India Brown recipe

[ShanMan14]

I'd like to create a hoppy brown ale, something along the lines of Terrapin India Brown Ale. Dogfish Indian Brown is close but not hoppy enough for what I would like.

I've been messing around in BeerSmith but I honestly have no idea what I'm doing. Here's one of several recipes I came up with:


Recipe: India Brown Ale 4
Style: American Brown Ale
TYPE: Extract

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 4.08 gal
Estimated OG: 1.067 SG
Estimated Color: 18.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 66.7 IBU
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
7.00 lb Amber Dry Extract (12.5 SRM) Dry Extract 82.35 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 11.76 %
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] (60 min) Hops 32.4 IBU
1.00 oz Warrior [15.00 %] (45 min) Hops 34.3 IBU
0.50 lb Brown Sugar, Dark (50.0 SRM) Sugar 5.88 %
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) Yeast-Ale

----------------------------
Steep grains as desired (30-60 minutes)

[markaberrant]

Use the lighest extract you can find instead of the Amber. Toss in .25lb of chocolate to make it a Brown ale, otherwise it's just an Amber ale. You could also consider adding some brown, victory, biscuit or toasted malt.

As for the hops, you've got a bitter ale at this point, not a hoppy ale. I'd go with something like 1oz of Cascade at 5 minutes, and cut back to IBUs to 40-45.

[ShanMan14]

Originally posted by markaberrant


As for the hops, you've got a bitter ale at this point, not a hoppy ale. I'd go with something like 1oz of Cascade at 5 minutes, and cut back to IBUs to 40-45.

I'm not sure I understand this statement. Are you saying the taste will be bitter with little to no hoppy aroma? I am of the understanding hoppy = bitter, no?

[BrewDog]

There are 3 "features" you get from adding hops to your boil-

Bitterness, flavor, and aroma.

The earlier in the boil, the more bitterness is extracted. The majority of the flavor and aroma are gone once the hops have boiled past 30 mins, but you get lots of bitterness. 60 mins will extract most of the bitterness, with longer boil time adding more but on a diminishing scale.

Leaving hops in the boil for between 10 and 30 mins adds hop flavor, with a peak somewhere around 20 mins give or take.
There is some bitterness and some aroma, but flavor is the dominant factor.

Leaving them in for a short time at the end maximizes hop aroma. Yes, there is a tiny amount of bittering, as well as some flavor, but the aroma is what dominates.

So, by adding all of your hops for more than 45 mins, you are adding almost no flavor or aroma, and you are extracting a lot of hop bitterness.

HTH-

[ShanMan14]

I understand, great explanation. I was aware of the bittering vs. aroma hops but not so much regarding the flavor aspect.

Thanks!

[ShanMan14]

Alright, I modified it with your suggestions. IBU's come in about 46.


[/QUOTE]
Recipe: India Brown Ale 5
Style: American Brown Ale
TYPE: Extract

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 4.08 gal
Estimated OG: 1.066 SG
Estimated Color: 16.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 46.2 IBU
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
7.00 lb Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 90.32 %
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 3.23 %
0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (60 min) Hops 10.7 IBU
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] (60 min) Hops 32.7 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (5 min) Hops 2.8 IBU
0.50 lb Brown Sugar, Dark (50.0 SRM) Sugar 6.45 %
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) Yeast-Ale

Steep grains as desired (30-60 minutes)

[/QUOTE]

Thoughts?

[markaberrant]

Looks pretty good, but I would either add the 1lb of crystal back, or remove the brown sugar and add back the 1/2lb of crystal. You typically want a good deal of sweetness and body in a bigger brown ale... crystal malt helps achieve this, while brown sugar does the total opposite (thin and dry).

The hop schedule seems fine. I'm not sure if these are just the hops you have on hand, but I don't really see a reason to use 2 different varieties for bittering. I suggested Cascades at the end, but you can use whatever American hops you like. You could go with all Cascade, Simcoe, or Amarillo... or you could use Simcoe for bittering, and Amarillo for aroma... or you could blend Simcoe and Amarillo... or Centennial, Chinook, Ahantum, etc. Like I said, what you have come up with is fine, but the possibilities are just about endless when it comes to hopping American ales.

[roadhouse]

i'm planning on making an india brown ale myself. like you, i want something with more hops than DFH, which is around 50 IBU. so i shot for mid 60s. here's what i got so far.


India Brown Ale
American Brown Ale

Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 6.00 gal
Boil Size: 6.96 gal
Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00


Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
15 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 87.94 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 5.67 %
8.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 2.84 %
4.0 oz Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 1.42 %
2.0 oz Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 0.71 %
0.75 oz Warrior [17.50 %] (60 min) Hops 31.3 IBU
1.50 oz Chinook [13.00 %] (30 min) Hops 32.2 IBU
0.75 oz Williamette [5.50 %] (10 min) Hops 3.6 IBU
1.00 oz Williamette [5.50 %] (0 min) Hops -
4.0 oz Brown Sugar, Light (8.0 SRM) Sugar 1.42 %
1 Pkgs British Ale (White Labs #WLP005) [Starter]



Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.080 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.022 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 7.53 %
Bitterness: 67.0 IBU C
Est Color: 23.3 SRM

[markaberrant]

That's gonna be a porter with all that roasted malt.

[roadhouse]

do you think i'm overdoing it? i figured 2 oz of black patent and .5 lb of chocolate would be enough to add color and some roasted flavor but not enough to make it porterish. i am just starting to come up with my own recipes though so i might be wrong. would it be better to use roasted barley instead of black patent or something entirely different?

[markaberrant]

Brown ales typically use a bit of chocolate malt, but most people don't use more than 1/4 lb. Instead of roasted malts in a brown, you want to use kilned malts like brown, amber, special roast, victory and/or biscuit. I suppose you could use 2oz of black patent, but then I wouldn't use any other roasted or kilned malts.