British Brown Ale Nut Brown AG

Lil' Sparky said:

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

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Thank ya sir!

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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You can also use Quick Oats for the flaked oats. They're typically cheaper than what the lhbs has on hand too.

Welcome to the forum and enjoy! I'm planning on bottling my first batch of either this week or next. It tastes great and that's just from the fermenter!

Just brewed a BIAB variation of this today. Went with EKG for both additions. Will let yall know how it finishes.

Tapped this earlier. I am very pleasantly buzzed now. Very easy drinker. My first time using a dry yeast (Nottingham). I would like to brew anotther batch using a Wyeast 1056, just to compare. I am a relative noob (been brewing all grain for about a year) and don't have a grasp on the different flavors of yeast yet.

burninmules said:

Tapped this earlier. I am very pleasantly buzzed now. Very easy drinker. My first time using a dry yeast (Nottingham). I would like to brew anotther batch using a Wyeast 1056, just to compare. I am a relative noob (been brewing all grain for about a year) and don't have a grasp on the different flavors of yeast yet.

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Hey what's up I just bought that extract kit as well from morebeer but I happen to mix up the LME with American pale 2 do you think the LME are the same or different with nut brown ale?

I have never brewed an extract beer before so, I can't really speak on that. I jumped full on into AG.

I figured I'd check in to say that I have this one almost gone. Although it could've used some improvement, it was my first attempt at a partial mash, so I'll chalk it up as a success.
It didn't hold a head for any appreciable length of time, but that was probably due to "operator error". It also had a bit of an "alcoholy" taste to it, but that was gone in the more recent ones I opened; I imagine it must have dissipated with time, leaving what I consider to be a pretty damned good beer!

SatelliteGuy said:

I figured I'd check in to say that I have this one almost gone. Although it could've used some improvement, it was my first attempt at a partial mash, so I'll chalk it up as a success.
It didn't hold a head for any appreciable length of time, but that was probably due to "operator error". It also had a bit of an "alcoholy" taste to it, but that was gone in the more recent ones I opened; I imagine it must have dissipated with time, leaving what I consider to be a pretty damned good beer!

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I'm no expert but if you let the beer get too hot(above 72ish) during its primary fermentation it will get a off flavor, it kinda tastes like alcohol. I've tasted beers that got above 78drgrees and it had a alcohol taste, even though it was a 5-6% beer.
That being said i have had this in bottles for about 3 weeks now and i have a "green apple" taste to it. I took a bottle to my LHBS and he said that he could definitely taste green apple... will this go away with time? I think i might have under aerated it.

I've read that green apple taste probably means there's some Acetaldehyde. Could be that your beer didn't fully finish fermenting, or that it's young. How long did you secondary to let the yeast clean up after themselves? It'll probably clear up w/ some time as it bottle conditions.

Ubog said:

Just brewed a BIAB variation of this today. Went with EKG for both additions. Will let yall know how it finishes.

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This beer turned out good. Started a little sweet but it has dried out a bit. I like a little more nutty flavor. i might bump the victory up to 1lb next batch.

Thanks for the recipe.

Just brewed this again. This time I hit all of my mash temps. I made some adjustments as indicated by the (*):

10 lbs 2 row terrified barley
.5 lbs Victory
*.35 lbs Weyermann Chocolat WHEAT malt* - (I like wheat and was going for head retention)
1 lb Flaked Oats

1 oz Fuggles 60 min
1 oz East Kent Goldings 15 min.

*1 pkg London ESB Ale - Wyeast 1968* (I wanted a maltier/sweeter beer with less attenuation and greater flocculation)

Did a decoction because I wasn't hitting my mash temp. Mashed at 154 for 75 min. Boil for 60. Primary at 65 for 3.5 weeks, then diacetyl rest for 2 days due to the tendency for this yeast strain to produce diacetyl. Kegged for 2 days at 20 psi, bled the excess CO2, serving pressure at 8-10 psi.

This is the BEST beer I've brewed. I brewed it before, but missed my mash temps due to a broken thermometer and it was just "okay". Thank you so much Lil' Sparky for the recipe!

You're welcome. Glad it turned out like you were hoping!

Has anyone tried this recipe using some Special B in place of the crystal?

