Goat Holler Brown

This was my attempt at the Kentucky Common. I found this style in Radical Brewing and did my best with the information I had to formulate the recipe. Noticably absent is any attempt at souring the beer. I wanted this to be more like a sessionable brown/amber ale and succeeded greatly.

This beer is road tested. I submitted this beer for the 2011 Upland UpCup and finished with a 32/50 (with most demerits due to lack of sourness). I served this at a separate event with 250+ people with overwhelmingly positive response. Beer snobs and BMC drinkers have both expressed affection for this beer. What I'm trying to say is that this is a good beer. Try it.

I am originally from Southern California, but moved to Bloomington, Indiana two years ago. My fiancee is also from Southern Indiana and I immediately fell in love with the geography and the pace of life. This is my valentine to the region.

Okay, enough talk. On to the recipe:

Brewhouse efficiency: 65%
Mash temp: 149 fahrenheit
Prime to 2.8 vol CO2
(I like this to be crisp and dry. You are more than welcome to alter mash temperature and carbonation to your liking)

Yeast:
Wyeast 1065 - American Ale

Grains:
American 2 Row [2 SRM] - 7.5 lb (66.7%)
Corn Grits [0.8 SRM] - 2.25 lb (20%)
Crystal 60 [60 SRM] - 1 lb (8.9%)
Pale Chocolate [250 SRM] - 0.5 lb (4.4%)

Hops:
Palisade [8%] - 0.5 oz @ 45M
Willamette [4.7%] - 0.5 oz @ 45M
Palisade [8%] - 0.5 oz @ 20M
Willamette [4.7%] - 0.5 oz @ 20M

Cook the grits according to the instructions on the box, but use excess water to avoid clumping. I add 1 tsp of Irish moss at 15M.

Is this a standard 60 min mash? And I'm assuming you cook the grits and then top off for you mash water, put the rest of the grainbill in, and then bring to 148°-150°?

djfriesen said:

Is this a standard 60 min mash? And I'm assuming you cook the grits and then top off for you mash water, put the rest of the grainbill in, and then bring to 148°-150°?

Click to expand...

You are correct on both points. One more point, I would strongly recommend cooking the grits with excess water. If you don't, it's very easy for the grits to clump up and that kills your efficiency.