American Brown Ale Recipe Opinion

[finny13]

Hey guys sorta a noob to home brewing and a noob to the forum. I have a few friends that brew and I had a base recipe that they helped me tweak.

Only real question I have is how long and at what temp I should steep the specialty grains at. It was suggested I steep at 145 for 45 minutes. From lack of experience I don't know if this sounds good or not. From reading in my book I realize that the longer I steep the specialty grains, and the warmer the temperature is, the darker it will be and its already going to be pretty dark on its own. Also should my wort be 2 1/2 gallonsish? Thats what I've done in my past 2 brews then added to my bucket full of cold water.

Other than that I think it's looking good. Any and all comments are appreciated! Thanks!

American Brown Ale


Type: Partial Mash
Date: 3/5/2010
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Brewer: Ryan Finn
Boil Size: 4.08 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: Brew Pot (5 Gallon)
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00
Taste Notes:

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
6.00 lb Amber Liquid Extract (12.5 SRM) Extract 82.76 %
0.50 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 6.90 %
0.50 lb Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 6.90 %
0.25 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 3.45 %
1.00 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] (60 min) Hops 26.0 IBU
0.50 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (30 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
0.50 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (10 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
0.50 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (2 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
1 Pkgs English Ale (White Labs #WLP002) Yeast-Ale



Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.049 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.010 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.016 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.005 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.31 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 0.65 %
Bitterness: 26.0 IBU Calories: 43 cal/pint
Est Color: 23.5 SRM Color: Color

[flyangler18]

OT: this isn't the Ryan Finn that used to play for the Roses??? In the off chance that is, holy shit -I thought you were a proud member of the PBRmy.

20 minutes @ 155° is sufficient to the color and flavor (as none of those malts need to be mashed in the traditional sense of the word).

If I were to make a tweak of my own, I'd substitute the palest extract I could find and rely on dark roasted malts to adjust the color. There's really nothing 'American' about that brown ale either - American Brown Ale needs citrusy C-hops (Cascade, Centennial, etc) to be true to the name. Fuggles are distinctly earthy in flavor and aroma as classic English hops typically are.

[finny13]

haha no, not the same Ryan Finn. Should I still use the Northern Brewer hops as bittering hops and substitute cascade for the fuggles? Same amount too? I dont want it over 40 IBUS

[marzen41]

i,m with the fisherman here light malt cascade hops for flavor and aroma. i would add one more hop add at flameout