I am going to try this recipe out this weekend. I am doing a partial mash and am going to be subing 4lbs. of light DME, and still using 2 lbs of the American 2 row. When I am mashing I can mix all of the steeping grains with the mashing grains correct? I was just going to follow Sparky's mash schedulle and original recipe. I have also never used Noghtingham yeast or a dry yeast for that matter. Do I just rehydrate like the package says or is there some other way? How does just sprinkling it in the fermenter work? Also I was going to use the following which I got from using the original wieght to water ratios to the new weight of the grain and it is:

Use 1.5 gallon for Partial Mash. @154 Sparge with 2 gallon @168, which will give a 3.5gallon Boil. Add DME and complete boil, etc./ cool and bring up to 5.5 gallons with cool H2O.

Does this sound about right?

Thanks I can't wait to try it.

Scott

trojandux said:

I am going to try this recipe out this weekend. I am doing a partial mash and am going to be subing 4lbs. of light DME, and still using 2 lbs of the American 2 row. When I am mashing I can mix all of the steeping grains with the mashing grains correct? I was just going to follow Sparky's mash schedulle and original recipe. I have also never used Noghtingham yeast or a dry yeast for that matter. Do I just rehydrate like the package says or is there some other way? How does just sprinkling it in the fermenter work? Also I was going to use the following which I got from using the original wieght to water ratios to the new weight of the grain and it is:

Use 1.5 gallon for Partial Mash. @154 Sparge with 2 gallon @168, which will give a 3.5gallon Boil. Add DME and complete boil, etc./ cool and bring up to 5.5 gallons with cool H2O.

Does this sound about right?

Thanks I can't wait to try it.

Scott

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For hydrating the yeast, here is what I do. I would take a small glass, and fill it with ~4oz of ~90°F water. Pour the yeast on top of the water, and cover with tin foil. After 5 minutes, stir the yeast around. I would pitch it no more than 30 minutes after stirring it.

Also, make sure all of the items you use have been sanitized.

Brewed this last night as my second batch ever! Thanks for the recipe, it looks great.

I was thinking of just leaving it in the primary the full time. Any reason to switch to a secondary?

Lots of debate there, but I say it'll be fine. Just leave it long enough to clear good.

Anyone have good results using some honey malt in this recipe? I haven't made the original recipe, and if no one has any results using honey malt I'll try the original before playing around. I'm thinking replace some of the crystal malt with the honey malt.

I just kegged this and even flat and room temperature, it is really wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. Nut browns are one of my husband's favorites and I know he is going to want this one often!

I'm going to try this recipe this afternoon with a few modifications I'll let everyone know how it turns out.
I'm upping the fermentables due to an inefficient mashing process/tun.

11 2-row
3 pils base
12 oz crystal
4 oz vienna
2 oz roasted barley
8 oz victory
4 oz chocolate
8 oz flaked oats
2 oz wheat (head retention)

1 oz fuggles - boil
1 oz goldings - 15

I might add some nut or maple extract at bottling depending on the taste.

wyeast 1056


EDIT-----------------------------

Turned out fantastic! Also, it started at 1.065 and believe it or not ended at 1.01!

fall is setting in, and I'm feeling the need for a tasty nutbrown in my arsenal. with so many good reviews, I couldn't pass this one up. I have a package inbound from Brewmasters Warehouse right now. sticking with Sparky's original recipe, going with WLP013 London Ale yeast.

can't wait to get it in the fermenter!

im at 1.014 after 6 days. i pitched this onto a notty yeast cake from a mild last Friday, left for two days and returned sunday afternoon to no visible signs of fermentation, other than a few surface bubbled popping as they hit the surface-something i usually see at the START of fermentation. i guess it finished quick, hopefully I can squeeze out a few more points.

Just cracked open the last bottle of the first batch I brewed a little over a year ago(7/18/2010). It is very tasty, though I think I liked it better when it was young.

edit: That'll teach me to upload pics from the phone :/

looks great though man

AleFred said:

looks great though man

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It was definitely a good beer, I would use great to describe it after a couple months in the bottle though. However, I am discovering that almost all the beers I brew, I tend to like them better young, as opposed to age, so it might just be me too.

That does NOT however, stop me from tucking a few bottles from every batch away to just to see what aging does to each batch

I am planning on buying the ingredients for this recipe tomorrow ramped up to 10 gallon to brew on my electric brewery. I will make this a week from Wednesday and let it set in fermentor while I go to Arizona for a week and a half. 5 gallons will get get kegged and the other 5 will be force carbed in a keg and then bottled using my beer gun.

