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Leafburner Brown ale

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72IBU

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Joined
Sep 5, 2013
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Location
Baltimore Area
9 lbs Pale 2 row
2 lbs Crystal 80L
1/2 lb Chocolate Malt
1/4 lb Smoked Malt

Mash in 14 qts at 169, goal of 152
I hit a little low at 150, so I added 3 cups boiling water and brought the mash to 153

Fly sparge 4 gal at 168

I had 6.5 gal in the kettle so I topped up to 7 gal

1 oz Northern Brewer 9% AA at 60 min
.25 oz Yakima Goldings 5.9% AA at 30
.25 oz Yakima Goldings 5.9% AA at 15
.25 oz Yakima Goldings 5.9% AA at 10
1 tsp irish moss at 10
.25 oz Yakima Goldings 5.9% AA at 5
.25 oz Yakima Goldings 5.9% AA at flameout

I discovered Sierra Nevada Tumbler the other week and loved it. This is my attempt to come up with a similar beer. I just finished brewing it today and plan to add tasting notes over the next few weeks as it finishes. I did not intend this to be a clone, I am trying to come up with a solid brown, similar to Tumbler, that I can refine down the road.

A few notes on the recipe:

I use brewsmith so the numbers here are based off of that. My goal was to hit 1053 with a 5.5 gal batch. This was my second all grain batch and I am still refining my equipment values in the software. My first batch I was at a 70% efficiency, but this one I hit 77% efficiency so the OG was high (not a bad thing). I also was a little low on final volume. I fly sparge with a colander on top of the cooler pouring the sparge water over it so I don't disturb the grain bed.

I originally planned to use 1/2 lb smoked malt. I was going for just a hint of smoke, not a lot. The LHBS said what they had was a very strongly smoked malt and recommended 1/4 lb. After tasting the wort I think I would have gone with 1/2 lb, I really couldn't pick up on any smoke at all. I guess I will see if there is any there when it is finished.

Sierra Nevada says they use Challenger. LHBS did not have challenger so I substituted Northern Brewer.

I pitched the yeast about an hour ago, so I will continue to update the thread as the beer progresses. I plan on leaving it in primary for 10-14 days and then transferring to the secondary for 2 days to clarify with gelatin. I keg and force carb after that, usually I get the beer carbed in about 2 days. Hopefully by the 22 or 23rd I can update everyone with how it turned out.
 
I tasted it and checked gravity on the 17th. Gravity was 1018. The smoke started to come through and it definitely reminded me of Sierra Nevada Tumbler. I took another gravity reading and tasted it today. FG is 1015. It has become very smokey since earlier this week. It had cleared out nicely, so I decided to skip clarification and transfer straight into the keg. Honestly I hope some of the smoke mellows out. I was looking for a hint of smoke and right now the smoke is a little stronger than just a hint. Once it is carbed I will post another update with a photo.
 
Below is the finished beer. I am really pleased with how it turned out. It starts off with a nice malty caramel flavor and finishes with a little bit of smokey chocolate. I was worried about too much smoke, but after the first week in the keg the smoke really mellowed out and more of the chocolate came through. I do think it is similar to Tumbler, but with a nice chocolate note at the end. I will definitely be brewing this again.

image.jpg
 
Awesome! I had a fair amount of Tumbler last fall and liked it, but haven't snagged any from the store quite yet this fall. Your recipe looks good to me, and your description of how it turned out sounds pretty good too.

Thanks for sharing.
 
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