Apple Brown Ale

So my girlfriend picked up a gallon of local cider and insisted we try brewing with it.

Decided to go with a brown ale and an apple pie like flavor. Just bottled it today, and I'm really impressed by the samples. Pretty much got exactly wasn't I was going for.

I'll follow up later with how it tastes once it's fully conditioned.

Apple Brown Ale

Recipe specifics:

Style: American Brown Ale
Batch size: 5.0 gal
OG: 1.053
FG: 1.013
Bitterness (IBU): 21.7
Color (SRM): 20.6
ABV: 5.2%

Grain/Sugars:

4.00 lb Amber DME, 57.1%
1.00 lb Crystal 40L, 14.3%
1.00 gal Apple Cider, 14.3% (added to secondary)
0.25 lb Crystal 60L, 3.6%
0.25 lb Roasted Barley, 3.6%
0.25 lb Weyermann Melanoidin, 3.6%
0.12 lb Biscuit (Belgian), 1.8%
0.12 lb CaraPils, 1.8%

Hops:

1.00 oz Mt. Hood** (AA 4.3%, Pellet) 60 min, 14.5 IBU,
1.00 oz Mt. Hood (AA 4.3%, Pellet) 15 min, 7.2 IBU

(LHBS didn't have mt hood, subbed for liberty, which I've been told is fairly similar)

Yeast/Misc:

Safale S-04 Ale, 1.0 unit(s), Yeast

1/2 tsp cinnamon at bottling
1/2 tsp nutmeg at bottling

Batch Notes:

Actual FG: 1.012

 

That sounds good. Good idea. I might try something similar.

 

If you are using the Briess Amber DME, it already contains caramel 60, so I would consider dropping the additional amount.

To get a little more of a pastry type of flavor, I would recommend replacing the melanoidin malt with Munich (which would then require a mini-mash) and double the amount of biscuit malt.

Either way, I would be interested in hearing how this comes out. It looks interesting.

 

I actually would have gone 0.5 lbs on the 60, but had the Amber available to me. I know it sounds like a lot of crystal but I've found 1 lb of 40 and 0.5 of 60 gives a really great caramel/toffee forward taste which goes great with the apple.

I probably will go higher on the biscuit next time. Also, I'll definitely go with Munich if I do this as an all-grain recipe. I'll admit the melanoidin malt was used out of laziness/convenience =P

 

Thought I'd follow up on this with a review of the finished product. Came out pretty much exactly how I hoped it would. A nice brown nutty ale with strong caramel sweetness, pretty dry, maintains nice thick head with good lacing. Apple flavor is present without being overpowering, and blends great with the grain bill.

Only flaw seems to be a slightly yeasty smell in some of the bottles. A little over half the batch has it. Fermention temps stayed steady around 68. Unless it's some kind of infection, I think I might have got too much debris from the bottom of the apple cider, as it was unpasteurized and unfiltered.

Overall, still a very drinkable beer though.

 

Oh, also added half a teaspoon of cinnamon and nutmeg at bottling for anyone who's interested.