Critique my recipe please!

Hi all! I'm trying my hand at creating my own recipe and would appreciate some feedback. I'm trying to make a brown ale with a nutty and lightly chocolatey flavor profile. I have done a lot of research but this is my first attempt at creating a recipe on my own so please be gentle lol.

Here's what I've come up with so far:

GRAINS
7 lbs pale malt, maris otter (3.0 SRM)
1 lb crystal 60L (60 SRM)
1 lb victory malt (25 SRM)
4 oz chocolate malt (450 SRM)

HOPS
1 oz Willamette @60 minutes
.5 oz Willamette @ 10 minutes

YEAST
Wyeast British Ale II

MASH SCHEDULE
Mash at 156 for 60 minutes
Mash out at 168 for 10 minutes

Let me know if you need anything else. thanks in advance for your feedback.

 

It looks good - I'd definitely drink it.

The only thing I would suggest some Brown malt, but not sure of the amount; Brown malt has some pretty special characteristics that would probably work well with that you are doing.

Maybe a little wheat, too.

Hope this helps -

Ron

 

Thanks for the help. Here is my updated grain bill:

GRAINS
7 lbs pale malt, maris otter (3.0 SRM)
1 lbs brown malt (65 SRM)
8 oz crystal 60L (60 SRM)
8 oz victory malt (25 SRM)
4 oz chocolate malt (450 SRM)

Hopefully that'll work. If there is anything else let me know.

Cheers!
Casey

 

1 pound of brown malt is a lot. A little goes a long way, especially with chocolate malt in the mix.

 

Thanks! I adjusted as follows:

7 lbs 10 oz pale malt, maris otter (3.0 SRM)
4 oz brown malt (65 SRM)
12 oz crystal 80L (80 SRM)
4 oz victory malt (25 SRM)
4 oz chocolate malt (450 SRM)

I lowered the brown malt to 4 oz, changed the crystal 60L to crystal 80L and upped it to 12 oz and raised the maris otter 10 oz to 7 lbs 10 oz. Any other suggestions? Also, I chose Willamette because I have a freezer full of it but would I be better off with a British hop?

 

Just made another adjustment. I think it's about ready to brew and try but please let me know if you'd change anything. Here's the current recipe.

7 lbs 12 oz Maris otter
12 oz Crystal 120L
4 oz Brown malt
4 oz victory malt
4 oz chocolate malt
1 oz EKG @ 60 mins
0.5 oz EKG @ 10 mins
2 packets Nottingham yeast

 

Looks solid. Personally I would go with either British or London Ale Yeast from WL, more malty with less esters than Notty and will still leave behind some residual sweetness. Totally a personal preference though, let us know how it comes out!

 

How would WY1335 British Ale II work with this? I have a freezer full of it right now and would like to use it up.

 

Based on this, it looks pretty good to me, especially considering your goals:

http://www.wyeastlab.com/yeast-strain/british-ale-ii

 

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What he said. Looks like a solid brew.

 

How was this yeast frozen? If you just put the pack in the freezer you have killed off most if not all of the yeast cells.

 

With glycerin and water in a centrifuge tube. I'm assuming it'll be fine if I run it through a starter first.

 

I like the look of it and I would definitely drink it. If it were my recipe I might drop in a small amount of wheat to boost head retention.

 

I think the recipes in posts # 1, 5, and 6 will all work well. I'd lean towards #1 myself, leaving the brown malt for a porter and letting the victory malt do the talking. With that equal healthy dose of C60, you'll have complex brew with well defined flavors. I also like the idea of including wheat, somewhere in the neighbourhood of 10-20% of grist. It makes for a pretty looking beer with the creamy head and tiny bubbles.

 

Just picked up all the ingredients for brew day.

I went with the following:

GRAINS
7 lbs 6 oz Maris otter
12 oz crystal 120
4 oz chocolate malt
4 oz Brown malt
4 oz victory malt
4 oz white wheat malt
HOPS
1 oz EKG @60 minutes
0.5 oz EKG @10 minutes
YEAST
Inland Island English Ale V (Denver based lab. I'm super excited to try this one out.)

Once again, thanks so much for the help! I'll keep ya posted on how it goes.

Cheers!
Casey

 

It looks darned good to me! Good luck, and let us know how it goes ~~

 

Brewed this up today. Ended up over shooting my volumes by a mile (close to a gallon. I'm still working on dialing that in) so I had to add some DME to make up for that. Other than that though, so far so good. Ended up with an OG of 1.051 which is only one point lower than what I was targeting. I'll keep you guys posted as more comes up.

 

Just took a gravity sample after about ten days in the fermenter. It is down to 1.010. The sample tasted pretty promising too. I'll probably keg it up tomorrow and put it on the gas. I'm looking forward to this one. I'll keep you all posted.

 

Drinking a glass of this now and I must say not bad at all. Great beer! Thank you all for the help in formulating this recipe.

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