# American Brown Ale. Which one?



## JB (21/3/14)

Gday All, I have looked at a million brown ale recipes & although I'll be moving into brewing English Ales soon, I 'mainly' have American style hops.

I have a couple of recipes below that I've narrowed my selection down & tweaked to suit my inventory & tastes.

Happy to hear of your personal experiences, recommendations, suggestions - or alternatives ... I'm a sponge.

Yeasts I have on hand are WLP001, WLP007 & Wy1028

*Option 1. American Centennial Brown Ale*

Recipe Specs
Batch Size (L): 25.0
Total Grain (kg): 5.800
Total Hops (g): 70.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.050 (°P): 12.4
Final Gravity (FG): 1.013 (°P): 3.3
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 4.91 %
Colour (SRM): 21.9 (EBC): 43.1
Bitterness (IBU): 37.7 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 70
Boil Time (Minutes): 90

Grain Bill
4 kg Golden Promise Malt (72.07%)
1 kg Vienna (18.02%)
500 g Crystal 40 (8.62%)
200 g Chocolate (3.6%)
100 g Roasted Barley (1.8%)

Hop Bill
25 g Centennial @ 60 mins (1 g/L)
15 g Centennial @ 20 mins (0.6 g/L)
15 g Centennial @ 5 mins (0.6 g/L)
15 g Centennial @ dry hop (0.6 g/L)

Misc Bill
1.0 g Whirlfloc Tablet @ 5 Minutes (Boil)

Single step Infusion at 66°C for 60 Minutes.
Fermented at 18°C with WLP001 California Ale Yeast


*Option 2. James Brown American Ale*

Recipe Specs
Batch Size (L): 25.0
Total Grain (kg): 6.300
Total Hops (g): 160.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.055 (°P): 13.6
Final Gravity (FG): 1.014 (°P): 3.6
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 5.40 %
Colour (SRM): 21.7 (EBC): 42.7
Bitterness (IBU): 32.4 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 70
Boil Time (Minutes): 60

Grain Bill
4 kg Maris Otter Malt (63.49%)
1 kg Vienna (15.87%)
600 g Crystal 40 (9.52%)
400 g Wheat Malt (6.35%)
300 g Chocolate (4.76%)

Hop Bill
10g Chinook @ 60 mins (0.4 g/L)
20g Amarillo @ 10 mins (0.8 g/L)
20g Citra @ 10 mins (0.8 g/L)
20g Simcoe @ 10 mins (0.8 g/L)
20g Amarillo @ 0 mins (0.8 g/L)
20g Citra @ 0 mins (0.8 g/L)
20g Simcoe @ 0 mins (0.8 g/L)
10g Amarillo @ dry hop (0.4 g/L)
10g Citra @ dry hop (0.4 g/L)
10g Simcoe @ dry hop (0.4 g/L)

Misc Bill
1g Whirlfloc Tablet @ 10 Minutes (Boil)

Single step Infusion at 66°C for 60 Minutes.
Fermented at 18°C with WLP001 California Ale Yeast


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## mb-squared (21/3/14)

Hi JB, that James Brown looks good to me. I might have to try that one soon. Here is my favorite brown to date:
http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25123

it really is very very good

cheers

matto


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## lukencode (21/3/14)

James Brown sounds super tasty I would go that one.


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## NewtownClown (21/3/14)

You missed Janet's Brown Ale!
The most oft brewed (and winning) Brown Ale in America. Formulated by the most venerated "Tasty" McDole
Link


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## NewtownClown (21/3/14)

mb-squared said:


> Hi JB, that James Brown looks good to me. I might have to try that one soon. Here is my favorite brown to date:
> http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25123
> 
> it really is very very good
> ...


Just saw the link above IS Janet's Brown. You can't miss with that one


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## Mardoo (21/3/14)

Third or fourth or fifth for Janet's Brown. Great recipe.


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## JB (21/3/14)

Sweet, thanks all. Janet Brown looks nice, I'll have to do some hop shopping. I only have cascade flowers I've just bagged & they say chinook may be a substitute for NB. I might wait til I get some actual NB & Cascade pellets. Think I'll pump out my James recipe in the meantime, then do Janet next


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## JDW81 (21/3/14)

Go with Janet's Brown, it is an absolute ripper.

I'd put up my radagast the brown ale but I don't have access to beer smith at the moment. If I remember I'll pop it up when I get home.

JD


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## Screwtop (21/3/14)

JDW81 said:


> Go with Janet's Brown, it is an absolute ripper.


Like he said!

Screwy


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## kevo (8/4/14)

Speaking of - how might Janet's Brown go with a Maris Otter base?

Kev


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## mb-squared (8/4/14)

excellent. given the hop-bill, I actually prefer the maltier base that MO offers


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## lael (8/4/14)

What is the difference between an English and USA brown ale? 

I'm starting to look at porters and browns etc for winter... 

Slightly OT: what's the difference between a porter and brown? Any suggestions of good browns to try?


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## kevo (8/4/14)

Check these out...

http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/catdex.php

This link should give you all of the Jamil Show episodes with any reference to 'brown.' Start with the earlier 'Jamil Show' style specific episodes.

http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/The-Jamil-Show/search/brown


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## TimT (8/4/14)

On a related note, I had a Brooklyn Brown Ale at the Great Northern the other day and I loved the rich malty sweetness (I suspect, though I can't remember for sure, that I quaffed a few of these ales when I took my little Tour of the US a few years ago). Any ideas how they get those strong malty flavours?


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## JDW81 (8/4/14)

lael said:


> What is the difference between an English and USA brown ale?


Hops and gravity.

Most english browns top out around 1054 OG, while Americans tend to be a bit heavier on both gravity and hops. 

Also, more esters in english browns from those UK yeasts. US yeasts give a cleaner and more attenuated beer (generally).

JD


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## Toper (8/4/14)

An absolute cracker of a Brown Ale IMHO,get onto it. :chug: http://cavalierbeer.com.au/portfolio/cavalier-brown


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## panspermian (17/4/14)

This is an easy one I've made twice before and have one brewing right now 

Delicious


Wife says no....


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## JB (17/4/14)

Cheers Guys, I'm currently drinking the 'Option 2. James Brown American Ale' from the OP. It's light body makes it pretty bloody easy to drink. The flavour is super smooth, but has a hidden kick behind it, a nice mild choc wave flows through. I used a hop tea rather than dry hopping - I should have gone with the dry hop, for my tastes. It's become a fan favourite & won't last long.


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## sponge (17/4/14)

JB said:


> ... I'm a sponge.


Well, I never..


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## JB (17/4/14)

sponge said:


> Well, I never..


Ok, obviously not 'the' sponge  more a spongy like substance ...


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## neal32 (17/4/14)

Janet's Brown. Probably the beer with the tastiest mall bill I have ever brewed.


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