brown ale for fall/winter

Ok so I may be being optimistic thinking it will last into winter but need a good cold weather brew and thinking of a brown ale. Creative inspiration came from that "flat ass tired" brew on that other beer forum...

Brown Trout Ale:

8 lbs marris otter
2 lbs Vienna
1 lb Munich malt
1 lb Torrified wheat
1 lb Biscuit malt
0.25 lbs brown malt (70L)
0.5 lb Carahell (Crystal 10)
0.25 lb Crystal 40

0.75 oz Northern Brewer (60 min)
0.50 oz Williamette (30 min)
0.50 oz Williamette (15 min)
0.50 oz Williamette (5 min

BYO calculator gives me 1.061SG, 1.014FG and 28 IBUs. What do you guys think?? Could be good no? I am hoping for some real malty goodness wild a moderate amount of hops to balance...




PS...oh yeah US-05 (I am a currently poor since I just got married....)

What's the SRM? Not looking very "brown" to me.
And at 1/4 lb the contribution of the brown malt will be minimal.

Not saying that it's not a worthy brew that will be tasty, just curious about the name.





What's the fear of brown malt? I'm starting to love the stuff?
I have two beer on tap using it. An Amber with 10% and a Porter with 40%.
This malt has a unique flavor that's growing on me.

Yeah I'll have to check the SRMs. Good point. Fear comes from last time I used a darker malt I had to age it forever for it to taste good

Swap out the brown for the same amount of chocolate malt, or just jack up the amount of brown malt you intend to use. The chocolate won't be overwhelming at all, and will give you some of that roasty character and dark color you want in this beer. I don't know brown malt well, so can't comment on it, but I'd have no issue using it in a beer like this.

S-05 is a good yeast, regardless of your tax bracket.

BTW, bitterness level looks about right for beer that leans toward malty, but has hop flavor due to late additions.

Well ok I guess I'll experiment with the brown malt. I had never tried it before so I wasn't sure. Is a whole pound fine??? Ive already got a pound of biscuit so....hmm I usually use a bit simpler malt bill.

I'd say a pound of brown should be fine. It has a pretty different flavor profile from Munich and biscuit.

Bendbiker said:

Well ok I guess I'll experiment with the brown malt . . . Is a whole pound fine??? . . . Ive already got a pound of biscuit . . .

Click to expand...

If it were me, I'd drop the Bisuit. The combination is something that could work, but you won't get too really see what the Brown Malt has to offer. A pound should give you a feel for if it's something you want to experiment more with, but still be a drinkable beer even if you don't like the stuff.

To my taste the Brown Malt adds a dry, bitter flavor along with the roastyness. You hear people say that they start out hating IPA’s, but that over time the hops grow on them and they can’t get enough. I found Brown Malt to be that way. At first it was different and almost overpowering, but now when it’s not there I miss it.


Edit:
I wasn't paying enough attention to the original recipe. Have to agree with Freezeblade's post below. More than five grains and I start to worry. Simplicity works for me too. If it were mine, I'd be dropping either the Vienna or the Munich. I don't know your brewing history, but if you're just starting out, it's best to keep it simple so that you can learn what the different ingredients have to offer and then play with combinations of those flavors.

All that said, it's your beer. Have fun with it!

+1 on dropping the biscuit and making it a pound of brown malt. I love the stuff. I'd also replace the carahell and crystal40 for .75# of crystal 55L (english) I use that stuff for pretty much everything, and I really don't see the carahell doing anything for this recipe. Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity.

8 lbs marris otter
2 lbs Vienna
1 lb Munich malt
1 lb Torrified wheat
1 lbs brown malt (70L)
.75 lbs Crystal 55L (English)

Freezeblade said:

+1 on dropping the biscuit and making it a pound of brown malt. I love the stuff. I'd also replace the carahell and crystal40 for .75# of crystal 55L (english) I use that stuff for pretty much everything, and I really don't see the carahell doing anything for this recipe. Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity.

8 lbs marris otter
2 lbs Vienna
1 lb Munich malt
1 lb Torrified wheat
1 lbs brown malt (70L)
.75 lbs Crystal 55L (English)

Click to expand...

Good call on the English crystal- that toffee-ish flavour would be nice in this beer.

Yeah ok guys thanks for the input! I upped the brown malt to half a pound and simplified the crystal to half a pound of crystal 60 (which also adds color and a flavor I indeed like (I like it in my dubbels)).

I just placed the order as follows:

Brown Trout Ale:

1.061-1.014 6%ABV 32 IBUs and........
23 SRM a nice brown color (http://www.twobeerdudes.com/beer/srm)

8 lbs marris otter
2 lbs Vienna
1 lb Munich malt
1 lb Torrified wheat
1 lb Biscuit malt
0.5 lbs brown malt (70L)
0.5 lb Crystal 60

0.75 oz Northern Brewer (60 min)
0.50 oz Williamette (30 min)
0.50 oz Williamette (15 min)
0.50 oz Williamette (5 min

Thanks a bunch. I will pass it forward by teaching two new brewers in a week or two:rockin:.