British Brown Ale Nut Brown AG

[DubbelDach]

Gentlemen.... Lil' Sparky's Brown Ale recipe won an award...

Lancaster County Brewers Showdown Results - Lancaster County Brewers Club - Pennsylvania beer sampling homebrew microbrew

My version of Sparky's recipe got first for category 4 (which seems to be a combination of the BJCP's (BJCP 2008 Style Guidelines - Index) categories 10 and 11, encompassing American Pale Ale, American Amber Ale, American Brown Ale, English Mild, English Southern Brown Ale, and English Northern Ale.

Just wanted to give proper credit and let people know that this recipe is AWESOME!!! Thank you Lil' Sparky!!!

 

[Lil' Sparky]

Dude, that's awesome! I'll have to tell my buddies I'm a famous brewmaster now.

 

[Lil' Sparky]

donner - the cascade hops will provide a different hop characteristic and result in a different tasting beer. Not that you won't be pleased with it, it'll just have a different flavor, that's all.

I haven't had a commercial beer that's really close to this. I've been looking for one I can point to. Anyone else?

 

[StunnedMonkey]

Dude, that's awesome! I'll have to tell my buddies I'm a famous brewmaster now.

Ha! I'm entering it into The Land of the Muddy Waters homebrew contest in November. I had to alter the hops (Willamette/Goldings) but the grain bill is yours. It's really a nice brown ale.

My only problem is that it's a bit under-carbed. I think it's perfect out of the tap, but when I bottled a few as a test and let them sit a few days they seemed a bit flat for bottle pouring. I'm sort of running out of time to alter the carbonation and bottling some more. So if you're not a double winner, it'll be my fault.

 

[DubbelDach]

I haven't had a commercial beer that's really close to this. I've been looking for one I can point to. Anyone else?

I haven't had a Bell's Best Brown in about 5 months, but as I was drinking Deez Nutz last night, I was feeling the Bell's. Just because this is a slightly hoppier brown ale... Might be way off though.

 

[Donner]

donner - the cascade hops will provide a different hop characteristic and result in a different tasting beer. Not that you won't be pleased with it, it'll just have a different flavor, that's all.

I haven't had a commercial beer that's really close to this. I've been looking for one I can point to. Anyone else?

Yeah, i knew the different hops would change the taste a bit. I went with this recipe in part to use the Arg. Cascades i had in the freezer. The guy at the LHBS said that the Arg. Cascades were more like fuggles and should sub well. I'm excited to see how it all turns out as this was my first successful solo brew.

***For those who don't know what to expect from Arg. Cascades (i didn't before now), this is what northern brewer has on its site***

Argentina Cascade

These Argentinian-grown Cascades are not like American Cascade - they have a very mellow and sweet character that reminds us of lemon grass, with herbal, peppery, and spicy undertones. A versatile hop to use for ales and lagers - strangely, with its sweet/spicy aroma this hop would make a good substitute for Hallertau-type and Goldings-type hops, but not a good substitute for American Cascade!

 

[Deacon1856]

I brewed this as my first brown ale all of 19 days ago and am enjoying my second pint out of the keg. It is green, I can tell, but as it mellows this is going to be fantastic. I had some problems with my boil, but got it to where I needed to be volume and number wise. As I drink the hops aren't readily apparent, but linger helpfully in the background. The note I'm getting the most of is coffee. There's a coffee aroma, clean taste, dryish finish, and a strong coffee after-note. This after-note is what I think will subside after another week or so. Then it will be a nearly perfect brown in my estimation.

I have another, unrelated, question on procedure. When I make this beer or any beer someone else came up with, is it bad form in generally to adopt it and name it whatever you want? I'm relatively new to this fantastic hobby and, as a former English major, feel a strong inclination to site sources and give proper credit. I can see that you don't have a problem with it, but I didn't know about the general consensus.

Thanks for the recipe. I'm enjoying it already.

 

[farmbrewernw]

I think most of us make up our own names for beers to put on our bottles so I think your OK. By the way I'm making this recipe tomorrow but I'm going to put juniper berries in it for a special holiday brew. Originally I was going to do a juniper pale ale but I think the profile of a nut brown will support the juniper very well.

 

[Lil' Sparky]

I doubt anyone here really cares if you rename their recipe. You made it. Call it what you want. We're all here to help each other. The only reason I would post a recipe is because I liked it and thought others might, too.

 

[Deacon1856]

And I for one am glad you do post. Thanks so much!

 

[karbinator]

I started getting everything ready for tomorrow, and found I'm out of FLAKED OATS.
Does anyone know an alternative for them? I have quite a few things on hand, but not the oats.
Thanks

EDIT------ quick oats will have to do--- off to grocery store

 

[Lil' Sparky]

Yep, quick oats will be fine. Good luck.

 

[karbinator]

Well sparky... with all the rave about awards, and the fact I like nut brown ales, I decided to double up the recipe, and make a final total of 12 gallons.
It's likely to be a little green by thanksgiving, but I'm sure some sampling will happen.

I intend to keg this, and wonder your method....since you have short days in primary, and secondary, I'm thinking you're kegging. Also, would there be an issue with just leaving it in the primary for the total days?

 

[Lil' Sparky]

When I keg, I don't use a secondary. 3 weeks in the primary is plenty, then straight to the keg. It doesn't get any easier than that.

 

[sleepystevenson]

Hey sparky, I am gonna put this one in line for future brews - it looks good! What efficiency is the recipe based on?

Thanks!!!

