Finally looking to brew a few all-grain batches again. Thoughts on this recipe?
1.052 OG
80% Maris Otter
10% Amber Malt
0.5% Chocolate Malt
0.5% Caramel 60
For hops, I’m not sure what to use. I have Amarillo, Cascade, Columbus, Crystal and Simcoe on hand. I prefer my brown ales to be fairly bitter, definitely want to balance out the malt well.
The malt bill looks great. Should be nutty. All those hops look good.
Here’s what I’m thinking for hops:
Targeting ~55 IBU
first wort: 0.75 oz cascade
60 minute boil
45 min: 0.5 oz columbus
30 min: 0.5 oz cascade
15 min: 0.5 oz columbus
0 min: 0.75 oz cascade
Should this work?
Personally, I’d use Cascade for everything after 45 mins. I love Columbus but it might be a tad assertive as a flavor hop for this style. But in a pinch it would work fine.
I’ve never used it outside of bittering, so I have no idea how it would work as a late addition. At the same time, I really don’t want this beer to be just Cascade, but I’m not familiar enough with the rest of my hops to know what to use. (This is the second original beer I’ve brewed since buying them all.)
Of what you have on hand, you could use Amarillo or even Crystal @ 15 mins. Crystal is a lager hop that works well in ales. Like I said the Columbus would work ok too, if need be.
I may go with crystal then. I’ve gotten a bit of a iced tea with lemon vibe from Amarillo in sweeter beers, so I’ll likely steer clear of that hop.
Maybe I’ll still use the Columbus for bittering, and do:
FWH: 0.75 oz Columbus
30 min: 1 oz Cascade
15 min: 0.75 oz Crystal
0 min: 0.75 oz Crystal or Cascade.
I have made a brown ale using Crystal as a late addition and I really liked the flavor and aroma. Similar grain bill and neutral yeast (WLP001). I think I used Northern Brewer or Magnum for bittering.
Here’s my recipe for you to compare to yours. I’ve won quite a few awards with this one…
No 1450 in this one?
I’m betting that recipe predates Wyeast releasing 1450. 1056 works fine for it, but 1450 is definitely better.
Correct! I gotta fix that. I used to use 1272 a lot until I ran across 1450.
Denny, I used your recipe for the hop times, maybe I’ll just use the amounts as a rough pattern as well.
The malt bill is a tweaked version of an old recipe that ended up missing the original idea and making a brown ale that was close to my tastes. I had also planned on using 1450 for the yeast, I’ve wanted to try it for a while and this seemed a good recipe to test it with. I’m not overly fond of 1056/US-05 so I’m looking for a “better” go-to American ale yeast.
I have an American brown ale on the schedule for later in the year that I plan to hop with chinook and simcoe. I had a beer last year at a Beerfest with those two hops that was really good.
I’m a bit worried about a brown ale being too piney. Even if it’s appropriate for the style, it doesn’t fit my preference. Since I’m not that familiar with simcoe I figure the easiest way to avoid a piney brown ale is to ixnay the simcoe.
And the Columbus. Pretty dank and piney, too.
Perhaps Denny or anyone who has brewed it can chime in, but I take it that Noti Brown would be pretty piney then? With that big dose of Chinook at the end?
Then two paths are becoming apparent: Use the hops I have to create something more in the same vein of Denny’s Noti Brown, or try and dial back the pine a bit. I don’t have any earthier hops, so perhaps the piney variant is the wisest choice.
Pine bark brown:
OG 1.060
75% Maris Otter
10% Amber Malt
5% Medium Crystal
5% Munich 10L
5% Chocolate Malt
60 minute: Simcoe ~25 IBU
45 minute: Columbus ~17 IBU
45 minute: Crystal ~7.5 IBU
30 minute: Crystal ~3 IBU
15 minute: Crystal ~2 IBU
0 minute: Simcoe ~1 oz
I’ve only got 10 lbs of MO, so I’ve added some Munich to get me to the desired OG within the ingredients I have.
Personally, I like the piney hops, and Chinook is great in Noti (brewed it several times). I’m just saying that if you don’t like piney hops (or like them for this style) you could sub in some of the others you have on hand.
I like the Noti, and think the Willamette is a key addition.
Personally, I might think about using all that Crystal as FWH.
Cheers to the American Brown.
Not “piney” in the least.