Sixpoint Brownstone
Sixpoint Brewing has mastered the art of canning excellent craft beer. From their almighty Resin to the ferocious Bengali Tiger, the company certainly has a knack for delivering some seriously tasty, hop-forward beers. Even when diving outside of the pale ale or IPA realm, you’ll still find a solid hop presence in their products. Brownstone is just such a foray.
This 6% ABV and 45 IBU brown ale is the first beer that the company produced when forming in 2004, but it’s only been recently that it has become available in cans for the rest of us. And what a treat it is. Brewed with a combination of 8 to 10 (depending on where you look) different malts including Munich, Chocolate, and Caramel. The beer isn’t just all malty goodness as an appropriate balance of hop bitterness takes everything to a completely different level.
Appearance
Brownstone pours a light reddish brown in color with a light tan head that displayed excellent lacing as it dropped.
Aroma
This beer smells great with a dominant rich and earthy malt character. Hints of baked bread, a subtle nuttiness, lightly roasted coffee and spicy, grassy hops keep everything in check.
Taste
This is certainly not your standard brown ale. Obviously the hop character stands out, but it’s more than just that aspect of the beer that makes it unique. Brownstone is a little lighter bodied than most brown ales that I’ve had, but it’s also got a more layered and fuller flavor than most. Earthy, roasty, nutty malts dominate with an appropriate level of sweetness before a light amount of hop bitterness fades in smoothly to close the beer out with a refreshing, lingering finish. Even at 6% ABV, the beer is smooth and darn drinkable.
Overall
This is a wonderful diversion from your standard brown ale. It’s layered and layered with malty goodness that’s then balanced out wonderfully by a welcome and “just right” hop character. The four pack that I purchased of this brew didn’t last long at all. And I suspect any future purchases of Brownstone will meet a similar fate.
Rating: 4/5
