And The Best English-Style Brown Ale Is ...

Dogfish Head Indian Brown!

Last night was the Papist Pub Party and we tried 6 different English-style Brown Ales accompanied by Bangers n' Mash and Steak and Kidney Pudding. Here's how the voting came out:

1. Dogfish Head was the clear winner.
2. New English Brewing was also unanimously acclaimed.
   BIG GAP
3. Ale Smith was mediocre. That was a real surprise to me as I had expected Ale Smith to win.
4. Founding Fathers was mediocre. That was not a surprise. I've tried it before and thought it marginal at best.
5. Mass-produced Newcastle actually held up well against those two and was considered palatable.
   BIG GAP
6. Samuel Smith's was horrible. Contrary to the good reviews given Samuel Smith's on various beer websites, this native Brit was almost undrinkable in comparison to the others. Many of my guests did not finish their samples. I recall seeing one person out of the corner of my eye attempt to get the taste of it off of his tongue with sandpaper.

The food was well-liked as well. In addition to the dishes mentioned above, we had English Sweet Peas and Leeks with Brown Butter. All of the recipes came from this book, which has never produced anything but good food for me.

Now I need to go on the wagon for a while, despite having a fridge in the garage well-stocked with brown ales. I woke up with a bit of a head this morning. :-)