I brewed a favorite recipe today

[Brews and Blues]

I brewed a favorite recipe today. I again brewed my brown ale that is intended to be like Civil Life American Brown Ale, a wonderful local (St. Louis) brew.

5 1/2 gal. water
6 lbs. Briess Pale Ale DME
1/2 lb. Thomas Fawcett brown malt
1/4 lb. Weyemann Carafa II Special chocolate malt
11/2 oz. Cascade alpha 6.2 (BOIL) 10.2 HBU adjusted
1/2 oz. Cascade (FLAVOR)
1/2 oz. Cascade (AROMA)
1 US05 ale yeast

Dissolve 3 lbs. DME in 1/2 gal. water fo4 late addition
Dissolve 3 lbs. DME in 1 gal. water for boil, begin heating
Steep grains in 1/2 gal. water for 30 min. at 150-160
Strain into boil kettle, bring to boil, add boil hops
30 min boil
10 min. flavor hops
0 min. add late addition and aroma hops
Cool in sink bath before pouring into fermenter
Top to 5 gal. pitch at 70

HBUs adjusted: -10% for the 30 minute boil and +20% for the late addition

This brew will celebrate a home leave.
View attachment 819631

@D.B.Moody you shared this recipe with me a while back. Civil Life Brown is one of my favorite beers. I brewed it and should be kegging this weekend. I'll let you know how it turns out! Cheers!

 

[Hoochin'Fool]

Civil Life Brown is one of my favorite beers. I brewed it and should be kegging this weekend. I'll let you know how it turns out! Cheers!

I wouldn't mind seeing those HBU thingies adjusted to regular "X oz cascade (6.2% aa) @30 for Y ibus", if you went to the trouble of figuring them out! Oh, and any gravity readings you happened to record!

 

[D.B.Moody]

I brewed a favorite recipe today. Today we, a visiting grandson and I, brewed "Summer Ale," which will be ready for drinking while that grandson's father is visiting this summer.

5 1/2 gal. water
3 lbs, Briess amber DME, 1 1/2 lbs, Briess Pale Ale DME, 1/2 lb. corn sugar (This is usually 5 lbs. amber DME)
2 tsp. gypsum
1 oz. Centennial, alpha 10.7 (BOIL) 11.8 HBU adjusted
1/2 oz. Cascade (AROMA)
1 US05 ale yeast

Dissolve 2 1/2 lbs DME on 1/2 gal. water for late addition
Dissolve 2 lbs. DME, 1/2 lb. corn sugar, and 2 tsp. gypsum in 1 1/2 gal. for boil
30 min boil
0 min. add late addition and aroma hops
Cool in sink bath before pouring into fermenter
Top to 5 gal.and pitch at 70F.

HBUs adjusted down 10% for the 30 min. boil and up 20% for the late addition of extract.
BTW: the grandson is a 21-year-old college student..

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

"Light Color Extract IPA Challenge" - Centennial Single Hop
Revisiting a favorite recipe from 2021 using Muntons DME and Centennial hops

• 35 min boil; rapid chill (3 min) from flame-out to 170F.
• 2.5 gal (end of boil); split fermentation (Nottingham and Apex San Diego Ale)
• ABV 6.3% (est); OG 62; FG 13 (est); IBU: 50-ish; SRM: 3? 4? 5?

Ingredients

• 3 lb Muntons Extra Light DME; 8 oz sugar
• 1.0 g CaS04; 0.1 CaCl; 0.2 g NaCl
• Centennial (10.7 AA): 1 oz @ 30; 1/2 oz at 0
• yeast (split batch): Lallemand Nottingham & Apex San Diego Ale

Process

• heat 2.75 gal water to 140F, add flavor salts; sugar; DME
• 35 min boil with hop additions @ 30 and @ 0

Comments

• side experiment/observation: when adding ingredients, basically poured (little stirring) 3 lb Muntons DME into 2.75 gal water @ 140F with heat off; got some clumps which pretty much dissolved on their own (minimum stirring) over the next 5 to 10 minutes (heat was off).
• side experiment/observation: the usual 'watch for flakes / 'hot break' when heading DME/LME from 140F to boil. Confirmed (again) that with with Muntons DME, I don't see those "flakes"; with Briess DME, Briess LME, and Williams LME I will see "flakes. Either way doesn't seem to impact the quality of the beer - so it's probably nothing more than "just an observation".

