Progress on Brown Ale (Newcastle Clone)

Last week, I brewed a Newcastle clone from AHS. I brewed it last year (extract kit with specialty grains) and it was a disaster: it turned out estery, it wasn't really drinkable, tasted like "juicy fruit."

Went mini-mash this year and today, after 6 days, I took my first reading. OG was 1.061, and it now sits at 1.016. It tastes pretty good for 6 day old beer, obviously thin. Recipe called for OG of 1.051, FG of 1.011, but I added 1lb of corn sugar (alcohol boost).

But here's where the hand wringing comes in. It tasted pretty good after 6 days last year (or so I thought). I have better temp control this year and can have the fermenter at whatever temp I need.

Right now, it sits at 69F. Is that high, low, just right? Should I let it sit one week or two? I'm kegging, so I can also let it age after kegging in my fermentation chamber.

Right now, I'm pumped that it tastes good, isn't stuck, and is a very clear nice amber!

The one pound of corn sugar will boost the alcohol content, but will also thin out the recipe. Not really enough to cause any problems though.
IMO at 6 days you can't really tell much about what the final taste will be. Also 69 is a bit on the high side IMO, but not enough to really worry about.
I would opt for a minimum of 14 days then keg. I usually go to about 21 days.

Everything sounds good so far. You might be at final gravity already. Don't worry too much about getting exactly to target final gravity, after all it is only a calculated target.

So should I lower it a few degrees? Perhaps to 67?

To late to drop the temp now most of the fermentation is done already. I normally start at the low end of the sweet spot for what yeast I am using. Then when fermentation starts to slow down I slowly bump the temp up to the higher end to help it finish. Temp control is most important at the beginning when the yeast is reproducing.

kh54s10 said:

The one pound of corn sugar will boost the alcohol content, but will also thin out the recipe. Not really enough to cause any problems though.
IMO at 6 days you can't really tell much about what the final taste will be. Also 69 is a bit on the high side IMO, but not enough to really worry about.
I would opt for a minimum of 14 days then keg. I usually go to about 21 days.

Everything sounds good so far. You might be at final gravity already. Don't worry too much about getting exactly to target final gravity, after all it is only a calculated target.

Click to expand...

Looking to keg it on Monday, three weeks total. So far so good, last tasting was good, sitting at what I'm sure is FG of 1.015. A little estery, so I'm hoping 3 weeks in the keg will round it out!

update: after 5 weeks in the keg it turned out OK, not great, but better than I thought It would be......still pretty "estery" to my taste, but carbonation and getting it chilled helped take the bite out of the esters. I'm pretty sure it was my early high-ish fermentation temps.

I've moved on to BIAB, better understanding of ferm temps, aeration, that hopefully will result in better beer. We will see....

For what it is worth, My dark brews are so much better with a lot of age. I have tapped a keg and thought I had a bad brew but as time passes, it turns out fine. By the time the keg is finished it is wonderful. I know let my kegs of browns and porters fit for as long as possible.