Brownberry Whole Grain Classics 12 Grain Bread (24 oz. loaf)
Item Purchased: Brownberry Whole Grain Classics 12 Grain Bread (24 oz. loaf)
Location Purchased: Jewel / 1224 S. Wabash Ave. / Chicago, IL
Price: $3.19 + tax
Review: Since white bread lacks nutritional value and most wheat bread is simply white bread with food coloring, I try to eat grain breads as much as possible. I would love to have a full oven in my apartment again so I could go back to backing fresh breads with ground and chopped nuts and dried fruits in them, but since my apartment is sans oven, I have found solace in Brownberry’s 12 Grain bread.
My only complaint about this bread is that the crust is a bit flakey and glossed, but other than that minor detail, the bread itself is extremely satisfying whether eaten alone, with a spread of choice, or toasted and used as a bun for a burger or coldcuts. Each bite finds a small seed or nut that adds to the texture and flavor of the bread. And even though you’ll never see Brownberry at the end of the bread aisle at your local supermaket, marked down to $0.69 a loaf, the extra dollar or two you pay is well worth it.
As an aside, I am not sure if anyone else enjoys balling up their bread the way I do so that you are left with a ball of compacted doughy substance. If you are, this bread has the perfect consitency and moistness to accommodate this habit and though it looks like one of those cheese-balls you give to the relatives you don’t care about on holidays with all of the nuts and grains sticking out the sides, it tastes like a slightly honeyed bagel topped with nuts.
Rating: 4.5 / 5
March 25th, 2007 at 8:44 pm
[...] Brownberry Whole Grain Classics 12 Grain Bread (24 oz. loaf) / 6 Pack Of Old Style Beer (16 oz. tall boy cans) from Dominick’s ($5.09) ] Posted by [...]
May 30th, 2007 at 7:06 am
This Kevin fellow doesn’t realize that this balling up of the bread just proves how much like White Bread that product is. It’s not much healthier. The old style red label Brownberry Natural Wheat bread was the most nutritional of ANY of the store bought breads. It is a shame they have degraded the product. Now it’s called “Arnolds” and it is just another SOFT wheat style bread…which is not much better than white.
May 30th, 2007 at 4:20 pm
Why was the Brownberry whole wheat “regular” sliced coarser finished bread in the red wrapper discontinued?
This is (was) a favorite among many-especially children!
May 31st, 2007 at 5:29 pm
I agree, now that the bread is from “Arnolds” it has totally lost its substance. I even emailed the company asking them to go back to the original HEAVY loaf ..we all loved it. no reply as yet.
July 4th, 2007 at 8:42 am
We sure miss the Brownberry Wheat Bread. We are not going to buy any more of the Arnold bread. It is NOT the same at all. We started buying Brownberry Wheat after tasting it on vacation in Door County, WI. That was years ago and the bread remained our favorite. What a disappoitment that we can no longer get it.
July 5th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
What stupid executive decided to destroy the only whole wheat bread that I’ve eaten for the past 30 years (or more). Arnold’s Bakery should be destroyed by bankruptcy; better yet, just leave them alone and they will destroy themselves with their “inovative” recipes. The Arnold’s Wheat Bread is like mushy white which I never could stand! If anyone knows of another bakery that bakes a bread like the original Brownberry, please let me know. I’m ready to dump Arnold’s Thanks
H. Jack Hansen
CC: Best Foods who I understand owns Arnold.
July 24th, 2007 at 9:48 am
I won’t buy the Brownberry’s softer breads until they get rid of the High Fructose Corn Syrup recently added to their recipe. Why do bread makers feel we want sweetness in our whole grain breads? With the additive HFCS their bread is not healthy, but rather a poison.
July 24th, 2007 at 10:17 am
You had the most wonderful, healthy, tasty bread, and you destoyed it. You now make soft, mushy, HIGH FRUCTOSE POISONED Crap, you call bread. KEEP IT.
Only stupid people will buy this CRAP.
July 24th, 2007 at 12:32 pm
I get a kick out of it when people write comments here, thinking that I am Mr. Brownberry.
July 26th, 2007 at 6:34 am
High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is a well-documented free radical inside the human body. Not only is Brownberry using this in their Whole Wheat bread product but it is the second ingredient in the list! There is more HFCS in the product than FLOUR! I will NEVER purchase it again and will tell everyone I know!
July 28th, 2007 at 10:17 am
I’ve been eating the Catherine Clark whole wheat bread for at least 50 years, and Arnold has brought it back to the state that Brownberry had it. I’m eating it as I type and except for a change many years ago, it’s the same bread! They adjusted the recipe back then to stop crumbling. There is no corn syrup, and Arnolds lists most of their breads without that crap.
My father used to buy the bread at 123rd & Western in Blue Island. It’d come in directly on a longhaul truck from Oconomowoc, WI. When the store closed in the 60’s, my father went to the local Jewel Foods and offered the mgr. a taste of his buttered toast. The mgr refused and my dad promptly insisted. Most people knew not to refuse my dad. Overtime and insistance this mgr was forced to push his mngmnt to order the bread. Soon he would sell out and Jewel decided to carry the bread and the rest is history. Was it my father? I can’t be sure. But I know this bread. Arnold makes the same, and it doesn’t have any Argo CPC, Staley or other Decatur crap in it.
Toast it, let it cool and dry a little, cut it in sixes, and use it instead of crackers with a good cheese.
