What's your favorite Brown Ale?

[StunnedMonkey]

Please do not ever mention Leinies Fireside Brown in a serious discussion of brown ales. I take my brown ales seriously and that Fireside Brown is an absolute abomination.

Moose Drool is great - recipes can be found all over the web, including the Brewing Network.

A guy I know who isn't into any sort of craft beer brought over the remains of a six of Fireside Brown that someone else left at his house. He figured I'd like it. It was nasty and I dumped it. I'm not a huge fan of spiced beers but I can appreciate a good one. Fireside Brown isn't a good one.

Back to the Moose Drool...I picked up a six of Moose Drool while traveling a week or so ago, because I still had some of my Moose Drool Clone on tap. It was the one from Jamil's "Can You Brew It." I wouldn't call my effort cloned, because I could tell the difference. But I think I preferred mine to the actual Moose Drool, which is rare for me when comparing my beer to commercial examples. It technically fits into the specs of an American Brown, but would probably be considered too lightly hopped to place in competition. A good drinker though.

 

[Homercidal]

I've had fireside brown and it's not terrible beer, but not a representation of a brown IMO. I find that is true of many Leiney's products. Some are pretty good, others are poor or worse.

 

[Synovia]

I have a Bells Best Brown on tap right now that is delicious. Recipe is in BYOs Clone 150.

Hrm. I just bought a 6'er of Bell's best, and have to say I'm not all that impressed. And I like Browns quite a bit.

 

[Homercidal]

Hrm. I just bought a 6'er of Bell's best, and have to say I'm not all that impressed. And I like Browns quite a bit.

Wow. I thought Bells had a pretty good brown. I have not had it in a while that I can remember.

Mine spent a week in dryhop and smelled awesome getting transferred into keg. Now for a few weeks of keg aging. It was clearing pretty good too, so hopefully it will turn out nice even though I forgot the Irish Moss.

The hops were a bit strong for a brown, but I fully expect them to drop out a little over the next few weeks, and maybe the carbing and conditioning will lessen them too.

 

[Lenny2884]

I was wanting to make a brown but was unsure of what direction to go and then I stumbled on this thread. Glad I did. Looking to the make Tasty's Janet's Brown with a few sbustitutions. Has anyone tried brewing this WLP 002 English Ale yeast? I have a vial of it in my fridge that I want to use sooner rather than later. Would the 002 make this too sweet? What if I dropped the OG to 1.060 - 1.064 range? Also thinking of adding a pound of munich in place of the wheat. Let me know what you guys think.

 

[Homercidal]

I was wanting to make a brown but was unsure of what direction to go and then I stumbled on this thread. Glad I did. Looking to the make Tasty's Janet's Brown with a few sbustitutions. Has anyone tried brewing this WLP 002 English Ale yeast? I have a vial of it in my fridge that I want to use sooner rather than later. Would the 002 make this too sweet? What if I dropped the OG to 1.060 - 1.064 range? Also thinking of adding a pound of munich in place of the wheat. Let me know what you guys think.

Frankly, the original seems to be a pretty high gravity beer for a brown. I don't think it would hurt to drop the gravity a few points, but then it's really not the same recipe. I tried to hit the numbers, even though I had to sub the hops.

When I transferred, I thought it was a bit hoppy. Some residual sugar would probably not hurt either. But then it starts to sound more like an British Style Brown

One thing that I like about this hobby is the ability to create your own unique recipes. I say go for it and post your findings.

 

[Beerrific]

I was wanting to make a brown but was unsure of what direction to go and then I stumbled on this thread. Glad I did. Looking to the make Tasty's Janet's Brown with a few sbustitutions. Has anyone tried brewing this WLP 002 English Ale yeast? I have a vial of it in my fridge that I want to use sooner rather than later. Would the 002 make this too sweet? What if I dropped the OG to 1.060 - 1.064 range? Also thinking of adding a pound of munich in place of the wheat. Let me know what you guys think.

I think you can do it. I would probably leave out the carapils though. And maybe drop the OG a bit. There should be enough hops to stand up to the higher FG.

 

[z987k]

Hobgoblin is a great brown ale.

Plus I've heard Orfy might have a clone recipe that may or may not be pretty damn good.

 

[Homercidal]

Ok, this has been sitting in the keg for about two weeks now. I was going to yank the rest of my Belgian Pale frankenstein beer, because it sometimes tastes... Not right. But I pulled a half glass and it was pretty good, so I left it in the kegerator.

I took out the Belgian Strong, and decided to just bottle it at normal pressure. I dont' have enough corkable bottles and it's been in the fridge too long as it is. Need to make room for the Brown.

Checked the keg for leaks and found none. Put the keg in the fridge, poured out about a pint of sediment and got a half glass to go with lunch.

WOW! I thought the hops would be too strong yet, but they mellowed out very well! Very much a brown in flavor IMO. Getting a nice hop aroma, which I really like. With just a hint of American hops (ok more than a hint, but not overwhelming).

Thanks for recommending this recipe! It turned out great and it isn't even carbed and it's still warm!