British Brown Ale Nut Brown AG

SatelliteGuy said:

just an update, I checked my SG this morning, and it's already at 1.020, which means ABV of 5.18%.
I know, it's not done yet, it's only been 6 days, and I'm hoping to leave it til February 8th, which would give it 23 days in primary.
Good Lord, but I can't wait!

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I brewed a Nut Brown ale six days ago also. I am curious what type of yeast did you use? My SG has not yet gone below 1.030.

msa8967 said:

I brewed a Nut Brown ale six days ago also. I am curious what type of yeast did you use? My SG has not yet gone below 1.030.

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I used Notty in my Nutty

DubbelDach said:

Lil' Sparky's Lil' Nut.... Brown! Love this recipe, 3rd time making it... This time, just a 1-gallon batch though:

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Awwww.....like a little brother to my 10g batch of this stuff.

I just did the mash of this recipe this weekend and the yeast are working away as I write this; however, because of the crazy cold up here, I've wrapped the bucket in multiple layers of wool blankets to keep them toasty enough to maintain brewing temperature. Crazy! On the flip side, when their done, they'll CRASH hard in the cooler environment. Can't wait for this to be done - in fact, this is my first brew of the year! NICE. BTW - lookin' like a great recipe.

Gotta say, been in the bottle only about 2 weeks, but this isn't impressing me at all. My batch is IDENTICAL to the OP. I'll give this a few more weeks and try again. Hopeful that it gets better.

Also, nothing wrong with the beer, ingredients used fermentation temps, etc. so don't even comment on that.

DavidSteel said:

Gotta say, been in the bottle only about 2 weeks, but this isn't impressing me at all. My batch is IDENTICAL to the OP. I'll give this a few more weeks and try again. Hopeful that it gets better.

Also, nothing wrong with the beer, ingredients used fermentation temps, etc. so don't even comment on that.

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I brewed this a couple weeks ago. May I ask why you don't like it? What are you tasting? I'm just curious. Thanks.

DavidSteel said:

Also, nothing wrong with the beer, ingredients used fermentation temps, etc. so don't even comment on that.

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earwig said:

I brewed this a couple weeks ago. May I ask why you don't like it? What are you tasting? I'm just curious. Thanks.

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You sure it wasn't your fermentation temps?..haha Seriously though, I'd be interested to hear what you think, after its been in the bottle a little longer.

I haven't tried it yet, but sounds like its been well received.

DavidSteel said:

Gotta say, been in the bottle only about 2 weeks, but this isn't impressing me at all. My batch is IDENTICAL to the OP. I'll give this a few more weeks and try again. Hopeful that it gets better.

Also, nothing wrong with the beer, ingredients used fermentation temps, etc. so don't even comment on that.

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Can you be specific at all as to why you aren't impressed?

DavidSteel said:

Gotta say, been in the bottle only about 2 weeks, but this isn't impressing me at all. My batch is IDENTICAL to the OP. I'll give this a few more weeks and try again. Hopeful that it gets better.

Also, nothing wrong with the beer, ingredients used fermentation temps, etc. so don't even comment on that.

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1st, the obvious: I'm assuming you like Nut Brown's or you never would have brewed it to begin with, or is this your first and you just don't like it?

2nd, not everyone has the same tastes, period, end of discussion. Just because everyone else liked it doesn't mean you will. I personally can't stand Bell's Oberon, but I am pretty sure that makes me a minority on this site(I do like most of Bell's other brews though), but other people seem to love it, which doesn't matter.

So you didn't like this brew, don't brew it again. Others love it, myself included, my suggestion would be to give it some age, if you still don't like it, make some friends happy and give it away as someone else might enjoy it quite a bit(especially since you are impervious from brewing mistakes).

Going to give this one a go today. Rarely do I read through 33 pages of posts' where 99.% are positive results. This one will be known as "Hanging Brains Nut Brown Ale". And to you Mr. Sparky It's guys like you that got me into homebrewing some years ago. I don't post a bunch on here, but I do read allot. (my old man always told me coming up that we have 2 ears and 1 mouth.......so listen twice as much as you talk and you will learn something). I will surely be posting my results of the Hanging Brains.

KNOTSANE said:

My old man always told me coming up that we have 2 ears and 1 mouth.......so listen twice as much as you talk and you will learn something

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Damn good advice!

chapa said:

You sure it wasn't your fermentation temps?..haha Seriously though, I'd be interested to hear what you think, after its been in the bottle a little longer.

I haven't tried it yet, but sounds like its been well received.

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To this response and all the others. It's a good session beer, especially at high carbonation. It tastes like just how it should; my fermentation temps were 72-74 for a little more than 3 weeks. All mashing temps etc. were the exact same as the recipe. Probably the most spot-on temp hits to date )my last brew suffered from this, so I made sure to do it right with the next one- this brew). It's definitely better with higher carbonation (split my 11ish gallons into two different carbonation levels). It's good, just nothing that stands out. For the price, it's great- but I wouldn't brew it again.

