British Brown Ale Nut Brown AG

CornyKegs 728
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ParanoidAndroid said:
Ive brewed it twice in two weeks. I havent kegged or bottled it yet, but both of mine came out thin and bland. I dont know what happened. I scaled it down for a 2.25 gallon batch:

3.304 lb Marris Otter 76.59 %
0.367 lb Flaked Oats 5 Min 8.51 %
0.184 lb Victory 4.27 %
0.367 lb Crystal 60 8.51 %
0.092 lb Chocolate 2.13 %

0.39 oz Fuggle
0.33 oz East Kent Goldings

This look like a good scale down?

Also, my SRM looks off. I calculated it at 17, but it looks a good bit lighter than that. My two batches are to the right, and a local brown ale is to the left. Is this what everyone else is getting?
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Same deal, wasnt impressed with the bland taste at all.
 
jbb3 said:
I brewed a batch of this and was kinda underwhelmed. It seemed a little one note. Not much complexity to it at all. I don't think I have the patience to let it age enough. Or maybe I'm just not a malty beer kind a guy?? So I decided to change it up a bit.

I went to Kroger and picked up a bag of unsweetened flaked coconut. Roasted it in the oven, stuck it in a sanitized hop sack with a couple of stainless lock nuts, and dropped it in the keg.

I call it; Almond Joyous...
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I had a similar experience and produced an underwhelming batch from this recipe. The quote above is how I dealt with it...

All's well that ends well!! :mug:
 
I brewed this last year and thought it was thin as well, but I assumed that was because I undercarbed it a bit (I can never seem to carb right in bottles, and it doesn't help that I only bottle about once a year).

For the guys/gals that felt this was an underwhelming thin beer, were you brewing this with "American Brown Ale" (2015 BJCP guidelines) in mind, or the English Brown style? To me this caters much more to the latter. Did you think it was similar to a Samuel Smith or a Newcastle? Personally, I brewed it as an English... but I think I wanted to taste more of a Bell's Best Brown than anything else.

This year I'm going to take more of a hybrid approach by using the American Brown style guideline, but instead use all English ingredients (including switching to Maris Otter instead of US 2-row). I'm going to mash higher and target 1.013 FG. I think I might double the EKG charge as well, it'll help to balance out the extra sweetness.
 
TungstenBeer said:
I brewed this last year and thought it was thin as well, but I assumed that was because I undercarbed it a bit (I can never seem to carb right in bottles, and it doesn't help that I only bottle about once a year).

For the guys/gals that felt this was an underwhelming thin beer, were you brewing this with "American Brown Ale" (2015 BJCP guidelines) in mind, or the English Brown style? To me this caters much more to the latter. Did you think it was similar to a Samuel Smith or a Newcastle? Personally, I brewed it as an English... but I think I wanted to taste more of a Bell's Best Brown than anything else.

This year I'm going to take more of a hybrid approach by using the American Brown style guideline, but instead use all English ingredients (including switching to Maris Otter instead of US 2-row). I'm going to mash higher and target 1.013 FG. I think I might double the EKG charge as well, it'll help to balance out the extra sweetness.
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I'm kind of in the same boat. It ended up tasting like a bland Newcastle....which is already kind of bland to me. Its carbing up now, so maybe itll change once that happens.

BTW, I hit the OG at 1.054 and finished at 1.015 (higher than what I wanted). Used S05 instead of notty.
 
I have been on the fence about brewing this because of all the recent comments. Does anyone have any suggestions to correct the perceived "blandness" of this beer? Has anyone made any changes to their water to try and get more maltiness or balance? I am wanting to do a brown soon and I plan to adjust my water for a malt-forward profile but I am not a fan of New Castle and do not want to brew this if that is what the outcome is going to be like.
 
Biscuits said:
I have been on the fence about brewing this because of all the recent comments. Does anyone have any suggestions to correct the perceived "blandness" of this beer? Has anyone made any changes to their water to try and get more maltiness or balance? I am wanting to do a brown soon and I plan to adjust my water for a malt-forward profile but I am not a fan of New Castle and do not want to brew this if that is what the outcome is going to be like.
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I think you and I are searching for the same beer. I think my mistake was going after the English style. I should have been going after the American style.

I made a mixed pack of 6 different browns

Humboldt Hemp Brown
Lazy Magnolia Nut Brown
Against the Grain Brown Note
Point Burley Brown
Cigar City Maduro Brown
And one more (can't remember)

Ive also recently had Good People Brown, Trim Tab Rye Brown, Sierra Nevada Tumbler, and Sam Smith Nut Brown (the gold standard nut brown).

Against the Grain and Trim tab are what I'm after. If you can get Brown Note, try it out. It sits at 5% alcohol. If I could get a clone of that and boost it to 5.5%, I Might have my perfect brown ale. Trim Tab is excellent also, but has rye in it....so not sure of the style category. It's so good I bought a keg of it last year. It's local though (Birmingham, al).
 