 

[D.B.Moody]

I brewed a like-my-favorites recipe today. Back in March @shoreman posted about brewing a "Landlord inspired" ale on the "English Ales - What's your favorite recipe" thread. It used Fuggle, East Kent Goldings, and Stryian Goldings hops. I have favorite recipes that pair Fuggle and East Kent Goldings; East Kent Goldings and Stryian Goldings; and Stryian Goldings and Fuggle; but I do not have the three together. So I brewed this "Three Hopper":

5 1/2 gal. water
5 lbs. Muntons Amber DME
1/2 lb. Thomas Fawcett 45L crystal malt
2 tsp. gypsum
1 oz. Fuggle alpha 4.7 & 1/2 oz. alpha 5.6 (BOIL) 8.25 HBU adjusted
3/4 oz. East Kent Goldings (AREOMA)
1 oz. Stryian Goldings (AROMA)
1 Muntons ale yeast

Dissolve 2 1/2 lbs. DME in 1/2 gal. water for late addition
Dissolve 2 1/2 lbs DME and 2 tsp. gypsum in 1 gal. water fro boil, begin heating
Steep grain in 1/2 gal. water at 150-160 for 30 minutes
Strain into boil kettle, bring to boil, add boil hops
30 min. boil
10 min. flavor hops
0 min. add late addition and aroma hops
Cool in sink bath before transferring to fermenter
Top to 5 gal. and pitch at 70F.

HBUs are adjusted down 10% for the 30 min. boil and up 20% for the late addition of half the extract.

This batch was designed to be like the favorites that pair these hops. Landlord does not use crystal malts, but it does use sugar. Next year when I brew this again (and I'm pretty sure I will) I'll use some invert sugar and no crystal.

7/8/23 Transferred to secondary
7/15/23 Bottling put off, still cloudy & foam on top
7/22/23 Bottled with 3/4 cup corn sugar

 

[ncbrewer]

5 lbs. Muntons Amber DME
1/2 lb. Thomas Fawcett 45L crystal malt

I had some email correspondence with Muntons. Their reply included "we do not design a grist to give the complexity of flavour you ordinarily get from a using a host of different malts. For this purpose I would direct you towards our liquid range" So I'm wondering if you also find a lack of complexity of flavor, and that's why you also add the 1/2 lb of crystal malt.

 

[DBhomebrew]

a host of different malts.

This is key.

I've made a few simple bitters with just Munton's amber DME and some homemade invert or even just raw turbinado. I find it to be a delicious easy drinking beer with mildly pleasant flavor. Similar to my typical all-grain ordinary bitters which these days are merely UK base grain plus invert.

No, Munton's amber DME by itself won't make an American amber ale nor a BJCP competition winning ESB.

 

[Miraculix]

... nor a BJCP competition winning ESB.

So what you are saying is, it actually tastes British?

.... I am also making really good beers from extract btw. Extract can be a really nice and easy way to brew beer.

 

[D.B.Moody]

I had some email correspondence with Muntons. Their reply included "we do not design a grist to give the complexity of flavour you ordinarily get from a using a host of different malts. For this purpose I would direct you towards our liquid range" So I'm wondering if you also find a lack of complexity of flavor, and that's why you also add the 1/2 lb of crystal malt.