I imagine it would be much better on tap for some reason. I just can't find myself drinking more than one of these in a night. All the flavor is there and my brew seems to be a little darker than normal (I get 88% efficiency on average and for this reason I did a 12 gallon batch). It's not a bad beer at all, I just expected more and my expectation were let down mostly by myself. I'm thinking, even though this is something I'd hate to admit, that this brew would have been better if I had made the batch size even bigger. Maybe another gallon of water would have done the trick.. Mine turned out at 5.8%. My fellow beer buddies enjoyed it and gave me **** for not giving it proper props etc. yesterday, but who knows, maybe this recipe just isn't my THAAAAAANNGGGGGGG.

I'd give it (personal taste) a 6.8/10.

It's all good. I've got friends who don't like wheat beers, some don't like porters or stouts, and some don't do IPAs. I'm sure I've got friends who wouldn't dig nut browns either.

No hurt feelings here. Brew whatcha like!

I don't have too much experience with Nut Browns (Never brewed one and have only had one or two commercial offerings) but how would you feel about adding some more toasted flavor to it?

I'm definitely going to make this recipe, but I always like changing them up a bit . Think subbing MO for the 2Row would be worthwhile or is the victory plenty toasty?

Edit: Of course it probably wouldn't make much of a difference at all.

I think MO is usually a great choice for a base malt, but it won't add any toasted flavor. You're already getting a good bit from this recipe, but if you wanted more, try upping the victory malt a little.

This beer is still the all-time favorite of my friends, family, and neighborhood. The first batch (long gone now) is still talked about like some sort of triple rainbow or sasquatch sighting - "I remember when I first saw the Nutty, it was 8 feet tall with huge fangs and long, hairy arms".

Unfortunately, the next two batches I doubled the recipe and somehow, someway completely screwed them both up. I've waited 6 months for the last one to turn around and it still tastes like a Moose's ass.

I've got to get back in touch with this one and brew it again, maybe as a single batch again to recreate the old magic and bring back a little of the original's Double Sluttyness.

But I would defitely recommend to everyone out there to give this a shot, and if it doesn't come out right to do it again. It is divine

Cheers

I brewed a half batch Fri 2/18/2011, hit 75% efficiency so my OG was closer to 1.060, so I got a little more alcohol on this brew. It fermented fully in about 5 days and I moved it to a secondary last Wednesday. It has been in the secondary a week now, 12 days total fermentation. It is a deep brown and tastes fantastic. Really nice malt sweetness with earthy hops and a nice nutty/almond taste. I can't find any real off flavors besides a slight greenness. It tastes fantastic and looks beautiful. I'll be bottling it this Friday. I really can't wait to taste the finished product. Thanks again!

Lil' Sparky said:

If you like nut browns, you'll love this one!

Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU
9.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 76.6 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 8.5 %
1.00 lb Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 8.5 %
0.50 lb Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 4.3 %
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 2.1 %
1.00 oz Fuggles [4.50%] (60 min) Hops 14.7 IBU
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00%] (15 min) Hops 8.1 IBU
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) Yeast-Ale

Mash Profile
Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Mash Grain Weight: 11.75 lb
Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F
Sparge Water: 4.21 gal

Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Mash In Add 14.69 qt of water at 165.9 F 154.0 F 60 min

** Based on 70% brewhouse efficiency

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Just doughed in! I followed your directions exactly! My mash temp hit 154.0 after a few minutes of stiring in the grain!
This batch is going to be my first keged beer! So, I'll report back in a about 3 - 4 weeks.
:rockin:

Nowuries said:

Just doughed in! I followed your directions exactly! My mash temp hit 154.0 after a few minutes of stiring in the grain!
This batch is going to be my first keged beer! So, I'll report back in a about 3 - 4 weeks.
:rockin:

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Wow, pitched the re-hydrated Notingham yesterday at 1 pm then set the fermenting bucket in my frige set to 62° and by 9pm it was bubbling away!

Nowuries, I just brewed this one yesterday too so we'll finish up about the same time. a couple differences... I added .75 lbs of Victory, also I didn't rehydrate my yeast before pitching (I just bottled a Pale Ale that I just sprinkled the Notty yeast on top and had a great fermentation). I'll report back and we can see if the extra Victory made a significant difference. I'm fermenting a little warmer at 68 as well.

greatschmaltez said:

Nowuries, I just brewed this one yesterday too so we'll finish up about the same time. a couple differences... I added .75 lbs of Victory, also I didn't rehydrate my yeast before pitching (I just bottled a Pale Ale that I just sprinkled the Notty yeast on top and had a great fermentation). I'll report back and we can see if the extra Victory made a significant difference. I'm fermenting a little warmer at 68 as well.

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Awesome! It'll be interesting to note the differences. We should swap a few bottles. I wonder what shipping would be like? hmmm...

I went a head and re-hydrated the yeast just because I've heard and read that when you sprinkle, half of the cells won't activate.... I dunno? It only took me like 15 minutes while the wort was chillin', I had no time restraints that day so I just went with it.