Biscuits said:
I have been on the fence about brewing this because of all the recent comments. Does anyone have any suggestions to correct the perceived "blandness" of this beer? Has anyone made any changes to their water to try and get more maltiness or balance? I am wanting to do a brown soon and I plan to adjust my water for a malt-forward profile but I am not a fan of New Castle and do not want to brew this if that is what the outcome is going to be like.
Click to expand...

I always adjust my water, and this beer was no exception when I brewed it last year. I'd have to check the exact numbers, but the water profile would obviously have been skewed towards malt-forward.

It unfortunately just didn't make a difference for me.
 
If I were going to brew it, I'd probably leave the oats out & mash a little cooler (152).
 
I brewed this one a while ago (with US-05) and wasnt impressed at first. But!!! It got better over time. Actually, 3-4 months after bottling, i really started to enjoy it. Not the best but much, much better once matured for some time.

Im actually thinking of brewing another batch soon and forgetting about it until Xmas time :)
 
So been browsing the thread for about an hour. Some of the things I've noticed is it is deff better after 3 months if using Notty or S-05 yeast as a lot of people using those yeasts. There are some people who used 1968 yeast who reported MUCH better results over Notty. Also Denny's 1450 was another yeast that was reported to work better as well. Marris Otter was another big thing along with upping the IBU's slightly to match the malt taste. Either up IBu's or mash at a lower temp to reduce some of the sweetness.
However all this being said most people loved it as is.
I'm gonna give it a whirl but use a combo of MO and Golden Promise base malts. I will prob add another lb or 2 base malt to get my OG up. Up my IBu's and use 1968 yeast. Going to brew on Thursday so I will report back initial results here in a month. Cheers!
 
It WAS very malty at first. However that mellowed out the longer i conditioned it.
 
jbb3 said:
Curious on why you'd leave the oats out??
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Well, oats will give you some mouthfeel & add some unfermentables, but they don't have much flavor. Most recipes for Northern English Brown Ale that I've seen don't include oats. Maybe that's the reason for some brewers here not being happy with the results.
 
Here is my rendition of this recipe, cold crash with gelatin really clears it up. Great recipe.

IMG_6947.jpg
 
TungstenBeer said:
For the guys/gals that felt this was an underwhelming thin beer, were you brewing this with "American Brown Ale" (2015 BJCP guidelines) in mind, or the English Brown style? To me this caters much more to the latter. Did you think it was similar to a Samuel Smith or a Newcastle? Personally, I brewed it as an English... but I think I wanted to taste more of a Bell's Best Brown than anything else.
Click to expand...

I think this guy is on the right track. For those who think this recipe is "bland," have a look at the bjcp guidelines for a northern English Brown. Even the qualifiers they use to describe the flavor should tell you what you need to know: gentle malt flavors, medium to low hop bitterness, with medium-light body and moderate carbonation.

As a fan of this beer, and others like it, nut browns can be subtle and delicate too. American Browns are probably what you're after.
 
How would Pumpkin added as a fall style beer ? Come trick or treat it would be ready ! Any Thoughts ?
 
I brewed this on Saturday - very similar recipe, only I used Maris Otter and a half pound of chocolate malt instead of a quarter pound. I mostly did that for color, but I don't think a quarter pound will overwhelm it with chocolate-y taste either. We'll see! What I can say is that the wort tasted delicious.

I usually get above 80% attenuation with Notty, so I also upped the mash temp to 157. I'd rather have this beer finish at 1.017 or something rather than 1.010, but hopefully I'm in the sweet spot I'm looking for of 1.013 +/- 1 point.
 
Brewed this beer for the first time back in early September and bottled a couple of weeks ago. Tasted my first one yesterday and.... damn, that's a good beer.

I brewed AG as specified except that I added 4 ounces of Special B malt. "Special B will impart a heavy caramel taste and is often credited with the raisin-like flavors of some Belgian Abbey ales."

Yum!

Thanks so much for the excellent recipe! I'll definitely be brewing this one again!
 
TungstenBeer said:
I usually get above 80% attenuation with Notty, so I also upped the mash temp to 157. I'd rather have this beer finish at 1.017 or something rather than 1.010, but hopefully I'm in the sweet spot I'm looking for of 1.013 +/- 1 point.
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Mashed at 156-157F when I made it and I ended up at 1.018. It's a very tasty beer!
 
I've got a batch of something like this boiling right now. Substituted equal amounts of TF amber and melanoid for the victory and chocolate L450 and pale chocolate for the 700 ebc chocolate. I'm also going to use willamette instead of fuggles and WLP-023 Burton Ale instead of notty.

