American Brown Ale Brown Out American Brown Ale (Tulsa Fair 2nd place Winner!!)

[jimbomij]

I've been wanting to find a good base to make a banana bread beer. I was considering using this base recipe but adding a few pounds of mashed bananas to the last 20 minutes of the boil, and then fermenting in the upper 70s with a hefe yeast to bring out the esters. Do y'all think this would be something tasty and interesting, or do you think it would just taste like a confusing mess?

 

[PADave]

I've been wanting to find a good base to make a banana bread beer. I was considering using this base recipe but adding a few pounds of mashed bananas to the last 20 minutes of the boil, and then fermenting in the upper 70s with a hefe yeast to bring out the esters. Do y'all think this would be something tasty and interesting, or do you think it would just taste like a confusing mess?

I'd say that you would need to eliminate the dry hops, and probably cut back else ware on the hops. I had banana bread beer once, not my thing. Certainly not something I'd try making 5 gal of. Maybe mess around with a 1 gal batch?

On a side note, this beer has become really, really good. Can't wait to make it again.

 

[BrewPilot74]

This came out really well. A very nice brown ale. My OG was a little low, due to my poor efficiency, but I'm happy with the way it came out. Can't wait to have another tonight and share with friends this weekend.

 

[arnobg]

I'm brewing a slight variation of this tomorrow. Will update later.

 

[boxerbrews]

Any reason for the long primary rest on the yeast cake? Seems like it would be more beneficial to rack to secondary after you get close to FG.

 

[arnobg]

Any reason for the long primary rest on the yeast cake? Seems like it would be more beneficial to rack to secondary after you get close to FG.

Racking to secondary would not be a "benefit" over letting it sit on the yeast cake for 2-3 weeks. Unless you're aging or adding something after fermentation, then secondary is a waste of time and just an added possibility of oxidation or infection. This discussion though is better suited to the thousands of secondary posts in the forum.

There's really no reason this beer needs more than 14 days in my opinion. I'm on day 11 of my fermentation and I'm at a stable final gravity. I'll be cold crashing and hen racking to a keg Wednesday.

 

[boxerbrews]

Racking to secondary would not be a "benefit" over letting it sit on the yeast cake for 2-3 weeks. Unless you're aging or adding something after fermentation, then secondary is a waste of time and just an added possibility of oxidation or infection. This discussion though is better suited to the thousands of secondary posts in the forum.

There's really no reason this beer needs more than 14 days in my opinion. I'm on day 11 of my fermentation and I'm at a stable final gravity. I'll be cold crashing and hen racking to a keg Wednesday.

10-14 days sounds perfect, at least in my experience with Browns. I'm going to give this a whirl weekend after this coming and submit it to a Topeka comp on 10/29. Should be plenty of time to ferment, bottle and condition.

 

[arnobg]

I changed it a little bit, but followed the grain bill except used all Maris Otter instead of 2-Row/Maris blend. I also bittered with a little Chinook and did kettle additions all with Cascade. Finishing now with a Cascade dry hop. I aimed for 35 IBU's and the sample tasted great.

 

[arnobg]

Overall solid recipe. I brewed it with all Maris Otter instead of 2-Row. I also bittered with Chinook and used all Cascade after that. I would possibly add more chocolate next time.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1475116038.747642.jpg

 

[btkist]

Giving this recipe a try this weekend as the first time brewing with my own equipment.

 

[Clearwall]

Commenting to save for later

 

[PADave]

Just got delivered today, ingredients to brew this one for a second time.

 

[btkist]

Brewed this back on 10/23 without the dry hopping. Turned out great. Brought some home for family and friends over Thanksgiving, and they were amazed that it was my first batch. Definitely adding this as a base brew.

 

[catdaddy66]

Reviving this thread! I have to brew an ale for a HBC competition and it looks like this recipe will hit the majority of my ingredients needed.

The hop schedule can be adjusted but the grist is pretty spot-on.

 

[razorguy]

How everyone is dry hopping this? Seven days seems a little long (in my experience) so I may try 3-5 days. Just wondering if you're doing it after primary fermentation has stopped or just on the last seven (or however many) days regardless of activity.

 

[catdaddy66]

How everyone is dry hopping this? Seven days seems a little long (in my experience) so I may try 3-5 days. Just wondering if you're doing it after primary fermentation has stopped or just on the last seven (or however many) days regardless of activity.

3-5 days is perfect imo. I did it just before bottling, so about day ten from when you pitched your yeast.

My brown ale came out so good that I am planning on keeping it in the '5 house beer rotation'. One of my best this year!