Brown Ale recipe assistance

So I am trying to tackle the Brown Ale Style. From what I understand they can be hoppy to a point but you should get a "nutty flavor". So I have created a recipe. According to BS I am in the green for style.

Grains
8lbs 2 Row Pale (US)
.75lbs crystal 80L
.25lbs Chocolate Malt

Hops
.5 Magnum @ 60
.5 Teggnang @ 20
.5 Teggnang @ 10
.5 Teggnang @ 5

Other
Irish Moss @ 60

Yeast
White Labs British Ale

Will that grain bill bring out the "Nutty" flavor?. I have tried a commercial brown before and never tasted a "Nutty" flavor (No pun intended) Any suggestions will help.

Briess Victory is a toasted malt that has a nutty taste, but any of the various toasted malts would work.

No, for a "nutty" flavor, you'll want something like victory malt. Chocolate malt is pretty roasty.

Since one of my favorite styles is brown ale, I thought I'd mention that there are several kinds. There is an "American brown" which is like Moose Drool. Then there are Southern English browns, and Northern English browns.

The Southern English browns are described by the BJCP guidelines as: A luscious, malt-oriented brown ale, with a caramel, dark fruit complexity of malt flavor. May seem somewhat like a smaller version of a sweet stout or a sweet version of a dark mild. English brown ales are generally split into sub-styles along geographic lines. Southern English (or “London-style”) brown ales are darker, sweeter, and lower gravity than their Northern cousins. Developed as a bottled product in the early 20th century out of a reaction against vinous vatted porter and often unpalatable mild. Well suited to London’s water supply. Increasingly rare; Mann’s has over 90% market share in Britain. Some consider it a bottled version of dark mild, but this style is sweeter than virtually all modern examples of mild.

The Northern ones are the ones I think of as "nut browns". Here's the BJCP description: Drier and more hop-oriented that southern English brown ale, with a nutty character rather than caramel. English brown ales are generally split into sub-styles along geographic lines.
Profile: Aroma: Light, sweet malt aroma with toffee, nutty and/or caramel notes. A light but appealing fresh hop aroma (UK varieties) may also be noticed. A light fruity ester aroma may be evident in these beers, but should not dominate. Very low to no diacetyl.
Appearance: Dark amber to reddish-brown color. Clear. Low to moderate off-white to light tan head.
Flavor: Gentle to moderate malt sweetness, with a nutty, lightly caramelly character and a medium-dry to dry finish. Malt may also have a toasted, biscuity, or toffee-like character. Medium to medium-low bitterness. Malt-hop balance is nearly even, with hop flavor low to none (UK varieties). Some fruity esters can be present; low diacetyl (especially butterscotch) is optional but acceptable.
Mouthfeel: Medium-light to medium body. Medium to medium-high carbonation.

Now, all that to say that a nut brown will generally have English hops but German hops are ok, too. I really like some victory malt added, and/or some amber malt or biscuit malt.

@ Yooper, Should I replace the chocolate with victory malt instead? If so how much should I add to get that nutty flavor.

no, you defiitely want a lil chocolate in a brown (4oz is perfect). either swap the US 2-row with something like marris otter or replace a lil with 0.5lb of victory or biscuit

dcp27 said:

no, you defiitely want a lil chocolate in a brown (4oz is perfect). either swap the US 2-row with something like marris otter or replace a lil with 0.5lb of victory or biscuit

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Right, you want the chocolate. If anything, take out some of the caramel (although that's a good amount) or just add some victory malt (.25 pound is good).

Yooper said:

Right, you want the chocolate. If anything, take out some of the caramel (although that's a good amount) or just add some victory malt (.25 pound is good).

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10-4, I thought about it last night my new grain bill is, 8lbs 2Row, .25 crystal 60, .25 chocolate, .5 victory. all by the pound.

I am brewing this on sunday. I'll post more on brewday about my brown ale adventure.

Update 1-14-2012: So I bought my grains and input it in BS. Now my SRM is low. So after work today I am going to buy more chocolate malt.

BrewerinBR said:

Briess Victory is a toasted malt that has a nutty taste, but any of the various toasted malts would work.

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My Brown has to have Victory. When I added it to my recipe it had a huge impact. Mine uses 3.6% Victory. I also like to use flaked oats for extra mouthfeel. I really like WY1450 too.

So I brewed this up yesterday. Just want to say thanks for the victory malt addition. It is nutty which make me happy. I hope the yeast keeps it malty which I used British Ale. Can't wait to try this ale.

I made a nut brown with 5% victory. It screams nuts. I like nuts.

So the brew is kegged ending fermentation at 1.012 - It has went from nutty to roasty. I can smell the nutty but on the back end you get roasty is this normal? I didn't think that .25lbs of chocolate malt would add that much roast. Any thoughts?

I just went through the same deal. Four ounces of Choc. is a lot in a 5 gallon batch. I'm going to cut it back to 2 next time. I also used Tettnang, along with Simcoe. I thought the Tett got a little lost in the choc., and it was pale chocolate. The Simcoe did a little better, but it is definitely a malt balanced beer - like you said, very roasty. I was shooting for something between a standard brown and something hoppier, like Stone Arrogant Bastard. Next time, I'm going to dial back the chocolate, up the bitterness, and maybe try a hop that's got a little more ass, like Northern Brewer or Cluster. Not 100 % my cup of tea, but it's smooth with no off flavors - I think my brown ale drinking friends will like it.
What's next?

You might try omitting the chocolate all together and toasting your own pilsner malt (about a pound) to make brown malt. Pretty hard to find brown malt anywhere but your own kitchen

BrewMU said:

I just went through the same deal. Four ounces of Choc. is a lot in a 5 gallon batch.

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im surprised you both got that much roast. if you look thru the database 4oz is fairly standard in an english brown. maybe try the pale chocolate next time, but i definitely wouldnt say 4oz is alot for a brown. hopefully it mellows out a bit more for you, but in my experience dropping to 2oz isn't gunna give you much more than color.

dcp27 said:

im surprised you both got that much roast. if you look thru the database 4oz is fairly standard in an english brown. maybe try the pale chocolate next time, but i definitely wouldnt say 4oz is alot for a brown. hopefully it mellows out a bit more for you, but in my experience dropping to 2oz isn't gunna give you much more than color.

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You know what? I've killed a few pints of it, and I'm re-thinking. I think I do like the Choc. where it is. I may up the Victory in the next batch, and I'm definitely going to play with the hops, but I'm going to stay with 4 oz of Chocolate(actually, I'm going to scale it up and make a bigger batch - same proportions). It doesnt hurt that I've gotten a couple of apparently sincere compliments on it.

My Brown had 4.5% Chocolate malt. I really like Simpson Chocolate malt. My next batch with changes will be 4.5% Victory and 2.5% Chocolate. Needed a bit less roast and a bit more nut. A good Brown ale is a must here. I'll say it again, I think WY1450 makes an awesome Brown.

I'm happy to see I'm not the only one about the roast. I get great reviews from fellow drinkers so I'm happy in the end. Just wish it will be more nutty. Next time, I'll try 4lbs of victory next time.

Lil' Sparkys Nut Brown is good.