British Brown Ale Aberdeen Brown Ale (NewCastle Clone) AG

[mrburnsbud]

Thanks for the reply. So you always shoot for the AA% no matter how much additional weight is added.

Well brewed this weekend and did a taste test last night. So far its pretty freaking awesome. Ended up adding same AA% as for the 10 gallon recipe for my 5 gallon batch. OG was 1.052 2pm Saturday and last night 9pm it was 1.020. THe dry safale S-04 is some rambuctious stuff. If the gravity platues tommorow or tonight, should I still go the full 7 days in primary or go ahead and transfer to secondary?

The lady at the HBS added the roasted barley by hand without weighing 1/20th of a pound. I think she added too much . Hopefully the coffee-ish/burnt tones with mellow out. Its not overpowering but definately more present than in a Newcastle. Nevertheless still a great tasting beer.

 

[BierMuncher]

Thanks for the reply. So you always shoot for the AA% no matter how much additional weight is added.

Well brewed this weekend and did a taste test last night. So far its pretty freaking awesome. Ended up adding same AA% as for the 10 gallon recipe for my 5 gallon batch. OG was 1.052 2pm Saturday and last night 9pm it was 1.020. THe dry safale S-04 is some rambuctious stuff. If the gravity platues tommorow or tonight, should I still go the full 7 days in primary or go ahead and transfer to secondary?

The lady at the HBS added the roasted barley by hand without weighing 1/20th of a pound. I think she added too much . Hopefully the coffee-ish/burnt tones with mellow out. Its not overpowering but definately more present than in a Newcastle. Nevertheless still a great tasting beer.

AA% is always relative. That's what make replicating a recipe easy even if you have different alpha levels in your hops. (Of course, a recipe program like Beersmith lets you tweak to your targeted IBU).

Let that beer sit in the primary for at least two weeks. You'll end up with a cleaner tasting beer and it will be worth it.

 

[Sudz]

Hat's off to BierMuncher on this brew.

I just popped a cap after three weeks in the bottle. Absolutely smooth. My second AG and about my 10th brew overall. By far the best I've tasted (none were bad) and this includes those sampled at my local brew club...

I just followed his recipe and all my numbers were dead on. Can't get better than that.

Cheers.... and thanks BierMuncher

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

I use AAU (alpha acid units) to adust my hop additions.

Alpha acid percentage (AA%) times weight in ounces (oz.) equals AAU

AA% * oz. = AAU

That can be used to convert anything to anything else and still have your bittering spot on.

 

[mhall]

What is the best IBU/SG ratio for a Newcastle Brown ale clone?

 

[kornbread]

Hey BierMuncher,

Thanks for all the great recipes.

I've been trying to incorporate all of the info in this thread into a 5 gal recipe using brew calculus.

How does this sound for a 5.5 Gal. Batch?

6 lb 4 oz American 2 row pale
1 lb Flaked Corn
8 oz Cara pils/ dextrine
6 oz Crystal 60L
6 oz Crystal 80L
6 oz Crystal 20L
4 oz Chocolate Malt
2 oz Special B

Would 2 oz of Special B be enough to make any difference or should I just go with the original recipe?

I like it. Go with what you have there. If I were going to do this recipe again, I would mash this at the 158-160 range. I did this most recently on my 10der & Mild Brown ale and it was pleasantly malty. Also, a shorter mash time (say, 45 minutes) will preserve some dextrins and give you some slight sweetness.

Well, I finally got around to brewing this this past weekend. I couldn't find the Target hops so I switched them to Williamette. Since the were only 4.?% I bumped them up to 1.125 ozs. @ :60. According to Beercalulus.com this should bring me pretty close to the Ibu's for the original recipe.

I went with the above grain bill and mashed @ 158 deg. F. However I lost track of time while re-figuring my hop amounts and ended up mashing for a little over an hour.

My OG came in a little High too. (1.044 post boil @ 58 Deg.)

I don't know if my efficiency was especially good or the lady at the LHBS miss-weighed my grain. The hydro sample did taste great.

