Brown ale Brown ale Brown ale is a style of beer with a dark amber or brown colour. The term was first used by London brewers in the late 17th century to describe their products, such as mild ale, though the term had a rather different meaning today. 18th-century brown ales were lightly hopped and brewed from 100% brown malt. Today there are brown ales made in several regions, most notably England, Belgium and America. Other than being top-fermented and having a darker color than pale beers, brown ales share little in common in terms of flavor profile. Beers termed brown ale
Old ale of winter warmer, similarly strong in alcohol content and usually spiced. The United Kingdom is most commonly associated with the term, winter warmer, where the United States mostly refers to them as a Christmas or Holiday beer. Some brewers will make a strong old ale for bottling. Some of these can mature for several years after bottling, and may or may not be bottle-conditioned. The "October" keeping ales are thought to have formed the basis for India pale ales shipped by the British East India Company. Another historic version was so-called "majority ale", a strong ale brewed on or around