British Brown Ale Aberdeen Brown Ale (NewCastle Clone) AG

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I noticed the 2 different boil times 60 and 90? I've just started reading brew recipes so not sure if I understand.

Also, beersmith has the final gravity at 1.015. Which is a ways off from 1.007. Is beersmith underestimating attenuation?
 
I just made this beer for the second time (first time was a compromise across the board on ingredients and wanted a "true attempt" this time).

I dropped the roasted barely as last time it felt really out of place compared to the commercial example (although tasty I wouldn't have pegged it even close as a clone).

While the beer this time is damn, damn good, it is still so far off from the commercial version that I'm at a loss for how much praise this version gets. It could be I did something wrong but I don't see what.

I did my VERY best to copy this recipe 1:1 (except 5 gallons and dropped the roast barley), same yeast, same mash temp, same hops/malt, everything.

When I taste the commercial example I get crisp, clean flavor with serious stand-out notes of fruit (plum, raisin, etc...). With my clone version I get a "maltier/heavier" version that is still very clean tasting but lacking 100% of the fruit/plum/raisin notes. It's like a very neutral brown ale.

Now don't get me wrong, it's tasty, damn tasty, and my wife even prefers this clone to the original (always like hearing that) but the fruit notes are what MAKE this beer, IMHO.

Any advice on how to get more of that out of this clone or is that just an unfortunate result of not aging and mixing two batches?

Here's what my notes say, in case someone can help me pinpoint the issue if it is just me:

Recipe:

- 7 lbs, 3.8 oz 2-Row
- 14.7 oz flaked corn
- 8.1 oz carared
- 8.1 oz crystal 60
- 8.1 oz crystal 80
- 7.3 oz carapils
- 4 oz chocolate malt
- 0.92 oz willamette (6%) @ 60
- 0.25 oz goldings (5.5%) @ 15
- Proper starter of Whitbread yeast

Mash temp: 156.5 for 60 min

Let sit for 3 weeks then racked to keg.

Any ideas? I'd LOVE to get more fruitiness out of this.

I scaled this recipe from 11gal down to 5 gal in Beersmith and I have different grain bill. Yours are all higher than mine, for example my 2 row comes in at 5lbs11oz. I double checked my conversion and it seems correct. If yours is correct let me know maybe I'm doing something wrong.
 
I have my beersmith efficiency set to 75% and I do 5.5 gallon batches - are you using a lower or higher number? That would do it.
 
I have to say, I'm very glad I stuck to the recipe for this brew. Usually I tweak the recipes I find, but I decided to stick to it on this one and I'm very happy with the result!

It's only been on CO2 for a week, so it's a little flat, but the flavor is great, very much representative of the style. It's one of the few times I've tasted a beer at kegging time and actually been happy with the flavor. Once it has a little time to carb up and clear out it is going to be a hit.
 
Thanks for the recipe. I tried some Newcastle a few months ago and wanted to make something similar. I didn't have any roasted barley so I used 0.3 lb chocolate and 0.3 lb special B since I had seen several comments recommend it. I bought a sixer of the original to compare side by side but they are really skunky. It was only kegged for 4 days before I left town but it tasted pretty good. I'm hoping it clears up nicely after a few weeks in the keg and I can post a picture of the side by side with the original.
 
Has anyone else used S-04 dry yeast instead of the liquid for this recipe? This was the first time for me using S-04 and I think it works well in this recipe but I don't know how it compares to the 1099.
 
ryandean - I used s-04 my first batch and 1099 the second batch.

Supposedly they are the same strain but my second batch with liquid 1099 was much, much better than the first batch with rehydrated s-04. Could have been any number of other variables (such is brewing) but regardless, that's my data point for what it's worth.
 
I've been meaning to brew this for months and finally brewed 10 gallons on Sunday. Was about 4 oz short on the 20L and used s-04 yeast, but I'm excited for the results.
 
I recently brewed 10 gallons of this delicious beer this past Friday. Within the first 24 hour my airlock was bubbling away and a nice krausen Started to form. Well I'm now on day 4 and the krausen has stopped and it's almost non existent. Is this normal? Has anyone else experienced this?
 
I haven't made this recipe but a low OG beer doesn't take long to ferment. I brewed an ordinary bitter that was fully fermented in 3ish days.
 
I just kegged this baby and pulled a liter off and forced carb'd it to give it a try.

Color is spot on but that is about it. Aroma is a mix between bready/toast and corn. The taste, while delicious, it is nothing like a Newkie B.

I followed the recipe to a tee and made no adjustments.

I will make this again as it is a delicious beer but I think with some tweaks it could achieve some of the Newcastle flavor.

Next batch I will:
- limit corn to only 5-8%
- remove the roasted barley altogether
- double up on the Crystal 80 (needs more stone fruit character in this beer)
- use pale chocolate malt

This is a great Northern English Brown, but not a Newcastle Brown.

