[yso191]

My next brew will be a Southern English Brown.  I'm thinking that I may have too much going on with the grain bill, but can't bring myself to delete something.  I looking for a nutty, caramely, malt forward beer, with a touch of sweetness.  What do you think?

Type: All Grain Date: 3/24/2013
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal Brewer: Steve Harrison
Boil Size: 7.50 gal
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: A My 5 gallon
End of Boil Volume 6.50 gal Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 5.50 gal Est Mash Efficiency 85.2 %
Fermentation: Ale, Single Stage Taste Rating(out of 50): 30.0

Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
6 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 68.6 %
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 2 8.6 %
8.0 oz BlackPrinz Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 3 5.7 %
8.0 oz Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 4 5.7 %
8.0 oz Pale Chocolate Malt (200.0 SRM) Grain 5 5.7 %
4.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 6 2.9 %
4.0 oz Special Roast (50.0 SRM) Grain 7 2.9 %
1.00 oz Styrian Goldings [5.40 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 8 18.4 IBUs
1.0 pkg British Ale (White Labs #WLP005) [35.49 ml] Yeast 9 -
 
Beer Profile
 
Est Original Gravity: 1.044 SG Measured Original Gravity: 1.040 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.012 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.2 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 3.9 %
Bitterness: 18.4 IBUs Calories: 131.4 kcal/12oz
Est Color: 29.4 SRM

[majorvices]

I'd get rid of the 120l crystal and the honey malt. Let the pale chocolate and the special roast shine through. Otherwise they will get lost.

The 120 is going to give you dark raisin like sweetness and 8 Ozzie of honey malt is going to give you a "honey like" sweetness that may be cloying. Simplicity!

[jeffy]

The commercial examples of Southern English Brown are pasteurized and back sweetened.  Ant Hayes did a presentation on it at one of the NHC's several years ago.  To me it tasted more like Pepsi than it did beer.  Very little roast and seemingly artificially sweet.

[yso191]

Thank you!

[Iliff Ave]

Personally, I would get rid of the crystal 120 and possibly decrease the 80 (by percentage), leaving the honey malt in. I cannot speak to the style so much but I like your where you are going with it.

My last batch was a blonde ale with 6.25% honey malt. The sweetness is just about perfect but keep in mind there was no additional crystal malt in my recipe.

[majorvices]

Well, if you leave the honey malt in I'd back it down to 4 oz. Personally I believe that if you have too many malts you end up with a mess - unless you are SURE what every single malt will contribute to the flavor. Pick a malt, either the special roast or honey malt, and go with it. Plus, if you have both of them, how will you know which one is contributing what to the flavor?

[snowtiger87]

I agree there are too many grains in the recipe and the final product may be muddled. It you want slightly sweet just mash at a higher temperature.

[reverseapachemaster]

Definitely too much going on. Based on your desired flavor profile I'd strip the grain bill down to the MO, C80, use C40 or C60 instead of C120. Only use enough of the chocolate malt to get the desired color. You could keep a little honey malt if you want it almost cloying but I think you will have enough sweetness from MO and crystal malts.

[Iliff Ave]

Any updates or changes yso? I am just curious to see what happens with this one.

[yso191]

First, Thank you for all of your inputs.  As it turns out I have some more time than I originally thought.  It looks like brewing this will be about 2 weeks out.  BUT, I have made some changes (see below).  I left the Honey malt in for two reasons: I have not used it before, and sweet really turns on my taste buds.  So I want this beer to be sweet but balanced with the malts and hopefully the nuttiness.

So my justification for each grain is:
MO: base
Crystal 80: nuttiness, caramel, sweetness
BlackPrinz: color
Pale Choc.: nuttiness
Honey Malt: sweetness, nuttiness


Nuthouse Brown
Southern English Brown Ale
Type: All Grain Date: 2/24/2013
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal Brewer: Steve Harrison
Boil Size: 7.50 gal Asst Brewer: 
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: A My 5 gallon
End of Boil Volume 6.50 gal Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 5.50 gal Est Mash Efficiency 85.2 %
Fermentation: Ale, Single Stage Taste Rating(out of 50): 30.0


Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
6 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 72.7 %
12.0 oz BlackPrinz Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 2 9.1 %
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 3 9.1 %
8.0 oz Pale Chocolate Malt (200.0 SRM) Grain 4 6.1 %
4.0 oz Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 5 3.0 %
1.00 oz Styrian Goldings [5.40 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 21.3 IBUs
1.0 pkg British Ale (White Labs #WLP005) [35.49 ml] Yeast 7 -
 

[yso191]

Interesting 'Recipe Drift' happening here.  It had been a long time since I input the recipe into Beersmith, and had forgotten the source.  So last night I was musing over the latest iteration of it and thought, "I'll check Brewing Classic Styles to see how it compares."

Well as it turns out that is where it originally came from.  Duh!

Here is the recipe straight from the book:

7 lbs British Pale Ale malt
1 lb. Crystal 80
10 oz. Crystal 120
8 oz. Special Roast (50L)
6 oz. Pale Chocolate (200L)
4 oz. Carafa Special II (430 L)

So my first thought was to sub out the Pale Ale malt for Maris Otter (nuttier)
Then sub the Carafa for BlackPrinz (Carafa not available at my LHBS)
From there I changed some amounts, asked for your input...

Apparently I'm my own worst enemy.