Janets Brown Ale

[Dan Pratt]

After being awarded Gold at the Nationals for my American Amber Ale in the bitter ale category I thought Id make a keg of beer for the mate that introduced me to homebrewing. I know he loves hoppy beers and also loves a darker style beer so, this will be a great beer to make for him. :super:

Janets Brown Ale

Specs
OG - 1.068
FG - 1.016
EBC - 18.5
ABV - 6.8%
IBU - 64
Vol - 20Lts ( the link is for a double batch recipe )

Malts
75% Ale Malt
6.3% Wheat
7.8% Crystal 40L
7.8% Carapils
3.1% Chocolate Malt

Hops
Northern Brewer - 28g Mash Hop addition ( not totally sure what this does but its something new to try )
Northern Brewer - 42g @ 60m
Northern Brewer - 28g @ 15m

Cascade - 42g @ 10m
Cascade - 56g @ 0mins ( I will whirlpool/steep for 5/10mins )

Dry Hopped with 56g of Centennial for 7-10days after fermentation.

Yeast
WLP001 California Yeast ~ 1.2lt starter - Fermented @ 19c

Misc
Yeast Nutrient
Whirlfloc
Pure O2

Let me know what you think, especially if you have made this yourself.

I have made a few of the recipes from the linked website and had more than great results.

http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25123

 

[Mardoo]

I've made a few iterations of Janet's Brown. Great recipe! It can flex either stronger or weaker quite easily. I've never stuck with particular hops though, just generally American hops.

Tasty's mineral additions seem a bit crazy, but they work. I was shocked the first time I made it and tasted the wort. I can only describe it as PROFOUNDLY bitter, as in it went on for about 20 minutes. Unfortunately I don't have the numbers at hand since my computer karked it a couple weeks ago and I have yet to get a new one and reload. IIRC I got them from the Janet's Brown thread on the Brewing Network website. I'll see whether I can find them.

PS: Care to share your American Amber recipe?

 

[Mardoo]

OK, here's a link for Tasty's water profiles. 350 sulfate!!! WTF, but it works. He uses the same profile for all his hoppy beers (from his mouth, not mine):

http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=&t=25260#_thread

And another:

http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=&t=18509#_thread

 

[Dan Pratt]

Hi Mardoo,

Thanks for the links, good for a read at work :lol:

Im customed to using the higher sulphate content on my water, been putting about 280ppm + for any hoppy beers like AAA, APA and IPA's for quite some time now and it really make the hops come through. Ive been tempted to burtonize an IPA at 700ppm + and make the carbonate levels hard to go to extremes but always talk myself out of it.

Here is the recipe for the AAA

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/78476-what-are-you-brewing-2014/?p=1217705

 

[Mardoo]

Very cool, thanks for that! And I forgot to say congratulations on your Gold. Well done!

 

[technobabble66]

Congrats on the Gold, pratty!

How would you guys describe the difference the super-high minerals (namely sulphate) makes specifically? Is it that which produces such a sharp lingering bitterness?
I'm curious because I generally don't like strong lingering bitterness, so for me it'd be good to know to avoid it.

 

[Dan Pratt]

Congrats on the Gold, pratty!

How would you guys describe the difference the super-high minerals (namely sulphate) makes specifically? Is it that which produces such a sharp lingering bitterness?
I'm curious because I generally don't like strong lingering bitterness, so for me it'd be good to know to avoid it.

Thanks Techno.

When I started using the gypsum for my hoppy beers they improved so much. My water was balanced already for sulphate and chloride ~ 30ppm and the hefeweizens and dark beers eg stouts came out great, but the pale ales and ipa's were always missing something. Since adjusting the water the hop character was obvious and it made those styles hop forward and the hops really show themselves in all its apsects, bitterness, flavour and aroma.

If you want to avoid strong lingering bitterness then only make those hoppy styles with 1/3 or 1/4 of your target IBU's from the 60min addition and get the rest from late kettle, it smooths out the bitterness and lends more to flavours.

 

[robv]

Our brew club recently had a kit mini comp - I used the Janet's Brown recipe from Brewing Classic styles - sent it in to QABC and got a bronze

 

[danestead]

Yeah congrats on the gold. A really good achievement!

 

[IsonAd]

Congrats on the gold pratty! I made two versions if this recently. One as per the recipe which was really good. It took about two months to really hit its peak, it was no where near as malty as I expected and came out quite dry. It's a really easy drinker. The second version I subbed the 0 min cascade for Columbus. I didn't like it as much, still good but the earthly dankness from the Columbus needed more support from the malt, maybe an addition of C120.. enjoy and thanks for sharing your gold medal recipe!

 

[primusbrew]

I've brewed something similar to the Janet's Brown Ale a couple of times now and both have come out really well. Certainly balanced towards the hops but enough going on with the malt to keep it interesting.

I used all Joe White malts except for the carapils which I think was Weyerman. Also US-05 as the yeast.

I kept the hop schedule pretty similar to what you have posted but left out the mash hop addition. It might add something extra but I wasn't convinced.

I would say stick with that combination of hops. Works really well.

 

[StalkingWilbur]

Got this in the keg at the moment. I agree with above comment about it hitting its peak after a couple of months. (I think less, but close enough). I think you have to give some time for the substantial dry hop to smooth out a bit.

 

[Dan Pratt]

Thanks for the contributions everyone, sounds like its a well enjoyed beer.

Ordered the Northern Brewer hops yesterday and they should arrive today along with the WLP001 yeast.

I read through the Tasty threads on BNF and will aim to get the water at those ppm.

 

[neal32]

I brewed it with some hop subs. I didn't use Northern Brewer, just summit or magnum for bittering and cascade late. I brewed it with the 350ppm water profile although only that beer, my default hoppy water profile now is with 250ppm of Sulfate and I think my hoppy beers are better for it.

It was my first and only comp entry and it received a silver medal in the Perth Royal Beer Show. From memory the malt bill was really tasty (no pun intended) and very easy to drink given the relatively high strength. wouldbrewagain/10

Probably one of the only "famous" homebrew recipes that has lived up to the hype.

 

[huez]

I think tasty uses the same water profile for ALL his beers, not just his hoppy beers. I've brewed this twice now, its a great recipe you won't be disappointed. Came close to a placing in the state comp this year in specialty category

 

[Truman42]

I've wanted to brew this for awhile now but instead of carapils I'm using Gladfileds toffee malt that I brought from Core Brewing today.

This stuff is awesome. Nice plump grains that are chewy with a caramel toffee flavour.

 

[Dan Pratt]

My northern brewer hops arrived.....bloody 4.5% AA. They are normally between 7-10% so now I don't have enough.

I ordered 100g so will adjust hops as follows.

14g mash hop
86g @ 60mins = 35ibu

Swap out the NB 15min addition with cascade.

Tempted to swap out the NB all together with Chinook or cancel the mash hop addition, lower bittering charge to 30ibu and use the remaining NB with cascade at 15mins?

 

[IsonAd]

If it were me I'd sub the 60 min addition for something else maybe Chinook and keep the NB for the 15 min additio

 

[Truman42]

So with the mash hop addition do you throw them in at the start of the mash or say 10 mins towards the end?

 

[mxd]

at the start for me