British Brown Ale Nut Brown AG

[jbb3]

If I were going to brew it, I'd probably leave the oats out & mash a little cooler (152).

Curious on why you'd leave the oats out??

 

[Synap6]

I brewed this one a while ago (with US-05) and wasnt impressed at first. But!!! It got better over time. Actually, 3-4 months after bottling, i really started to enjoy it. Not the best but much, much better once matured for some time.

Im actually thinking of brewing another batch soon and forgetting about it until Xmas time

 

[gotbags-10]

So been browsing the thread for about an hour. Some of the things I've noticed is it is deff better after 3 months if using Notty or S-05 yeast as a lot of people using those yeasts. There are some people who used 1968 yeast who reported MUCH better results over Notty. Also Denny's 1450 was another yeast that was reported to work better as well. Marris Otter was another big thing along with upping the IBU's slightly to match the malt taste. Either up IBu's or mash at a lower temp to reduce some of the sweetness.
However all this being said most people loved it as is.
I'm gonna give it a whirl but use a combo of MO and Golden Promise base malts. I will prob add another lb or 2 base malt to get my OG up. Up my IBu's and use 1968 yeast. Going to brew on Thursday so I will report back initial results here in a month. Cheers!

 

[Synap6]

It WAS very malty at first. However that mellowed out the longer i conditioned it.

 

[rmyurick]

Curious on why you'd leave the oats out??

Well, oats will give you some mouthfeel & add some unfermentables, but they don't have much flavor. Most recipes for Northern English Brown Ale that I've seen don't include oats. Maybe that's the reason for some brewers here not being happy with the results.

 

[lashack]

Here is my rendition of this recipe, cold crash with gelatin really clears it up. Great recipe.

 

[jwalk4]

For the guys/gals that felt this was an underwhelming thin beer, were you brewing this with "American Brown Ale" (2015 BJCP guidelines) in mind, or the English Brown style? To me this caters much more to the latter. Did you think it was similar to a Samuel Smith or a Newcastle? Personally, I brewed it as an English... but I think I wanted to taste more of a Bell's Best Brown than anything else.

I think this guy is on the right track. For those who think this recipe is "bland," have a look at the bjcp guidelines for a northern English Brown. Even the qualifiers they use to describe the flavor should tell you what you need to know: gentle malt flavors, medium to low hop bitterness, with medium-light body and moderate carbonation.

As a fan of this beer, and others like it, nut browns can be subtle and delicate too. American Browns are probably what you're after.

 

[Painty]

How would Pumpkin added as a fall style beer ? Come trick or treat it would be ready ! Any Thoughts ?

 

[TungstenBeer]

I brewed this on Saturday - very similar recipe, only I used Maris Otter and a half pound of chocolate malt instead of a quarter pound. I mostly did that for color, but I don't think a quarter pound will overwhelm it with chocolate-y taste either. We'll see! What I can say is that the wort tasted delicious.

I usually get above 80% attenuation with Notty, so I also upped the mash temp to 157. I'd rather have this beer finish at 1.017 or something rather than 1.010, but hopefully I'm in the sweet spot I'm looking for of 1.013 +/- 1 point.

 

[teach]

Brewed this beer for the first time back in early September and bottled a couple of weeks ago. Tasted my first one yesterday and.... damn, that's a good beer.

I brewed AG as specified except that I added 4 ounces of Special B malt. "Special B will impart a heavy caramel taste and is often credited with the raisin-like flavors of some Belgian Abbey ales."

Yum!

Thanks so much for the excellent recipe! I'll definitely be brewing this one again!

 

[teach]

I usually get above 80% attenuation with Notty, so I also upped the mash temp to 157. I'd rather have this beer finish at 1.017 or something rather than 1.010, but hopefully I'm in the sweet spot I'm looking for of 1.013 +/- 1 point.

Mashed at 156-157F when I made it and I ended up at 1.018. It's a very tasty beer!

 

[christyle]

Homebrew shop was out of a few things so I went with all Fuggles and S-04. Can't wait to give it a shot.

 

[akithegood]

I've got a batch of something like this boiling right now. Substituted equal amounts of TF amber and melanoid for the victory and chocolate L450 and pale chocolate for the 700 ebc chocolate. I'm also going to use willamette instead of fuggles and WLP-023 Burton Ale instead of notty.

I'm still getting used to my new system and overshot my efficiency (72%- > 80%) and preboil volume (25l -> 30l). I guess I'll have to boil for 2 hours to compensate

 

[christyle]

Homebrew shop was out of a few things so I went with all Fuggles and S-04. Can't wait to give it a shot.

Took a sample tonight, about 4 days in. Fantastic! Smooth, easy drinking, nutty, carmel. Not what I thought a brown would be...in a good way. Good stuff!

 

[akithegood]

I've got a batch of something like this boiling right now. Substituted equal amounts of TF amber and melanoid for the victory and chocolate L450 and pale chocolate for the 700 ebc chocolate. I'm also going to use willamette instead of fuggles and WLP-023 Burton Ale instead of notty.