I'm planning on bottling this one. Any suggestions on volumes of carbonation?

Thanks for the recipe. I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[karbinator]

This is some really good stuff......just
now coming off the tap. A+++

 

[BierMuncher]

This is some really good stuff......just
now coming off the tap. A+++

Excellent news.

 

[Brew_Mistress]

We started brewing back in January, after 4 extract batches hubby wanted to try something different. Since we both love Newcastle, this recipe was a must! OG was a bit high at 1.041, but close enough for beginners. Just bottled it tonight, and the color is almost spot on. Flavor was good too, going to be hard waiting a few more weeks for it to condition!

 

[BierMuncher]

We started brewing back in January, after 4 extract batches hubby wanted to try something different. Since we both love Newcastle, this recipe was a must! OG was a bit high at 1.041, but close enough for beginners. Just bottled it tonight, and the color is almost spot on. Flavor was good too, going to be hard waiting a few more weeks for it to condition!

Only one thing to do....get on to your next recipe to take your mind off these.

 

[kornbread]

Well, I popped a couple of these yesterday. I haven't had a Newcastle in a while so I can't compare it to the original. But it's a damn fine brown ale. Mine's a little darker than yours.

I did have a couple of issues that I'm hoping you'll help me with.

I made the grain substitutions that you suggested.

6 lb 4 oz American 2 row pale
1 lb Flaked Corn
8 oz Cara pils/ dextrine
6 oz Crystal 60L
6 oz Crystal 80L
6 oz Crystal 20L
4 oz Chocolate Malt
2 oz Special B
​

And I mashed it at 158 Deg. I ended up mashing for an hour. (I forgot to heat my sparge water )

And I had to substitute yeast. I went with WPL005 and I did make a starter.

I left it in the primary for three weeks and in the bottle for three weeks. Temps were in the upper 60's for both primary and bottles.

The problems:

1st: I didn't get very good attenuation. (OG: 1.044 FG: 1.021) Naturally I was worried about bottle bombs. (since I didn't check my hydro sample until after all the caps were on...) But, no problems there. In fact, the carbonation is pretty light. It seems like my yeast just quit on me. There is very little sediment in the bottom of the bottles.

Do you suppose it's bad yeast? Or maybe my mash temp was too high and I didn't get a very fermentable wort?

2nd: The mouth feel is a little thin. Do you suppose that would have anything to do with the attenuation/low carbonation? Or Maybe a product of the grain substitutions?

All in all, I'm very pleased. I just want to fix these problems. Because I know I'll want to brew this one again.

Thanks in advance for your help. And thanks again for the recipe.

Kornbread

 

[BierMuncher]

More mature carbonation will help fill out the mouthfeel.

Get those bottles at about 72 degrees for a week or so and see if that helps. At those low gravities, I doubt your yeast gave up.

Give them some more warm-time.

 

[camiller]

BM, question for you. Did you ever get the plum notes after this conditioned for a while. I know the original BYO recipe from the "150 Classic Clone Recipes" that blended two beers (Old Ale and Amber) suggests that aging the Old Ale for six months before blending with the younger Amber Ale achieves that. If you still get that coming through after conditioning in the bottle then I'm going with your recipe. I'm primarily brewing this for a buddy that just got back from being deployed in the middle east so I want to get as close as possible.

 

[BierMuncher]

BM, question for you. Did you ever get the plum notes after this conditioned for a while. I know the original BYO recipe from the "150 Classic Clone Recipes" that blended two beers (Old Ale and Amber) suggests that aging the Old Ale for six months before blending with the younger Amber Ale achieves that. If you still get that coming through after conditioning in the bottle then I'm going with your recipe. I'm primarily brewing this for a buddy that just got back from being deployed in the middle east so I want to get as close as possible.

The recipe as is will get you very close...but I would probably mash higher next time. My Northern Brown (Left Nut Ale) I mashed at 160 and it has that nice fruity...sweet tone to it.

