British Brown Ale New Castle Clone - Accidental

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Brewing this up right now, but with EKG for the hops as that's what I have in the freezer needing to be used up, and I prefer that hops anyway ;)

As EKG is significantly less alpha % according to Beersmith, was going to increase the bittering amount to 1.5oz to hit the design number roughly... Does that seem too much?
 
I'm brewing this one right now too. Hopes are very high.
So far the colour is amazing.
But I used a little biscuit since I could find Crystal around here. Let's see.
On Beersmith it's seems on the style..

Thanks for sharing man. New Castle is definitelly on my top 3 beers...
 
thiago_simoes said:
I'm brewing this one right now too. Hopes are very high.
So far the colour is amazing.
But I used a little biscuit since I could find Crystal around here. Let's see.
On Beersmith it's seems on the style..

Thanks for sharing man. New Castle is definitelly on my top 3 beers...

Let us know how it turned out, I love this beer!
 
McCuckerson said:
nice, let us know how it turns out.

Sorry it took me a while to report back...
This was almost Newcastle!
Nice color, tasted a bit light for a new castle clone, but I'm going to try using MO and possibly biscuit?
This was a great recipe and I can't wait to brew it again. Will be better at posting updates in the future :)
 
What would the total ingredients change to when substituted with MO instead of Vienna for 5 gallons ?

So, Far OP has this :

5# Vienna
3 1/2# pale 2-row
1/2# aromatic
1/2# Caramel 80L
1/4# Chocolate

0.5oz Nugget @ 60min

Wyeast London ESB
 
What would the total ingredients change to when substituted with MO instead of Vienna for 5 gallons ?

So, Far OP has this :

5# Vienna
3 1/2# pale 2-row
1/2# aromatic
1/2# Caramel 80L
1/4# Chocolate

0.5oz Nugget @ 60min

Wyeast London ESB

5# MO
3 1/2# pale 2-row
1/2# aromatic
1/2# Caramel 80L
1/4# Chocolate

or

8.5# mo
1/2# aromatic
1/2# Caramel 80L
1/4# Chocolate
^I do this

It scored a 34 in a comp i threw it in.
 
Last time I used California ale and Denny's fav (split ten gal batch). I would use the original (London I think) and Denny's again. Cal ale was fine but the other two were better. The London was closer to style and may have scored better. Use what ever you see fit.
 
I just got my ingredients for this last night. Can someone tell me the mash temp and times, I'm assuming 150 degrees @ 60 min. Then a 60 min boil ? Can someone confirm ?
 
Personally i've mashed this at 154 @ 60min and 60 minute boil.


Came close to your mash time, I was at 155 for 60min. Did this today, my OG came out at 1.042 for a 4.5 Gallon batch. I really suck at hitting these numbers, Op's was 1.048...

But looking forward to trying this !!........
 
Came close to your mash time, I was at 155 for 60min. Did this today, my OG came out at 1.042 for a 4.5 Gallon batch. I really suck at hitting these numbers, Op's was 1.048...

But looking forward to trying this !!........

Sounds like you need to adjust your efficiency to hit your needs more consistently. Good news is that numbers are just numbers and i bet you still end up with an easy drinking brown ale.
 
Brewed this and loved it! It was a big hit with those lucky enough to have a bottle or two. I'm wanting to do my own Honey Brown, and thought this recipe would be a good starting point. So this is what I've come up with, and am going to brew next weekend. This is the grain bill:

4# pale 2-row
5# Marris Otter
1/2# aromatic
1/2# Caramel 80L
1/2# Honey Malt
1/4# Chocolate

Then after starting chill, I'm going to add 2lbs of Honey at 180 degrees. Should hit somewhere near 1.066 OG... so this is going to have an ABV of somewhere near 6.5%

Comments/suggestions appreciated.
 
So I am going to tackle this over the weekend. Can someone advise on the mash schedule? I plan on adding 163 degree water to get a 154 mash but am I supposed to sparge with a certain temp? Also, the LHBS did not have the yeast so I ended up with Safale 04; what do you guys think??
 
I tried the recipe for this using Brewmasters warehouse, It didn't come out very good. On bottling day I only had 1 ounce of corn sugar !!! So I added 3 ounces of cane sugar along with it, unless this was the error, otherwise this beer just don't taste good......I've F*cked up 2 batches in a row now !!! It's time for me to re-evaluate what I'm doing I guess......
 
I just saw this thread & thought I would report back, as promised. The original recipe had an OG of 1.048 & FG 1.012. I followed the recipe to the letter and wound up with an OG of 1.046 and FG 1.018. using BIAB. The original recipe did not specify mash times and temps, so I went with a 60 min mash at 154F. Fermented at 64F steady for 2 weeks in primary and then bottled.

This beer came out VERY good. Not sure how closely it imitates Newcastle yet because I haven't done the side-to-side comparison. I think it is a bit bigger in result than NC as it seems to have a bit more lingering maltyness and mouthfeel -- which is fine by me!

Any thoughts on why my FG was higher than the recipe anticipated? Mash temp a touch too high? Should I have gently raised the ferm temp toward the end?
 
I liked this one!

I followed the recipe to the tee. I am going to make it again just prepping my order at LHBS.
I bottled mine and it had good head retention, and was very enjoyable.
I am going to follow my notes and brew this batch the same then tweak it based on the reviews and suggestion here.
Thanks I like when accident work out!!
Cheers. ;-D
 
I am preparing to brew this again tomorrow as we are down to 2 bottles, and momma does NOT want me to run out of this one. I was just going over the recipe and my notes and noticed a slight alteration: I added an aroma hop (5256) at 5 min for some reason -- probably at the suggestion of my LHBS owner. 0.75 oz of pellet for a 5 gallon batch. This recipe turned out so great, I do not plan on ANY variation from my first attempt -- so in goes the 5256.
 
