Adjust Nut Brown Ale

[Cold Country Brewery]

I’m looking to brew a nut brown ale and give it life. Most brown ale’s I’ve had lack body and feel “thin.” I found this kit from NB and it looks like a good starting point.

KIT INVENTORY:
SPECIALTY GRAIN
--0.25 lbs Simpson’s Chocolate
--0.25 lbs Dingemans Special B
--0.25 lbs Dingemans Biscuit
--0.25 lbs Briess Special Roast
FERMENTABLES
--6 lbs Gold malt syrup
HOPS & FLAVORINGS
--1 oz Fuggle (60 min)
YEAST
--WYEAST 1945 NB NEOBRITANNIA. Flocculation: Moderate-high. Attenuation: 72-77%. Temperature Range: 66-74 F.
--DRY YEAST ALTERNATIVE: Danstar Nottingham Ale Yeast. Optimum temp: 57°-70° F.


A couple things I may try with this.

-Increase the Simpson’s Chocolate a little to give it a bit of a bittersweet chocolate flavor
-Prime with Maple syrup for some maple flavor
-Add Maple syrup in the secondary

Thoughts? What else can I do to add body to this?

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

First off...maple syrup isn't going to do what you're expecting it to. One of the regular beers I brew is a nut brown w/ maple. I use around 12oz. in a 5 gallon batch, and it's hardly noticeable as far as flavor goes. Even bottling with it probably wouldn't give you would you're expecting. Try extracts if you want a really mapley flavor.

As for maple in the secondary...it will probably thin the beer more than you think. Maple syrup is highly fermentable, so all you'll be doing is adding more alcohol.

If you want to add body, you need to start by adding an unfermentable sugar. Or, you could try using oats to up the body.

 

[Cold Country Brewery]

Add Oats, like Quaker instant oats? I'm doing an extract here; do I just steep them with the grains? Never done oats before. How many oats do you use for a 5 gallon batch?

Thanks for the tip on the maple syrup. For extracts in general, do you add it to the secondary before bottling?

 

[vicratlhead51]

First off...maple syrup isn't going to do what you're expecting it to. One of the regular beers I brew is a nut brown w/ maple. I use around 12oz. in a 5 gallon batch, and it's hardly noticeable as far as flavor goes. Even bottling with it probably wouldn't give you would you're expecting. Try extracts if you want a really mapley flavor.

As for maple in the secondary...it will probably thin the beer more than you think. Maple syrup is highly fermentable, so all you'll be doing is adding more alcohol.

If you want to add body, you need to start by adding an unfermentable sugar. Or, you could try using oats to up the body.

sorry to hijack the thread like this but I saw you mention maple extract. Where do you get it? Baking section of the grocery store?

 

[Cold Country Brewery]

sorry to hijack the thread like this but I saw you mention maple extract. Where do you get it? Baking section of the grocery store?

http://www.igourmet.com/shoppe/prodview.aspx?prod=7408&src=froogle

Maybe?

Not a hijack at all...would have been my next question! Anyone know how much to add?

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

Add Oats, like Quaker instant oats? I'm doing an extract here; do I just steep them with the grains? Never done oats before. How many oats do you use for a 5 gallon batch?

Thanks for the tip on the maple syrup. For extracts in general, do you add it to the secondary before bottling?

Yes...instant oatmeat would be the easiest option since you don't have to cook it prior to using it in the beer.

I typically use anywhere from .5-1lb in a 5 gallon batch. You will need to mash it with barley in order to see convertion, but this should be able to be done by steeping. If you steep 1lb of 2-row and a 1/2lb of oats for 45 minutes @150ish in a small amount of water (2qts...estimate) before you start your boil and add extracts, it should help your body out a bit. You can also used wheat or flaked barley the same way.

If you're looking for an easier way to add body, you could just add some malto-dextrin. 1/2lb should do the trick.

As for using extract, I've never used it. Next time I make my nut brown, I might add some to the secondary to play around with it. You may want to remove a few ounces of beer from the fermentor prior to adding it, and add the extract a drop at a time. Keep adding until you get the right taste and then just figure out how much you need to add to the 5 gallons to equal that portion.

 

[Cold Country Brewery]

I'm going to pick up (5) 1 gallon glass carboys, and play around with the maple extract vs maple syrup etc. Thanks for the tips.

 

[BlackTopBrew]

I make a brown that uses both maple and nut flavors. It turns out pretty dang well, according to the popular vote. To give it its flavor "notes" I use munich malts for a malty finish, 8-10oz of 100% maple syrup added 2-3 days into furmentation and a finally 1oz of hazelnut extract added in secondary. To get more body or "feel" out of it malto-dextrin dose work well but I like to use cara-pils.

 

[Djuhnk]

i have been experimenting with lactose, maltodextrine, and oatmeal in my last 4 stouts i have made a few personal deductions.

oatmeal (1-1.5 lbs, mashed at 158 degrees for 50 min) gives the beer more of an oily texture that helps the mouthfeel out alot and i think really goes well with fuggle hops

maltodextrine gives a kind of malty feel (no taste or sweetness) to the beer, but doesnt add too much mouthfeel.

i actually think the addition of lactose does the most as far as natural thick mouthfeel goes. the only downside with lactose is it adds an unfermentable sweetness that you might not like.

hope this helps

 

[vicratlhead51]

For anyone interested in it, I checked the grocery store for maple extract. I found it in the spice section by the vanilla extract. McCormick(not sure if I spelled that right) had some in a 1oz bottle. It was 3 and some change. Kinda neat though, was there was some almond extract right there too, I thought that might be something interesting to throw in a nut brown sometime too. Just thought I'd throw this up there so people don't think they have to find the stuff online and pay shipping charges is all.