 

[kornbread]

More mature carbonation will help fill out the mouthfeel.

Get those bottles at about 72 degrees for a week or so and see if that helps. At those low gravities, I doubt your yeast gave up.

Give them some more warm-time.

Update: I popped a couple more of these in the fridge this week and the carbonation/Mouth feel is much better. It's been in the bottle about 5-6 six weeks.

I still haven't compared it to the commercial version yet. But this is one fine brew. I gave my wife, who isn't much of a beer drinker, a taste and she almost wouldn't give it back.

Thanks,

Kornbread

 

[sparkyaber]

Brewed this beer on Friday, with the grain changes and a higher mash temp. I mashed at 158, and did a 10 minute mash out at 168. Fly sparged. I also boiled for 90 min.
I was checking gravity on a bunch of other beers I have going right now, so I thought what the heck. WOW, that tastes great. Way better than the midwest clone kit. I can not wait for this to be done.

 

[md20_20]

I just tapped my 5 gallon variation on this recipe and I am absolutely floored by the flavor. I brewed it on 5/2 so it's still a little immature but I can tell that if it makes it another two weeks it will be really good. (It probably won't, if that tells you anything.)

Hats off to Biermuncher for a great recipe! If you like Newcastle, this one won't disappoint!

(Bonus: my first ever batch as a home brewer!)

 

[BierMuncher]

...Hats off to Biermuncher for a great recipe! If you like Newcastle, this one won't disappoint!

(Bonus: my first ever batch as a home brewer!)

Congratulations on a great first brew.

 

[Bosium]

Hi Biermuncher,

I plan to brew this this weekend coming, with the ingredients I was able to acquire locally. My recipe is below, I would welcome any suggestions you may have.

Also, beersmith says this will come out about 13.7SRM, a little light? Could I just add a bit more pale choc malt to bring the colour back in line? I'm afraid to mess with the recipe too much to its detriment.

Also, I noticed that real Newkie is 5.0%, do you think this recipe would work well if it was concentrated a little bit to get the SG up, as long as the IBUs were increased proportionally? I think I will leave as is, but thought I'd ask the question anyway.

Thanks!!

(80% efficiency, 24L batch assumed)

Amount Item Type % or IBU
6.25 lb Pale Malt (Maris Otter) UK (3.0 SRM) Grain 67.5 %
1.00 lb Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM) Grain 10.8 %
0.50 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.5 SRM) Grain 5.4 %
0.38 lb Carahell (15.0 SRM) Grain 4.1 %
0.38 lb CaraMunch (45.0 SRM) Grain 4.0 %
0.38 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 4.0 %
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt Pale (300.0 SRM) Grain 2.7 %
0.13 lb Special B Malt (150.0 SRM) Grain 1.4 %
25.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [6.80%] (60 min) Hops 16.6 IBU
15.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [6.80%] (15 min) Hops 5.5 IBU
1 Pkgs British Ale (Wyeast Labs #1098) [Starter 2000 ml] Yeast-Ale


Est Original Gravity: 1.041 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.0 %
Bitterness: 22.1 IBU Calories: 90 cal/l
Est Color: 13.7 SRM

 

[Bosium]

OK, well brewed my first batch of this, my third AG. Definitely the best brewday I've had yet. Managed to just about hit my numbers perfectly, made a half batch so now have 12L of 1.042 wort, approx 23 IBUs, waiting to start fermenting.

Can't wait to see how it turns out, will post when I have some results

 

[bmckee56]

The recipe as is will get you very close...but I would probably mash higher next time. My Northern Brown (Left Nut Ale) I mashed at 160 and it has that nice fruity...sweet tone to it.

I have read pretty much all of the posts contained in this thread. It appears to be a great recipe which I would like to use as my second attempt at AG. I know you posted the original recipe, but I have seen several posts with tweaks and adjustments suggested or made by others. Any chance you can post your most recent or updated recipe?

This brew will be for the SWMBO and I want to hit it right, so your recipe apprears to be the one to use. I would appreciate it greatly.

