland, just straight old brown malt (not that I'm saying that's an ingredient) run-off.... this one had more character, apparent depth.... finishing dry, it doesn't come off a bit sweet either... just a nice, elegant, soft-rounded dry-roasted nutty malt, clean, with just a touch of chocolaty undertone...perhaps a modicum of earthy and bright-fruity hop to balance (comes more to the fore with each sip).... I'd like a little more lasting malt in the finish, but that's simply my taste....

M: some compact light-medium body up front.... super clean through to the finish, crisp and dry

O: definitely a treat for those who are connoisseurs of brown ales (such as myself)...wish I'd taken a crack at another.... I'll just keep an eye out around town

Serving type: on-tap

05-15-2013 04:04:11 | More by Bouleboubier

adam42381

Florida

3.75/5  rDev +2.2%

05-13-2013 22:41:48 | More by adam42381

hayesjw

California

3.75/5  rDev +2.2%

05-08-2013 00:00:34 | More by hayesjw

Jadjunk

Georgia

2.74/5  rDev -25.3%
look: 3.25 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

"Anchor's roots date back to the early 1850's, when pioneer brewer Gottlieb Brekle arrived in San Francisco. In 1871, he bought a beer-and-billiards saloon near Russian Hill, transforming it into the brewery that-25 years later- was renamed Anchor. We celebrate 140+ years of San Francisco brewing tradition and the legacy of our Anchor brewers with this classic all-malt, single-hop brown ale." Brewed in the style of a Brown Ale. Bought on an extreme discount at Green's at Ponce, $2.49 per a sixer. Bottling date is November 9, 2011. Hopefully these have held up.

Poured from a 12 oz. bottle to a snifter. Served north of 48º Fahrenheit.

(Appearance) Pours a fizzy cream head of a burgundy-white tone over a very hazy and dense brown-red body. Carbonation is lively and plentiful. Retention is average, and lacing is thin and spotty. 3.25

(Smell) Malt body is a subtle, mildly sweet malt. Very little hop character left to discern. Aroma has a notable presence of intense fruity esters, grapes and sweet juicy apples mostly. Signs of a very dated beer- the malt bill and the hop character were not bold enough to keep this from giving in to age. What is left is something most vinous and cider-like- and otherwise, very clean. 2.75

(Taste) Flavor is very much the same as the aroma, with a subtle, clean graham-cracker, slightly bready malt sweetness and a strong fruity boozed-up finish. Hop character is nowhere to be found, and the malt is easily overshadowed by the yeast notes. 2.5

(Mouthfeel) Texture is smooth, with a mild airy carbonation presence. Alcohol presence is very strong, easily dominates the beer's flavor profile. Body is light for a brown ale, light+ overall. 3

(Overall) Always check your dates. I can tell that this beer would be very mildly flavored and simple when young, but even that would be more enjoyable than a beer that has an intense boozy yeast character. Will try again at a later date. 3

Anchor Brewing Company's
Brekle's Brown All Malt Single Hop Brown Ale
2.74/5.00

Serving type: bottle

05-03-2013 20:03:34 | More by Jadjunk

jimmah120

Minnesota

3.91/5  rDev +6.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

12oz bottle with some code on the back.

look is a clear brown. smell is light, but extremely malty. malted barley, light grain, numbing presence of hops. taste is light, but malty, as well. some toasty grain, oak, sweet toffee. blast of bitter hops at the end.

solid brown, perfect session beer.

Serving type: bottle

05-03-2013 06:38:02 | More by jimmah120

johnnnniee

New Hampshire

3.36/5  rDev -8.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25

Pours a clear reddish brown color with a decent sized tan head that persists for a bit. The aroma is quite sweet with lots of darker sugars and light and dark fruits and a touch of alcohol. Little to no hop aroma. The flavor is sweet like the aroma promised, lots of caramel and brown sugar with apples and cherries being dominant and lending to a slight fruity tartness. Little to no hop flavor or bitterness evident. Medium body with a light to moderate level of carbonation and a sweet syrupy mouthfeel. Overly sweet and lacking that light chocolate aroma and flavor that I typically associate with a brown ale. I'm thinking one and done here.

Serving type: bottle

04-30-2013 03:07:45 | More by johnnnniee

Schlafly33

Missouri

2.75/5  rDev -25.1%

04-29-2013 15:19:20 | More by Schlafly33

gshackles

New York

4.25/5  rDev +15.8%

04-27-2013 03:46:33 | More by gshackles

liamt07

Ontario (Canada)

3.75/5  rDev +2.2%

04-26-2013 01:22:39 | More by liamt07

His_Royal_Hoppiness

United Kingdom (England)

3.75/5  rDev +2.2%

04-23-2013 21:25:26 | More by His_Royal_Hoppiness

Goblinmunkey7

Massachusetts

3.1/5  rDev -15.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3

Appearance: A deep rich reddish brown, aka rich copper. Head is a tiny, almost non-existent, off-white. Small creamy collar is about all there is. Moderate carbonation on the pour. Relatively clear.