In this case the grain was to make this recipe like the three favorite recipes that pair those three hops. They use amber or light DME, 1, 3/4, or 1/2 lb crystal malt, and two specify gypsum. IMO Muntons can make a nice British bitter or pale without grain(s). @DBhomebrew has mentioned that Muntons Amber is fairly close to Golden Promise. Since Landlord is made with 100% Golden Promise, I had to use it here and will again when I brew this with invert next year.

I have no experience with the various liquid malts from Muntons.

 

[D.B.Moody]

We, a visiting son and I, brewed a favorite recipe today. We brewed my porter recipe. I haven't brewed this recently, because Mt. Rainier hops went missing, and I'd been using them from 2011 to 2014. I decided to try it with Columbus hops.

4 1/2 lbs amber & 1 1/2 lbs dark Muntons DME
1/2 lb. turbinado cane sugar
1/4 lb. carabrown malt, 1/4 lb. chocolate malt, 1/4 lb. 45L crystal malt, 1/8 lb. black malt
1" licorice stick
1/2 oz. Columbus alpha 16.2 (BOIL) 8.9 HBU adjusted
3/4 oz. Columbus (FLAVOR)
3/4 oz. Columbus (AROMA)
1 S33 ale yeast

Dissolve 3 1/4 lbs DME in 1/2 gal. for late addition
Dissolve 2 3/4 lbs DME and 1/2 lb.cane sugar in 1 gal. of water for boil
Steep grains in 1/2 gal. of water for 30 min. at 150-160 F
Strain into boil kettle, bring to boil, add boil hops
30 min. boil
15 min. add licorice
10 min. add flavor hops
0 min. add late addition and aroma hops
Cool in sink bath before pouring into fermenter
Top to 5 gal, pitch at 70 F

8/22/23 Transferred to secondary
9/5/23 Bottled with 3/4 cup corn sugar

 

[D.B.Moody]

I brewed a favorite recipe today. I brewed Toad Hall Stout that is based on Charlie Papazan's Toad Spit Stout.

5 gal. water (I have found that there's so little boil off, that I don't need to start with extra.)
6 lbs .Muntons dark DME
1/3 lb. roasted barley
1/3 lb. black malt
3/4 lb. 45L Thomas Fawcett crystal malt
2 Tbsp. gypsum
3 oz. East Kent Goldings, alpha 4.4 (BOIL) 14.4 HBU adjusted
1/2 oz. East Kent Goldings (FLAVOR)
1 S33 ale yeast

Dissolve 3 lbs. DME in 1/2 gal. water for late addition
Dissolve 3 lbs. DME and gypsum in 3/4 gal. water for boil, begin heating
Steep grains in 3/4 gal. water for 30 min. at 150-160F
Strain into boil kettle, bring to boil, add boil hops
30 min. boil
10 min. flavor hops
0 min. late addition
Cool in sink bath before pouring into fermenter
Top to 5 gal., pitch at 70F

HBUs adjusted down 10% for 30 min. boil and up 20% for late addition.

9/14/23 Transferred to secondary
9/24/23 Bottled with 3/4 cup corn sugar

 

[Pehlman17]

I brewed a (hopefully soon to be) favorite recipe today. American Brown ale. Tentatively named “Brown With the Sickness” or “Brown on the Upside”

4.2gal/16L batch size.
1.064 OG, SRM ~ 25

5gal distilled water.
6 Lbs Muntons Extra Light DME

Steeping Grains: 152*F for 30min.
0.5 Lb Bairds Carastan
0.5 Lb Simpsons Golden Naked Oats
0.5 Lb Briess Caramel Malt 120L
0.25 Lb Simpsons Coffee Malt
0.25 Lb Bairds Chocolate Malt

Boil/Hops: (60 minute boil)
0.5 tsp Gypsum
0.5 tsp Calcium Chloride
0.5 oz. Chinook @60min
1.0 oz. Northern Brewer @ flameout
1.0 oz. Centennial @ flameout
(Steeped flameout hops for 20min.)