Barry

Bought the ingredients for this today and plan to brew it this weekend. I'm hoping it will be a descent beer for a first time all grain attempt, 2nd brew all time. I guess I'll find out!

Just finshed brewing this tonight.
Used Maris Otter instead of the 2 row.
Looking forward to tasting this one.

Brewing this one today.
Using Maris Otter instead of the 2 row
using the Wyeast 1469 West Yorkshire strain

Just finished brewing this tonight. It sitting in the ice bath now, and very close to pitching temp. I gotta say, it smells delicious. I think I'll be leaving it in primary for 3 weeks, then rack hopefully to a keg if I can get my setup worked out.

Thanks for the great recipe and thanks all the info here. This was my first attempt at all-grain and I really loved it. I'm pretty excited to see how it turns out. It looks like my O.G. will be something around 1.050, but that is with a 6 gallon batch - first time go of it all, and I missed the boil off rate by a half gallon. hopefully that won't hurt this too much.

Final O.G. was 1.051 at 5.7 gal.

I kegged my 10 gallon batch that I made on Nov. 2nd yesterday. Did not end up with as low FG as I was hoping for, only got to 1.020 but started with 1.063. Mash efficiency was at 95%.

why does the recipe on brewmasterswarehouse.com have 2 packages of danstar nottingham yeast, and the recipe here has only 1 package?

I only used one, so I'm just wondering should I add another?

Who knows. You definitely don't need 2 pkgs of yeast for a 5 gal batch if the yeast is good and pitched properly. Maybe they put 2 in there in case one doesn't take off - happens sometimes.

coffeediver said:

Did not end up with as low FG as I was hoping for, only got to 1.020 but started with 1.063. Mash efficiency was at 95%.

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Check your hydrometer with some 60 degreeF water. My guess is it is off because nobody gets 95% mash efficiency. I'm thinking both your readings are too high... Indicating you need a new hydrometer. I've had offset hydrometers too, seems semi-common from what I've seen.

greatschmaltez said:

Check your hydrometer with some 60 degreeF water. My guess is it is off because nobody gets 95% mash efficiency. I'm thinking both your readings are too high... Indicating you need a new hydrometer. I've had offset hydrometers too, seems semi-common from what I've seen.

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Hydrometer is dead on. I am using a clone of Kal's Electric Brewery which gets 90 to 95 percent efficiency all the time. I set my beersmith to adjust accordingly.

Barry

Hmm, my advice would be to use 2 packs of yeast next time, at 63 OG, you may even want to consider 3 packs. Also, if you want to ensure you have fermentables, mash at 145 and then 155 for 45 minutes each. Also make sure you ferment around 60 or so for Notty... Otherwise, consider using Cali with proper starter and aeration.

coffeediver said:

Hydrometer is dead on. I am using a clone of Kal's Electric Brewery which gets 90 to 95 percent efficiency all the time. I set my beersmith to adjust accordingly.

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95% is indeed what I get. Though consistent efficiency is more important than high efficiency (IMHO).

Back on topic:

I would check to make sure you actually mashed at where you think you did, make sure to aerate well, make sure you ferment at the right and stable temp, and pitch a little over 1 pack of Notty per 5 gals for a 1.063 OG beer. 2 is certainly a lot but not overkill. 1 pack should be fine however, especially if you ferment at around 68F.

There's also been issues with Nottingham recalls in the past so who knows - maybe you've got a bad one?

Kal

I did this brew two weeks ago and substituted 2row for Maris otter and hit 1.064

This recipe has been pending on my "to brew" list for a while and it will be my next brew. However, I recently ran into a recipe for a Pecan Brown Ale that intrigued me. It seemed a bit overly sweet for my taste though. Would this recipe make a reasonable base for adding pecans? Pondering the possibilities.

MichaelBrock said:

This recipe has been pending on my "to brew" list for a while and it will be my next brew. However, I recently ran into a recipe for a Pecan Brown Ale that intrigued me. It seemed a bit overly sweet for my taste though. Would this recipe make a reasonable base for adding pecans? Pondering the possibilities.

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I think so. I would stick to pecan "flavoring" though (like the Loran's candy flavoring), maybe with a small amount of caramelized "sugar" (which would dry out, but leave the "caramel" essence), and then some lactose for creamyness.

From all I've read, you don't want to use actual "pecans" as there's some sort of bad chemistry that goes on with using fats in brewing.

This is a really nice, simple recipe. Mine finished at 1.055. It's carbing up / conditioning in the bottles right now.