Plain Brown Dog

[acidrain23]

New beer! Shooting for something balanced, malty, hoppy yet drinkable. Going for toasty notes vs carmel though I do want a little of that. Thinking somewhere in between Half Acre's Over Ale and Fat Tire.

3 lbs Light DME

5 lbs Optic Pale Malt
1 lb Victory Malt
.5 lbs Pale Chocolate Malt
.5 lbs TS&F Dark Crystal (90L?)

60M 1.0 oz Palisade
7M .5 oz Palisade
7M .5 oz Centennial
7M .5 oz Ahtanum
Flameout .5 oz Palisade
Flameout .5 oz Centennial
Flameout .5 oz Ahtanum

Yeast: Nottingham
Pitching Temp: 64F

OG: 1.055

It came out a bit darker than expected. Too much pale chocolate malt? Hopefully not. Anyway, looking forward to this one!!

 

[acidrain23]

Just wanted to update as I cracked a bottle last night. I know you are probably thinking that this is just another boring brown ale, but this beer is awesome! Its one of the rare times that what I was imagining in my head actually matched up with my results. Its still a bit green and could use another week or two to condition, but the flavor is great.

The victory malt and dark crystal provide a nice baseline maltiness, while the optic and pale chocolate malt give it the toasty/nutty note I was looking for- very much like Fat Tire or Half Acre's Over as I mentioned previously.

The hops I chose provided a nice soft citrus, without clobbering you over the head. (Palisade and Ahtanum are both pretty mild). It has a firm bitterness but isn't overdoing it.

Overall, this beer is nicely balaced and full of flavor. Good stuff! I highly recommend trying it.

Cheerz!