This was purely accidental. i was attempting an Irish red ale for St. Patty's day and after 4 weeks of cold conditioning I tasted an almost exact replica of New Castle. I did not mean to clone this, but I thought I would share it for the NC lovers out there. I definitely will be making this again.

5# Vienna (cuz that's what I had...)
3 1/2# pale 2-row
1/2# aromatic
1/2# Caramel 80L
1/4# Chocolate

0.5oz Nugget @ 60min

Wyeast London ESB (super clear - love this yeast)

Fermented 10 days @ 65F in my downstairs 1/2 bathroom

Kegged and cold conditioned for 2-3 weeks.


Hey all

Sorry this is going to sounds very Newb but I just wanted to clarify a few things.

When it states batch size, this means the amount being placed into Fermenter right?

And this (5#) mean 5 pounds right?

Thanks in advance!!
 
This was purely accidental. i was attempting an Irish red ale for St. Patty's day and after 4 weeks of cold conditioning I tasted an almost exact replica of New Castle. I did not mean to clone this, but I thought I would share it for the NC lovers out there. I definitely will be making this again.

5# Vienna (cuz that's what I had...)
3 1/2# pale 2-row
1/2# aromatic
1/2# Caramel 80L
1/4# Chocolate

0.5oz Nugget @ 60min

Wyeast London ESB (super clear - love this yeast)

Fermented 10 days @ 65F in my downstairs 1/2 bathroom

Kegged and cold conditioned for 2-3 weeks.


Hey all

Sorry this is going to sounds very Newb but I just wanted to clarify a few things.

When it states batch size, this means the amount being placed into Fermenter right?

And this (5#) mean 5 pounds right?

Thanks in advance!!
 
I am assuming if I want to brew a 1 gallon batch of this I can cut the ingredients down proportionately?
 
Correct. the # refers to lbs. And yes, batch refers to amount to be fermented.
I have brewed this twice. The first batch was a modification of the recipe by increasing the grain bill by 50% and adding collecting a total of 10 gallons. The first runnings were darker and heavier of course and the second were lighter. First runnings fermented out to about 7% ABV and the second around 4% ABV. Both great beers. The second was a direct copy and was equally good. This is a recipe that I have in my favs list and brew it late summer ready for early fall. Just my preference.
 
Correct. the # refers to lbs. And yes, batch refers to amount to be fermented.
I have brewed this twice. The first batch was a modification of the recipe by increasing the grain bill by 50% and adding collecting a total of 10 gallons. The first runnings were darker and heavier of course and the second were lighter. First runnings fermented out to about 7% ABV and the second around 4% ABV. Both great beers. The second was a direct copy and was equally good. This is a recipe that I have in my favs list and brew it late summer ready for early fall. Just my preference.

Thanks for the info mate.
 
I'm going to try this. I will use london 3 yeast. Will brew tomorrow. May add .25 lb torrified wheat.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Home Brew mobile app
 
Just to use them. I will have to use fuggle at 1.5 ounce also. Cant wait

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Home Brew mobile app
 
I brewed a gallon of this Friday night. My airlock has "little carbonation" bubbles in it but I do not see any bubbles happening.

I opened it up to take a peek and I do not see a "froth line" like I have seen when I have done aplefwein. It is a 2.5 gallon fermenter with only a gallon in it. Could this be it? I am concerned it is not fermenting since none of the signs I have seen before are happening.

I pitched the yeast at around 74 degrees F and the fermenter is in my kitchen which is between 65-72

This is my first batch of beer I have ever brewed.
 
I brewed a gallon of this Friday night. My airlock has "little carbonation" bubbles in it but I do not see any bubbles happening.

I opened it up to take a peek and I do not see a "froth line" like I have seen when I have done aplefwein. It is a 2.5 gallon fermenter with only a gallon in it. Could this be it? I am concerned it is not fermenting since none of the signs I have seen before are happening.

I pitched the yeast at around 74 degrees F and the fermenter is in my kitchen which is between 65-72

This is my first batch of beer I have ever brewed.

It'll be just fine. Give it a couple more days. I would bet the massive amount of head space would account for little airlock activity. If it doesn't froth up in a couple more days try pitching again.
 
Just kegged thia today. 5% hydro sample was really good. Mine may have a bit more chocolate charecter to it but we will see when it chills and carbs. I used london ale 3 yeast. Great recipe very happy with this one.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Home Brew mobile app
 
On the schedule for tomorrow.
Going with the 8.5lbs of Maris Otter.

Got a question with Hops. Why only the 1 addition at the beginning of the boil? Would adding the other 1/2 oz as a late addition change the profile that much?

Thanks
 
On the schedule for tomorrow.
Going with the 8.5lbs of Maris Otter.

Got a question with Hops. Why only the 1 addition at the beginning of the boil? Would adding the other 1/2 oz as a late addition change the profile that much?

Thanks
Hey Rambuck,

I was loosely following Jamil's Irish ale which has a bittering hop addition only (i think:smack:) I think this is why it is so NCish. I do not get much late hope character from New Castle either.

Anyway, if you like late hop additiions, then definitely go for it. Just be sure to post your results here:mug:

The Big Mick
 
Hey Rambuck,

I was loosely following Jamil's Irish ale which has a bittering hop addition only (i think:smack:) I think this is why it is so NCish. I do not get much late hope character from New Castle either.

Anyway, if you like late hop additiions, then definitely go for it. Just be sure to post your results here:mug:

The Big Mick

Thanks for the info. I'm still new at this. Since I got 1 oz of Target, I think I will add the rest as a late hop addition. Will let you know. That is the great thing about this hobby. :D
 

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