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Author Topic: Northern English Brown Ale  (Read 2935 times)

Offline uintafly

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Northern English Brown Ale
« on: July 31, 2013, 05:01:36 pm »
I am looking to brew a brown ale this weekend and have come up with this. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

5 Gallon batch 6.5 gallon boil

8 lbs. Maris Otter
1 lb. Crystal 60
1 lb. Munich
.5 lb. Brown Malt
.5 lb. Biscuit
.25 lb. Chocolate

.5 oz. Northern Brewer @ 60
.5 oz. Fuggle @ 30
.5 oz. Fuggle @ 15
.5 oz. EKG @ 5

US-05 Yeast

Mash @ 152 for 60 min with 1.5 qts/lb.
70% effciency should give a OG of 1.057

Offline HoosierBrew

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Re: Northern English Brown Ale
« Reply #1 on: July 31, 2013, 05:10:00 pm »
I think it looks pretty solid.  But I would definitely use a more British yeast - WY1968 or 1028 for starters.  If you need to use a dry yeast S-04 would be a little more appropriate for the style.
Jon H.

Offline HoosierBrew

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Re: Northern English Brown Ale
« Reply #2 on: July 31, 2013, 05:14:34 pm »
Also Maris Otter has a toasty/biscuity quality, and with 8 lbs of it, I would definitely leave out the biscuit and add an extra 1/2 lb of Maris to compensate.
Jon H.

Offline bboy9000

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Re: Northern English Brown Ale
« Reply #3 on: July 31, 2013, 08:35:23 pm »
Looks like a good recipe.  I would definitely go with an English yeast as suggested.  I didn't but your recipe into brewing software but at a glance it looks like there may be too much hops for the style.  Other than that looks like a the start of a delicious brew.
Brian
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Offline uintafly

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Re: Northern English Brown Ale
« Reply #4 on: August 01, 2013, 07:13:01 am »
Yeah, I think you guys aer right about the yeast. I will swap it out for 1098. Also if I get rid of the biscuit but add another .5 lb. of brown malt instead of more Maris would it be too overwhelming?

Offline bboy9000

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Re: Northern English Brown Ale
« Reply #5 on: August 01, 2013, 07:28:56 am »
Not sure if it wood be overwhelming as  haven't used brown malt.  If you want to add color without harshness try dehusked Carafa.  I used some Carafa I in a Southern English Brown and it worked well.
Brian
mobrewer

Offline wactuary

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Re: Northern English Brown Ale
« Reply #6 on: August 01, 2013, 07:47:39 am »
Also if I get rid of the biscuit but add another .5 lb. of brown malt instead of more Maris would it be too overwhelming?

I love this style, and I love brown malt. If I were going to up the brown, I'd probably half or eliminate the Crystal. Brown adds a character like darkly toasted bread. Not burnt or harsh at all, but like toast that is super crunchy. Much softer than even a lite roast chocolate malt.



Offline uintafly

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Re: Northern English Brown Ale
« Reply #7 on: August 01, 2013, 08:42:44 am »
I hear good things about brown malt but this is my first time using it. I think I may up it to 1 lb and cut the crystal to .5, while also increasing the Maris to 8.5 and eliminating the biscuit. Thanks for the feedback guys.

Offline dak0415

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Re: Northern English Brown Ale
« Reply #8 on: August 01, 2013, 01:54:49 pm »
I hear good things about brown malt but this is my first time using it. I think I may up it to 1 lb and cut the crystal to .5, while also increasing the Maris to 8.5 and eliminating the biscuit. Thanks for the feedback guys.
My experience with Brown/Amber/Pale Chocolate malts have been a little disappointing.  I get a bit of a sour tang to all of them.  I use pale chocolate in my brown and any more than .25# in 5 gallons is too much.  The same with brown and amber.  Use them for flavor, not color.  Use a less attenuative British yeast (than us-05) and mash at 154.  Use British (450L) Chocolate to adjust your color,  chocolate gives you brown, Carafa gives you more of a red tint.

My $.02
Dave Koenig
Anything worth doing - is worth overdoing!