How does this brown ale recipe look?

[Miraculix]

I've only used it twice. Once for an ESB and once for a sweet stout. So I haven't used it enough to really know about the stalling, just the somewhat low attenuation. S-04, on the other hand, I've probably used 20 to 30 times by now.

I've also made plenty of good to great beers with S04 but none with Windsor. I have tried that notti/windsor 50/50 thing but I prefer Notti on it's own. But if you are after the Windsor esters, this is certainly a way to omit the stalling and get decent attenuation, if not too much for this brew.

 

[Lalo_uy]

I love the sweet finish of Windsor.
For an easy recip I use :
Maris otter 95%
Wyermans Special W 5% Mash at 68c

Been a mix of crystal malts Special W is a nice help.

 

[worlddivides]

I do like the character of Windsor, but its attenuation is typically around 60%, which makes me mainly want to use it for beers where I'm increasing the fermentability of the wort quite a bit and want a sweet end-result or where the basic idea of the beer is for an above-average amount of sweetness (such as in a sweet stout). The 50/50 Nottingham/Windsor idea is an interesting one I've heard before, but I'm not sure if the price of the two yeasts would be that much of an improvement over just regular S-04. Plus, I'd also imagine I might get a mixture of Windsor's esters and Nottingham's esters but with attenuation closer to Nottingham, which isn't a bad idea by any means. Would probably make a pretty tasty beer, but I'm leaning towards just using S-04 right now.

 

[Miraculix]

I do like the character of Windsor, but its attenuation is typically around 60%, which makes me mainly want to use it for beers where I'm increasing the fermentability of the wort quite a bit and want a sweet end-result or where the basic idea of the beer is for an above-average amount of sweetness (such as in a sweet stout). The 50/50 Nottingham/Windsor idea is an interesting one I've heard before, but I'm not sure if the price of the two yeasts would be that much of an improvement over just regular S-04. Plus, I'd also imagine I might get a mixture of Windsor's esters and Nottingham's esters but with attenuation closer to Nottingham, which isn't a bad idea by any means. Would probably make a pretty tasty beer, but I'm leaning towards just using S-04 right now.

S04 is an absolutely solid choice. You cannot go wrong with that. Brew it with s04 this time and maybe next time you switch the yeast.

 

[worlddivides]

S04 is an absolutely solid choice. You cannot go wrong with that. Brew it with s04 this time and maybe next time you switch the yeast.

I do think I'd like to try Windsor with maybe a Southern English brown ale that's shooting for 3.5% ABV or so. Or maybe a mild. Or a really sessionable oatmeal stout.

 

[Miraculix]

I do think I'd like to try Windsor with maybe a Southern English brown ale that's shooting for 3.5% ABV or so. Or maybe a mild. Or a really sessionable oatmeal stout.

The lower the abv the lower is the yeast expression. When brewing dark milds in the 3% range, I cannot find differences between yeasts anymore. Unless it's something really high attenuating but even then it becomes hard to really taste the difference.

 

[beren]

How do you read a brewery from the 1800s? Or did they also write and publish about the beers they brewed?

Maybe something like http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2019/11/northern-brown-ale-after-ww-ii.html?m=1

 

[worlddivides]

Maybe something like http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2019/11/northern-brown-ale-after-ww-ii.html?m=1

So a guy who writes a blog about Barclay Perkins, trends in old British breweries, and other very old historical facts about breweries and beers in England. Kind of an ironic name for a blog. I'll admit it's interesting and pretty niche stuff. The kinds of grains used in the 1800s and early 1900s, etc.

 

[Halfakneecap]

I dont think amber and biscuit malt are the same at all. Amber malt can be harsh, but ive always found biscuit to be nutty ish and lovely. I used dingemans though, not sure if other brands are the same

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Crisp call their Amber malt Biscuit.

 

[Halfakneecap]

Crisp call their Amber malt Biscuit.

Ive only ever used Amber from UK maltsters, and only used Biscuit from Dingemans. To me, they were nothing alike. I used biscuit in lots of beers and never needed to wait for it to smooth out. Anything i brewed with Amber malt required a good few weeks before drinking. Like Brown malt. I really like dark beers with Brown malt, but ill bottle them and wait a good few weeks before trying them

Only my experience, nothing more.

