Beer of the Week: Silent Orbit from Outer Place. Hopped heavily and easily drunk brown ale.

Beer of the Week 

Outer Place Silent Orbit American Brown Ale, 6.2% ABV, 440 ml can Bradleys

"a distinctive and easily drunk brown ale"

Brown is the expected colour but there is quite a bit of red in there too, all under an off-white head. Malt aromas of medium intensity reach the nose. On the palate, not alone do you find malt characters like caramel and chocolate but also some sweet fruit (orange and apricot) from the hops with a touch of pine. 

A hint of sweetness is evident amongst all that, yet there is an excellent balance between malts and hops so this delicious beer is never out of kilter.

Quite a distinctive and easily drunk brown ale from Outer Space who admit to loving their hops: “It’s no secret!  You can expect plenty of hoppy offerings in various styles coming in the future”.

Silent Orbit

The history of this style dates back to U.S. homebrewers inspired by English-style brown ales and porters. US Craft brewers then took it up; while inspired by the English, the Americans weren’t content to be just imitators and took the style in different directions.

One of the Brit beers that came under the US focus was the Samuel Smith Nut Brown Ale. This “was a huge influence on a generation of American craft brewers.. in 1983,” according to Jeff Alworth in the Beer Bible.

American-style brown ales have evident low to medium hop flavour and aroma and medium to high hop bitterness. Silent Orbit has been hopped heavily with a combo of Idaho 7 (used in both whirlpool and the dry hop), Ekuanot and Galaxy hops. Our Beer of the Week and Very Highly Recommended.

Not many Brown Ales are being produced by Irish brewers and some have been once-offs. Two that you should be able to find easily are Bambrick’s by Ballykilcavan and McNuttys by Lough Gill.

Bambricks has an ABV of 5.8%. It is a rich and malty American-style Brown Ale, with notes of dark chocolate and burnt toffee. The Lough Gill brown ale (5.5%) is brewed with real macadamia nuts, along with top quality malts and hops for a rich nutty flavour and a luxurious dark brown colour and is a favourite of mine.

If you’d like to try an American-made brown ale for comparison purposes, you may be able to get your hands on Brooklyn Brown. The New York brewery describes this as a go-to for those who like a little soulful spin to their beer. “Old-school roasted malts and new-school American hops keep it hearty but not heavy, and always party-ready. There’s a reason it’s a cult-classic.” According to the Beer Bible, this “favors roast over nut….It’s surprisingly hoppy as well.”

Silent Orbit Geek Bits

Style: American Brown Ale
ABV: 6.2%
IBU: 40
Hops: Idaho7, Ekuanot & Galaxy