American Brown Ale

[Kai]

I brewed an american brown ale tonight, from a recipe I made up. I'm still new at this whole recipe formulation shebang, so thought I might like some feedback on mine if possible.

malt:

1.6kg MO ale malt
600g Weyermann munich
200g TF chocolate
100g TF crystal
1.7kg LME

hops:

simcoe 13.3%AA 15g @ 60
cascade 5.7%AA 20g @ 15
simcoe 13.3%AA 20g @ 5

mash temp 67-68C, dropped to 66 by finish of mash.

bitterness estimated to be 36 IBU

coopers bottle yeast, slurry from previous brew
ferment temperature 18C

final volume 21L, OG 1.051

colour is dark but still in the realm of brown, I think.


comments?

 

[Jovial_Monk]

200g choc sounds like a lot. . .in one of my Packs I include 500g crystal wheat, nice light brown color

Jovial Monk

 

[Kai]

I didn't want it too light lest it become an amber ale, but I did contemplate using less choc. If I brew it again, I'm considering halving the chocolate and using a darker crystal.

Gravity's at 1.018 at the moment and the flavour is lovely. I might need to draw off another sample.

 

[T.D.]

I reckon that recipe looks pretty darn good!

I just brewed a brown ale and I used 100g of choc malt. Based on taste tests (its bottled but not ready yet) I am pleased with the flavour from 100g but I reckon 200g wouldn't be too much - it will just be a slightly darker more burnt brew. In fact, I bought some Coopers Dark Ale to try in comparison and it has a much darker colour than mine and is more burnt tasting. I would guess that your brew would be more in line with the coopers than mine, which certainly isn't a bad thing!

Is your brew still fermenting? I have been having hell's own trouble getting my FGs down to a respectable level - my brown ale stopped at 1.020 and an APA before that stopped at 1.018. I brewed today and have put the fermenter in a warmer part of the house this time so hopefully I can get this one a bit lower!

 

[Kai]

Mines finished and ready for bottling. You're right, 200g isn't too much, but I would like it a slightly lighter shade of brown next time. Good luck with achieving your final gravity, if you keep having trouble maybe start a topic about it over in the help forum.