Nut Brown Mild critique

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kanzimonson

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By family request, I'll be making something that might be described as a Nut Brown Mild for an easy drinking beer during Christmas vacation. I'm having some trouble deciding on complexity vs simplicity, thickness both in body and malt, and alcohol levels.

Here's what I want out of the beer: a low to medium bodied beer with a quick bite of roast upfront that fades to a light sweetness. Bready and toasty aromas and flavors should be dominant notes. Caramel flavors should be less candy-like and more toffee and butterscotchy. I'm not trying to win a medal in the Mild category either.

Here's what I'm working with so far:

6gal
OG 1.044
IBU 20
SRM 18-22

68.8% Maris Otter 6.73#
10% Munich 1.01#
5% Caramunich .52#
5% Crystal 90 .52#
2.5% Special B .26#
5% Aromatic .5#
3.5% chocolate malt .44#
.2% black patent 13g

Mash salts (ppm):
Ca 287, Mg 10, Na 63, Cl 108, SO4 58, RA 169

35g Fuggle pellets - 60min
21g Fuggle pellets - 0min

Wyeast 1968 @ 68*

Before you chodes start attacking the amount of crystal malt, lemme just point out that Jamil's dark mild recipe has 18.5% crystal in it.

I'm using Caramunich because I have some on hand already, but that would have been Crystal 40. I think the extra Belgian flavors will be nice. I'm just worried that this grain bill is getting too ruddy. Every malt has been selected for a reason, but with so many different malts will the individual flavors be lost? I don't think the percentages of each are outrageous, though I wonder if the Munich and Aromatic together will give enough nutty, toasty, bready flavors?
 
too much crystal :)


seriously though, I think .44 lb chocolate malt is a bit too much for what you are going for. I would use a quarter pound, you dont want to make it too porter-like.

I also think the caramunich and special b are unnecesary. You want to keep this a session beer, and that might add a bit more mouthfeel than you want. I think you're right in guessing it has too many malts. (not to mention that this is a quick brew you are making for x-mas and this many malts needs time to age)

Have you tried amber malt? I just used it in an english pale ale and it definitely has this mild nutty/bready flavor that I think would go great in a nutty mild. I would use amber instead of the aromatic to give it a try.
 
Last summer I made a very simple northern english brown that used a small amount of victory. WLP005 seemed to bring out a more subtle nuttiness as well. I'm not an expert though, so take it for what it's worth. Food for thought.
 
Point taken on the chocolate malt. My choc and black patent amounts are related to the amounts in Moose Drool, which I brew a lot. I had to up the choc percentage, however, to get the color where I wanted. I'll cut the choc down to 2.5% (.33#) and bump the black patent to .5% (33g). Maybe I'll add the black to the last 10 mins of the mash.

I haven't used amber malt yet, and unfortunately my LHBS doesn't carry it so I'll have to keep that in mind for next time.

I'm not sold on changing the crystal yet, though. Mostly because I don't see how else to get the rich toffee-like flavors. I do hear you on the mouthfeel, however. To give a little more insight, I'm trying to take the flavors you get out of a Newcastle and amplify them. Up the roast, more sweetness, a little more body, and more caramel flavor. Maybe mashing low will be the key, leaving behind a minimal amount of dextrins.

Yeah, South St is a cool brewery. They have an Anniversary Barleywine right now that I'm digging. And of course, the JPAle is a great hammer-time pale ale. The four breweries in the area did a killer Black IPA this past summer.
 
I agree that a Nut Brown should have at least some Victory. I would get rid of the Caramunich, Crystal 90, Special B, Aromatic, and black patent. Add .5 Victory, .5 Crystal 60, and keep the chocolate. You don't really need the aromatic in this beer because you are using 10% Munich, they both add melanoidins so the Munich is enough on its own. Also, I've found that when using 100% MO for the base, you don't need nearly as much crystal to get the caramelly/butterscotch richness. Just my 2 cents.
 
