Brooklyn Brew Shop's Chestnut Brown Ale - Tips and Advice

[TasunkaWitko]

The next beer that I will be brewing is Chestnut Brown Ale, from Brooklyn Brew Shop. As with all of my "Tips and Advice" threads, this will be a running account of the experience and the things that I learn during the process.

As usual, I'll start with the particulars:

Informational link: http://brooklynbrewshop.com/beer-making-mixes/chestnut-brown-ale-mix

Instructions: http://brooklynbrewshop.com/directions/Brooklyn_Brew_Shop_Chestnut_Brown_Ale_Instructions.pdf

Awesome, must-see video: [ame]https://vimeo.com/31829144[/ame]

I really like the description of this beer: rich, nutty and mellow, with the added ambience of freshly-roasted chestnuts. It sounds to me like a perfect brew for this time of year, and I am looking forward to trying it.

As always, if anyone has made this beer and has any experience with it, please feel free to share your thoughts, feedback and suggestions. If anyone has any questions, please post them here, and I will do my best to provide or find an answer.

Thanks in advance -

Ron

 

[hockeybrewer]

This was my 2nd ever brew and with not much research under my belt I decided to skip adding the chestnuts. I think that was a mistake because it came out kinda bland and I'm a brown ale fan. Although I was also doing it on my crappy stove top with no process so take my advice with a grain of salt. Now I've been brewing over a year biab all grain and I'd never go back to stove top. Good luck! BTW my first brew was their everyday IPA and that came out great.

 

[Pantherjon]

Been eyeing that kit myself...Have the Chocolate Maple Porter in bottles that will get tapped Saturday..Will see how those turned out

 

[alexacuna]

yum. I did the Everyday IPA for my first and it was great. It was my only kit, but it was a fun introduction to all grain.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

Good morning, everyone - and thank you for the comments and the interest.

If the stars align correctly, I'll be giving this one a shot tomorrow; I want to give all of my equipment a good cleaning, first, so it might be Sunday.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

Here's a label that I was able to throw together, using the same format that I've been using for my other brews:

 

[TasunkaWitko]

I bought some chestnuts for this toward the end of January, but when I went to brew this beer last weekend, they had already deteriorated to the point where they were barely useable. They smelled great after roasting, and I probably could have brewed with them, but they were visibly past their "expiration date," and the quality of the finished beer would most likely have suffered. Because of this, I put the brewing aside for this mix and proceeded to move forward with my Summer Wheat project.

I ordered a fresh batch of chestnuts that should arrive today, so this coming Saturday will most likely be my brewday for this recipe. I'm looking forward to it and will continue to post as events unfold.

Pro tip: It is best to keep fresh chestnuts in the refrigerator, not on the shelf next to your brewing supplies!

 

[TasunkaWitko]

The project got put off for a week, but it got done today, and I'm pretty sure things went well.

I brewed the beer according to the instructions above, with no real complications to speak of. Temperatures during the mash got a few degrees higher than my limit of 152 degrees during the first 10 minutes, but other than that, it went well, as did the sparge and the boil. The freshly-roasted chestnuts that were added at the beginning of the boil seemed to go really nicely with the East Kent Golding hops, and I'm looking forward to trying that combination with this northern English brown ale.

As per my usual schedule, I'll replace the blow-off tube with an airlock in three days; I'll check on it each morning and evening, to see how it is going. After a total of at least three weeks, I'll proceed with bottling.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

I looked in on the beer this morning, and while there has definitely been some fermentation, it doesn't seem to be as active as usual. Ambient temperatures were right at 68 degrees, which has been a good range in the past.

I was in a hurry, so I wasn't able to see the temperature on the thermometer that is on the fermenter itself, but I'll take a look at it when I get home from work this evening, and see how it is going. I've had a couple of beers that were slow to start before, and this could be another one. The good news is that it is indeed fermenting, which is half the battle.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

Fermentation is progressing, but it is slow. My big concern now is that the first 10 minutes of the mash (which were too hot by 8 to 10 degrees) might have adversely affected the fermentable sugars. I am unsure if this is the problem - it's just an idea that crossed my mind.

