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Hadrian's Wall English Brown

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akueck

akueck

Certified Mead Mentor
Certified Mead Mentor
Jun 26, 2006
4,958
11
0
Ithaca, NY
This brown ale should be something between a Northern and Southern Enligsh brown, hence "Hadrian's Wall". I'm looking for something a little drier than the southern version, but lower gravity than the northern brown.

5 gallon yield, if all goes well
Partial Mash

2.5 lbs Marris Otter (English pale malt)
1/2 lb English munich
1/2 lb English brown
6 oz honey malt
4 oz English chocolate
4 oz British crystal 77
3 oz British crystal 120
2 oz special roast
3.5 lbs pilsner liquid malt extract (wanted either English or domestic "light" extract, but the LHBS was out of those)
1 oz EKG hops (4% AA) 60 mins
1/4 oz EKG + 1/4 oz Fuggles (4.2%) 20 mins
Nottingham yeast
OG 1.041

Mash in 9 qts water, initial temp 151 F, temp after 60 mins 150 F. Sparged with 8 qts 165 F water. (batch sparge) 4 gallons collected.

Undershot my gravity a little. I'm thinking of crushing the grain at home with a pasta maker, if it works, from now on. The mill at the LHBS gives me whole kernels and flour. Argh. Anyway, wound up with 4.5 gallons at 1.041 instead of 5 gallons.

The wort is darker than I expected. Looks nice, smells nice. Can't wait to drink it.
 
Pitched this at 70 F, was tired of waiting for it to drop more. 12 hour lag time, now fermenting at 64 F, bubbling along nicely. Smells perfect.

And, luck would have it, the nasty buglar(s) didn't bother my nascent beer while they ransacked my place yesterday. Score one for beer! I'll have to rename this batch. Suggestions?
 
Re: "I've Been Burgled!" Brown Ale

Fermentation is going crazy, now at 66 F. Let's hope it doesn't get any hotter. Smells malty.

Also I'm renaming this "I've Been Burgled!" Brown Ale, to commemorate recent shenanigans. That, and "burgled" is just a funny word.
 
Well, it's "light" or "depressed", so I'm going with the former. :cheers:

Update: back to 64, already the krausen is falling. Giving it swirls to kick up the yeast. This could be the best brown ever!!!
 
All done! Beer is at ambient temperature and the yeast is flocculating like it's their job. Dropping out to a nice deep brown color. I'll let it set and clean up for another week before bottling.
 
Bottled! Primed with 4.25 oz corn sugar; got spot on 4.5 gallons since the yeast cake was stupendously compact. Now that I think about it I probably should have used less priming sugar, but ah well. FG = 1.009.

Tastes really great. Malty backbone with roasty and even some fruity notes. Deep rich brown color. Can't wait for carbonation.
 
Admittedly, this beer has turned out not quite what I had anticipated. But, it's still great! Very deep, dark flavors and a satisfying mouthfeel. I will undoubtedly crack another one open this weekend and I'll try to provide a more thorough description.
 
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