Munton's Nut Brown Ale partial mash recipe feedback please

I just recently made the switch to BIAB but still have a can of Munton's Brown Ale on the shelf. I also have several open bags of grain that I should use up so I figured I would do a partial mash.

Here's the recipe I put together:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/323351/nut-brown-ale

I got some inspiration from this recipe.

The grain bill is pretty arbitrary and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.

Here are the (relevant) ingredients I have at my disposal:

• Yeast: Nottingham Ale, Munton's Kit yeast, Safale US-05, Wyeast 1056 (harvested from trub)
• Hops: Goldings, Saaz, Northern Brewer, Willamette, Fuggles
• Grain: Maris Otter Pale, Carmünch I & II, Carafa I, Roasted Barley

I would probably use an English yeast but I don't want to buy anything for this brew. So I figure I'll use the Notty and the kit yeast.

Anyone have some feedback for me?

Also, this is my first partial mash. Do I just do a full-volume mash, then add the kit DME to the boil and the additional DME late in the boil?

Thanks!

Nobody?

All I can say is, if usiing a small amount of malt in a full-volume mash, you might need to add acidulated malt to keep the pH down.

I'm a little confused... you say BIAB yet your recipe calls for 7 pounds (3200g) of Liquid malt extract and you only have about 22 oz (600g) of base malt. Maybe you meant to say that you're using an extract recipe with steeping grains?

Anyway, here's my recipe for a Nut Brown FWIW:


Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: British Brown Ale
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 5 gallons


STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.066
Final Gravity: 1.015
ABV (standard): 6.65%

FERMENTABLES:
7.5 lb - United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale (71.4%)
2 lb - Brown Sugar (19%)
0.25 lb - United Kingdom - Chocolate (2.4%)
0.25 lb - Belgian - Special B (2.4%)
0.25 lb - Belgian - Biscuit (2.4%)
0.25 lb - American - Special Roast (2.4%)

HOPS:
1 oz - Fuggles, Type: Pellet, AA: 4.5, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 17

YEAST:
Danstar - Nottingham Ale Yeast

I have blacklisted Notty personally. I know many like it, but whenever I have used it, I have not liked the results. Whenever I make a brown ale I use Wyeast 1098, but I know you said you didn't want to buy anything. Hopefully the Notty works well for you. So I guess you're mashing your grains for an hour at around 152 and then once that's done, then you're adding your dark LME and start your hops, then the amber LME with 15 minutes left? Sounds fine. Good luck on it.

Thanks for your replies!

slym: Why's that? Would I do better with a partial-volume mash?

charliehorse: The BIAB thing was more just a general information. My last brew was a BIAB and I am doing BIAB in the future, but I still have a can of Nut Brown LME. The grains I listed are what I have in stock due to my previous and future BIAB recipes and since I have them, I figured I would try to give the can of extract some extra flavour by mashing some grain, but also using the DME I still have. Any feedback with this added context?

eadavis: I haven't used it before but I think this brew is as good as any to use the packet I have.

I know Notty is the default dry on NB's Nut Brown ale and when I made it with Notty, I was not pleased. ACtually got a replacement kit 'cause NB rocks big time. Whenever I've used 1098 I've loved it. One of the best beers I've made is that Nut Brown Ale kit + WYeast 1098 + extra pound of light DME + 1 pound of honey at flameout. It yields about a 6.5% killer honey nut brown ale. I'm making it again next week.

chlehb said:

Thanks for your replies!

slym: Why's that? Would I do better with a partial-volume mash?

Click to expand...

The more water used, the more diluted the mash is, and while that helps extraction of the sugars, it raises pH. Adding the acidulated malt helps put it back in the range where it "should" be.

Going with a smaller volume of water should alleviate that necessity.

This is all information I have read here, BTW. I have no personal experience with this, other than using smaller volumes to mash & then a sparge, but that was really because I was using a too-small pot to mash in.

eadavis80 said:

I know Notty is the default dry on NB's Nut Brown ale and when I made it with Notty, I was not pleased. ACtually got a replacement kit 'cause NB rocks big time. Whenever I've used 1098 I've loved it. One of the best beers I've made is that Nut Brown Ale kit + WYeast 1098 + extra pound of light DME + 1 pound of honey at flameout. It yields about a 6.5% killer honey nut brown ale. I'm making it again next week.

Click to expand...

You're making me feel a bit nervous about the Notty. I really can't order any more new stuff this month but I guess with US-05 or Wyeast 1056 I can't do any wrong, even if it won't be an English ale.

The honey sounds intriguing, do you really get a honey taste after fermentation?

slym2none said:

The more water used, the more diluted the mash is, and while that helps extraction of the sugars, it raises pH. Adding the acidulated malt helps put it back in the range where it "should" be.

Going with a smaller volume of water should alleviate that necessity.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the head's up. I guess I'll mash half-volume or so and top up with water before the boil.

I've had success adding honey at flameout on both nut brown ales and wheat beers. I always add it at flameout, but I've like the flavor profile in those instances.

chlehb said:

Thanks for the head's up. I guess I'll mash half-volume or so and top up with water before the boil.

Click to expand...

I will say, you might want to fact-check this yourself before taking my word for it. I am often wrong about stuff.

slym2none said:

I will say, you might want to fact-check this yourself before taking my word for it. I am often wrong about stuff.

Click to expand...

You're not wrong this time. I usually have to adjust the pH when I BIAB because the mash is so thin the grains can't bring my water into the right range. If I were to use less water it would be fine.

I use Nottingham yeast a lot. I don't have a LHBS (unless you count 90 miles away as "local") so dry yeast if my route to beer. If you keep the beer cool for the first few days Nottingham throws no off flavors. In fact, some have claimed that if fermented at 55 the beer comes out much like a lager. I usually don't go that low, more like low 60's and it is still pretty clean at that temp range. Don't let it get into the 70's though or you'll have lots of off flavors but that is true of a lot of yeasts.

I'll just take your word for it slym since this will be a one-off brew