Modern Homebrew Recipes (21 page)

NUT BROWN ALE

I don’t make this style very often, but it has a fond place in my heart because Newcastle Brown Ale was the first craft beer I liked and it was also the very first beer style I brewed (my one and only kit). The beer style is quite a bit broader than Newcastle represents, so keep an open mind about this beer. Basically, any moderate-strength brownish beer with English flavors that doesn’t taste as roasty as a porter would qualify as a brown ale.

Style:
English Brown Ale (Classic BJCP Style)

Description:
Bready, toasty base with moderate caramel flavor and a touch of chocolate. The malt and bitterness are evenly balanced but the finish stays malty. The yeast gives a light fruitiness.

Ingredients:

Water treatment:

RO water treated with ¼ tsp 10% phosphoric acid per 5 gallons

1 tsp CaCl
₂
in mash

Mash technique:

Infusion, mashout, dark grains added at
vorlauf

Mash rests:

150°F (66°C) 60 minutes

168°F (76°C) 15 minutes

Kettle volume:

8 gallons (30 L)

Boil Length:

75 minutes

Final Volume:

6.5 gallons (25 L)

Fermentation temp:

68°F (20°C)

Sensory Description:
The malt is in control in this beer, but the hops do support it quite well. The crystal and chocolate malt flavors provide the primary flavor, as well as some additional mouthfeel and residual sweetness in the finish. The late hops are restrained and provide a little bit of character without being obtrusive. The fermentation profile is a touch fruity but the yeast leaves a malty impression.

Formulation notes:
The English crystal and chocolate malts are very important for this beer, as is some kind of British base malt. I like using some Golden Promise to keep the breadiness of the Maris Otter in check, while the torrified wheat adds a toasty quality.

Variations:
Add some UK brown malt (4–8 oz) if you want it to seem like a small porter. This beer can also serve as the base for a darker fruit or spice beer. The beer will seem a bit different if other English yeast strains are used, so it can serve as a decent control when evaluating yeast differences in a maltier beer.

HONEY BROWN ALE

I almost never make this kind of beer, but it’s a fairly common request. I made up this batch as a request for a party, and wished I had made a double batch (it ended up being very good). Skipping the honey turns this into a solid English brown ale. A more versatile and practical approach for this beer is to make a double-sized batch with honey being added to only one fermenter (which is the recipe I use here).

Style:
Alternative Sugar Beer (New BJCP Style, Experimental)

Description:
A split batch producing equal portions of a nut brown ale and a honey brown ale. The honey beer will be stronger than the parameters shown for this recipe (about 5.8%, finishing around FG 1.013).

Ingredients:

Water treatment:

RO water treated with ¼ tsp 10% phosphoric acid per 5 gallons

2 tsp CaCl
₂
in mash

Mash technique:

Infusion, mashout, dark grains added at
vorlauf,
no sparge

Mash rests:

154°F (68°C) 60 minutes

168°F (76°C) 15 minutes

Kettle volume:

13.5 gallons (51 L)

Boil Length:

90 minutes

Final Volume:

11 gallons (42 L)

Fermentation temp:

68°F (20°C)

Sensory Description:
The brown ale is a bit of a throwback since it’s similar to a Pete’s Wicked Ale, which was basically an English Brown Ale with higher bitterness and classic citrusy finishing hops. The honey beer has a rounder flavor with more body and a sweeter finish with the honey being apparent (but not so much as to suggest a braggot).

Formulation notes:
Run off equal amounts into two fermenters and ferment the same, until the
kräusen
begins to fall. Add the honey to one of the fermenters. Don’t just dump cold honey in; warm it and stir in an equal volume of the fermenting beer so it combines well (try to avoid aerating it), and then mix the solution into the fermenter. I used Tupelo honey in this recipe, but I use that in most recipes because it tastes so good.

Variations:
The quantity of honey is somewhat of a personal preference, so that’s where I would experiment. Try varying the quantities and varieties of honey. You might find a match you like better. If you can get your hands on meadowfoam honey, that would pair well with this beer since it adds a vanilla and toasted marshmallow flavor.

AMERICAN AMBER ALE

This is a very broad style that is open to interpretation. It includes strong, hoppy, and bitter west coast red ales, as well as maltier, more caramel traditional examples. I think many of the red ales push into the red IPA territory, so I prefer to make mine a little less bitter. It’s still a bitter beer, but it has much more malt to back it up and as a result feels more even.

Style:
American Amber Ale (Classic BJCP Style)

Description:
Chewy malt complexity with layers of caramel and dark fruit, with a firm bitterness, clean fermentation profile, and a fruity-citrusy hop aroma.

Ingredients:

Water treatment:

RO water treated with ¼ tsp 10% phosphoric acid per 5 gallons

1 tsp CaCl
₂
in mash

Mash technique:

Infusion, mashout, dark grains and crystal malts added at
vorlauf

Mash rests:

156°F (69°C) 60 minutes

168°F (76°C) 15 minutes

Kettle volume:

8.5 gallons (32 L)

Boil Length:

90 minutes

Final Volume:

6.5 gallons (25 L)

Fermentation temp:

70°F (21°C)

Sensory Description:
Toasty, bready base malt with layers of caramel and dark fruit. The finish is chewy and a touch malt sweetness, which enhances the fruity notes from the hops and takes the edge off the bitterness. The fermentation character is clean with a little fruitiness that goes well with the malt and hops.