Chemiker said:

I was looking for a solid nut brown recipe and I guess I found it! Just getting my Whitbread starter going now, brewing on Saturday. I'm excited to try this one out :rockin:

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Very good, thanks for the recipe Sparky! Like others have said, my wife (sorry, SWMBO), who hardly ever drinks beer, said "yum" and went back for more.

Just brewed this again. Went back to my roots and brewed like I did this one the first time (Except I did this in No-Chill style).

Williamette for both hops additions, 2-row instead of maris otter, and back to nottingham yeast. We'll see how she does this time.

Cheers to Sparky

This turned out great. Although I think my hop utilization is off... I started with 6.5 gallons preboil and ended up with 4.5 after the 60 min boil. Just a tad more bitter than I thought I think it should have been.
Here are a few pics though after 6 days on the gas... btw.... this is my first keged beer!

The recipe isn't designed to be bitter at all. If anything it should lean towards malty. It may be that it still needs some aging. I bet it mellows out over the next few weeks if it lasts that long.

Brewed a 2 gallon batch of this up last Tuesday. Used a whole pack of Notty for it! I think I might have overpitched...
Turned it into a partial mash with 2 pounds DME.
It's happily fermenting away, but unfortunately I didn't have a hydrometer before I pitched, so I don't know the OG.

It smells awesome right now, thanks for the recipe! I look forward to brewing 5 gallons of this soon.

Lil' Sparky said:

The recipe isn't designed to be bitter at all. If anything it should lean towards malty. It may be that it still needs some aging. I bet it mellows out over the next few weeks if it lasts that long.

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Good news, it has mellowed way out, just within the last two days. I think my first few pints I was getting some settlement and that was adding to the bitterness I was getting. (first time keging) Now I know to 1) rack better 2) draw a few pints off the keg to get the settlement out.

Oh, and no it won't last that long... I have some guys coming over Friday to help drain it! I need the keg empty on Saturday... isn't that an awesome problem to have!

sparky thanks for posting this recipe. I brewed this Sunday and cannot wait for it to finish!! Cheers!!

Just bottles this and snuck a sip, wow, this is a great beer. Thanks for sharing the recipe, super delicious. Can't wait til it's primed up and chilled down.

Thanks for the recipe !

I've doubled it and am going to introduce a friend to brewing with this tomorrow. We're both knocking off work to brew. Wish me luck!

DanPoch said:

Thanks for the recipe !

I've doubled it and am going to introduce a friend to brewing with this tomorrow. We're both knocking off work to brew. Wish me luck!

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I love introducing friends to brewing. Much luck indeed. I hope you have plenty of good homebrew available during your BREW101 session.

We did have good brew. A Rye Malt Ale that I made as my first ever double batch.

We made some great wort! Blew the top off my airlock with 5 gallons of wort in a 6.5 gallon fermenter! First time that has happened. Pretty big mess in the bathroom to clean up.

Really looking forward to this beer when it's done. May just turn into a staple at my house! Thanks again for sharing the recipe

I am brewing this right now ...

I just finished a keg of this. I rushed it at the start, because I wanted to have it ready for my Dad's 60th bday part. I had it kegged and ready to drink at 13 days, and it wasn't anything spectacular, but I was kinda expecting that anyway.

After the party there was about a 1/3 of the keg left, so I brought it home and let it sit in my keezer. I let it sit another week and a half, and wow! The beer definitely matured, and only got better the longer I let it sit. Next time I do this recipe, I am going to do it right and let it sit for a few weeks. I would rather have 5 gal of deliciousness rather than 1.6 (repeating of course).

Cheers!

This beer didn't last 2 weeks at my house, it was a huge hit and now I only have 3 left. Brewing this bad boy again this weekend. Thanks for the recipe, ended up being one of my best brews to date.

I am wrapping up a 1 tier stand and water testing new keggles...I just ordered the ingredients...and am going to do this as my very first AG. Thanks so much for posting this one up!

so after reading all the great reviews i decided to make this my AG brew. My lhbs only had .25lbs flaked oats so i subbed .75lbs with flaked barley. I'm sure it will still be a good beer, but i was wondering what the flaked barley will have on the flavor/profile of the beer?

Toad32 said:

I am wrapping up a 1 tier stand and water testing new keggles...I just ordered the ingredients...and am going to do this as my very first AG. Thanks so much for posting this one up!

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Building a single-tier stand before your first AG - Mucho props amigo!!

TravisT said:

so after reading all the great reviews i decided to make this my AG brew. My lhbs only had .25lbs flaked oats so i subbed .75lbs with flaked barley. I'm sure it will still be a good beer, but i was wondering what the flaked barley will have on the flavor/profile of the beer?

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I don't really know TBH, probably slightly different, but I'm sure you'll still greatly enjoy the end result. The oats are just to add a little mouthfeel and "creaminess". I've never really used flaked barley, so I speak to what they add.

Toad32 said:

I am wrapping up a 1 tier stand and water testing new keggles...I just ordered the ingredients...and am going to do this as my very first AG. Thanks so much for posting this one up!

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Oh, and welcome to the forum. I just noticed this was your first post. Cheers