Today's Beer: Throwback Brown Ale (how much hops?)

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

beyondthepale

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 3, 2006
Messages
75
Reaction score
0
Location
Transmitting live from Mars
So today I will be making the a brown ale using the following recipe:


6 lb. Gold DME
1/2 lb. Crystal malt, @20^ L
1/2 lb. Black Patent
1/2 lb. British Brown
1/2 lb. Chocolate Malt

Northern Brewer hops, 9.5% AA

WLP051 California V


Now, my inspiration for this beer is my first memory of craft-brewed beer, which was Pete's Wicked Ale back in 1994. I remember being shocked at how bitter it was, but quickly growing to like it. What I'm going for here is a bitter brown ale, and my question is, would 1.5 oz of these hops for the boil and a half an ounce for flavor be too much? I do want it to be more bitter than most of the browns I see in stores here in America, but I don't want too much hop flavor.


Thoughts? Suggestions?
 
I would only go to 1oz for the bittering(60+ mins.), but also 1oz (30 mins.) for flavor and .5oz if you want people to know they're there for aroma at about 15 or less. Browns tend to be more malty than hoppy, but that's all I'd do.

And, I LOVE Browns!

:mug:
 
Spyk'd said:
I would only go to 1oz for the bittering(60+ mins.), but also 1oz (30 mins.) for flavor and .5oz if you want people to know they're there for aroma at about 15 or less. Browns tend to be more malty than hoppy, but that's all I'd do.

And, I LOVE Browns!

:mug:


Hmm... An ounce at 30 would still add some bitterness, but no aroma... I don't really want this beer to be about the hops, but I do want it to be bitter, and have at least some flavor to round it out. An ounce and an ounce sounds like a good idea, I'll think about it while I've got these grains steeping.
 
If you feel the AA is too high you could always do .75oz at 30 mins. for flavor, but I wouldn't go much less if you want a "different" Brown. The yeast will malt it up nicely as well as your specialty grains. Go for it!

:)
 
I think your hop plan would work, although NB is a higher AA hop than normally used in browns and it will push it more towards a bitter. Most browns don't have any aroma hops and the flavor hops tends to be half or less of the bittering addition. So, your 1.5 @60 and 0.5 @30 should be fine.

8 oz. of Black Patent is rather much, even for a stout. Most browns don't use it at all and porters might use 2-3 oz.
 
david_42 said:
I think your hop plan would work, although NB is a higher AA hop than normally used in browns and it will push it more towards a bitter. Most browns don't have any aroma hops and the flavor hops tends to be half or less of the bittering addition. So, your 1.5 @60 and 0.5 @30 should be fine.

8 oz. of Black Patent is rather much, even for a stout. Most browns don't use it at all and porters might use 2-3 oz.


Well, too late now! So I guess I'll just have to wait and see. If it's too much, I'll tone it down next time. But the grains are steeping right now so...:)
 
So in the end, I did an ounce at 60 and an ounce at 30. And, the more I think about it, the more I don't know what I was thinking even including the Black Patent. O well, maybe I'll call this one a porter and get it next time...:mug:
 
Hey, just remember it will be all your own creation and it will be GOOD! If not, just let it mellow out for a bit and it will be GOOD!

I figure you're still better off for adventuring out on your own and figuring out what your ingredients do than to sit next to kits and claim, "My beer is sooooo good!"


Nice going, it will be great!



:mug:
 
Back
Top