Yeast: 11g Lalbrew Verdant IPA
Set to ferment at 66*F

This is a totally new recipe for me. Never used Verdant before but I’ve heard good things. I’ve been on a brown ale kick lately. I thought maybe the stone fruit esters of this strain might play well with a brown ale. We shall see!

 

[D.B.Moody]

I brewed a (hopefully soon to be) favorite recipe today. American Brown ale. Tentatively named “Brown With the Sickness” or “Brown on the Upside”

Steeping Grains: 152*F for 30min.

How do you get to and hold exactly 152? Why did you pick 152?

 

[Pehlman17]

How do you get to and hold exactly 152? what did you pick 152?

I have been brewing all grain on a 6.5gal Anvil Foundry the past few years, but have been moving back to extract lately for time sake and simplicity. 152 was almost always my go-to mash rest temp, so now when I steep specialty grains for extract I just sort of stick to that out of habit. I just do 30 minutes assuming that’s more than enough time to get what I need out of them.

 

[D.B.Moody]

I have been brewing all grain on a 6.5gal Anvil Foundry the past few years, but have been moving back to extract lately for time sake and simplicity.

I was guessing it was something like that. So you're the Back To Basics thread guy; I should have checked before I asked my quetion.

 

[Pehlman17]

I was guessing it was something like that. So you're the Back To Basics thread guy; I should have checked before I asked my quetion.

Haha yeah. Ive been all over the place lately when it comes to process modifications. I’ve been sort of bouncing back and forth between different ideas to make brewing simpler and more fun. I was thinking of sticking with all-grain but as of late have been really liking the idea of extract better overall. I realized that I could still use the foundry for extract brewing. I can utilize the mash basket and temp control for steeping grains. I also like that I can bring my water up to about 120*F before mixing in DME, which I find makes dissolving it easier while also not being hot enough to create much steam. It’s large enough that I can steep and boil with about 3gal. of water, and still have room to top up with 2gal. of cold water.

I’ve been experimenting with sanitizing a few large silicone ice trays called “Souper Cubes”, filling them with store bought distilled water the night before brewing, and tossing those in at the end for chilling. I was able to take my wort down from 170*F to 70*F in just a few minutes with about 1.5gal. worth of frozen distilled water.

Being able to eliminate the need for pumps and wort chillers has been exactly what I was looking for. Brew day is still enjoyable. I can knock out a batch in just a couple hours, and cleanup is so much less of a hassle.

Yesterday’s batch was a concentrated boil, but on the next one I’m going to leave 3 Lbs of DME for the end of the boil. Likely dissolved in a 1/2gal. water tossed in at flameout per your method.

 

[D.B.Moody]

I brewed a favorite recipe today. I brewed Castle Bitter which is based on Charlie Papazan's recipe by that name. This brew is for Thanksgiving, so I'm labeling it Pilgrim Pale.

5 gal. water
4 lbs. Muntons light and 1/2 lb. Muntons amber DME (this is usually all light DME)
1/2 lb. 40 L and 1/4 lb. 45L crystal malt (in the past this was usually all 40L, preferably Muntons, but I had trouble finding that and have switched to 45L Thomas Fawcett as my go to crystal malt)
1 0z. Fuggle alpha 5.6 and 1 oz. Stryian Goldings alpha 3.5 (BOIL) 10 HBU adjusted
1/2 oz. Stryian Goldings (FLAVOR)
1/2 oz. Stryian Goldings (AROMA)
1 Muntons ale yeast

Dissolve 2 1/4 lbs DME in 1/2 gal wate for late addition
Dissolve 2 1/4 lbs DME in 1 gal water for boil
Steep grains in 1/2 gal. water for 30 min. at 150-160F
Strain into boil kettle, bring to boil, add boil hops
30 min. boil
10 min. flavor hops
0 min late addition and aroma hops
Cool in sink bath before pouring into fermenter
Top to 5 gal., pitch at 70F

HBUs are adjusted down 10% for the 30 min. boil and up 20% for the late addition of half the extract

10/15/23 Transferred to secondary
10/25/23 Bottled with 3/4 cup corn sugar

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

I also like that I can bring my water up to about 120*F before mixing in DME, which I find makes dissolving it easier while also not being hot enough to create much steam. It’s large enough that I can steep and boil with about 3gal. of water, and still have room to top up with 2gal. of cold water.