August 1st, 2007 at 6:56 am
I’m glad to find out it’s not just me. I was a fan of the Health Nut Bread and other types for years. I tried eating a peanut butter sandwich this morning and had to throw it away after the first bite. The bread is just too soft. I may as well go back to white bread. Sorry, but you have lost me. I will see what I can find at the healthfood store. Who’s the wiseguy who came up with this idea? If I want garbage, I will visit a dumpster. Sayonara!
August 6th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
It’s me again. I’ve tried the latest Brownberry Bread that is suposed to be like the old good bread. Arnold’s LIED TO US. It is not the same. It has a different taste. Somewhere I heard that they brought everything back except the flour. Has anyone else heard that? Why are they persisting in wanting to destroy the company my alenating the customers
H. Jack Hansen
August 7th, 2007 at 2:14 pm
This bread is just way too sweet. I just don’t understand why all these whole grain breads have to have added sweeteners. What are they trying to cover up? I really love the taste of whole grain breads with butter but this bread is just too sweet so I’m looking for an alternative.
August 14th, 2007 at 3:02 pm
I have been looking everywhere for the Brownberry Whole Wheat bread. Asked in Publix & they said they would see if they still carried it. Finally started looking on the net and found this. Assume that it is not being made anymore and a 12 grain bread took its place?? I am allergic to several other grains so would not be able to eat it if I could even find that. Arnolds whole wheat is a joke, tastes like plain old store bought compared to the old Brownberry that tastes more homemade. I agree with the others who say if it aint broke, dont fix it. Recently got back from Italy and after eating all of that great bread it is sad to come home to inferior products.
September 17th, 2007 at 7:59 pm
PLEASE bring back Brownberry Nut Bread. I loved it and miss it so much. I don’t care for the Arnold’s bread.
Pat
September 17th, 2007 at 8:00 pm
PLEASE bring back Brownberry Nut Bread.
September 24th, 2007 at 8:08 am
I have eaten Brownberry Natural Wheat bread for 30 years; it has always been my favorite store-bought. The first time I picked up a loaf of the new Arnold’s formula, I knew it wasn’t the same, even though the store clerk at the Brownberry outlet insisted it was. I found the “back by request!” formula at the grocery today and tried it. However, I immediately noticed that it still was not as firm and seemed much sweeter than the original recipe. There is sugar listed in the ingredients, and I’m 99% sure there wasn’t sugar in the original bread. Does anyone have a list of the exact original ingredients? THANKS!
October 8th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
Why can’t Arnolds just confess and then bring back the original Brownberry Whole Wheat bread? They must still be hiding something else they would publish an apology and promise to make bread by the original receipe. They would gain a lot of good PR if they did so. By hiding they’re creating bad PR. I hope they fire the executive who made the bad decission in the first place.
October 28th, 2007 at 9:36 pm
I am amazed. And here I thought I was the only one who missed the dense heavy texture of the natural wheat bread. About a year ago, it got hard to find and when there was any on the shelf, I would buy all of the loaves. Now I can’t find it anywhere so, as an act of desperation, I decided to google my bread. To find out Arnold’s purposely destroyed it is shocking. I will never buy any Arnold’s bread again. At least Pepperidge Farm makes a small size loaf of whole wheat which is not quite as bad as the big mushy loaves with my natural peanut butter on it. Please reconsider and, as the above comments note, bring it back the way it was- with no changes at all.
November 11th, 2007 at 2:30 am
I am amazed as well, I was at the store just earlier today and for the first time noticed this ‘back by request!’ Arnold’s whole wheat bread.
I am from Wisconsin and have eaten the classic Brownberry whole wheat bread all my life. I’ve always thought that eating any of the conventional sponge bread was no more satisfying than a twinkie with no filling. When I think of the words ‘whole wheat’ an image of the classic Brownberry packaging appears in my head.
I was horrified when they took it off the market, I literally felt duped the day I noticed… I thought that for some dumb reason they redesigned the packaging. Got home and found out it was terrible.
I similarly feel duped by this Arnolds bread, it is not the same at all… feels sort of like asking for a leinenkugels and getting a milwaukee’s best ice instead.
I should complain to the company rather than on this message board that I found. It does make me feel better though to know that I am not alone in my strong whole wheat bread opinions!
November 22nd, 2007 at 8:10 am
my husband and I have been searching for the original brownberry whole wheat bread. we couldn’t believe brownberry would take it off the market. Arnold should bring back the bread that we have loved for many years.
December 3rd, 2007 at 5:03 pm
The orignal isn’t often on sale, and it’s not really the original, so I purchased the the “new” doughy bread (I thought I should get used to it, it’s all you can find). I was so disappointed to find out why the new bread is so soft, “HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP” is listed as the second ingredient. Nice to see Brownberry jumping on the “LET’S MAKE AMERICA FAT” bandwagon. Competing with Sarah Lee?…common, have a little pride. I’m done with Brownberry. Has anyone found a substitute to the dough ball?
January 19th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
I too join those lamenting the demise of Brownberry Wheat. In my quest to find a similar bread, I have found the following to be very close to the original Brownberry Wheat in appearance, texture and flavor (slightly drier). It is called Ezekiel Bread, baked by Food for Life Baking Co., Inc. P.O.Box 1434, Corona, Ca 92878. You should be able to find it in the frozen section of organic food stores. Good luck.