I Made A Brown Ale Today

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Pumpy

Pumpy's Brewery.
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2.5 kg pale malt
0.5kg pale pilsner malt
1.0kg Vienna
0.250kg crystal
0.100 chocolate
20 grams fugggles hops 60 mins
20 grams fuggles hops 10 min
calafornian wl001 yeast


I made it out of the grain I had and not sure what style it will be close to i was thinking a Brown ale but it maybe a porter any suggestions


Pumpy
 
Looks good for a brown, I've seen Munich swapped in there for Vienna, I assume you're using JW Crystal?
Also seen the chocolate bumped up more, but depends on your EBC's.
Fuggles with WLP001 should work out ok, apparently to be official you need Williamette (the US equivelant) but I think the lines are very blurred there and personally don't think it matters that much. Send us some pictures when it's done.
 
Yes it was JW Crystal, Dunkel , The yeast starter I made took over quickly, so long as it tastes nice, just wanted to say what stle it was in case anyone asked .

will post a pic when its done

Thanks Dunkel

Pumpy
 
how much colour does the JW crystal give?
I would have thought the colour & bitterness were a touch low for a brown ale?
 
youll would get a bit of colour from the choc malt too
 
Yeah, it is a touch on the light side of a brown ale, but it is definitely past an amber ale.
The JW crystal doesn't give the best colour, or flavour, in fact it's pretty dodgy, but it does do a bit at least.
I think it'd be ok, see how it turns out, perhaps next time you'll use a tad more chocolate and perhaps a different yeast. Bitterness, I think brown ales have a lot of range to tell you the truth, they are good malty, but then again they are also good with a moderate bitterness.
 
JW Crystal not reccomended then?

What to use in it's place??
 
Bairds, which is British, or something German (Weyermann, Hoepfner). There's another British maltster that's good too, the name escapes me at this point though.
The JW crystal is just very dull and not very 'crystally', and the colour is very uninspiring.

EDIT: Unfortunately JW crystal is in most homebrew shops, you have to get one of the good ones specially delivered, from www.esbeer.com.au or one of the other places.
 
Are all JW malts considered inferior? I thought they had quite a good reputation...
Is this only DBs opinion or shared by many??
I'm just in process of looking at bulk grain orders & don't want sacks of inferior grain.
 
Pumpy,
If it is an English brown ale you want to make, then I would drop the pilsner and the vienna malts.
I would stick to the crystal addition with the chocolate and possibly a touch of roast barley or black in small quantity to add that special flavour and colour.
You would want about 30ibu. Fuggles or Goldings would be fine.
As you said you made it from what you had left so taste it and see.
I think the US style browns use munich with, you guessed it, a cascade hop, altho you could use Perle or Northern brewer or chinook if you wanted.
I believe that some English brown ales are actually a blend of two beers.
Really, this style is very flexible so just give it a go and good luck.
Cheers
 
The Joe White malts are pretty good, I'd say above average, and the dark crystal is much better, just the normal crystal is dodgy.
Of course German malts are better, but that's not saying anything out of the ordinary.
 
Ohh!! yes I looked up the last time I made brown ale and I used 500gms of crystal malt this time I used 250 gms .
I think the bitterness is Ok for a brown ale not too hoppy .
well it is already talking too me ,the yeast always loves brown ale .
perhaps it wont be a true to style anything , I am sure it will taste nice though .
I neary put 250 grms of the Torrefield wheat to get that lacey effect but thought I may be overdoing it .

thanks for all the input guys
Pumpy
 
The other english malter u are thinking of is thomas facett
 
Good day
To me it looks like a good northern brown ale which are paler than the dark southern browns. The northern browns have a "nutty" flavour, less sweet and drier relatively to the southern versions.
 
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