Southern English Brown - Help! This little hops?

I have 2 oz. of Kent Goldings so I thought how about an English Brown? Never done one. It's a 2.5 gallon batch (3.25 gal. boil) and the hops amount just seems so low but I guess it works out in Brewtarget. Can someone take a look? I have two hops additions. Would a single 60 or 45 minute addition be appropriate? I want to make sure the backbone is pretty malty but bitter enough.


Questhaven Brown Ale - Southern English Brown
================================================================================
Batch Size: 2.500 gal
Boil Size: 3.250 gal
Boil Time: 60.000 min
Efficiency: 84%%
OG: 1.045
FG: 1.013
ABV: 4.2%%
Bitterness: 20.0 IBUs (Tinseth)
Color: 23 SRM (Morey)

Fermentables
================================================================================
Name Type Amount Mashed Late Yield Color
Pale Malt (2 Row) UK Grain 2.500 lb Yes No 78%% 3 L
Brown Sugar, Light Sugar 6.000 oz No No 100%% 8 L
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L Grain 6.000 oz Yes No 74%% 80 L
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 120L Grain 3.000 oz Yes No 72%% 120 L
Chocolate Malt (UK) Grain 2.500 oz Yes No 73%% 450 L
Total grain: 3.594 lb

Hops
================================================================================
Name Alpha Amount Use Time Form IBU
Kent Goldings 6.1%% 0.250 oz Boil 60.000 min Pellet 11.3
Kent Goldings 6.1%% 0.250 oz Boil 30.000 min Pellet 8.7

Yeast
================================================================================
Name Type Form Amount Stage
WLP023 - Burton Ale Yeast Ale Liquid 2.367 tbsp Primary

20 IBU is near the high end for that style.

What do you think of 10 grams (.353 oz) for 60 minutes. IBU=16. My scale only measured oz in 1/4 increments so I got wise and entered it in grams as that's in 1/5 increments. That way I can weigh "in between."

I think Brown Sugar is true to SEB's as well.

the low end for that style is 10 IBU so you would be good there. save the rest for aroma.

Yeah SEB doesn't call for too much bitterness, it's supposed to taste a bit rich and sweet due to the lower attenuating English yeast strain used and lack of hop bitterness (12 - 20 is the IBU range). Personally, I'd go with one 60 minute addition of Kent Goldings, whatever gets you to around 20 IBU.

Drop the brown sugar. It is not traditional and will push the FG down and dry the beer out. This is one style where a high-ish final gravity is a good thing. If you're intent on using a sugar, British invert sugar (no.2 or 3) would be your best choice.

bierhaus15 said:

Drop the brown sugar. It is not traditional and will push the FG down and dry the beer out. This is one style where a high-ish final gravity is a good thing. If you're intent on using a sugar, British invert sugar (no.2 or 3) would be your best choice.

Click to expand...

i 2nd.. this brown is supposed to have some malt sweetness when finished, and you don't need to add it just for alcohol content either

How's this look? Removed brown sugar and went with a single 60 minute hop schedule. BTW it's such a small grain bill I'm not sure how to mash this for equal runnings. Newb. Should I divide it into 3 parts instead of two? Infuse, sparge anothe 1/3, sparge another 1/3? Or just mash at an appropriate qt/lb then sparge off what i need? Also, should I reduce down a cup or 2 for color and caramelization?


Questhaven Brown Ale - Southern English Brown
================================================================================
Batch Size: 2.500 gal
Boil Size: 3.250 gal
Boil Time: 60.000 min
Efficiency: 84%%
OG: 1.043
FG: 1.013
ABV: 4.0%%
Bitterness: 16.3 IBUs (Tinseth)
Color: 23 SRM (Morey)

Fermentables
================================================================================
Name Type Amount Mashed Late Yield Color
Pale Malt (2 Row) UK Grain 2.900 lb Yes No 78%% 3 L
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L Grain 6.000 oz Yes No 74%% 80 L
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 120L Grain 3.000 oz Yes No 72%% 120 L
Chocolate Malt (UK) Grain 2.500 oz Yes No 73%% 450 L
Total grain: 3.619 lb

Hops
================================================================================
Name Alpha Amount Use Time Form IBU
Kent Goldings 6.1%% 0.353 oz Boil 60.000 min Pellet 16.3

Yeast
================================================================================
Name Type Form Amount Stage
WLP013 - London Ale Yeast Ale Liquid 2.367 tbsp Primary

johnbrain said:

How's this look? Removed brown sugar and went with a single 60 minute hop schedule. BTW it's such a small grain bill I'm not sure how to mash this for equal runnings. Newb. Should I divide it into 3 parts instead of two? Infuse, sparge anothe 1/3, sparge another 1/3? Or just mash at an appropriate qt/lb then sparge off what i need? Also, should I reduce down a cup or 2 for color and caramelization?

Click to expand...

Looks pretty good! I'd probably give it a few more IBUs (closer to 20) but you're so close that I wouldn't worry about it. I wouldn't do any kettle caramelization- it'll be sweet enough. You don't want it to be cloying, or too sweet.

For the mash, I'd just mash as usual (say, 1.5 quarts of water/pound of grain) and then sparge to my boil volume.

I'd use the entire vial of yeast in this batch- it'll be about right.

Thanks on the tip. I emailed White Labs about small batches and that was their recommendation as well. I'll still have about 1.7 oz of EKG hops left. Maybe I'll tweak my stout or do something else.

Best brew day to date. Hit my mash temp adding two cups boiling water. Only lost 1-2 degree over 60 minutes. Slightly exceeded my estimated pre-boil gravity and volume, but really hit my recipes estimated Post-boil gravity and only slightly greater volume. Not sure my actual extraction efficiency. My recipe was calculated at 84% but that was exceeded.

Cooling the wort went well and pitched at 74. As soon as fermentation starts I'll lower the temp to around 68.

I do think my yeast came to room temp a little faster. It sort of sprayed when I opened it. Any reason to think it was bad? It smelled like, well, beer yeast. It's new White Labs and I live in San Diego County so it's closely sourced.

Other than that everything seemed to go the way it should, versus unexpected hickups.

Almost every vial of White Labs I open sprays at me. I think it's a common occurance and nothing to worry about.

I would have pitched lower than 74, probably around 63 and let it warm to 68, but to each his own.

Thanks for the tip. I'm new to this and was going by the label on the vial. I did that for my Tripel but thought that was style dependent

I've been using a water bucket and ice bottles to keep the temp cooler. We're in a heat wave but I think it's hovering around 68. How long/quick should a 4.0% ABV ferment out? I know I could take multiple readings but I don't have a wine thief and I'm doing 2.5 gallons in a 5 gal carboy. My turkey baster won't reach. Usually I just wait 3-4 weeks with bigger beers since I'm busy anyway but I was wondering if I could bottle this after 7 days. I don't plan on secondary fermentation unless you can clarify a good reason why.

BTW even the scent coming from the airlock smells like a nice, malty brown ale. Keeping fingers crossed.