Thoughts on American Brown Recipe?

[rhys333]

Hey Everyone,

Just wondering what you think of my brown ale recipe. I was going to go as high as 10% on the C80, as I really don't find crystal malt all that sweet at this darker lovibond... more of a rounded raisin flavor. I figured it might be interesting to reduce to 8% though and include the same amount of Victory. Planning on brewing this or something similar tomorrow while there's a few days of cool weather to take advantage of where I am (getting saison-ed out). All thoughts appreciated.

AMERICAN BROWN 5% abv
74% MO
8% Victory
8% C80
6% Quick oats
4% UK Chocolate
Warrior @ 60 to 12 IBU
Mosaic @ 10 & 0 to 27 IBU (total)
US-05

 

[Shawn_Brewin]

Looks good! A little more towards an English brown though with the Raisin Flavour you are looking for. Usually an American brown will fall more towards Caramel and Chocolate flavours. Everything else looks pretty spot on to what i would do, i would just maybe suggest shouting for a C40 to hit that pronounced caramel flavour home.
Either way it looks like you are gonna be sipping on a nice Brown Ale in a few weeks!

 

[rhys333]

Thanks for the feedback Shawn. I do like that raisiny flavor but some lighter caramel would be nice. Perhaps I'll do a 50/50 C80 and C40 split. Looking forward to having this ready for Fall.

 

[Shawn_Brewin]

Did you Brew this today? I heard a Podcast about a year ago about Steeping Dark Grains and it made a huge difference in the flavours you get out of them. i make an Porter pretty regularly and tried making this switch a few brews ago and man did i notice it. It is less astringent and sharp of a flavour i used to get from the chocolate malt. Almost like when you let a beer age a bit and it starts to really mellow out, but you dont have to wait! just though i would toss the idea out there, i added the link for the Podcast too.

http://beersmith.com/blog/2012/05/31/advanced-home-brewing-with-gordon-strong-beersmith-podcast-39/

 

[rhys333]

I did brew today, but I didn't steep the chocolate separately. I hope I get some oat character, as I accidentaly tipped over the bowl collecting the last drippings from my biab. I figure I lost a few cups worth and probably a good portion of that was oaty liquid. On well, still managed 75% efficiency.

Funnily enough, I've been considering doing this for a while since I really notice that dark malt astringency. It's why I don't brew dark beers often. If this one turns out even slightly acrid, I'm gonna have to give separate steeping a go. Whats your procedure?

 

[Shawn_Brewin]

Nothing too special. i go with a cold steep over night, i will just mix a litre pre-boiled water with my grains at room temp. Then i add it into my Boil Kettle at the same time as my yeast nutrient and whirlfloc. (10 minutes to flameout) just to sanitize and pasteurize the "Tea". its a little more f**king around but I like the difference it brings to the table.

Have you made this brew before this time? i am really interested in the fact that you used Mosaic in your recipe. never thought of using/trying that style of hops in a Brown. Did you get inspired from a commercial brew? i am From Yellowknife NT so our selection of beer is pretty limited up here.

 

[rhys333]

Thanks for explaining the procedure. Sounds easy enough and well worth the little bit of effort if it gets rid of that astringency.

I brewed a similar brown ale a while ago, though not with mosaic. I have brewed a few different batches with mosaic however, as I have a pound of it on hand. I just figure it'll work well in the american version brown with the citrus and tropical notes. Not totally sure how it'll play with the complex malt flavors, but I kept the hops understated somewhat so my gut says it'll work. I almost reduced the late hops by 1/3 at the last minute but decided to roll with it. I don't know of a commercial version, though I'm sure there's one somewhere with this hop being as popular as it is.

 

[Shawn_Brewin]

Right on, well let me know how it turns out, and thanks for the inspiration!

 

[rhys333]

No problem, will do.

 

[rhys333]

Shawn,
I'm about to brew a porter this weekend. Just wondering, do you just cold steep dark grain or do you include crystal as well? I'm guessing pH isn't a concern.

Btw, bottling that mosaic brown this weekend, so I'll get my first taste to see how well the hop combo works.

 

[45thparallelhopper]

A really fun idea I read out of Randy Mosher's Radical Brewing was roasting steel cut oats in the oven. I'm pretty sure at 350F until they turn golden and kitchen smells like cookies. Then let sit for two weeks to reduce risk of harsh flavors from roasting. Adds a great oatmeal cookie flavor to one of the Browns I did for a comp

 

[rhys333]

Right on, well let me know how it turns out, and thanks for the inspiration!

Sampling my mosaic hopped brown ale now. It turned out really nice and smooth, which I'm a bit surprised by considering I added the roast malt at the start of the mash. The mosaic character didn't really come through, at least aroma-wise. Roast aroma comes through instead. If I wanted to increase the mosaoc aroma I might double the flameout addition next time.

Regarding the cold-steep method... I have a porter coming up where I did this. Will be interesting to compare it with the brown ale.

 

[Shawn_Brewin]

Shawn,
I'm about to brew a porter this weekend. Just wondering, do you just cold steep dark grain or do you include crystal as well? I'm guessing pH isn't a concern.

Btw, bottling that mosaic brown this weekend, so I'll get my first taste to see how well the hop combo works.

That is an interesting question, dont think i have thought/read about that before. The cold steep is used to smooth out astringency found in Roasted grains but i wonder what it would do to the flavour of a crystal malt... They don't have to be mashed due to the fact that there starches are already converted.
Sounds like an experiment is in order! hahaha

 

[rhys333]

That is an interesting question, dont think i have thought/read about that before. The cold steep is used to smooth out astringency found in Roasted grains but i wonder what it would do to the flavour of a crystal malt... They don't have to be mashed due to the fact that there starches are already converted.
Sounds like an experiment is in order! hahaha

I spoke too soon about the mosaic hops. After a little more conditioning the late additions are quite strong, dominating even. I would go 2/3 or 1/2 next time. That's mosaic for you though... pretty powerful stuff.

 

[Shawn_Brewin]

Awesome, You have created a new Style, the Brown Pale ale(gonna have to work on the name) hahaha do you get any of the other flavours from the malt/yeast shining through or do the Hops just dominate the Palate?

 

[rhys333]

Honestly, it keeps changing. If I were smart I'd just leave it be for a few weeks. So, yup... trying the third bottle right now. Its pretty complex. Definately getting roast/caramel aroma and flavor, along with the hops which don't seem nearly as strong this time around. Nothing from the yeast, but with US05 I expected that. An expressive English strain could be a nice alternative as well.