All About Beer Magazine - Volume 34, Issue 3
July 1, 2013 By

Fireman’s Brew

Ukiah, CA

Started by two Los Angeles-based firemen, Fireman’s Brew offers three year-round beers, in addition to coffee and soda. Brunette is a traditionally styled German doppelbock.

ABV: 8.0

ABW: 6.23

COLOR: N/A

BITTERNESS: 19

ORIGINAL GRAVITY: N/A

AVAILABLE: AZ, CA, CO, IL, NE, NV

Remember how good a malt tasted when you were a kid? This is the dryer, adult version! A gorgeous deep cocoa brown with a tan head of tiny bubbles, the effervescent elixir bursts on your palate with unabashed sensuality. The impressions of chocolate, hazelnuts, honey and bread are well balanced with a subtle backbone of Humulus lupulus. Easy to drink, it was awesome with a blue cheese salad, served with rare buffalo steak, homemade cornbread and Lyonnaise potatoes, and finished with devil’s-food cake.
- Charles Finkel
Brunette starts as a deep, dark, very quiet pour into my glass. Red garnet fluorescence glimmers through the beer. Its presence and appearance promise a full and malty body. Aroma doesn’t disappoint. It’s a sweet dark-brown ale with strong hints of hazelnut in flavor. Carbonation is understated, bringing out full malt flavors: cocoa, biscuit. A touch of hop bitterness. Malt, malt, malt is the overwhelming emphasis. A great balance when you’re not in the mood for hops. An excellent beer to cook with when looking for foundation.
- Charlie Papazian

Charles Finkel
Founder of Merchant du Vin and the Pike Brewing Co., Finkel is a pioneer in the marketing of craft beers in America.

Charlie Papazian
Author of the New Complete Joy of Homebrewing, founder of the Great American Beer Festival and a Beer Examiner at www.examiner.com. Papazian is a leading voice in beer and brewing.