[evandy]

I've just finished brewing my home-made recipe.  I've tweaked a few recipes in the past due to ingredient availability and such, but this is the first one I've come up with myself.  Any comments/Thoughts?  Since it's brewed, any changes will need to wait for next time, of course.

Note: This is the original recipe; I had to substitute Galena for the Galaxy hops due to availability.  I am calling this a hybrid English/American Brown ale.  I wanted something a little citrusy and hoppy, but to retain the fantastic malt character of an English Brown.

Rockin 2-Fast Brown
Amt    Name    Type    #    %/IBU
7 lbs    Golden Promise (Simpsons) (2.0 SRM)    Grain    1    53.8 %
3 lbs    Amber (Crisp) (27.5 SRM)    Grain    2    23.1 %
1 lbs    Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM)    Grain    3    7.7 %
1 lbs    Crystal, Dark (Simpsons) (80.0 SRM)    Grain    4    7.7 %
8.0 oz    Chocolate Malt, Pale (200.0 SRM)    Grain    5    3.8 %
8.0 oz    Crystal, Extra Dark (Simpsons) (160.0 SRM)    Grain    6    3.8 %
0.50 oz    Galaxy [14.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min    Hop    7    22.7 IBUs
0.50 oz    Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min    Hop    8    2.8 IBUs
0.50 oz    Galaxy [14.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min    Hop    9    4.5 IBUs
0.50 oz    Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Boil 1.0 min    Hop    10    2.3 IBUs
0.50 oz    Galaxy [14.00 %] - Boil 1.0 min    Hop    11    3.8 IBUs

Yeast: Safale US-05

[majorvices]

Too much crystal malt IMO. I'd cut it in half next time. For my tastes hops and crystal malt sweetness do not go well together.

[bluesman]

+1

I'd cut your specialty malts in half on the next round.  You'll get more balance that way.  Adjust your color with chocolate but be easy with the crystal malts or you'll end up with a cloying sweetness that will push the flavor profile out of balance.

[evandy]

Yeah, I went back and checked a couple of the past recipes that I was basing this on... I'm not so worried about the amber/biscuit/chocolate malt, but the crystal does look too high.

We'll see how it turns out.  Hopefully not too bad.

[evandy]

If anyone is interested, this beer has finished fermenting, carbing, and aging.  When it was young, it definitely had an unbalanced feel to it.  Interestingly enough, the darker roasty and toasty elements from the amber and chocolate malts have been coming to the fore now that it's been on CO2 for a couple weeks.  I don't get too much hop-forward from this, but it's turned into a decent beer.

Definitely some tweaks to it next time around, but definitely better than pitch-it.