Not sure what I feel like brewing...

[mrgstiffler]

I'm in the mood to brew something medium-low gravity, low carbonation, bready and smooth. Something you can sit around with a bunch of friends and throw back pint after pint of. Anyone have a good recipe that fits the bill?

 

[pd230soi]

Sounds like a mild or some sort of brown.

 

[mrgstiffler]

Yeah, it does, but I'm not a fan of browns.

 

[gr8shandini]

How about an English bitter? Here's one that works pretty well for me:

Estimated OG: 1.046 SG
Estimated Color: 8.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 41.2 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 74.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 74.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name
8 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM)
8.0 oz Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM)
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM)
2.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [4.50 %] - Boil 60.0 34.3 IBUs
0.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [4.50 %] - Boil 20.0 5.2 IBUs
0.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [4.50 %] - Boil 5.0 1.7 IBUs

Mash it really hot (about 158 F) and ferment with S-04.

 

[brewdude25]

sounds like a fat tire clone

 

[GuldTuborg]

How about an English bitter?

That's the first thing I though of, too. Bitters meet all your criteria, OP. A Maris Otter base with a little medium-dark crystal, amber malt, sugar, and some good English hops are all you need. Pick your favorite English yeast and you'll have a supremely drinkable beer in only a couple weeks.

 

[Cambone]

What about the often over look dry stout? It has that great pint after pint quafability. And out of your criteria the only one it doesn't meet is "bready".

I have brewed the Jamil's Dry Stout and can attest to its easy drinking properties among friends and good looking strangers.

 

[gr8shandini]

sounds like a fat tire clone

With a Belgian yeast, maybe, but trust me, this one's "spot on" as the Brits would say. Maybe a little hoppy, but I like my bitters to be . . . well, bitter.

 

[mrgstiffler]

English Bitter sounds interesting. I can't think of any that I've had before.

 

[mrgstiffler]

What about the often over look dry stout? It has that great pint after pint quafability. And out of your criteria the only one it doesn't meet is "bready".

I have brewed the Jamil's Dry Stout and can attest to its easy drinking properties among friends and good looking strangers.

I do like Dry Stouts, but it's not exactly what I'm looking for. I'm thinking pale and bready instead of dark and roasty.

 

[mrgstiffler]

Well, I just found pretty much exactly what I was looking for... but unintentionally.

I brewed a Dunkelweizen a couple weeks ago and kegged it earlier this week. It still has another 1-2 weeks to fully carbonate but I wanted to give it a taste. This is EXACTLY the beer I was aiming for when I started this thread. The Dunkelweizen is probably around 1.5 volumes right now. So less than half of what a traditional wheat beer but it's spot on for what I was looking for earlier in the year. I'm still going to let it carb up to 3 volumes but will enjoy the ride up there.

Recipe for half batch:
3.4lb German Wheat
2.4lb German Munich
4oz German Carahell
2oz Midnight Wheat

.5oz Cascade @ FWH (Yes, I went with Cascade for this traditional German beer and I'm definitely doing it again.)
.25oz Cascade @ 15M

Wyeast 3068 @ 67F