 

[worlddivides]

I dont think amber and biscuit malt are the same at all. Amber malt can be harsh, but ive always found biscuit to be nutty ish and lovely. I used dingemans though, not sure if other brands are the same

https://crispmalt.com/malts/amber-malt/

 

[bike2brew]

So a guy who writes a blog about Barclay Perkins, trends in old British breweries, and other very old historical facts about breweries and beers in England. Kind of an ironic name for a blog. I'll admit it's interesting and pretty niche stuff. The kinds of grains used in the 1800s and early 1900s, etc.

You may find this interesting

https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-h...10aAlFeEALw_wcB#idiq=34571154&edition=8904469

 

[Halfakneecap]

https://crispmalt.com/malts/amber-malt/

https://www.dingemansmout.be/malt/biscuit®-50 md

One suggests up to 5%, the other up to 30%.

 

[worlddivides]

https://www.dingemansmout.be/malt/biscuit®-50 md

One suggests up to 5%, the other up to 30%.

Yeah, Crisp recommends their amber malt at up to 5%, while Simpson's recommends their amber malt at up to 20%. And then Dingemans there recommends up to 30%. Each maltster recommends a completely different amount.

https://www.simpsonsmalt.co.uk/our-malts/amber-malt/

EDIT: Personally Dingemans is the one I would like to use, and I'd like to use the amber/biscuit malt at around 10-15%, reducing the amount of Marris Otter to compensate, but currently Crisp's amber malt is the only malt of that kind available to me. I don't like how they recommend up to 5% (while Simpson's recommends up to 20% and Dingemans recommends up to 30%), but I don't really have any other options.

 

[worlddivides]

You may find this interesting

https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-home-brewers-guide-to-vintage-beer-rediscovered-recipes-for-classic-brews-dating-from-1800-to-1965_ronald-pattinson/9529198/item/34571154/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=low_vol_f/m/s_standard_shopping_customer_aquisition&utm_adgroup=&utm_term=&utm_content=688842569242&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwm5e5BhCWARIsANwm06i-z3dgoS75cmCy_ha8MWH_zJ2W_zxri78IJ4gnwibyPS0dq7XqC10aAlFeEALw_wcB#idiq=34571154&edition=8904469

It does seem pretty interesting, but I don't think I would actually brew any of the recipes. I'm sure it's fun to learn about, though.

 

[worlddivides]

In the end, these were the specs I went with:

Fermentables:
2.4kg of Maris Otter malt (72.7%)
300g of Crystal 60L (9.1%)
100g of Crystal 150L (3%)
150g of amber malt (4.5%)
100g of chocolate malt (3%)
250g of maple syrup (7.6%) - Added 1 minute before end of boil (slowly to spoon)

Hops:
10 grams of Northern Brewer hops (pellet – 10.7% AA) for 60 minutes
10 grams of Fuggle hops (pellet – 5.0% AA) for 10 minutes

And the final results:
Starting Gravity: 1.056
Final Gravity: 1.011
ABV: 5.9%
(80% apparent attenuation)

The color is definitely on the dark end of a brown ale, but when you look at it in the beer line, it's a much lighter brown. And when you put it up to the light or let light shine through it, there's a very nice reddish amber color, likely from the chocolate and amber malt. I attached photos of the beer line, the beer on a table, and up to the light to show the color.

The flavor is very smooth and pleasant. It ended up drier than I originally planned, mainly because the maple syrup was mostly fermented, but it does have a nice sweetness to it. Not at all cloying or strong. It's mainly from the crystal malts, I believe (though starting the mash at 68C/154.4F likely contributed, though I only used a towel to insulate the kettle and did not turn the heat back on, so the heat of the mash had dropped to 66C/150.8F after 30 minutes and was at 65.3C/149.5F after 60 minutes). Since I only had 7.6% of the fermentables as maple syrup, it only added a light hint of maple character. The maltiness is definitely far more dominant. The hops lightly support the whole. Overall, I think it's a very well-balanced and pleasant beer, but it's only been 3 and a half weeks since I brewed it. I decided to go pretty light on the carbonation to stick to style (though the ABV ended up also getting higher than I intended).

I'll need more time with it, but overall I'm very pleased.