Curiosity question(s): are you adding all the DME at around 120F? Then a 3 gal boil for a 5 gal batch?

In various published resources, when brewing with malt extract, there is a recommendation to avoid boiling concentrated worts due to the unanticipated flavors that can be produced in the concentrated boil.

I have brewed a small number of normal strength amber ale batches (DME and BIAB) with concentrated boil (OG 75-ish wort reduced to OG 45-ish) and didn't notice any adverse effects.

If you beer is coming out fine with concentrated boils, could it be stale (or stale-ish) product that was the primary cause of those unanticipated flavors?

 

[Pehlman17]

Curiosity question(s): are you adding all the DME at around 120F? Then a 3 gal boil for a 5 gal batch?

Yeah. I added all of the DME at 120F to 3 gallons of water. I then brought that up to 152F, added my crushed steeping grains, and steeped them for 30 minutes. I like to steep my grains with the DME already mixed in. I’ve never found any sort of issue with it, and I find it easier than steeping separately. My pre-boil gravity measured just over 1.090. I didn’t measure again until after I diluted with top up water. I figured with a Brown ale a concentrated boil should be fine. Sure, hop utilization is lower, but on the homebrew scale, much like with mash efficiency, the cost of just adding a pinch more of something to make up the difference is minimal. I intentionally didn’t add any additional sugars just to see what sort of attenuation I get as is. If it finishing a little high, again with a brown ale, I don’t mind too much. But if need be down the road I’ll mess with adding simple sugars to crisper styles.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

@Pehlman17 : thanks for the additional details. Looking forward to hearing about the results!

 

[Pehlman17]

@Pehlman17 : thanks for the additional details. Looking forward to hearing about the results!

No problem! Just kegged it up yesterday. Hoping by the weekend to have an update.

 

[Pehlman17]

Welp… I’m a big dumb dummy. Something wasn’t tasting right with the brown ale, and it seemed to be carbonating strangely. Even after over a week on gas I was still getting minimal head retention with a lot of large bubbles. Flavor wise the beer just tasted muddled and dirty. I had a strong feeling that it was something equipment related. Lo and behold, I found what I assume was the culprit. I’m an idiot and forgot to disassemble and clean the dip tube/ball valve/spigot assembly on my kettle after my previous batch. Needless to say I dumped the batch of brown ale. I gave everything a deep thorough cleaning and threw together a new batch of beer. Brewed it up Tuesday night with ingredients I had on hand. Since it’s that time of year I went with a Sierra Nevada Celebration clone.

6 Lbs Muntons Extra Light DME
1 Lb Sugar Creek Crystal 60
1/2 oz Chinook @60min
1/2 Cascade and 1/4oz Centennial @15
1/2 Cascade and 1/4oz Centennial @0
Planning to dry hop with 1oz Cascade Cryo and 1/2oz Centennial T-90.
Yeast: BRY-97

Hopefully I fixed the issue with the last batch. I hate having to dump beer, but it was my own fault for not being thorough in my cleanliness. I’m hopeful that this batch will come out enjoyable.

 

[D.B.Moody]

1/2 oz Chinook @60min
1/2 Cascade and 1/4oz Centennial @15
1/2 Cascade and 1/4oz Centennial @0

What were the alpha acids of these hops?

 

[Pehlman17]

What were the alpha acids of these hops?

14% for Chinook, 5.5% Cascade, and 9.2% Centennial

 

[ncbrewer]

Good luck with the new batch.