I'm still getting used to my new system and overshot my efficiency (72%- > 80%) and preboil volume (25l -> 30l). I guess I'll have to boil for 2 hours to compensate :D
 
christyle said:
Homebrew shop was out of a few things so I went with all Fuggles and S-04. Can't wait to give it a shot.
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Took a sample tonight, about 4 days in. Fantastic! Smooth, easy drinking, nutty, carmel. Not what I thought a brown would be...in a good way. Good stuff!
 
akithegood said:
I've got a batch of something like this boiling right now. Substituted equal amounts of TF amber and melanoid for the victory and chocolate L450 and pale chocolate for the 700 ebc chocolate. I'm also going to use willamette instead of fuggles and WLP-023 Burton Ale instead of notty.

I'm still getting used to my new system and overshot my efficiency (72%- > 80%) and preboil volume (25l -> 30l). I guess I'll have to boil for 2 hours to compensate :D
Click to expand...

Ended up with about 20l of 1.059 wort instead of 19l of 1.054 that I calculated for. Currently it's bubbling away like crazy at about 21 c. I'm thinking about kegging half of the batch and aging 5l with vanilla beans and 5l with bourbon soaked oak chips...
 
TungstenBeer said:
I brewed this on Saturday - very similar recipe, only I used Maris Otter and a half pound of chocolate malt instead of a quarter pound. I mostly did that for color, but I don't think a quarter pound will overwhelm it with chocolate-y taste either. We'll see! What I can say is that the wort tasted delicious.

I usually get above 80% attenuation with Notty, so I also upped the mash temp to 157. I'd rather have this beer finish at 1.017 or something rather than 1.010, but hopefully I'm in the sweet spot I'm looking for of 1.013 +/- 1 point.
Click to expand...

To follow up, this has been tapped for a couple weeks now and it is delicious. It finished at 1.017, which is higher than I had originally hoped, but boy am I glad it did. It's delicious. It's darker due to the extra chocolate malt, but I would still consider it brown. If I had this on nitro I feel like I'd be in an English pub. Really happy with how it turned out. Assuming I brew this again next fall or whatever, I won't be changing the recipe.
 
Help! So I brewed this the other week...all went well. Rehydrated and pitched the Nottingham. Waited three days and no fermentation. Gravity reading was literally the same. Re-pitched with 1968 smack pack yeast and three days later nothing! Gravity the same! Wtf!? Temp is around 65/66
 
Probably things you already looked for but what was the temperature of the wort (and the temperature of the water used to rehydrate) the first go around? How old were the yeasts? Was your gravity higher than expected?

Just throwing ideas out there hoping something sticks
 
Cheesy_Goodness said:
Probably things you already looked for but what was the temperature of the wort (and the temperature of the water used to rehydrate) the first go around? How old were the yeasts? Was your gravity higher than expected?

Just throwing ideas out there hoping something sticks
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It was my first time rehydrating. I thought the temp was ok but maybe I didn't wait long enough prior to stirring? Yeasts had good dates. Gravity was not on the exact mark. Just a smudge higher, nothing crazy
 
Let me be sure we've got everything here:
- You brewed the beer and it ended up pretty close to the predicted OG
- You chilled the beer to pitching temps
- You rehydrated dry yeast in water and aerated before pitching
- You pitched the rehydrated dry yeast, but there was no action days later
- You went with a smack pack, which swelled before pitching, but that didn't get you anywhere either
- Ambient temp around the fermentor is around 66F

If the above is accurate...I've got no idea :drunk:
Is there still no activity? The gravity is still exactly the same?

Your question might get more attention if you start a new thread

EDIT: When you say everything went fine, does that mean the mash temps were where you wanted them to be?
 
Did you do an iodine test to make sure all starches were converted? Maybe like the last poster suggested you didn't reach a high enough mash temperature to convert? Have you checked if your thermometer is reading correctly?
 
Shenanigans said:
Did you do an iodine test to make sure all starches were converted? Maybe like the last poster suggested you didn't reach a high enough mash temperature to convert? Have you checked if your thermometer is reading correctly?
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This is the only thing I can think of as well. Nottingham not fermenting at mid-60s temperature is almost unheard of.
 
slym2none said:
Yeast will still work even if you are careful to not aerate your wort at all. The Brulosopher proved that.

:)
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True, and frankly I only sometimes remember to do it myself (whoops), but it could have been a contributing factor to his problem. It's anecdotal, but I do notice a pretty dramatic difference in lag time between batches that get aerated and ones that don't, even with similar gravity.
Several days in and still no fermentation, so it looks like that wasn't the case here though.

If the mash was normal then I'm completely out of ideas. Maybe someone snuck in your brew room and replaced happily fermenting beer with wort of identical gravity...twice :confused:
 
akithegood said:
Ended up with about 20l of 1.059 wort instead of 19l of 1.054 that I calculated for. Currently it's bubbling away like crazy at about 21 c. I'm thinking about kegging half of the batch and aging 5l with vanilla beans and 5l with bourbon soaked oak chips...
Click to expand...

Just kegged this after 3,5 weeks in primary. FG was surprisignly high, 1.021 - only 63% AA. I guess my starter was too small... Well, I've been meaning to brew something a bit more full-bodied for winter. This took care of that :mug:
 

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