Thoughts on my first brown ale?

Doing my first brown ale, here are the numbers, would appreciate some thoughts before I take the plunge:

OG 1.044 FG 1.011 4.3% abv (5gal)
19SRM
30IBU

6 lb Vienna
1.6 lb Munich light
5 oz Flaked oats
3.5 oz Biscuit
3.5 oz Chocolate
3.5 oz crystal 120
1.5 oz roasted barley

Mash 60 min at 154F
Fly sparge

Boil 60 mins

0.75 oz Challenger at 45 mins
1 oz Cascade at 10 mins
0.5 oz Mt Hood at 10 mins
1 oz Cascade at flameout
0.5 oz Mt Hood at flameout

Wyeast Denny's Favourite

Primary ferment at 60-62F for 2 weeks
Bottle condition for 4 weeks

Ive mainly used 2 row as my base malts and I've not used Vienna and Munich in combo before.

Trying to go for a nice malty flavour with good mouthfeel and a clean hop finish.
Any thoughts??

Cheers !

Hmm, not sure. Never really ventured beyond the more traditional german brews for vienna and munich. I like Brown's with Maris Otter and I just tried one out with Golden Promise that I think has potential. I'd personally use one of those in place of the Vienna but it's your beer to try. Also, not sure about the necessity of the chocolate and roast barley but I like to simplify whenever I can. Looks like you're shooting for a nice low gravity drinker which I like and have been doing a lot of lately.

I would be a little afraid the roasted and chocolate may mask the subtle flavor of the biscuit at that level. Personally I would cut back the hops a little So the malt complexity comes through, probably just one type of hop as well, but it's fine the way it is.

I agree that using the vienna and munich would be kind of silly. I just made a Brown with Maris Otter(GlenEagle floor-malted) and used Burton Salts and it ended out amazing. If you search Stoned Brown Ale, you'll be able to see my recipe. I just used the hop schedule for Stone's Pale Ale and everyone I had try it has said that it's great. It's all brown ale going in and all stone pale ale to the nose. If you want to go the traditional route, just back the hops off a bit.

My comment is on the hops. That is an awfully lot of hops for a brown ale. Brown Ale's are typically more malt based, hop only for balancing bitterness. But hey you don't have to stick to style...that's half the beauty of home brewing...experimentation!

It would help to know which style of brown ale the OP is going after. An American brown will be very different from a Northern English brown ale.

The hops are fine if you want a hoppy American Brown Ale but if you want more of a English style you should back off. Either way, it depends on your end goal

BTW, plugging this into BeerSmith, you're going to be light for an American Brown Ale. Both in color (below style range at 16.3) and ABV (at style minimum). I would seriously reconsider using the flaked oats in this recipe.

Thanks for the feedback!

I'm aiming for a drinkable session ale. American Brown Ale.
Ideally looking to keep it to 4.5% max.
I take on board the Vienna/Munich mix. Maybe sub the Vienna for MO.
likewise the choc.

I tasted a brown recently which I was trying to copy that had a nice clean hop aromas to start, without being bitter, then allowed the malty flavour to follow. This was the idea with hopping this one late. I think I might cut it back a tiny bit too.

Interested to know why not to go with the flaked oats?
Any thoughts on the yeast?
Thanks, might be onto a winner soon

The oats will produce haze in the brew. Since they're normally used in porters and stouts (far darker brews) it's not visible. In your brew, it would be visible.

If the brown you tried is a commercial brew, look to see if there's a clone recipe floating around. If it's from another home brewer, see if you can get the recipe from him/her.

As for getting more flavor with hops, without high bitterness, look into hop bursting. You do your hop additions starting at 20 minutes form the end of the boil, and move forward. I've had excellent results with recipes that use this method. Lots of hop flavor/aroma without high bitterness. Those batches also use more hops than any others. Normally around 7oz (or more) for my batch size (I started off with 2oz of hops for most batches). That's for 6.75-7 gallons going to primary.

I hope you know what flavors you'll get from all the malts you have in the brew. If you don't understand how they will combine, then you're really rolling the dice.

Golddiggie said:

The oats will produce haze in the brew. Since they're normally used in porters and stouts (far darker brews) it's not visible. In your brew, it would be visible.

Click to expand...

So you think (or know) even with that small percentage of flaked oats they will get some protein haze? I was wondering about this because I was contemplating some oats in a mild recipe I've been thinking about. Do you think it would be a problem if you're getting up into the low to mid 20s for SRM?

