What's your favorite Brown Ale?

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Homercidal

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I'm looking for a good Brown Ale recipe. I'm more partial to American Style, but a good English variety would be ok. I'm thinking about doing up a brown for the Fall and winter season, and also might be considering adding a holiday spice or two.
 
The one in my drop-down is one of my favorite beers to brew. It's more on the hop side than the malt, but since you say your partial to the American style that should work. I'm not so sure how well the spices would blend with the hops though, if you really wanna do that you might wanna look for a more malt focused recipe.
 
[size=+2]Pullman Brown[/size]
Author: CYBI



Size: 6.0 gal
Efficiency: 75.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 231.52 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.069 (1.026 - 1.120)
|===============#================|
Terminal Gravity: 1.017 (0.995 - 1.035)
|================#===============|
Color: 24.64 (1.0 - 50.0)
|===============#================|
Alcohol: 6.84% (2.5% - 14.5%)
|=============#==================|
Bitterness: 24.6 (0.0 - 100.0)
|===========#====================|

[size=+1]Ingredients:[/size]
4.0 lb American 2-row
5.0 lb Maris Otter Pale Ale Malt
2.0 lb Golden Naked Oats
.75 lb Brown Malt
.75 lb Crystal Malt 40°L
.75 lb Munich Malt
.75 lb Wheat Malt
.75 lb Chocolate Malt
.75 lb Honey Malt
10.0 oz Black Strap Molasses - added during boil
14.0 g Northern Brewer (8.0%) - added during boil, boiled 75 min
14.0 g Northern Brewer (8.0%) - added during boil, boiled 30 min
14.0 g Cascade (5.5%) - added during boil, boiled 10 min
14.0 g Cascade (5.5%) - added during boil, boiled 0.0 min
1.0 ea WYeast 1318 London Ale III

[size=+1]Notes[/size]

Mash @ 150F
Boil Time - 90min.
Ferment @ 68F for 3 days - ramp up to 72F

[size=-1]Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.5.3[/size]
 
Janet's Brown Ale (Mike McDole's recipe).

I have won 2 blue ribbons with this beer. It is a great beer.

Code:
Recipe: Janet's Brown Ale
Style: 10C-American Ale-American Brown Ale

Recipe Overview
 
Wort Volume Before Boil: 28.00 qts
Wort Volume After Boil: 24.00 qts
Volume Transferred: 24.00 qts
Water Added: 0.00 qts
Volume At Pitching: 22.00 qts
Final Batch Volume: 20.00 qts
Expected Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.058 SG
Expected OG: 1.068 SG
Expected FG: 1.015 SG
Expected ABV: 7.1 %
Expected ABW: 5.5 %
Expected IBU (using Rager): 48.0
Expected Color: 19.3 SRM
Apparent Attenuation: 76.5 %
Mash Efficiency: 70.0 %
Boil Duration: 60.0 mins
Fermentation Temperature: 67 degF

Fermentables
US 2-Row Malt 12lb 0oz (75.0 %) In Mash/Steeped
US Carapils Malt 1lb 4oz (7.8 %) In Mash/Steeped
US Caramel 40L Malt 1lb 4oz (7.8 %) In Mash/Steeped
US White Wheat Malt 1lb 0oz (6.3 %) In Mash/Steeped
US Chocolate Malt 8.00 oz (3.1 %) In Mash/Steeped

Hops
German Northern Brewer (6.5 % alpha) 1.00 oz Loose Pellet Hops used Mash Hop
German Northern Brewer (6.5 % alpha) 1.25 oz Loose Pellet Hops used 60 Min From End
German Northern Brewer (6.5 % alpha) 1.00 oz Loose Pellet Hops used 15 Min From End
US Cascade (6.0 % alpha) 1.50 oz Loose Pellet Hops used 10 Min From End
US Cascade (6.0 % alpha) 1.50 oz Loose Pellet Hops used At turn off
US Centennial (9.0 % alpha) 1.00 oz Loose Pellet Hops used Dry-Hopped

Other Ingredients

Yeast: White Labs WLP001-California Ale

Mash Schedule
Mash Type: Full Mash
Schedule Name:Single Step Infusion (68C/154F)
Step: Rest at 154 degF for 60 mins
 
While I am a fan of the hop, I think I might focus more on the malty side. Maybe the best would be balanced though. Janet's Brown Ale is one that I have heard of. Can't go wrong with an award winner! (Unless I brew it, then anything can happen...)

