Averagely Perfect American Brown Ale - Poll #4 - Base Malt(s)

I'm hard pressed to find much better than the local Maine Malt House's Mapleton 2-row, and it is my go to base.

 

It is impossible to make a bad beer with Golden Promise

 

Sounds like a challenge...

 

I am up to that challenge. But I selected NA malts. As long as I am going to mess it up, I'd prefer using less expensive ingredients.

 

I'll bet you could make a bad beer with GP, no one else though

 

@VikeMan right now both NA 2-row and Golden Promise have more than 50%. Am I reading correctly that both of these will be in the recipe (assuming no buyer's remorse poll later)?

 

I've heard maris is good in a brown but never tried it. Not sure if it would be masked by the cara/roast malts.

 

I'm mostly keeping out of the voting here because I don't know the style that well, but given that this is a beer with its origins in classic US craft / home brewing, I have to say I'm slightly surprised that 2-Row isn't sweeping it...

 

To wspscott's point, with the important rules clarification, I think we should consider doing some vote-switching so we end up with just one base malt. Not because I think it would be a disaster to use a blend—that actually sounds okay to me—but because I don't think that's what very many voters intend. But let me know if I'm wrong.

In response to Dave_S, my view is that the goal should be to make the brown ale that we would most want to brew and drink. To me there is no historical interest in a beer like this, so I'm voting Golden Promise purely because I think it will make a better beer.

 

Marris otter all the way! Best for a stout or brown in my opinion.

Keep the GP for cereal, hahahahahahaah

 

It looks like some people have voted for multiple malts, unless you want two different base malts in this beer, you should pick one

I'll happily change my vote to Maris Otter if everyone else does

 

I voted Maris Otter initially and was shocked to see how few votes it got, so switched to 2-row... I’d be open to a migration over to MO as well

 

I voted for 2-Row simply because early on the consensus was to jettison the British styles of Brown Ale (which I favored) and go American. Why then should we make an about face and go with a British malt?

 

Maris Otter makes a good base for an American IPA, why wouldn't it work for an American Brown?

 

It would indeed make a good Brown, but would it then still be American?

 

I'm going with American in spirit vs American ingredients, your thoughts appear to be the opposite.

Just to warn you, I'm all in for British Caramel malts when that vote comes along. IMO, there is not contest between British and American C malts.

 

So the earlier vote on British vs. American was, in my understanding, a vote between two BJCP styles as starting points for our recipe development. It wasn't meant to resolve questions like this, and in any case if you look at the BJCP guidelines they do not say that an American brown ale needs to be made with American ingredients. In fact the "characteristic ingredients" section for the American brown ale style says:

Characteristic Ingredients: Well-modified pale malt, plus crystal and darker malts (typically chocolate).

To my mind, Golden Promise definitely qualifies as a "well-modified pale malt." In fact based on that description alone, I would reach for a British pale malt sooner than I would reach for generic American 2-row. And, just so everyone is clear on where I'm coming from, I think GP will make a tastier beer than North American 2-row. The beer that it makes is rich and sweet and delicious.

Here are some excerpts from the style guidelines (I've added some underlining to emphasize the points that I believe we were actually voting on, by way of contrast to the idea that we were voting on which nation the ingredients should be sourced from—also here is a link to the PDF):

British Brown Ale

Overall Impression: A malty, brown caramel-centric British ale without the roasted flavors of a Porter.
Aroma: Light, sweet malt aroma with toffee, nutty, or light chocolate notes, and a light to heavy caramel quality. A light but appealing floral or earthy hop aroma may also be noticed. A light fruity aroma may be evident, but should not dominate.
Appearance: Dark amber to dark reddish-brown color. Clear. Low to moderate off-white to light tan head.
Flavor: Gentle to moderate malt sweetness, with a light to heavy caramel character and a medium to dry finish. Malt may also have a nutty, toasted, biscuity, toffee, or light chocolate character. Medium to medium-low bitterness. Malt-hop balance ranges from even to malt-focused; hop flavor low to none (floral or earthy qualities). Low to moderate fruity esters can be present.
Mouthfeel: Medium-light to medium body. Medium to medium-high carbonation.


American Brown Ale

Overall Impression: A malty but hoppy beer frequently with chocolate and caramel flavors. The hop flavor and aroma complements and enhances the malt rather than clashing with it.
Aroma: Moderate malty-sweet to malty-rich aroma with chocolate, caramel, nutty, and/or toasty qualities. Hop aroma is typically low to moderate, of almost any variety that complements the malt. Some interpretations of the style may feature a stronger hop aroma, an American or New World hop character (citrusy, fruity, tropical, etc.), and/or a fresh dryhopped aroma (all are optional). Fruity esters are moderate to very low. The dark malt character is more robust than other brown ales, yet stops short of being overly porter-like. The malt and hops are generally balanced.
Appearance: Light to very dark brown color. Clear. Low to moderate off-white to light tan head.
Flavor: Medium to moderately-high malty-sweet or malty rich flavor with chocolate, caramel, nutty, and/or toasty malt complexity, with medium to medium-high bitterness. The medium to medium-dry finish provides an aftertaste having both malt and hops. Hop flavor can be light to moderate, and may optionally have a citrusy, fruity, or tropical character, although any hop flavor that complements the malt is acceptable. Very low to moderate fruity esters.
Mouthfeel: Medium to medium-full body. More bitter versions may have a dry, resiny impression. Moderate to moderately-high carbonation.



[me again] So look, vote for North American 2-row if you think that will make a better beer, but don't vote for it on the grounds that it's required by the style. It's not.

 

I chose American 2-Row over GP (for example) because I think it is best if the malt character from an American Brown is mainly derived from the specialty malts -- caramel, amber/brown, and dark roasted. Cheers!