brown ale recipe

[goschman (Iliff Ave)]

Posting a lot today…

Constructing a brown ale recipe for the misses that I will like myself. I have been drinking a lot of the homebrew solo lately. Going the unconventional rout:

85% munich light (6L)
10% flaked oats
5% carafa

~20 SRM

With the munich this should end up malty but I also want some sweetness without overdoing it. I don’t use crystal malt very much. Would 5% be a good starting amount? I am sure it could get overly malty sweet quickly with the munich.

[jonhughey_att.net (HoosierBrew)]

I definitely wouldn’t add any crystal to an 85% Munich beer. There’ll be a ton of malty richness there as is.

[goschman (Iliff Ave)]

I definitely wouldn’t add any crystal to an 85% Munich beer. There’ll be a ton of malty richness there as is.

That my first thought. Just thought some sweetness might help with a brown. I equate munich to malty and crystal to sweet. I think I will avoid the crystal for now.

[jonhughey_att.net (HoosierBrew)]

@goschman

I definitely wouldn’t add any crystal to an 85% Munich beer. There’ll be a ton of malty richness there as is.

That my first thought. Just thought some sweetness might help with a brown. I equate munich to malty and crystal to sweet. I think I will avoid the crystal for now.

Not saying you couldn’t. If you did you’d want to balance it with enough bitterness to keep it from being cloying. That much Munich is definitely malty, but can be a touch sweet, too.

[goschman (Iliff Ave)]

@goschman

I definitely wouldn’t add any crystal to an 85% Munich beer. There’ll be a ton of malty richness there as is.

That my first thought. Just thought some sweetness might help with a brown. I equate munich to malty and crystal to sweet. I think I will avoid the crystal for now.

Not saying you couldn’t. If you did you’d want to balance it with enough bitterness to keep it from being cloying. That much Munich is definitely malty, but can be a touch sweet, too.

Good points. Thanks for your help. I am planning on about 25 IBUs of something clean like magnum. Maybe that much Munich is a bad idea but dunkel was my original influence so I am going for a hybrid sort of thing here.

[reverseapachemaster]

It makes perfect sense if this is a dunkel-inspired brown ale.

Normally I’m a fan of a little crystal and a little chocolate malt in brown ales but you definitely do not need crystal malt with all that munich unless you’re trying to drive a touch of darker fruit flavors with a small amount (1-2% max) of higher lovibond crystal. I think you are fine getting the right amount of sweetness with the munich malt but if there’s any concern I’d opt for a lower attenuating yeast strain (like London Ale III) to leave behind some sweetness. Dumping in crystal could easily get you from sweet to cloying.

[goschman (Iliff Ave)]

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions.

I hadn’t really gotten to yeast yet. I have been posting a lot about k97 recently. I might try it in this but mash high in attempt to get a bit lower attenuation.

I am on the fence about the flaked oats. I like the idea of what it should bring to the beer.

[erockrph]

@reverseapachemaster

It makes perfect sense if this is a dunkel-inspired brown ale.

Normally I’m a fan of a little crystal and a little chocolate malt in brown ales but you definitely do not need crystal malt with all that munich unless you’re trying to drive a touch of darker fruit flavors with a small amount (1-2% max) of higher lovibond crystal. I think you are fine getting the right amount of sweetness with the munich malt but if there’s any concern I’d opt for a lower attenuating yeast strain (like London Ale III) to leave behind some sweetness. Dumping in crystal could easily get you from sweet to cloying.

I had a similar thought. Maybe mash low to keep it from being too underattenuated, then go with something like 1968 or WLP051 to leave a little sweetness behind.

[denny]

@goschman

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions.

I hadn’t really gotten to yeast yet. I have been posting a lot about k97 recently. I might try it in this but mash high in attempt to get a bit lower attenuation.

I am on the fence about the flaked oats. I like the idea of what it should bring to the beer.

WY1450

[jonhughey_att.net (HoosierBrew)]

@denny

@goschman

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions.

I hadn’t really gotten to yeast yet. I have been posting a lot about k97 recently. I might try it in this but mash high in attempt to get a bit lower attenuation.

I am on the fence about the flaked oats. I like the idea of what it should bring to the beer.

WY1450

Yep, that’s the strain I use most for brown ales, porters  and stouts. I can’t believe it’s not used more, Denny.

[TexasHumuluslupulushead]

@denny

@goschman

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions.

I hadn’t really gotten to yeast yet. I have been posting a lot about k97 recently. I might try it in this but mash high in attempt to get a bit lower attenuation.

I am on the fence about the flaked oats. I like the idea of what it should bring to the beer.

WY1450

Yep, that’s the strain I use most for brown ales, porters  and stouts. I can’t believe it’s not used more, Denny.

+1

[goschman (Iliff Ave)]

I do need to give 1450 a try.

I think I am going to keep the grains where they are at from the OP. For hops I am thinking a mixture of Magnum and possibly something noble for bittering then may another small charge of noble hops at 20 min or so.

[JJeffers09]

How did it turn out?

[goschman (Iliff Ave)]

Unfortunately I have not gotten to this one yet and probably won’t until early November. I had a couple of batches that I had to get brewed with time to age before xmas.

I plan to brew the original recipe but just use yeast I have on hand, likely K97 or US05. I will try to remember to update.

[maaswinhester (kmccaf)]

That looks tasty, goschman. I made a Munich malt based brown ale last year, and it was very tasty. I believe I used some brown malt and pale chocolate in mine. 1450 was the yeast. Let us know how you like it.

[goschman (Iliff Ave)]

Finally getting around to this one today. One of the few times that I haven’t tweaked a recipe to death. I don’t do darker beers that often and never a brown (if that’s what it is) so I am excited. Expecting malty goodness with a smooth mouthfeel and low-medium roast.

86% Schill Light Munich
9.5% flaked oats (toasted in the oven at 350F for about 15 min)
4.5% carafa I special (my LHBS only caries ‘special’ - I actually would have preferred a husk here)

Mash pH 5.5 - brown balanced water profile

Magnum FWH
Willamette 20 min

repitching portion of a harvested slurry of K97

1.050
~23 IBUs
~20 SRM

[jonhughey_att.net (HoosierBrew)]

Sounds good to me !

[goschman (Iliff Ave)]

This is just finishing carbing up and is tasting good. I had some fermentation issues as discussed in another thread. Overall it seems to be pretty much what I was going for except it is less malty than expected. It definitely tastes in between a Munich dunkel and a brown ale. To me it is less malty than a dunkel and less roasty than most browns. It’s too early for a final judgment but some dark munich malt seems needed to get me closer to what I want.