But I don't have German Brewer hops. I would probably sub with one of the many hops varieties I do have. I got Amarillo, Cascade, Centennial, EKG, and something else I can't remember... I'll take inventory when I get home.
 
My favorite Brown is Doryman Dark from Pelican, but I've never seen a recipe for it.

This is good.

Old Brown Dog

8 oz C90L
8 oz Victory
4 oz Chocolate malt
8 oz brown malt
2.5 lb 2-row
155F 45 min.

5lb Pale Extract

1.5 oz Willamette @ 60
no other hop additions.

TG 1.052

English Ale yest or Nottingham
 
While I am a fan of the hop, I think I might focus more on the malty side. Maybe the best would be balanced though. Janet's Brown Ale is one that I have heard of. Can't go wrong with an award winner! (Unless I brew it, then anything can happen...)

But I don't have German Brewer hops. I would probably sub with one of the many hops varieties I do have. I got Amarillo, Cascade, Centennial, EKG, and something else I can't remember... I'll take inventory when I get home.

You will be surprised how balanced the Janet's brown is. It has a lot of hops, but is not like you are drinking a brown IPA.
 
I think that's the one I'm going with.

I went out to eat last night and had a leiney fireside nut brown. Not a bad beer, but had virtually NO brown ale flavor IMO. Tasted more like an amber to me. Washed the food down nicely, but certainly not a beer to try to reproduce as a brown.

I have everything, just need to build the starter up again and pick a day when I can do it. Probably Wednesday. Tuesdays are my busy taking girls to dance day.
 
if you want a good christmas brown, search on here for 'Holiday Brown Bear'. my brew is almost finished fermenting and it is absolutely delicious in the sample!
 
Janet's Brown Ale is the only beer I have ever rebrewed - I am up to 3 times now. It is fantastic.

Mike McDole puts out some killer recipes. I just brewed his APA this past weekend.
 
I think that's the one I'm going with.

I went out to eat last night and had a leiney fireside nut brown. Not a bad beer, but had virtually NO brown ale flavor IMO. Tasted more like an amber to me. Washed the food down nicely, but certainly not a beer to try to reproduce as a brown.

I have everything, just need to build the starter up again and pick a day when I can do it. Probably Wednesday. Tuesdays are my busy taking girls to dance day.

That Leine's beer is a lager. That's why it tastes so, well, not. Not like anything very flavorful.

I like the Janet's Brown Ale, but another thought I had was a Moose Drool clone. It was on "Can You Brew It?" recently, and they consider it cloned, if I remember correctly. Moose Drool is a really great example of American Brown, in my opinion, but it's definitely toward the malty side rather than hoppy. I think you'd also like my Fat Squirrel clone. It was a really good beer, well liked by everybody who tried it.
 
Dammit you guys! I already made up my mind! Arghh!!

LOL! I'm going to stick with the Janet this time. Tasty McDole's recipes HAVE to be good, by default. Just hearing his name makes me want to try one!

I would love to try a Moose Drool for real and have a comparison though.
 
That Leine's beer is a lager. That's why it tastes so, well, not. Not like anything very flavorful.

I like the Janet's Brown Ale, but another thought I had was a Moose Drool clone. It was on "Can You Brew It?" recently, and they consider it cloned, if I remember correctly. Moose Drool is a really great example of American Brown, in my opinion, but it's definitely toward the malty side rather than hoppy. I think you'd also like my Fat Squirrel clone. It was a really good beer, well liked by everybody who tried it.

No wonder. I told my wife it was good, but NOT a brown in my opinion. I said it's missing a lot of the "brown flavor".

That's what I get for drinking a Leiney's. Some of their stuff is good, but a lot of it barely passes for beer IMO. The Berry Weisse was simply nasty...
 
+1 on moose drool

I forgot how good the commercial version is until a friend brought some over.

I have a clone being tapped later this week :) Only 7 weeks old but I can't wait any longer.....
 
That Leine's beer is a lager. That's why it tastes so, well, not. Not like anything very flavorful.

I like the Janet's Brown Ale, but another thought I had was a Moose Drool clone. It was on "Can You Brew It?" recently, and they consider it cloned, if I remember correctly. Moose Drool is a really great example of American Brown, in my opinion, but it's definitely toward the malty side rather than hoppy. I think you'd also like my Fat Squirrel clone. It was a really good beer, well liked by everybody who tried it.

Wait, isn't that Fat Squirrel a beer from Wisconsin, or Minnesota? I can't remember the name. I'm sure I picked up a mixer on the way back from moving my friend back to Michigan. Shoot... starts with an 'S'...

