Brown Ale Advice

DanOmite · 06-30-2009, 06:53 AM

Hello,

I want to create a brown ale, but I am not sure what malts to choose; namely, what chocolate malt to use. Here is the recipe...

Ingredients

Malt
• 9 lb Light LME (half mashing and half at 15)
Specialty Grains
• 1.4 lb Crystal 60L (12.5%)
• 0.9 lb Victory (~8%)
• 0.7 lb Chocolate (~4%)
• 0.2 lb Roasted Barley (~2%)
Extra Stuff
• 1 tablespoon Irish Moss
• 1⁄2 cup Oak Chips (secondary, ~7 days)
Hops
• 1.0 oz Centennial 10% AA (60 minutes)
• 0.75 oz Centennial 10% AA (20 minutes)
• 0.75 oz Centennial 10% AA (0 minutes)
Yeast
• White Labs British Ale Yeast or Safale US-04

From what I have read my malt partitioning is pretty normal, but I cannot decide on domestic or British chocolate. From what I have read the domestic chocolate lends a reddish color in smaller amounts and the British a darker color. Also, the British is smother and roastier. Although, I don't want to add too much more roasty flavor, because I have the roasted barley already. As for the color, I wouldn't mind a nice reddish tint.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Yankeehillbrewer · 06-30-2009, 07:16 AM

Personally I would cut back some on those specialty grains. I'd drop the RB all together , go with 1/2 lb chocolate,1/4lb Victory, and 1lb of Crystal. Maybe even 1/2 lb of Crystal. I think with what you have now , you're looking at being in Porter territory, IMO. Seems like it would come out pretty dark.

For the hops,I'm coming up with almost 60 IBU's which is pretty much out of style. should be around 35 maybe 40 at the far end of the scale. So I'd say cut it down by about half and you should be good to go. If you want to be within the style guidlines. But there's nothing wrong with a hoppy Brown Ale.

That my 2 cents worth.

Rick500 · 06-30-2009, 07:27 AM

Are you going for a Newcastle sort of brown ale?

The centennial seems out of place. I'd probably use East Kent Goldings.

**Ryno** · 06-30-2009, 08:03 AM

You might try something like this. Looks like an easy drinking brew. I'd probably up the gravity by adding at least 1-2 more lbs of LME. I do all grain so a Extract or PM brewer may want to step in.

Dark Streets of London Brown Ale
(5 gallons, extract)
OG = 1.035
FG = 1.010 to 1.113

Ingredients:

• 4 lbs. pale malt extract syrup
• 8 oz. British crystal malt, 40° to 60° Lovibond
• 8 oz. chocolate malt
• 8 oz. dark molasses
• 0.6 oz. Northern Brewer hops (7% alpha acid), for 60 min.
• 0.5 oz. Kent Goldings hops (5% alpha acid), for 30 min.
• 1/2 tsp. Irish moss for 15 min.
• 3/4 cup sugar for priming

Step by Step:

Prior to the boil, steep crushed grains in a nylon mesh bag in 2 gals. of water at 160° F for 30 minutes. Some agitation will help extract the flavors from these grains. Remove the bag and squeeze out liquid. Add 3.5 gals. of water to bring the total volume to 5.5 gals.

Dissolve the malt syrup and the dark molasses in the water. Bring the mixture to a boil. Add Northern Brewer hops. After 30 minutes add the Kent Goldings hops. Boil 15 minutes more and add Irish moss. Boil an additional 15 minutes. When the wort has boiled for 60 minutes, shut off the heat and cool the wort. Aerate wort and add yeast at 75° to 60° F. Ferment at 60° to 72° F. Bottle with priming sugar.

**Malticulous** · 07-01-2009, 01:22 AM

I'd go with .5 oz and 20 and 10 then dry hop with the other .5 oz. This is the American way. 6-8 oz American Chocolate malt and one pound of Crystal. That will give a nice chocolaty taste with the centennials tantalizing the tongue. I don't like the oak.

DanOmite · 07-01-2009, 03:23 AM

Thanks alot guys. I'm using centennials because I have some left over. thanks for the advice.

**McGarnigle** · 07-01-2009, 03:38 AM

That's a helluva Brown ale. What is it, like 1.075? 60 IBUs, 3 lbs. of specialty grains, oak chips, Centennials.

DanOmite · 07-02-2009, 05:45 AM

What do you think about this?

Ingredients

Malt
• 9 lb Light LME (half mashing and half at 15)
Specialty Grains
• 1 lb Crystal 60L (~9%)
• 1/2 lb Chocolate (~4%)
Extra Stuff
• 1 tablespoon Irish Moss
Hops
• 1 oz Centennial 10% AA (60 minutes)
• 0.5 oz Cascade 5% AA (20 minutes)
• 0.5 oz Cascade 5% AA (10 minutes)
• 0.5 oz Centennial 10%AA (~7 day dry hop)
Yeast
• White Labs British Ale Yeast or Safale US-04

DanOmite · 07-02-2009, 06:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Conroe

I'd go with .5 oz and 20 and 10 then dry hop with the other .5 oz. This is the American way. 6-8 oz American Chocolate malt and one pound of Crystal. That will give a nice chocolaty taste with the centennials tantalizing the tongue. I don't like the oak.

Could you explain the hop additions again? Do you mean I should just add 1/2oz at 20 mins to go and 10 mins to go and nothing at time zero?

Should I still add some bittering hops at the beginning of the boil?

I'm going for a strong / bitter brown ale...not too bitter, but I definitely want the hops to be a noticeable and enjoyable part of the drinking experience. At the same time, I don’t want it to be a drink only hop heads enjoy…if that makes sense.

Bob · 07-02-2009, 03:29 PM

That's a damned huge brown ale. 1.085 OG, ~54 IBU. If you insist on brewing it that strong, it'll take that much IBU to balance it (I think). It's also going to be black as the ace of spades with the original grist.

Also, depending on the source of your extract and the yeast strain you select, you could end up with a very sweet, underattenuated beer.

I'd knock back the Crystal to a pound, the Victory and Chocolate to a half-pound each. Delete the Roasted Barley entirely. Keep the hops where you had them in the original. Your BU:GU ratio at that point will be approximately 0.7:1, and that's going to be necessary to balance a beer that has little hope of finishing below 1.020.

Choose a yeast that will attenuate to 75% or more, and when managing the ferment provide optimum circumstances for the yeast to reach that point: Aerate well, pitch a little over the average rate, and keep the ferment temperature under control.

To figure out how much yeast to pitch, use The Mr Malty Calculator. It's easy! I figured an OG of 1.077 (given my adjustments). That means ~15 grams of dry yeast. Good dry yeasts, from companies like Fermentis and Danstar, come in 11g sachets. You can pitch two 11g packets of yeast and not worry about overpitching. If you use a yeast like US-05, you should have a very successful ferment and an excellent beer.

If you still intend to use a yeast like S-04, pitch one 11g packet. Then it's best to use a yeast nutrient. There are a variety of yeast nutrients on the market. The easiest to use is an old, out-of-date packet of yeast added to the boil. Often your LHBS guys will give you a couple packets of old yeast just to be rid of it; it can't hurt to ask the guy behind the counter if he's got any old yeast!

If you've got a micro or brewpub in your area, it can't hurt to ask them for some yeast, either. Don't be a pest; just ask if you can bring a sanitized container to collect a pint or so of harvested yeast. It helps if you're a known, regular customer of the brewery, of course. When I brewed for a living I gave away excess yeast all the time; if I didn't I'd have to find a way to rid myself of it in an environmentally-friendly manner - the local water people had NO sense of humor about increased bioload!

Cheers!

Bob