Hopbursted Brown Ale Recipe Critique

[Flatspin]

I've thought about a good recipe that will use up some of the ingredients in the house for a while now, and I'd appreciate some feedback. Is the crystal malt level too high, since together the Medium Crystal, CaraPils and Special B total 11% of the malt? Also, I have an ounce of Chinook in the fridge right now and built the hop schedule around that, so I can be pretty flexible there.

Here is the recipe that I created in Hopville:

Batch size: 5.0 gallons

Original Gravity
1.053
Final Gravity
1.013
Color
20° SRM (Light Brown to Medium Brown)
Mash Efficiency
75%
Bitterness
39.8 IBU
BU:GU
0.75
Alcohol
5.3% ABV / 4% ABW
Calories
174 per 12 oz.


malt & fermentables
% LB OZ Malt or Fermentable ppg °L
51% 5 0 American Two-row Pale 37 1 ~
31% 3 0 Vienna Malt 36 3 ~
8% 0 12 Pale Chocolate Malt 34 165 ~
5% 0 8 English Crystal, 50-60 34 55 ~
3% 0 4 Weyermann CaraPils 33 4 ~
3% 0 4 Belgian Special B 30 220 ~

hops
use time oz variety form aa
FWH 60+ mins 0.5 Chinook pellet 13.0
boil 20 mins 0.5 Amarillo pellet 7.0
boil 20 mins 0.5 Chinook pellet 13.0
boil 10 mins 0.5 Amarillo pellet 7.0
boil 1 min 1.0 Chinook pellet 13.0
dry 7 days 1.0 Amarillo pellet 7.0

yeast
Safale US-05 Dry Yeast

misc
use time amount ingredient
boil 15 min 1 tsp Irish Moss
primary 21 days 1 ea Clarity-Ferm

 

[DoctorDuvel]

looks good to me, been thinking of a hoppy brown ale myself!...i say run with it, don't change anything...changes to the recipe should be reserved for the 2nd run

 

[ere109]

I've got an "IBA" recipe I put together. I used Chinook the first time, but that's a very strong hop. I've since tried Magnum and am pretty happy at 51 IBU. The chocolate and specialty hops really help. I've started using more Maris Otter and Munich than standard 2 Row. Brew, ferment, drink, adjust, repeat.

 

[Flatspin]

I've got an "IBA" recipe I put together. I used Chinook the first time, but that's a very strong hop. I've since tried Magnum and am pretty happy at 51 IBU. The chocolate and specialty hops really help. I've started using more Maris Otter and Munich than standard 2 Row. Brew, ferment, drink, adjust, repeat.

I've heard it said that Chinook can give a harsh flavor when used as a bittering hop. Should I replace the Chinook at bittering with something cleaner?

 

[two_hearted]

I just brewed Tasty McDole's - Janet's Brown Ale yesterday. Lots of crystal. Lots of hops. Widely regarded as an awesome recipe.

Batch Size (Gal): 6.00 Wort Size (Gal): 6.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 16.00
Anticipated OG: 1.066 Plato: 16.20
Anticipated SRM: 19.3
Anticipated IBU: 63.2
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70 %
Wort Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
75.0 12.00 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) America 1.036 2
7.8 1.25 lbs. Cara-Pils Dextrine Malt 1.033 2
7.8 1.25 lbs. Crystal 40L America 1.034 40
6.3 1.00 lbs. Wheat Malt America 1.038 2
3.1 0.50 lbs. Chocolate Malt America 1.029 350

Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.00 oz. Northern Brewer Pellet 6.50 19.0 Mash H
1.25 oz. Northern Brewer Pellet 6.50 30.8 60 min.
1.00 oz. Northern Brewer Pellet 6.50 6.6 15 min.
1.50 oz. Cascade Pellet 6.00 6.8 10 min.
1.50 oz. Cascade Pellet 6.00 0.0 0 min.
2.00 oz. Centennial Pellet 9.00 0.0 Dry Hop

Yeast
-----
White Labs WLP001 California Ale Yeast

Mash Schedule
-------------
Saccharification Rest Temp : 154 Time: 30
Mash-out Rest Temp : 165 Time: 15
Sparge Temp : 170 Time: 45

 

[Flatspin]

I just brewed Tasty McDole's - Janet's Brown Ale yesterday. Lots of crystal. Lots of hops. Widely regarded as an awesome recipe.

OK, that makes me more comfortable with the amount of crystal. But I have seen a few brown ale recipes now with only a small amount of Chocolate malt. Do you think 12 oz will be overpowering?

 

[two_hearted]

not sure, I've only used up to .25 lb of pale chocolate.

 

[jtejedor]

Since its pale chocolate I would think it shouldn't be too overpowering. Regular chocolate I might say cut back a bit.