 

[Lil' Sparky]

Good question. I'll try to remember to check when I get home, but I bet it was 70 or 75% - I never get really high efficiency.

70% - fixed it in the original post. Thanks.

 

[Deacon1856]

So I have another question. My keg of this brew is almost kicked and I think due to my imprecise brewing practices my brew turned out different than intended. Maybe. That's what I'm asking. My grain bill was identical and my hops were identical. The only difference was the length of boil. Due to mechanical failure my brew was on the flame for several hours waiting to get to a "boil". It never did, but after a couple of hours it was down to the right volume.

My flavors were roasty, toasty, chocolaty, coffeey, and nutty. Very much so on all counts. My color was brown, but a DARK brown. Wonderful head. Creamy. Just very strong flavors. Heavy on the malt. Low on the hops. What would you describe the flavor profile of the nut brown coming out of your keg to be.

Thanks in advance guys!

 

[Lil' Sparky]

Oooo, good question. I would describe the flavor profile very similar to your description. I'm not sure what effect the extra long weak boil vs shorter strong boil would have.

Was there something about how it turned out that you'd like to change? Might be able to help on that if you want to tweak the recipe.

 

[jayhuff]

I have the recipe ordered from AHBS and looking forward to making it!

 

[Deacon1856]

I don't think I'd change anything really. It turned out a bit heavier than I would have thought. The mouthfeel is almost chewy in a porter-y kind of way. I think I was expecting a "session" type of beer, but what came out was more than that. It's satisfying and filling. The head looks like brownish tinted marshmallow creme...and it is very creamy. My cousin tried it thinking it was going to be a Newcastle kind of flavor, but what I brewed is much more complex tasting than that. He said it was too strong. Said something about needing a scoop of ice-cream to go along with it. That being said, he's no beer snob. He drinks a Heiny-Light and thinks he's done something cultured.

I was just interested to know if what I brewed fell in line with what I should have expected. Sounds like it turned out about right. I'm happy with it, but as a novice brewer I guess I was looking for reinforcement.

Good beer. Really good beer.

 

[Lil' Sparky]

I see. Well, if you want to brew something a little lighter next time this is what I'd try.

Cut the 2 row by a lb and the specialty grains by 1/3 ea. It'll be lighter, but still retain a lot of the flavor characteristics. I may try something along those lines myself and see how it turns out.

 

[Deacon1856]

I will have to do it soon. This beer has been on the gas for about a week and a half...I'm drinking it by myself and it's almost gone if that tells you anything! Better get some ingredients...

 

[mrsunshades]

Quaker Old Fashioned or the Quick 1 Min variety? Or do you use oats from the Homebrew store. I'm thinking of fresh rolled oats from my greain roller (used for making cereal) that way it's fresh rolled, just like my grains, fresh crushed just minutes before the mash.

 

[Lil' Sparky]

From www.howtobrew.com (great resource!). Flaked oats from the HBS are like instant oats. You can use other types, but you should cook them according to directions first.

Oatmeal 1 L Oats are wonderful in a porter or stout. Oatmeal lends a smooth, silky mouthfeel and a creaminess to a stout that must be tasted to be understood. Oats are available whole, steel-cut (i.e. grits), rolled, and flaked. Rolled and flaked oats have had their starches gelatinized (made soluble) by heat and pressure, and are most readily available as "Instant Oatmeal" in the grocery store. Whole oats and "Old Fashioned Rolled Oats" have not had the degree of gelatinization that Instant have had and must be cooked before adding to the mash. "Quick" oatmeal has had a degree of gelatinization but does benefit from being cooked before adding to the mash. Cook according to the directions on the box (but add more water) to ensure that the starches will be fully utilized. Use 0.5-1.5 lb. per 5 gal batch. Oats need to be mashed with barley malt (and its enzymes) for conversion.

 

[sleepystevenson]

Thanks, Sparky. Will let you know how it turns out....

Course, it could be a while before I get to it!

 

[StunnedMonkey]

I gotta apologize sparky. I've soiled your reputation with my version of your Brown Ale. I just got my score sheet back and got a mere 25.5 points (a 25 and a 26) in the Land of the Muddy Waters competition. Don't hate me. It was only my 3rd beer.

Both judges noted a "musty" aroma, which I didn't detect in the kegged beer. Of course it's gone by now. I wonder if my bottleing technique (from the keg) was flawed and it was oxidized by the time they opened it.

I'm going to try that recipe again. I enjoyed it immensely.

 

[Donner]

I enjoyed it immensely.

I'm not sparky, but i suspect that this is the most important part of the whole brewing process.

 

[Lil' Sparky]

I've never entered a competition, so you've got 25.5 pts more than me.

 

[dfohio]

I've seen the other partial mash recipes and have to decided to give this a try. However, I'd rather use more grain and less extract if possible. Would I be able to get away with this:

3.00 lb Extra Light Dry Extract (3.0 SRM) Dry Extract 30.77 %
4.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 41.03 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 10.26 %
1.00 lb Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 10.26 %
0.50 lb Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 5.13 %
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 2.56 %
1.00 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (60 min) Hops 14.2 IBU
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (15 min) Hops 7.8 IBU
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) Yeast-Ale

Est Original Gravity: 1.057 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.014 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.61 %
Bitterness: 22.0 IBU
Est Color: 16.2 SRM

Is this two much grain for my small partial mash setup?

Thanks.

 

[Lil' Sparky]

dfohio - welcome to the forum!

I think the recipe looks good for a partial mash.