Schnell?? I'd have to look it up. If I remember, I think the Fat Squirrel was my favorite out of the whole batch!
 
Dammit you guys! I already made up my mind! Arghh!!

LOL! I'm going to stick with the Janet this time. Tasty McDole's recipes HAVE to be good, by default. Just hearing his name makes me want to try one!

I would love to try a Moose Drool for real and have a comparison though.

I am going to brew a mini-mash version of this recipe in a couple weeks. I'd love to hear how your brew turns out.

Eric
 
New Glarus Fat Squirrel.

Yes! I remember picking up a 6er of Schnells or whatever, but the fat squirrel was a different brewer.

I wish we could get New Glarus here. I'll have to look for it the next time I get to the LHBS in GR. The beer store in BR is good, but not THAT good.

I bought an old 6er of some German Altbier. Well, it was OLD! It had swingtops, and one reason I wanted to get it was for the bottles, and also because I wanted to try a commercial Alt.

Well, it was flat, NO hops, and very watery. Basically like a watered down flat pepsi. I think it had been on the shelf since the 80s...
 
Another Vote for Janet's. Brewed a few months back and it was very popular.

Also like a WA State local brown from the Rivertown Alehouse called Rivertown Brown


DFH Indian Brown?

This has been on my list to try for some time but I never see it when I'm out looking at beers to buy.
 
New Glarus Fat Squirrel.

Yes! I remember picking up a 6er of Schnells or whatever, but the fat squirrel was a different brewer.

I wish we could get New Glarus here. I'll have to look for it the next time I get to the LHBS in GR. The beer store in BR is good, but not THAT good.

I bought an old 6er of some German Altbier. Well, it was OLD! It had swingtops, and one reason I wanted to get it was for the bottles, and also because I wanted to try a commercial Alt.

Well, it was flat, NO hops, and very watery. Basically like a watered down flat pepsi. I think it had been on the shelf since the 80s...


At this point, New Glarus beers are only distribuated in Wisconsin. I think that will be changing, since they built their new brewery, but at this point you won't find it in GR!
 
I think someone needs to make a Smokey and the Bandit type run to Wisconsin and bring back some New Glarus beer!

Eastbound and Down loaded up and truckin
we gonna do what they say can't be done
We've got a long way to go and a short time to get there
I'm eastbound just watch old bandit run
 
So I was a bit sick yesterday and was going to have someone over to brew with me and see how I do AG, but he decided he didn't want to get sick too!

Anyway, after a couple of hours the sun goes down and it starts getting cold and I start coughing again. Not the best way to get healthy. But I got that beer brewed! It's lookin good. I had to sub some hops, but I think it will be ok.

I also learned that my scale has a grams setting, but it's unusable. I basically had to guess for water adjustments, but I think I did ok. My water is already not too bad for darker beers.
 
I'm late to this thread but I've brewed both the Moose Drool and the Pullman Brown from the BN's CYBI show. Both came out really nice I thought, and I can see brewing either one of them again. Both of those recipes are more malt-focused than hop-focused, the Pullman Brown leaning towards a Brown Porter even.

Many people probably think Brown Ales are sort of dull, but they're one of my favorite "drink a few pints" brews. They just don't tire you out the way some beers do.
 
Ok, I subbed some hops because I didn't have the Norther Brewer. Without my notes I think I used Centennial, and adjusted for IBUs. And then some Homegrown Cascade at flameout.

I pitched a double starter (due to having had to wait a couple of days, I just built it up some more) and set it down in the basement. I transferred to secondary last night and siphoned it on top of 2 more ounces of homegrown cascade. The reason I used 2 ounces is because the hops did not get dry as they should, and I figure they were twice as heavy.

At any rate, the beer tasted great and although a bit cloudy yet, there is time for it to clear. I forgot to use Irish Moss again, so I intend to cold crash it before kegging.

This is the first time I've used whole hops for dryhopping, and actually only my third dry hopping at all. The smell was fantastic! I'm so geeked about this beer. I haven't brewed a brown ale in a long time. Thanks for the suggestion! I know I modified it a bit, but I think it's going to turn out ok.
 
Im late to the thread too but I love my brown ales.

Please do not ever mention Leinies Fireside Brown in a serious discussion of brown ales. I take my brown ales seriously and that Fireside Brown is an absolute abomination.

Moose Drool is great - recipes can be found all over the web, including the Brewing Network.

I have a Bells Best Brown on tap right now that is delicious. Recipe is in BYOs Clone 150.
 
Please do not ever mention Leinies Fireside Brown in a serious discussion of brown ales. I take my brown ales seriously and that Fireside Brown is an absolute abomination.