Smell: Incredibly bready. Baked brown bread. Sweet caramel malts with a faint grassy touch in the back. Almost toasted with some deep fruitiness. Some apple skin and flesh. Not the most complex thing out there, but it's incredibly clean and hits with a lot of what it has. Nicely nutty.

Taste: Baked and slightly burnt brown bread. Caramelized malt sugars and a hefty dose of caramel malt sweetness. Husky and grassy in abundance. Some lingering hints of apple core and citrus zest. Deeply nutty. Fruity with a good smack of grapefruit rind. Citrus ramps up but never really overcomes the sweetness of the malts.

Mouthfeel: Medium body with a moderate carbonation. Clean and easy drinking. Pretty standard affair.

Overall: Does what Anchor does best.

An easy drinking and approachable take on the style. Very bready with some deep sweetness. Lost a little as it warmed and just never really let up with the malt sweetness.

Serving type: bottle

04-23-2013 20:53:49 | More by Goblinmunkey7

KimenTshom

California

4/5  rDev +9%

04-22-2013 14:53:13 | More by KimenTshom

MrTinnedPEach

Alberta (Canada)

4.5/5  rDev +22.6%

04-22-2013 00:05:38 | More by MrTinnedPEach

alex_hart

Massachusetts

3.75/5  rDev +2.2%

04-20-2013 16:22:34 | More by alex_hart

AngusOg

Maryland

3.5/5  rDev -4.6%

04-18-2013 00:06:21 | More by AngusOg

JVoyager

Michigan

3.75/5  rDev +2.2%

04-16-2013 20:57:17 | More by JVoyager

Pegasus

Texas

3.79/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Appearance: Clear, deep reddish amber body crowned by a massive, dense, and persistent tan head of ultra fine bubbles. Belgian-style lacing coats the glass walls.

Aroma: Lots of roasted dark malts, with a suggestion of nuts, bitter apple rind, and grassy and citric hops.

Taste: Dark roasted malts open the taste, soon followed by mildly puckering tannic notes, and toasted nuts. Later in the taste, citric, particularly grapefruit, hops assert themselves, rising to ascendency above the malt. Towards the end of the taste the grapefruit rind is so palpable, one could think that the beer was infused with it. Finishes with a long, lingering grapefruit note.

Mouth feel: Smooth and full, velvety, quite pleasant.

Drinkability/notes: A little too much emphasis on the hops for my taste, but very good, nonetheless.

Presentation: Packaged in a custom twelve ounce brown glass short bottle with a pry -off crown, served in a New Belgium Brewing chalice.

Sourcing: Purchased at Spec's in Texas in March of 2013 for $7.99/six-pack.

Serving type: bottle

04-16-2013 01:13:22 | More by Pegasus

horshack7

Massachusetts

3.53/5  rDev -3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Appearance: Dark brown with deep amber hues and a two finger creamy textured head.

Aroma: Tropical fruits in the front and lots of grapefruit notes. Piney, kiwi fruit. Simple syrup sweetness from the malt end.

Taste: This one has a quite a citrus hop profile. Light dryness, sweet fruits, piney, grapefruit. Caramelized sugar and caramel malt notes.

Notes: It's rather unique with it's hop forwardness there is some sweetness from the malts but it's still a drinkable beer. Cheers.

Serving type: bottle

04-15-2013 02:29:58 | More by horshack7

claytri

Maryland

4.11/5  rDev +12%
look: 4.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

The beer poured a wonderful dark cordovan with a tan head, that had orangish highlights. The aroma was a bit medicinal with some hints of sweet malt. The taste is rich and malty with hints of dark fruits. The feel is light and just on the dry side. I really enjoyed this beer, it's a good malty brew. Quite a treat with all the hops out there to get something that is just a strait beer.

Serving type: bottle

04-14-2013 23:45:20 | More by claytri

AlkaholTester

Nevada

2.75/5  rDev -25.1%

04-12-2013 07:28:16 | More by AlkaholTester

ramo

California

3.75/5  rDev +2.2%

04-09-2013 20:24:29 | More by ramo

BradleyR

Oklahoma

4/5  rDev +9%

04-09-2013 01:20:27 | More by BradleyR