Brown Ale Recipe

[Rob2010SS]

Looking to brew a brown ale on 11/30. Working on putting the recipe together. This will be my 2nd brown ale. My first one was not what I wanted. It was ok, but nothing to write home about. It didn't have the nutty, malty backbone I was looking for and it didn't have much roastiness to it.

My intent here is to create a brown ale with the most important aspect of it being nutty. Additionally, I want it to have a slight roastiness to it. Looking for thoughts on this grain bill:

76% Maris Otter (16.88 lbs)
10% Victory (2.48 lbs)
6% Caramel 60 (1.49 lbs)
4% Amber Malt (.96 lbs)
2% Carafa II (.47 lbs)
2% Pale Chocolate (.60 lbs)

Questions
1. Looking at this grain bill, what would you interpret as the resulting beer? Nutty? Roasty?

2. Nottingham was a bit too aggressive on my last brown ale, brought it down to 1.004 (OG 1.050). Any recommendations on a slightly less aggressive yeast? I want it to finish between 1.010 and 1.013. (OG 1.050)

3. I added the caramel 60 last minute. I started wondering if it would be a bit too dry without the caramel malts, as I read some other posts where people were talking about adding some caramel malts to balance out the dryness. Do you think this will be too dry/harsh?

Any and all thoughts, feedback, recommendations welcome. I didn't include hops but I plan:
2.0 oz Fuggles @ 60 min
2.0 oz EKG @ 30 min
Total IBUs 24.5

***EDIT*** Question #3 didn't really have a question in it. Just added my question to #3.

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

I brewed an American Nut Brown in February 2018.

71.9% 2 row pale malt
15.5% crystal 60L
7.7% chocolate malt
4.9% honey malt (15 SRM)
16.6 IBUs Northern Brewer at 60 minutes
1 tsp Irish moss at 15 minutes
1 tsp yeast nutrient at 15 minutes
7.6 IBUs Cascade 10 minutes
0.5 IBUs Cascade 1 minute
US-05 yeast

152F mash for 60 minutes. Boil for 60 minutes.

OG 1.053, FG 1.012 5.5% ABV 24.6 IBUs, 28.2 SRM

After primary I split the beer into 2 20L secondaries.

In one of the 20L I added a bottle (25 mL) of hazelnut flavoring.

Both the regular nut brown and the hazelnut brown were gone too quickly (meaning everyone enjoyed them).

 

[bowman5150]

If you want some roast in your brown ale you should try some European roasted rye malt it’s by Viking malt and you probably would be able to omit your chocolate and just use this European roasted rye

 

[Rob2010SS]

If you want some roast in your brown ale you should try some European roasted rye malt it’s by Viking malt and you probably would be able to omit your chocolate and just use this European roasted rye

I'm never a huge fan of rye. Thank you for the recommendation though. I'll look into it and evaluate.

 

[Rob2010SS]

I brewed an American Nut Brown in February 2018.

71.9% 2 row pale malt
15.5% crystal 60L
7.7% chocolate malt
4.9% honey malt (15 SRM)
16.6 IBUs Northern Brewer at 60 minutes
1 tsp Irish moss at 15 minutes
1 tsp yeast nutrient at 15 minutes
7.6 IBUs Cascade 10 minutes
0.5 IBUs Cascade 1 minute
US-05 yeast

152F mash for 60 minutes. Boil for 60 minutes.

OG 1.053, FG 1.012 5.5% ABV 24.6 IBUs, 28.2 SRM

After primary I split the beer into 2 20L secondaries.

In one of the 20L I added a bottle (25 mL) of hazelnut flavoring.

Both the regular nut brown and the hazelnut brown were gone too quickly (meaning everyone enjoyed them).

Thanks for the input! Sounds tasty! I might have to experiment with hazelnut on a future version of this. I'm really wanting to nail down a solid brown recipe before I tweak it with flavorings.

 

[Steveruch]

I'm never a huge fan of rye. Thank you for the recommendation though. I'll look into it and evaluate.

At that small a % you wouldn't taste any rye.