I'm still getting used to my new system and overshot my efficiency (72%- > 80%) and preboil volume (25l -> 30l). I guess I'll have to boil for 2 hours to compensate

Ended up with about 20l of 1.059 wort instead of 19l of 1.054 that I calculated for. Currently it's bubbling away like crazy at about 21 c. I'm thinking about kegging half of the batch and aging 5l with vanilla beans and 5l with bourbon soaked oak chips...

 

[TungstenBeer]

I brewed this on Saturday - very similar recipe, only I used Maris Otter and a half pound of chocolate malt instead of a quarter pound. I mostly did that for color, but I don't think a quarter pound will overwhelm it with chocolate-y taste either. We'll see! What I can say is that the wort tasted delicious.

I usually get above 80% attenuation with Notty, so I also upped the mash temp to 157. I'd rather have this beer finish at 1.017 or something rather than 1.010, but hopefully I'm in the sweet spot I'm looking for of 1.013 +/- 1 point.

To follow up, this has been tapped for a couple weeks now and it is delicious. It finished at 1.017, which is higher than I had originally hoped, but boy am I glad it did. It's delicious. It's darker due to the extra chocolate malt, but I would still consider it brown. If I had this on nitro I feel like I'd be in an English pub. Really happy with how it turned out. Assuming I brew this again next fall or whatever, I won't be changing the recipe.

 

[Charlieatthedisco]

Help! So I brewed this the other week...all went well. Rehydrated and pitched the Nottingham. Waited three days and no fermentation. Gravity reading was literally the same. Re-pitched with 1968 smack pack yeast and three days later nothing! Gravity the same! Wtf!? Temp is around 65/66

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

Did you aerate prior to pitching either time?

 

[Charlieatthedisco]

Did you aerate prior to pitching either time?

First time yes. Not the second though

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

Probably things you already looked for but what was the temperature of the wort (and the temperature of the water used to rehydrate) the first go around? How old were the yeasts? Was your gravity higher than expected?

Just throwing ideas out there hoping something sticks

 

[rmyurick]

Did your smack-pack swell? Is it possible you got sanitizer in your wort somehow?

 

[Charlieatthedisco]

Probably things you already looked for but what was the temperature of the wort (and the temperature of the water used to rehydrate) the first go around? How old were the yeasts? Was your gravity higher than expected?

Just throwing ideas out there hoping something sticks

It was my first time rehydrating. I thought the temp was ok but maybe I didn't wait long enough prior to stirring? Yeasts had good dates. Gravity was not on the exact mark. Just a smudge higher, nothing crazy

 

[Charlieatthedisco]

Did your smack-pack swell? Is it possible you got sanitizer in your wort somehow?

Smack pack swelled. I used starsan. Wasn't totally air dried but I'm talkin maybe drips of diluted sanitizer mAy of gotten in

 

[BrewCityBaller]

Smack pack swelled. I used starsan. Wasn't totally air dried but I'm talkin maybe drips of diluted sanitizer mAy of gotten in

This is fine. I don't know of anyone that rinses their StarSan bubbles or lets it dry. Don't fear the foam

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

Let me be sure we've got everything here:
- You brewed the beer and it ended up pretty close to the predicted OG
- You chilled the beer to pitching temps
- You rehydrated dry yeast in water and aerated before pitching
- You pitched the rehydrated dry yeast, but there was no action days later
- You went with a smack pack, which swelled before pitching, but that didn't get you anywhere either
- Ambient temp around the fermentor is around 66F

If the above is accurate...I've got no idea
Is there still no activity? The gravity is still exactly the same?

Your question might get more attention if you start a new thread

EDIT: When you say everything went fine, does that mean the mash temps were where you wanted them to be?

 

[Shenanigans]

Did you do an iodine test to make sure all starches were converted? Maybe like the last poster suggested you didn't reach a high enough mash temperature to convert? Have you checked if your thermometer is reading correctly?

 

[TungstenBeer]

Did you do an iodine test to make sure all starches were converted? Maybe like the last poster suggested you didn't reach a high enough mash temperature to convert? Have you checked if your thermometer is reading correctly?

This is the only thing I can think of as well. Nottingham not fermenting at mid-60s temperature is almost unheard of.

 

[slym2none]

Did you aerate prior to pitching either time?

Yeast will still work even if you are careful to not aerate your wort at all. The Brulosopher proved that.

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

Yeast will still work even if you are careful to not aerate your wort at all. The Brulosopher proved that.

True, and frankly I only sometimes remember to do it myself (whoops), but it could have been a contributing factor to his problem. It's anecdotal, but I do notice a pretty dramatic difference in lag time between batches that get aerated and ones that don't, even with similar gravity.
Several days in and still no fermentation, so it looks like that wasn't the case here though.

If the mash was normal then I'm completely out of ideas. Maybe someone snuck in your brew room and replaced happily fermenting beer with wort of identical gravity...twice

 

[akithegood]

Ended up with about 20l of 1.059 wort instead of 19l of 1.054 that I calculated for. Currently it's bubbling away like crazy at about 21 c. I'm thinking about kegging half of the batch and aging 5l with vanilla beans and 5l with bourbon soaked oak chips...

Just kegged this after 3,5 weeks in primary. FG was surprisignly high, 1.021 - only 63% AA. I guess my starter was too small... Well, I've been meaning to brew something a bit more full-bodied for winter. This took care of that