Averagely Perfect American Brown Ale - Poll #1 - ABV

Medium to high for style has been my preference for American Browns. 5.6

 

4.6

 

5.2 is the sweet spot for me in this "style".

 

The one I brewed recently came in pretty high (notes not handy, so no specifics at this time). I was emulating the Janet’s Brown Ale extreme version of the style. I’m tempted to vote opposite here, just to try to push this towards something different

 

Voted for 5.6%, would be happy with anything between 5.2 and 5.8. I think a little extra malt and ABV will help us to build a slightly richer, more enjoyable beer. I tend to think of browns as being thin and slightly insipid, so I'd like to see us improve on that.

 

5.6 because that seems to allow the possibility of a "richer" beer similar to what @frozyn says above, not sure that I agree with the "insipid" part though

 

I wanted 5.2% but I have voted 5.4% to try to prevent 5.6% from winning -- that's too strong guys. Let's not let this turn into a fucking "Brown IPA".

 

No need to be a Brown IPAat "higher" abvs.. My Brown comes out around 5.6% and very subdued hop characteristics with 3oz of a low AA hop in there but still balanced for the BU/GU ratio.

 

I for one welcome our new Brown IPA overlords!

Well, okay, maybe not Brown IPA but I don't have a problem with people going for a bigger and brasher interpretation of the style if that's what gets them going.

 

I highly doubt what we create will fall into that category!!

 

I'm not voting any amount of hops that would lead to a brown IPA

 

FWIW,
Tumbler is 5.5%
Bell's Best Brown is 5.8%
Avery Ellie's Brown is 5.5%

 

5.6 all day long.

 

I’m more than happy to turn it into a hoppy brown pale ale!

To try to answer my own questions in a previous thread of what this style might be like without C hop prominence, I just sampled a can of Cigar City Madura, one of the examples from the 2015 guidelines. It’s a very drinkable 5.5 abv 20 ibu beer with no hop prominence. The beer is fairly dry, with a bittersweet chocolate roastiness. I only bought one, but it went down fast and I could easily want another. In terms of complexity, well, the bittersweet chocolate is really the only thing to latch on to, and I can’t help but think that I’d like it more with either some English crystal malt accent or sonecitrusy American hops.

 

It looks like the process for this one is going to be very interesting.

Personally, I like my own homebrewed American Brown's to be nice and bitter (60 Tinseth IBUs or so), with a decent finishing hop presence (Cascade and Willamette are my current choices), but not hop finished the way today's IPAs are.

The real key to this beer, though, lies in the malt. At some level I feel it mostly slots in between a pale ale and a stout (but also bit between an amber and a porter). If done correctly, it is clearly distinct from any of these beers. For details on a malt bill that I think works really well, you can hunt down my recipe (Reiff Brothers Brown) in the Homebrew Recipes subforum. I am certainly not pushing for a clone of that beer -- I really want to see what comes from this crowd-source process.

I'll (almost) finish by quoting Charlie Papazian from his The New Complete Joy of Homebrewing (1991 version): "A more bitter style of English brown ale emerged among American Homebrewers in the 1980s. For lack of a better name, the style was dubbed Americn Brown Ale, somewhat akin to a dark pale ale with lots of hops. Its bitterness ranges between 25-60 IBUs."

At one point (and pint) in time Pete's Wicked was a tasty example of the style. Unfortunately, it is no more.

Cheers!

 

I love Pete's Wicked. Got the real recipe, it's yummy, brings back memories, if anyone's interested...