I haven't used Victory (or Special Roast) in any of my beers because when I tasted the grains in the store I got this terrible biscuity flavor. It was caught somewhere between a dark crystal and chocolate malt... the roast of burned bread crust without any sweetness, but also without any of the chocolatey richness. I've been scared to try either of these grains since.

JonK, I like the advice on the melanoidins and nuttiness but I imagine your proposal might not have the sweetness I'm looking for.
 
+1 for victory and brown malt (special roast) in a brown ... english or american yeast?
my house brown (n.uk brown) uses about 6% brown, 4% carapils, 4% c60, 2.5% victory and 2.5% pale chocolate... good stuff
 
Oh, one last note about Victory and Special Roast - I had a friend's brown ale that sounds pretty similar to yours Mars, and it had this super grainy taste that is my absolute MOST HATED flavor in beer. It's why I hate so many yellow beers because it seems the only malt flavor they bring is this nasty graininess as if they've taken the toasty breadiness too far.

Maybe I should just make a Mild using the Moose Drool percentages scaled down to the proper OG...
 
Sorry, I have absolutely NO input on the recipe other than the idea sounds ABSOLUTELY delicious. Please let us know how the final product turns out!
 
I made a Nut Brown on Sunday and my grain bill was this:

9 lbs Rahr
.75 lbs brown malt
.5 lbs carastan
.5 lbs victory
.25 lbs pale chocolate
.125 lbs chocolate

Wort tasted awesome. This is very similar to Jamil's Northern Brown with some substitutions. But yeah if you hate the bready/bisquity flavor then skip the victory. If you want it sweeter keep the crystal. Afterall, it's all about making what you like.
 
I had a friend's brown ale that sounds pretty similar to yours Mars, and it had this super grainy taste that is my absolute MOST HATED flavor in beer.

Ive never had a grainy taste from this brown recipe... more along the lines of toasty biscuits, caramel, fresh tobacco and chocolate overtones. The one I do is super smooth with a nice aroma. It is all subjective anyway. Different folks on the same recipe can make for a wide variation depending on skill level, technique, and equipment.
 
Just kegged this up. Here's the recipe I used:

69.8% Maris Otter 6.82#
10 Munich 1.01
5 Aromatic .5
5 Caramunich .52
5 Crystal 90 .52
2.5 Special B .26
2.5 Chocolate .31
.2 Black patent 13g

35g Fuggle pellets (4.2%) - 60min
24g Fuggle pellets (4.2%) - 0min (steeped for 10min before turning on chiller)

Wyeast 1968

I had crazy efficiency on this batch so my OG was 1.051 with an FG of 1.019.

I'm not saying this is a Newcastle clone but it's in that range, with some extra flavor. Aroma is roasty and earthy, like mushrooms, leaves, dark chocolate, and a grainy mash. Mouthfeel is pretty light, which contributes to its drinkability and thirst quenching. It starts with a light sweetness up front which turns to a bready roast at the back of the palate. The English hop character is present throughout (very impressed with the results of the hop steeping). There isn't a lot of caramel sweetness - it's more complex than that. Again, the sweetness is like a dark chocolate - subtle and complex but noticeable. Heavily toasted bread crust is also a good descriptor.

I just want to emphasize that this is in no way cloyingly sweet. I'm sure some people are having heart attacks out there because of the amount of crystal malt as well as the "high" FG, but I invite you over to the dark side where we love crystal and especially love malty English yeast strains.
 
I just want to emphasize that this is in no way cloyingly sweet. I'm sure some people are having heart attacks out there because of the amount of crystal malt as well as the "high" FG, but I invite you over to the dark side where we love crystal and especially love malty English yeast strains.

I just checked the gravity of a brown I made on saturday. It had 21.6% crystal malt in it. Used S-04 and its down to 1016. I was hoping for it too be on the sweeter side, but after tasting my hydro sample, its actually really balanced right now (5 days in the fermenter). So ya, maybe my palate can just handle sweet more? But ya...just a testament to a 20% or more crystal in the grist doesn't mean a cloyingly sweet beer.
 
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