Thanks.

Salute!

Edit: I am looking to brew a 5 gallon batch and I have BeerSmith software available.

 

[bmckee56]

The pooch in the picture looks interested in your beer. Back away from the beer now poochie!

 

[elbajista]

This looks awesome! Have an extract version?

 

[Mr_Manhands]

I’m a newb in need of help. I have my first two batches of beer currently sitting in my fermenter (Hazzah)! Newcastle is one of my favorite beers, so one of the recipes that I used was this one. The only changes that I made were to cut the recipe in half, and leave out the roasted barley. I cut the boil time to 60 minutes and it has been fermenting at 66 degrees. I let it sit in the primary for a week, and it has been in the secondary for 4 days. My curiosity got the better of me last night, and I used a turkey baster to get a sample of the beer. I was surprised to find that it was very dark tasting, almost like dark chocolate or coffee. From the reviews that I have read, I know that the recipe is good, so I’m wondering what I did wrong. Is there anything that I could have done to cause such a flavor, or is it more likely that the store screwed up the ingredients? They ground everything up for me and had it in the same bag, except for the flaked corn, so I had no way of knowing whether or not they got it right. Also, what primer would you suggest for this batch? I’d appreciate any help you can give.

 

[BierMuncher]

If you list everything you ordered, we can look that over. If the order looks fine and the shop indeed made a mistake, then that will be harder to identify.

 

[Mr_Manhands]

If you list everything you ordered, we can look that over. If the order looks fine and the shop indeed made a mistake, then that will be harder to identify.

I'm writing this directly from the list that I gave them.

6.25 lb. Pale Malt US
1 lb. Flaked Corn
.5 lb Crystal Malt 20L
.5 lb. Crystal malt 60L
.5 lb. Crystal Malt 80L
.5 lb. Cara-pils/Dextrine
.25 lb. Chocolate Malt
.5 oz. Target
.25 oz. Goldings, East Kent
Whitbread Ale (wyeast labs #1099)

Like I said, the boil was 60 minutes. I batch sparged letting the first batch rest for 1 hour and the second for 15 minutes with a target mash temp of 152. The whole process went quite smoothly, unlike my wheat ale lol. If there was a miscalculation in the ingredients, am I correct in assuming that too much chocolate malt would have that effect? Thanks for your time.

 

[Bosium]

I personally found the chocolate to be too stong also. I used UK Pale Chocolate malt, 300SRM, and still used less than the recipe listed as I substituted some for Special B. I've cut the percentage even lower in my latest batch. My beer has a strong coffee flavour.

I'm not hugely fond of that roasted flavour, I'm not sure I can detect any of it in the original NCBA, perhaps something like carafa special would be better, to get the colour and aroma but not so much roasted taste?

 

[Mr_Manhands]

Thanks for the reply, Bosium. I'm with you on not being a big fan of the roasted flavor. It's not that the recipe isn't good, it's just not exactly what I was going for. I may try this one again without the chocolate malt. I'm still open to suggestions on what type of sugar to use when priming it.

 

[Bosium]

Give it a little more time in the bottle, the flavours will meld together a bit more and it will drink better. As for priming sugar, it makes next to no difference. I use whatever I have to hand, table sugar is 100% fine.

 

[bmckee56]

Well I sampled a glass of this recipe and boy am I a happy brewer. Color was fantastic and the head on the beer was thick and creamy. The body was also a surprise to my better half and I. I think it still needs some time to carb up as it was only on tap for a few days (I force carbed for 1 1/2 days at 30psi) in the fridge. The 30psi was dropped to 12 and I gave it a few more days to stabilize.

I am very happy with this beer. I plan to pick up a 6'r of New Castle and do a side by side taste and appearance comparison. I believe my brew using BM's recipe will be superior to the NCNB. My only regret and it may be nothing, is that I did not filter this beer. It is still a bit cloudy, but I can certainly live with that, given all the other exceptional qualities this brew exhibits at this time.

Thanks to BM for a great recipe.

Salute!