What am I missing in this brown ale recipe?

[linusstick]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1503454584.883065.jpgQuestion about this recipe. I want to make a brown ale for the fall and found this in a book. I've plugged that malt into Beersmith a million times and I am not getting an SRM anywhere near 36. Am I missing something? Also do you think it's a type on the hops where it's calling form.5 oz of Northern Brewer for 70
Minutes with a 11% AA then dry hopping with .5 oz of the same hop but a 7.4% AA? Same hop in one recipe but two different AA%?

 

[Pappers_]

Yes, if that recipe is for an American brown, something isn't right. I plugged the grain bill into Beersmith, also, and came up with 14 SRM, less than the BJCP range for the style (18 - 35 SRM).

 

[knollybru]

There is no way that 4oz of chocolate malt and those crystal malts will get you to 36 SRM. That's not brown, that's pitch black. I would maybe shoot for like 20 SRM for a brown ale.

That book looks familiar. Which one is it? I have several brewing books in my collection that are littered with typos. Doesn't surprise me.

 

[Upthewazzu]

As knollybru stated, 36 SRM is dark. Very dark.

FWIW, I used chocolate malt in a brown ale I made last November and it was way too chocolatey (most people that tried it thought it was a porter). Try brown malt, or maybe a small amount of carafa II or III.

 

[Pappers_]

Just double checked - the color range for an American Brown is 18 - 35 but for a British Brown its 12 - 22. Quite a difference.

 

[IslandLizard]

Many recipes have errors in them. It always pays to double check before brewing. :rockin:

Perhaps the recipe was calculated in EBC units, which are roughly double (1.97) SRM units, but forgotten to adjust.

A Brown containing enough dark malts to create 36 SRM wouldn't taste like a Brown Ale. Unless they use Sinamar to make it pitch black for effect.

If you use Brown Malt in a Brown Ale, be gentle, it's potent stuff adding a somewhat acrid flavor that has nowhere to hide if overused. I know from experience, it becomes Porter-like quickly.