IMO, almost 4% flaked oats is pushing it (in the OP's recipe).

Try it if you want, just be aware that you can get significant/substantial protein haze form them in the lighter brews. Since this recipe is on the low end (or under) of the scale for a brown ale, and it's [at the very least] debatable if they will even do anything positive for the recipe.

Just looked over 5 American brown ale recipes. Not a one had flaked/rolled oats or flaked/rolled barley in them.

Thanks again, duly noted. Back to the drawing board.

Reconfigured as follows:

5.8 lb Marris Otter
1.8lb Munich
10.5 oz Biscuit
6 oz caramel 120
1.5 oz roasted barley

May notch the IBU's down to 25-28.

fishersfirst said:

Thanks again, duly noted. Back to the drawing board.

Reconfigured as follows:

5.8 lb Marris Otter
1.8lb Munich
10.5 oz Biscuit
6 oz caramel 120
1.5 oz roasted barley

May notch the IBU's down to 25-28.

Click to expand...

I fail to see why you're using Munich... You'll retain a decent level of sweetness from mashing at 154F. IMO, you could just increase the MO amount, dump the Munich and go to 8oz of C120. You can also go to 2-4% roasted barley and stay to style. With MO, you can also reduce, or eliminate, the biscuit malt. 4-8oz would be more than enough. Also, the reduction of IBUs will help get you the same 'sweet' effect as you would from the Munich (making it unnecessary).

Thanks for the honest opinion. Makes sense.
My 'clone' so to speak, was based on the description on the microbrewery's website which described them using Munich and Vienna malt. I did think this was a bit odd.
I was unable to find a clone recipe so I just tinkered around with those.
Anyway, I'm sure you're suggestion will taste good

fishersfirst said:

Thanks for the honest opinion. Makes sense.
My 'clone' so to speak, was based on the description on the microbrewery's website which described them using Munich and Vienna malt. I did think this was a bit odd.
I was unable to find a clone recipe so I just tinkered around with those.
Anyway, I'm sure you're suggestion will taste good

Click to expand...

I would guess that they used Munich and Vienna in small quantities. Most likely it's still mostly a pale base malt that makes up most of the grain bill.

Plus, using maris otter instead of an american pale base malt will add some of the malt and biscuit flavors that domestic lacks. Good luck, but it seems like you've got a great start.

An update on my first brown ale that was brewed about 6 weeks ago now.
Reading through the previous threads and making alterations I finally came up with the following recipe.

Fishers KingBrown

21 litres
All Grain
1.049OG→1.012FG→4.8%ABV 26 IBU 22.4°L SRM
Yeasts
0.12 litres
1450 - Denny's Favorite 50
Wyeast (Ale) 0.12 litres

Fermentables
4.3 kilograms
Maris Otter
37ppg, 4°L 3.1 kilograms
72%
Crystal 120L
32ppg, 120°L 0.5 kilograms
12%
Biscuit
34ppg, 25°L 0.2 kilograms
5%
Munich (Light)
33ppg, 10°L 0.2 kilograms
5%
Vienna
34ppg, 4°L 0.2 kilograms
5%
Barley (Roasted)
27ppg, 500°L 0.1 kilograms
2%

Hops
0.12 kilograms
Mount Hood
5%, Pellet 0.1 kilograms
83%
Cascade
6%, Pellet 20 grams
17%

Miscellaneous
10 grams
Whirlfloc
Fining 10 grams
100%

Batch/Fly
1 hour, 33.26 litres
Strike
Target 66°C 13.46 litres
72°C
1 hour
Sparge 19.81 litres
77°C

Boil
1 hour, 27.60 litres
Mount Hood hops
7%, Pellet 20 grams
60 minutes (+0)
Whirlfloc
Fining 10 grams
15 minutes (+45)
Cascade hops
6%, Pellet 10 grams
10 minutes (+50)
Mount Hood hops
7%, Pellet 15 grams
10 minutes (+50)
Cascade hops
6%, Pellet 10 grams
0 minutes (+60)
Mount Hood hops
7%, Pellet 15 grams
0 minutes (+60)

It's turned out wonderfully after 4 weeks bottle conditioning.
The late boil hopping has given it a clean, fresh aroma. The more the beer warms up the more roasted/biscuit malty flavours permeate through.

I'm very happy with this one!

Thanks for the update. Looks good!