May 8, 2009: Newcastle Brown Ale

The city of Newcastle is a very interesting little place tucked away in far northwestern England. People from Newcastle are known commonly as Geordies throughout the British Isles because of the town's ardent support for Kind George in 1745, whom was the successor of the Hanoverian line of monarchs. Newcastle is so far north of the rest of England that they're on a sort of island, so to speak. Even the dialect and accent of Newcastle's natives is completely unique and isolated pretty much to the Tyneside area. Since the Geordies are famous for doing things their own way, it only makes sense that they would come up with a beer like Newcastle Brown Ale. I will admit my bias right off the bat and say that Newcastle is probably my absolute favorite macrobrew in the world. In my mind, there really isn't another beer that is produced on the same scale as Newcastle that can match up with it in terms of taste and quality. Newcastle Brown Ale is famous for is toasted, nutty brown color and rich flavor. One thing that catches many people off guard is the surprisingly light taste of a beer that is so dark in color. I've met countless people over the years that were originally put off by the dark brown color of Newcastle, but were won over by the warm taste of this beer. I think that Newcastle Brown Ale is the perfect blend of bitterness, malt and caramel flavors that balance each other out to make one of the best beers that I ever tasted. I wanted to save Newcastle Brown Ale for a rainy day later on in the 365brews project, maybe to use as a slump-buster after a string of really bad beers. I really tried to wait as long as I could, but I love Newcastle so much that I simply couldn't wait any longer. If you've somehow never tried this beer, get to your local grocery store or neighborhood pub and try a pint today.

Cheers,
Ian

http://www.newcastlebrown.com/