Help me develop a spiced brown ale

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by Theheroguy, Jul 27, 2015.

?

Which recipe sounds best to you

  1. 1

    1 vote(s)
    25.0%

  2. 2

    1 vote(s)
    25.0%

  3. 3

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%

  4. None (please comment)

    2 vote(s)
    50.0%
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Theheroguy

    Theheroguy Initiate (0) Jun 29, 2012 Maryland

    Hello everyone

    I've never brewed a beer with spices before and I've never brewed a brown ale. Here I'm trying for a two in one. I think I've got the grain bill where I want it the problem is that I have no idea if this spice combination is sensible in a brown ale. I'm thinking of using sweet orange peel, coriander, and grains of paradise. I contemplated using cinnamon and vanilla instead of coriander and grains of paradise.

    All recipes are 77% efficiency
    Planning on culturing yeast from an Ommegang bottle
    Here goes
    Recipe #1

    OG 1.058
    Est FG 1.008
    Mash temp 150 F 60 min
    8.75 pounds Bairds Maris otter 2.9 srm 85.5%
    10 ounces Thomas Fawcett Pale chocolate 225 srm 6%
    5 ounces Black Barley (500 srm dunno maltster) 3%
    9 ounces Weyemann caramel wheat malt 46 srm 5.4%

    .9 oz First gold hops 5.8% AA (AA loss to age included) 60.0 min 17.7 IBU
    1.5 oz Fresh orange peel zest 5 minutes
    .25 teaspoon Coriander seed 5 min
    .25 teaspoon grains of paradise 5 min

    Recipe #2
    Remove coriander and grains of paraidise
    1-2 sticks cinnamon in secondary (add one one week then taste and maybe add another)
    1-2 beans vanilla in secondary (add one one week then taste and maybe add another)

    Recipe #3
    Include vanilla and cinnamon to recipe one, remove coriander

    I don't care if the character from the spices in prominent as long as the yeast and malt are still there and the beer tastes good. Let me know if you think the malt base should be tweaked also I have plenty of those grains on hand (also have carastan and a ~4 oz roasted barley) Please help!
     
    #1 Theheroguy, Jul 27, 2015
    Last edited: Jul 27, 2015
  2. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    You say brown ale (which to me means an American brown or English brown), but plan to use Ommegang yeast, a Belgian strain. Are you trying to design a Belgian Dubbel? What are your goals?
     
    #2 VikeMan, Jul 27, 2015
  3. Theheroguy

    Theheroguy Initiate (0) Jun 29, 2012 Maryland

    Sorry that I'm not being clear. I'm making an ale which is brown but I don't really want to make it taste like either of those. I don't think the beer I'm making really falls into any category neatly I'm just trying to describe the malt base/color not the intended flavor profile. I don't want to hit any established style I just want something that tastes good no matter how it turns out. My biggest concern is going overboard with the spices or producing clashing flavors.
     
    #3 Theheroguy, Jul 27, 2015
  4. MrOH

    MrOH Grand Pooh-Bah (3,995) Jul 5, 2010 Virginia
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    You say you're looking to avoid clashing flavors, but highly roasted malts/grains with a belgian yeast would be pushing the envelope, even if executed perfectly, for me. That's without spicing.
     
    #4 MrOH, Jul 27, 2015
  5. wspscott

    wspscott Pooh-Bah (1,958) May 25, 2006 Kentucky
    Pooh-Bah

    Agree with @MrOH, I'm not sure about 9% roasted malts and Ommegang yeast.

    Take this for what it is worth as I have never "spiced" a beer. I think a light touch of Cinnamon and Vanilla might work here, probably 1 stick of cinnamon and 1 vanilla bean. I think it is very easy to go overboard with spices and the yeast is not exactly neutral either.

    From all my reading, your best bet is to make a tincture with the spices you want to use and then add at bottling.
     
    #5 wspscott, Jul 27, 2015
  6. Theheroguy

    Theheroguy Initiate (0) Jun 29, 2012 Maryland

    Alright I think for a first go around then I'll use bedford bitter yeast and go with orange peel + coriander + paradise. This should provide a nice steeping stone for me to evolve the recipe over time. I'm also going to increase the caramel wheat to 7% and mash temp to 154 giving this beer some nice residual sweetness.
     
    #6 Theheroguy, Jul 27, 2015
  7. Brew_Betty

    Brew_Betty Initiate (0) Jan 5, 2015 Wisconsin

    Only three votes?

    I vote for cinnamon and vanilla in a brown ale. The other choice would be better in a lighter colored beer.

    Not sure if Ommegang would be a good choice for the vanilla, cinnamon brown. So I vote for Scottish ale yeast.
     
    #7 Brew_Betty, Jul 27, 2015
  8. JrGtr

    JrGtr Pooh-Bah (1,775) Apr 13, 2006 Massachusetts
    Pooh-Bah

    I would recommend getting the base beer exactly where you want it before adding the spices. That is, brew the beer minus all of them to A) make sure you have your procedures sound, and B) to see what it tastes like before spicing. Something that sounds good now may not be as good when you taste it.
    I might also suggest splitting things up. Either make a standard mash and split before boil, or brew and ferment, then split into several secondaries and steep each of the spice blends (maybe make a tea with the Coriander / GoP combo) into a separate jug.
     
    #8 JrGtr, Jul 27, 2015
  9. scottakelly

    scottakelly Maven (1,487) May 9, 2007 Ohio

    A Belgian brown ale sounds good to me. I have no brewing experience with it, but there is a commercial example I really like, Tilburg Dutch Brown.

    If I were you, I would make the base recipe first. If I liked it and thought certain spices would compliment, I would try that the next time. I always follow the rules of "master the base recipe first"

    I haven't ran calcs on your base recipe, but your dark grains sound high for a brown ale. My I stinct would be to drop the roast barley and use 8 to 10 oz of the pale chocolate.
     
    #9 scottakelly, Jul 27, 2015
  10. GreenKrusty101

    GreenKrusty101 Initiate (0) Dec 4, 2008 Nevada

    * None (please comment)

    Door #4 : )

    Roasted chile infused brown porter/ale (with vanilla and/or coffee also) I used dry Windsor, but any NON-high attenuating NEUTRAL yeast should do (not Belgian) (IMHO)
     
    #10 GreenKrusty101, Jul 28, 2015
    Last edited: Jul 28, 2015
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.