 

[D.B.Moody]

I brewed a favorite recipe today. I brewed my JB Gold recipe that was designed to show off John Bull extract and East Kent Goldings and Stryian Goldings. John Bull extract hasn't been around for a while and and now you mostly find Celeia instead of Stryian Goldings. I don't know why I found Stryian Goldings, and I didn't ask.

5 gal. water
5 lbs. Muntons amber extract
1/2 lb. Thomas Fawcett 45L crystal malt
1/4 lb. Maris Otter pale malt
1 oz. alpha 5.9 and 1/4 oz. alpha 4.4 East Kent Goldings (BOIL) 7.7 HBU adjusted
1/2 oz. Stryian Goldings (FLAVOR)
1/2 oz. Stryian Goldings (AROMA)
1 Muntons ale yeast

Dissolve 2 1/2 lbs. DME in 1/2 gal. water for late addition
Dissolve 2 1/2 lbs. DME in 1 gal. water for boil
Toast pale malt for 10 min. at 350F, crush gains
Steep grains in 1/2 gal. water for 30 min. at 150-160F
Strain into boil kettle, bring to boil, add boil hops
30 min. boil
10 min add flavor hops
0 min. add late addition and aroma hops
Cool in sink bath before pouring into fermenter
Top to 5 gal., pitch at 70F

HBUs are adjusted down 10% for the 30 min. boil and up 20% for the late addition of half the extract.

This will the Christmas season beer this year:

11/12/23 Transferred to secondary
11/26/23 Bottled with 3/4 cup corn sugar

 

[D.B.Moody]

I brewed a favorite recipe today. Today I brewed Peter Cotton Ale, my IPA recipe, but with changes. I first brewed this in 2007, and I've done it fifteen times since then. I like the beer, but I had decided it wasn't very "IPAish." This was decided as part of my exploration of using a secondary or not. Not using a secondary with S33 yeast, which the recipe used, is just unsatisfactory. So this version switches to S04 yeast and no secondary. I also switched to Target as the base boil hop in place of Nugget. Target is British, and, perhaps, a bit less neutral. Its profile suggested bit of Fuggle might enhance the flavor and aroma additions.

Along the way to making the changes, I also decided that the real reason it isn't "IPAish" is that it doesn't use C hops like all the IPAs I get served. Well, I have a recipe that uses Centennial and Cascade. So I will add a pound of malt extract and an ounce of hops to my Summer Ale recipe next year, and brew that as an IPA. So this doesn't have to be more like an IPA. I'm just curious how the changes will work out.

5 gal. water
6 lbs. Muntons amber DME
1/4 lb. Crisp Maris Otter pale ale malt
2 tsp. gypsum
1 oz. Target alpha 10.3 &1/2 oz. East Kent Goldings alpha 5.9 (BOIL) 14.6 HBU adjusted
1/2 oz East Kent Goldings and 1/4 oz. Fuggle (FLAVOR)
3/4 oz. East Kent Goldings & 1/4 oz. Fuggle (AROMA)
S04 ale yeast

Dissolve 3 lbs. DME in 1/2 gal. water for late addition
Dissolve 3 lbs. DME in 1 gal. waterfor boil, add gypsum, begin heating
Toast pale malt for 10 min. at 350, crack grtains
Steep grains in 1/2 gal. water for 30 min. at 150-160
Strain into boil kettle, bring to boil, add boil hops
30 min. boil
10 min. flavor hops
0 min. add late additions and aroma hops
Cool in sink bath before pouring onto fermenter
Top to 5 gal. with cold water, pitch at 70

HBUs adjusted down 10% for 30 min. boil and up 20% for late addition

 

[DBhomebrew]

I'm curious about the toasted(?) pale malt.

 

[D.B.Moody]

I'm curious about the toasted(?) pale malt.

Charlie Papazian had toasted malted barley in a number of his recipes. I learned to brew with his New Complete Joy of Homebrewing.
Put the whole grains in the oven for 10 min. at 350F. After toasting, grains are cracked and steeped. I'm not sure it actually does much for the beer, but your kitchen will smell delicious.