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I've been meaning to brew this for months and finally brewed 10 gallons on Sunday. Was about 4 oz short on the 20L and used s-04 yeast, but I'm excited for the results.

Well this turned out great. I've tapped a keg already and it's a hit with my family. I'll have to brew this one again soon.
 
Just brewed up 10 gallons of this using Marris Otter, and S-04 yeast. Sorry if this has been mentioned before, but I've noticed a few brewers mentioning the lack of plum, raisin, or such flavors which are present in the commercial example. I am wondering if a small amount of Special B(maybe half a pound/8 ounces) would provide that?
 
Brewed this couple of weeks ago. Excluded chocolate malt and roasted barley (didn't have any). Undershot OG and volumes big time. And afterwards realized I screwed up the water treatment. Forgot to change water volumes from previous batch and ended up adding salts based on 29 liters (7,7 gallons) instead of the 13 liters (3,4 gallons) used for this brew. And the beer tasted GREAT!

This time I hopefully will meet my estimates better. And I was thinking about using Mangrove Jacks M15 Empire Ale instead. It is supposedly interchangeable with M03 (Newcastle dark ale). I used it once and it gave some of the dark fruits in the finished beer.

Thoughts on that?
 
Just wanted to thank BierMuncher for this recipe. Turned out great about 3 weeks into the bottling. I used Pilsner DME and London III yeast because both were on hand. I will add this to the short list of recipe keepers. Next time I'll probably go with 02 for lower attenuation and ABV.
 
Just wanted to thank BierMuncher for this recipe. Turned out great about 3 weeks into the bottling. I used Pilsner DME and London III yeast because both were on hand. I will add this to the short list of recipe keepers. Next time I'll probably go with 02 for lower attenuation and ABV.

Yeah BM has a load of good recipes on here.

A general question and bit off topic but I wanted to check out the recipe list of several advanced users to get some inspiration for my next brew. There used to be a recipe drop down list from the user's avatar in the old version of the forum software but it has disappeared now.
Anyone know where the link to a user's recipies are in the new software?

Thanks. :mug:
 
I'm relatively new here, stumbled on this recipe through a google search, and brewed it (with a few minor tweaks) a couple weeks ago. It turned out to be one of my favorite homebrews to date. Awesome job on this recipe! Newcastle is one of my faves, and this nails it for sure! Thank you for the recipe.
 
I love newcastle and am always on this forum, surprised I havn't seen this thread. Anyhow this is what I am gonna brew up. I toned down the crystal malts to 20% and added the suggested special b.

7lbs - Maris Otter (70%)
1lb - Flaked Corn (10%)
8oz - Special B 110SRM (5%)
8oz - Crystal 80 (5%)
8oz - Crystal 20 (5%)
4oz - Crystal 60 (2.5%)
4oz - Pale Chocolate 220SRM (2.5%)

.5oz Target (60mins)
.25oz EKG (15mins)

Wyeast 1099 Whitbread Ale

Mash: 154F
OG: 1.050
SRM: 17.4
IBU: 22.6
ABV: at 73% brewhouse 4.7% (which is what newcastle is)
 
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Has anyone noticed that the Newcastle recipe in the US is different? Instead of being imported, it's brewed now by Lagunitas with Centential and Chinook hops. What are folks thoughts on the new taste? I noticed it right away and it definitely has a Lagunitas-style flavor. I'm not thrilled though.

I'm kinda bummed I can't buy it anymore, but at least I can brew something that is very close to the original using this recipe.

I'm just really surprised they decided to alter the original recipe of this iconic beer.
 
I love newcastle and am always on this forum, surprised I havn't seen this thread. Anyhow this is what I am gonna brew up. I toned down the crystal malts to 20% and added the suggested special b.

7lbs - Maris Otter (70%)
1lb - Flaked Corn (10%)
8oz - Special B 110SRM (5%)
8oz - Crystal 80 (5%)
8oz - Crystal 20 (5%)
4oz - Crystal 60 (2.5%)
4oz - Pale Chocolate 220SRM (2.5%)

.5oz Target (60mins)
.25oz EKG (15mins)

Wyeast 1099 Whitbread Ale

Mash: 154F
OG: 1.050
SRM: 17.4
IBU: 22.6
ABV: at 73% brewhouse 4.7% (which is what newcastle is)

To follow up with a side by side comparison...the color is spot on. My beer is much more fuller and has quite a bit of chocolate flavor which is weird based on the malt bill. Like said above I think I got a skunky can of newcastle, but I actually preferred mine more. My beer isnt quite as clear as it has only been in the keg for a week
 

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Has anyone noticed that the Newcastle recipe in the US is different? Instead of being imported, it's brewed now by Lagunitas with Centential and Chinook hops. What are folks thoughts on the new taste? I noticed it right away and it definitely has a Lagunitas-style flavor. I'm not thrilled though.

I'm kinda bummed I can't buy it anymore, but at least I can brew something that is very close to the original using this recipe.

I'm just really surprised they decided to alter the original recipe of this iconic beer.

