Indian Brown Ale - Dogfish Head, Milton

I found a lone bottle of Dogfish Head's Indian Brown Ale in my basement today and figured it was about time I got around to reviewing it. I started off knowing practically nothing about this beer other than what was on the label. The name perplexed me a bit, what is an Indian Brown Ale? Everyone knows what an IPA is, so surely the India in this beer's name refers to the hop levels. The brown ale part of this beer I assumed was the base, much maltier than you'd get with a plain old IPA. Sounds interesting but I'm not entirely sold on the concept...

I realized as soon as I opened this bottle that I'd have to throw out all of my preconceived notions about what the Indian Brown Ale was going to be like... The aroma coming from the bottle was quite sweet and not unlike that of a big boozy Imperial Stout. This beer pours almost pitch black with a light tan head and very faint reddish highlight around the edges of the glass. Smelling this beer from my glass allowed me to pick up more of the aroma, and it kept reminding me of a stout... The label says this beer is brewed with caramelized brown sugar, and I believe it. That sugar, combined with the malt, made me think of a roasty, malty, dark stout.

The flavor, while a little still stouty, was great. I like stouts, I was just surprised this was going to be so dark and malty. The Indian part of this beer is noticeable in the dry hopped flavor that cuts through the sweet brown sugar. The hops never became the main focus of this beer while I was drinking it, and that's something I really appreciated.

It didn't take me long to go through the whole glass of Indian Brown Ale. It's sweet and has multiple layers of flavor that kept me going back for more. I'd recommend this beer to anyone who is a fan of darker beers and is interested in trying something that is a new take on two different styles. It's a unique beer and definitely worth the trouble of tracking down.