Brown ale extract question...

Hey y'all. I got another extract question for you. Did my first batch ever last weekend, figure I'll do my second this weekend. I've decided on a brown ale, hoping to get close to a Newcastle kind of thing. Found my LHBS has a better choice of specialty grains and hops than I first though so I’m going to give it a shot. What I'd like to know is, firstly, I've found a couple recipes out there but does anybody have a brown ale extract recipe they would recommend, and secondly, I have pretty hard water (well water) where I live, so we have a water softener. Both the soft and the hard taste pretty good to drink but I wonder which I should use for my beer, or maybe a combination of both? Any suggestions ?

Thanks!

For extract brewing, water chemistry doesn't matter much. If your water softener uses salt, I'd stick with the unsoftened.

More Beer's brown ale kit is pretty darn good as it is, I'd opt for a mini mash and add bit of carapils to help the body and head a bit. I used to brew loads of that kit before I started making my own recipes.

Click on the word "recipes" under my pic.

Enjoy!