Brown ale ?

[stumpwater]

Hey folks, i brewed a Nukey brown ale kit from NB 3 weeks ago this comeing Sat. and have to leave home for work on the 15th feb. I really know nothing about this style of beer and can't decide if i should bottle it or if i would be better off to rack it to my carboy for the month i will be away. My last brew was a amber ale that i bottled after 40 days and it turned out nice, but this is a different style. Also i need my bucket to brew a pale ale before i leave.I'm thinking it will be ok and i know it will clean up and be clear after a month. What should i do? One more thing, I do like a glass secondary and have good luck with them but i know lots of people don't recomend a secondary. Forgive me for rambeling.

 

[earwig]

If this is an average OG brew (around 1.050) I'd recommend bottling it and let it condition in the bottles. After 3 weeks of fermenting an average brew there is no advantage to leaving it on the yeast cake/trub over bottle conditioning.

 

[shawnbou]

3 weeks in primary tends to be either the average or the minimum, depending on who you talk to around here. You can peruse this board and read about great results with 3 weeks in primary only, and you can also read about great results with longer times in primary and even longer times in secondary.

I don't normally secondary unless I'm dry hopping, or unless I can't get around to bottling for a while. Most of my beers have been bottled after 3 weeks and tasted great. But recently I've been too busy to bottle and I've been racking after 3 weeks and letting the beer sit in the carboy until I was ready to bottle it, and I've been really happy with the results I get from the longer aging. Especially on bigger beers.

If it was me, I'd probably rack it, but that's just because when I travel for business I want to spend my last weekend at home doing other things. YMMV. Either would honestly be fine:
a) Brew your pale ale this weekend and bottle your brown ale, and have brown ready to drink when you get back. OR,
b) Brew your pale ale and rack your brown ale this weekend, and bottle the brown when you get back. You wont have any new beer to drink for a while, but it sounds like you're OK with that.

 

[stumpwater]

Yep, O.G. 1.050 I agree , but will it hurt to leave it in the secondary for a month?

 

[stumpwater]

Thanks Shawnbou I'll probably rack it and wait a month. Meanwhile i'll drink Boston lager .

 

[stumpwater]

What can i expect from this brown ale? It only had 1 oz. of fuggles at 60 min. , will it be sweet, malty, heck i don't know.

 

[tjp68]

What can i expect from this brown ale? It only had 1 oz. of fuggles at 60 min. , will it be sweet, malty, heck i don't know.

Not much bitterness, thin body, not a ton of malt. If your temps were relatively low, you will have a clean, drinkable session beer.

If you've ever had a Newcastle, it should be fairly similar.

 

[stumpwater]

Temps were low i guess, 62-64f. Thanks, i have never had a brown. Where i live Buds the king and i've had my share but have found the hobby of homebrewing and ain't gonna quit.

 

[tjp68]

Temps were low i guess, 62-64f. Thanks, i have never had a brown. Where i live Buds the king and i've had my share but have found the hobby of homebrewing and ain't gonna quit.

A typical brown like NB Nukey is a great gateway beer for Bud drinkers. Don't get me wrong, it's nothing like Bud/Miller/Coors, but it's very easy to drink.