Moose Drool is great - recipes can be found all over the web, including the Brewing Network.

A guy I know who isn't into any sort of craft beer brought over the remains of a six of Fireside Brown that someone else left at his house. He figured I'd like it. It was nasty and I dumped it. I'm not a huge fan of spiced beers but I can appreciate a good one. Fireside Brown isn't a good one.

Back to the Moose Drool...I picked up a six of Moose Drool while traveling a week or so ago, because I still had some of my Moose Drool Clone on tap. It was the one from Jamil's "Can You Brew It." I wouldn't call my effort cloned, because I could tell the difference. But I think I preferred mine to the actual Moose Drool, which is rare for me when comparing my beer to commercial examples. It technically fits into the specs of an American Brown, but would probably be considered too lightly hopped to place in competition. A good drinker though.
 
I've had fireside brown and it's not terrible beer, but not a representation of a brown IMO. I find that is true of many Leiney's products. Some are pretty good, others are poor or worse.
 
Hrm. I just bought a 6'er of Bell's best, and have to say I'm not all that impressed. And I like Browns quite a bit.

Wow. I thought Bells had a pretty good brown. I have not had it in a while that I can remember.

Mine spent a week in dryhop and smelled awesome getting transferred into keg. Now for a few weeks of keg aging. It was clearing pretty good too, so hopefully it will turn out nice even though I forgot the Irish Moss.

The hops were a bit strong for a brown, but I fully expect them to drop out a little over the next few weeks, and maybe the carbing and conditioning will lessen them too.
 
I was wanting to make a brown but was unsure of what direction to go and then I stumbled on this thread. Glad I did. Looking to the make Tasty's Janet's Brown with a few sbustitutions. Has anyone tried brewing this WLP 002 English Ale yeast? I have a vial of it in my fridge that I want to use sooner rather than later. Would the 002 make this too sweet? What if I dropped the OG to 1.060 - 1.064 range? Also thinking of adding a pound of munich in place of the wheat. Let me know what you guys think.
 
I was wanting to make a brown but was unsure of what direction to go and then I stumbled on this thread. Glad I did. Looking to the make Tasty's Janet's Brown with a few sbustitutions. Has anyone tried brewing this WLP 002 English Ale yeast? I have a vial of it in my fridge that I want to use sooner rather than later. Would the 002 make this too sweet? What if I dropped the OG to 1.060 - 1.064 range? Also thinking of adding a pound of munich in place of the wheat. Let me know what you guys think.

Frankly, the original seems to be a pretty high gravity beer for a brown. I don't think it would hurt to drop the gravity a few points, but then it's really not the same recipe. I tried to hit the numbers, even though I had to sub the hops.

When I transferred, I thought it was a bit hoppy. Some residual sugar would probably not hurt either. But then it starts to sound more like an British Style Brown

One thing that I like about this hobby is the ability to create your own unique recipes. I say go for it and post your findings.
 
I was wanting to make a brown but was unsure of what direction to go and then I stumbled on this thread. Glad I did. Looking to the make Tasty's Janet's Brown with a few sbustitutions. Has anyone tried brewing this WLP 002 English Ale yeast? I have a vial of it in my fridge that I want to use sooner rather than later. Would the 002 make this too sweet? What if I dropped the OG to 1.060 - 1.064 range? Also thinking of adding a pound of munich in place of the wheat. Let me know what you guys think.

I think you can do it. I would probably leave out the carapils though. And maybe drop the OG a bit. There should be enough hops to stand up to the higher FG.
 
Hobgoblin is a great brown ale.

Plus I've heard Orfy might have a clone recipe that may or may not be pretty damn good.
 
Ok, this has been sitting in the keg for about two weeks now. I was going to yank the rest of my Belgian Pale frankenstein beer, because it sometimes tastes... Not right. But I pulled a half glass and it was pretty good, so I left it in the kegerator.

I took out the Belgian Strong, and decided to just bottle it at normal pressure. I dont' have enough corkable bottles and it's been in the fridge too long as it is. Need to make room for the Brown.

Checked the keg for leaks and found none. Put the keg in the fridge, poured out about a pint of sediment and got a half glass to go with lunch.

WOW! I thought the hops would be too strong yet, but they mellowed out very well! Very much a brown in flavor IMO. Getting a nice hop aroma, which I really like. With just a hint of American hops (ok more than a hint, but not overwhelming).

Thanks for recommending this recipe! It turned out great and it isn't even carbed and it's still warm!
 
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