We'll take it a day at a time, and see how it goes.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

I bottled this beer today - I think it's going to come out pretty well.

BBS's instructions advise 3 tablespoons of priming sugar (usually maple syrup, agave nectar or - in this case - honey), but they tend to come out over-carbonated when I do this, so I used two, instead.

Since there was just a bit left over after bottling, I was able to get a small sample. The chestnuts, malts and hops came through very nicely, I think, and I'm hoping that I end up with a nice, presentable beer.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

Quick update - A couple of days after bottling, there were floaties galore on top, along with the usual beginnings of sediment on the bottom. By the time two weeks had past, nearly all bottles were free and clear, and the floaties had settled down. One or two still had them, but I am guessing that conditioning in the refrigerator a few days will take care of that.

I am due to test the finished beer this weekend, and we'll see how things go then.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

I was able to sample this beer over the weekend; for the most part, I found it to be great. The "brown ale" aspect of it was spot on, at least in what I would expect - malty with a slight sweetness and some definite "roasty" characteristics. The chestnuts seemed to come through very well Aroma was also very nice. I do not know if it is because it is still pretty "young" (only 2 weeks since bottling), but it seemed to have just a little too much hop bitterness. I am guessing that this well blend in better after a couple-three more weeks in the bottle; as I recall, the initial results were similar with my Kentucky Rye Brown Ale. Having said that, this was one very good beer.

I find these results to be doubly fortuitous, considering the adversities that I encountered along the way. Absolutely no visible krausen, throughout the entire process; a fermentation that seemed far too fast, and then re-started weeks later; weird, white floatie-looking things on top before and after bottling. In the end, however, this chestnut brown ale has proven to be very good, with the potential to improve even more.
__________________

 

[TasunkaWitko]

My dad stopped by last evening, so naturally we had to crack open some of this and see how things were going with it.


In a word: impressive!


The first thing that I noticed is that the head and the head retention had both improved greatly. The head was beautiful and creamy, and lasted during the entire sampling of the ale. For probably the first time that I can remember since I started brewing, there was some very nice lacing on the beer mug, as well.


with less than a week of further bottle conditioning, the beer had indeed improved. The bitterness that I mentioned above had moved back a bit; just a bit more, and it would be in very good balance, at least to my palate. The chestnut flavor, along with the roasty malts, seemed to move forward a bit, as well, which probably helped the balance, also. I was really liking it, and my dad, who is mostly a BudLite/OldMilwaukee fan (except for the occasional Fat Tire or Sam Adams) was impressed, which is something that he doesn't say often about "darker" beers.


If anyone has been thinking about trying this mix (or recipe), you could do a lot worse. It would be a perfect brew for autumn or winter, but the truth is that it is good any time of the year.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

Just a quick update on this beer -

I recently took this beer to Hot Springs, South Dakota with me, in order to share it with a friend whom I haven't seen for 20 years. I also brought bottles of a few others, as well.

I am happy to report that my friend pronounced Chestnut Brown Ale as his favourite of the lot, with Bruxelles Black coming in at a very, very close second! He liked both beers so much that the experience has sparked an interest in home brewing; he lives in a town with wonderful natural spring water, and I think that he could really make some good beer with it. As soon as I hit a payday, I plan on ordering a Chestnut Brown Ale kit and sending it to him.

 

[TonyKZ1]

That sounds great, I've been wanting to make that one and see what it tastes like. Yeah that natural spring water ought to make some good beer. Also kudos/points/karma to you for getting him a brewing kit from BBS.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

Thanks, Tony - and do give this one a shot!

You can get the pre-packaged mix, or simply assemble the ingredients yourself at your LHBS - probably no big deal either way, except with the LHBS option, you can control which yeast you use. BBS recommends an English Ale Yeast such as S04.

If you try it, please do let me know how it goes!

Ron