 

[Rob2010SS]

If you want some roast in your brown ale you should try some European roasted rye malt it’s by Viking malt and you probably would be able to omit your chocolate and just use this European roasted rye

I called and my lhbs doesn't carry this and won't be able to get it by Tuesday which is when I'm getting the ingredients. I don't have a grain mill so I can't have this grain shipped to me. I'll see about using this on the next one. Thanks again for the info

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

Thanks for the input! Sounds tasty! I might have to experiment with hazelnut on a future version of this. I'm really wanting to nail down a solid brown recipe before I tweak it with flavorings.

I still have a few bottles. If we lived nearby I'd invite you over to have a few.

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

Stay away from roasted, black malt, black patent malt in nut browns. These are, IMO, too harsh.

 

[Rob2010SS]

I still have a few bottles. If we lived nearby I'd invite you over to have a few.

Where you from? Im in northern illinois

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

Where you from? Im in northern illinois

We're very far apart. I'm in Manassas, VA (Socialist Republic of Northern Virginia), although many Illinois AM stations are received here at night.

 

[Rob2010SS]

Stay away from roasted, black malt, black patent malt in nut browns. These are, IMO, too harsh.

Yep agreed. I didn't put anything like that in for that reason. I was reallly trying to focus on ingredients that were more nutty/biscuity (MO, amber, victory). The pale chocolate and carafa was to get just a little roast in the background. And the cara60 was for a touch of sweetness.

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

Also, say away from rye. IMO, rye imparts a spicy, bitterness similar to hops. Years ago I brewed a rye IPA and I really didn't enjoy it.

Follow my recipe and you will achieve what you seek...

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

BTW, I like your profile photo. Seems very similar to mine. Is this an electric brewery?

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

Purchase a mill. You just missed MoreBeer's 15% off. Perhaps, they will have more sales around Thanksgiving?

http://www.morebeer.com/products/malt-muncher-3-roller-grain-mill.html

PM me.

 

[Rob2010SS]

Also, say away from rye. IMO, rye imparts a spicy, bitterness similar to hops. Years ago I brewed a rye IPA and I really didn't enjoy it.

Follow my recipe and you will achieve what you seek...

My only problem with your recipe is that it's a bit similar to my first attempt at a brown. Only difference is that instead of honey malt I used victory and it wasn't what I wanted. Oh, and the base was golden promise. And your chocolate is higher than mine lol. So maybe not REALLY similar. Just trying to go more towards the nutty end I guess...

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

My only problem with your recipe is that it's a bit similar to my first attempt at a brown. Only difference is that instead of honey malt I used victory and it wasn't what I wanted. Oh, and the base was golden promise. And your chocolate is higher than mine lol. So maybe not REALLY similar. Just trying to go more towards the nutty end I guess...View attachment 653691

Do note the victory and flaked oats. Also, only 2% chocolate malt? What was the mashing temp?

 

[Rob2010SS]

Do note the victory and flaked oats. Also, only 2% chocolate malt? What was the mashing temp?

Mash temp was 155

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

At 155F you'll get more body (Think of a malty beer. For example an Oktoberfest), but that's OK. I was just asking to ensure the mash temp was within the desired mashing temp range.

I would eliminate the oats. The oats will give a chewy, creamy addition and add body, but you're already getting body with the mash temp.

 

[Rob2010SS]

At 155F you'll get more body (Think of a malty beer. For example an Oktoberfest), but that's OK. I was just asking to ensure the mash temp was within the desired mashing temp range.

I would eliminate the oats. The oats will give a chewy, creamy addition and add body, but you're already getting body with the mash temp.

Yep. In the new recipe the oats are gone. Im not looking to use the recipe that has the golden promise and oats though. Im really looking for feedback on the recipe I posted in my initial post. To Me, it sounds good and makes sense but I was hoping someone had done something similar and could confirm that, with temps and pH in line, it wouldn't be an overly dry or astringent mess of a recipe

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

I'd drop the amber malt from the original post as amber malt is known for imparting biscuit, coffee in the brew. Increase the caramel/crystal 60L and the chocolate malt.

Without the oats and amber malt the recipe is very close to Cider City Brewery Maduro (Northern English Brown Ale).