Recipe Feedback - American Brown Ale

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1.068 OG
1.020 FG
38 IBU
6.2% ABV
21 SRM
0.56 IBU/OG

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Munich Malt I 1.1 lb 10 %
Crystal 75 12.35 oz 7 %
Wheat Malt (Pale) 8.82 oz 5 %
Chocolate Malt 5.29 oz 3 %
Château Biscuit® 3.53 oz 2 %
Black Rock Light LME (NZ) 7.5 lb 71 %

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Northern Brewer Germany 0.80 oz 60 min Pellet 10.5%
Willamette United States 0.70 oz 15 min Pellet 4.8%
Willamette United States 0.70 oz 5 min Pellet 4.8%

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Safale US-05
 
My only opinion of your recipe, and purely a personal opinion, is that sometimes a complex grain bill can be too....complex.

Why the wheat and biscuit? Are they necessary? Why not increase the base, chocolate, caramel, and/or munich a little more?
 
Noted.

I think I sometimes make my recipes more complex than necessary.
 
I'd keep the biscuit, it will add a layer of graham cracker-like flavor that will support the chocolate and crystal. I think your percentages look good as well. a lot of brown ale recipes i look at go overboard on the chocolate, which can get dry/bitter. Your recipe actually looks fairly similar to jamil's American brown, except he uses carapils for body/head retention rather than wheat.

The only thing I would change is the OG, but that's just personal preference. I would shoot for 1.055-1.060 to make it a little more sessionable. If your looking to follow the bjcp guidelines, they range from 1.040-1.060 for American brown ales.
 
Cheers guys.

What do you think about the hop additions?

Would it be worth adding another flavouring hop... Liberty possibly?

Or should I just stick to Willamette?
 
+1 for keeping the Biscuit malt. I've liked it when I've used it and think it would work really well in a brown ale. It'll give some depth to support the flavors from the chocolate and crystal malts.

Same goes for the Liberty hops. I've used them a couple times, but only in Belgian styles. Regardless, I've liked them and think they'd be good in a brown ale. I haven't actually used Willamette, so I don't know if they'd work well together. The Liberty will give an earthiness to the beer, which I think fits the style of a brown ale.

The wheat probably isn't necessary, though. If you brewed 2 batches with the only difference being that one had the wheat and the other didn't, I bet you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Now, if you want the wheat to be noticeable, you'd probably have to increase the amount. With the crystal, munich, and biscuit malts, you shouldn't have any problem with body or mouth feel that would require using the wheat.

Side note: I'm guessing you started from metric measurements for the ingredients, because some of the amounts seem strangely specific when listed in pounds and ounces. If they come out to simple round numbers when measure in metric, that's great. That was just one element that made me immediately think the recipe was more complicated upon first glance. When I realized that you probably started from metric, and I paid attention to the percentages and other aspects, the recipe doesn't seem too terribly complicated.

I think if you cut out the wheat, you have a relatively streamlined recipe. And it should turn out pretty well.
 
Hey Guys...

Cheers for help/feedback. Just bottled this and tasting rather nice... FG of 1.019 - as estimated by the brew calculator - and reading at bottling, so bang on there...

Some thoughts... a lil hop dominated for my preference in this style...

I think I would consider dropping the amount of bittering hops... Brew toad estimated that I was getting 24 IBU from the bittering addition. So I would drop that back to somewhere in high teens.

I think I would also add EKG to the mix as a forst wort addition... but decrease the amounts of Liberty and EKG.

I would also consider increasing the amount of med crystal... or adding a small amount of dark crystal.../ a very slight increase of the chocolate malt...

Cheers!

~R
 
You might get a similar result (in terms of IBUs), if you just moved the late additions a little later. Like add the Liberty at 10 min., then the EKG at 5 min. Or even do one at 5 min. and the other at flameout. That could be a solution if your issue was just with the IBUs.

If you want less overall hop character (bitterness, flavor, & aroma), then dropping the amounts would be the way to go.
 
Noted - I think for me I would like the malt character to be more present... I felt the hops overwhelmed it slightly.

A Brown Ale I made with a similar but slightly more simple malt bill with 1/2 the total amount of hops (& in that case English varietals) had more of the balance I'd like to try and get, though in this case with more of a new world home character, but one that doesn't overwhelming and works in well with the malt flavour/s.

So I think generally trimming back the amounts - especially on the main bittering addition might be a good way to go.

IE no more than 2/3rds the amount of IBU from the bittering addition and the flavouring/aroma additions dialed back to about half in each case.

Keen to try a first wort addition with one brew of this recipe too.

What do people think about a first wort hop... prospectively with EKG...

~R
 
I've never done a first wort hop at all. And I probably won't, unless somebody can give me a convincing explanation of how/why it gives the result that people say it gives.

That's just me though.
 
I recently brewed an American Brown Ale with a modified recipe from my local HBS, here it is:
Two Row 7#
Munich 2#
Honey Malt 1 #
Crystal 60 2#
Flaked Barley 1/2 #
Styrian Goldings 1.75 oz @60 This was the first time I used Stryian Goldings hops. The last beer I made with EKG hops developed a metallic taste over time, and this was a great choice in the end. **
1 Tablespoon Sea Salt in BK
1 Teaspoon Gypsum in BK
1-1/2 oz Cocoa Powder @ 15 minutes
1 Teaspoon Irish Moss @ 15 minutes
Mashed at 152*F for 90 minutes, grain/water ratio: 1.5:1
O.G.:1.055 F.G.: 1.014

I looked at my boiling wort, and it just didn't look like a Brown Ale. It was too light I thought and Cocoa Powder came to mind. I had 1-1/2 oz of Premium Cocoa left, and added it in slowly making sure to dissolve each small addition. I chilled the wort down to 62*F and added my house yeast, ESB 1968 London Ale. I left it in the primary for at least three weeks, letting it warm up gradually toward the end of primary fermentation to make sure there were no off flavors with a long d-rest.
It tasted great right off the bat; nice body somewhere akin to an English Mild. I didn't notice any Chocolate flavor at three weeks bottle conditioning, but it was a nice American Brown Session beer. Somewhere near 8 weeks, this beer was amazing! The chocolate flavor came in very smoothly up front, slightly sweet with a nice, barely dry finish.
As soon as my current Taddy Porter yeast cake becomes available, I may have to split it between this beautiful ABA, and a Black IPA that SHMBO wants me to brew for her. I'll keep you posted.
** I have only been brewing for a little over a year, and am still working on a love or hate Hops list.
 
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