As I mentioned a couple of years ago, (and received a probably well-deserved "How dare you!") the Newcastle I can get in Minnesota I don't think is imported, and it kinda tastes like Bud Light with a little caramel color. I like the clear bottles for putting my cider in, but have no use for the beer. (and green Stella bottle are even better for cider. Stella is a decent summer beer) If Newcastle was cheap I might buy it, but not at premium prices. I can't imagine that it's supposed to be like that; at least not the UK version.

The recipe at the top of the thread looks great. I was just amazed that anyone would take a fine looking beer and call it a Newcastle clone. Unless they were being ironic and I missed the joke ;)
 
Started a 5.5g batch last weekend, BIAB. Made no ingredient modifications to the recipe. Mashed at I think 158 (had thermometer issues) and got an OG of 1.040. I'm not super confident that my OG is accurate because I topped up with about a gallon of water in the carboy before I took my reading and I failed to do any mixing beyond what the flow of the water did by itself.

First 3 days of fermentation I had the carboy in the basement at about 62F. During this time, visible fermentation was vigorous, with a maybe 1-inch layer of krausen on top. By the end of the third day, the krausen had disappeared though slight bubbling was still visible. At this point, I moved the carboy upstairs where it could ferment at a temperature of about 68F.

Since the krausen didn't gunk up the glass inside the carboy, I dropped my hydrometer in last night so I can take daily readings without pulling the plug out. Last night (day 4) it was at 1.020, this morning, slightly below that. Now I'm just watching and waiting.
 
Bottled on 12 March, 13 days of fermentation total. FG was 1.014, which puts the ABV at 3.4%. Lower than I want but like I mentioned previously, I topped off with about a gallon of water and forgot to mix before taking my OG so I'm pretty sure it's higher than that. Plus it smelled and tasted boozier than that for sure.

Waiting 2-3 weeks for carbonation at 70f currently. Set aside 2 swing-top bottles that are potentially oxidized due to sloppy handling as my testers.
 
Bottled on 12 March, 13 days of fermentation total. FG was 1.014, which puts the ABV at 3.4%. Lower than I want but like I mentioned previously, I topped off with about a gallon of water and forgot to mix before taking my OG so I'm pretty sure it's higher than that. Plus it smelled and tasted boozier than that for sure.

Waiting 2-3 weeks for carbonation at 70f currently. Set aside 2 swing-top bottles that are potentially oxidized due to sloppy handling as my testers.

Looking to brew up a batch of this myself in the next few weeks. I have some torrified wheat on hand that I was going to sub for the flaked maize, and using S-04 as I have a few packets in the fridge.

Please report back on your results. Inquiring minds wanna know! :D
 
Been carbing for 2 weeks and I'm pretty sure I added more bottling sugar than the batch really needed given how much I left behind, so I chilled one of my 2 testers and gave it a try.

It tastes almost exactly how I remember Newcastle Brown Ale used to! And it came out almost crystal clear with no finings besides whirlfloc at boil (tried my best to capture that in the photo but between the lens focus and condensation it's not quite apparent in the photo).

Not 100% on target flavor-wise, but I didn't brew 2 seperate batches and blend them so it's not like I can complain. My only actual complaint is against myself: according to Brulosophy, it's not necessary to seperate the trub when you put the wort in the fermenter, and can actually improve the flavor if you leave it behind. And I forgot to put the 60 minute hops in my hops cage so those were totally loose in the boil... I noticed little hops particles still floating when I transferred to the bottling bucket; hoped they'd drop out during bottle conditioning but they were still floating around in the glass. You can't see them in the photo but trust me they're there, not in large quantity though. Lesson learned: if you don't separate off the trub, make sure you put all the hops in a cage or basket.

I'll give it another go at week 3, but I have no reason to doubt that this was a great recipe. Too bad BierMuncher doesn't post anymore.

brown ale.jpeg
 
I need a brown ale for next month for a BBQ/Smoker gathering. (sept 18th)
never brewed one before but BierMuncher's has some good recipe's so i'll be brewing this as soon as the whitebread yeast shows up. (hopefully by monday)
nobody had it locally and there doesn't appear to be a good substitute.
I can force carb so i should be good.

Edit: 10 gallon batch biab on wednesday.
OG of 1.043
whitebread despite a healthy starter did nothing for a whole day after added.
then was going nuts by friday, today...very little activity and gravity is 2.019.
but the sample from the spigot in the bottom of the fermenter smells and tasted great.
hopefully it'll drop some more in the next few days because it needs to be in the keg by the weekend chilling and carbing.

if not, i got some lutra slurry i know will take it down.
 
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ok. boiled some water and added the proper amount of yeast nutrient yesterday and i'm down 3 pts. to 1.016.
I think i mashed in too high.
I heated the mash water to 158-159 because normally the grain pulls the temp down when added but it was a 90 degree day and the grain had been outside for a bit so it's temp probably wasn't low enough to bring the water temp down.
 
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