American Brown Ale
OG = 1.040 to 1.060 FG = 1.010 to
1.017 IBU = 25 to 60 SRM = 15 to 22
American brown ale is a style that is modeled after English brown ales, but with a stronger, more bitter, hoppier and drier flavor. Citrusy American hops, like Cascade, are commonly used with an occasional blend of English varieties. Some brewers add brown sugar, maple syrup, honey or molasses. Fruit, berries and nut extracts can also be added to these specialty ales.
Our recipe is a judicious blend of malt and hops, with the accent on American hops. We dry-hopped our version. This beer pours with a deep-amber color, topped with a dense, light-beige head. The aroma of Cascade and Willamette hops mingles with the malt, offering a slightly bitter, toasted-malt undertone. The palate is dry with a clean character. The finish is full of malt and hops with a long, dry aftertaste.
Commercial Beers to Try
Many American micro-breweries offer a brown ale. Some of the best include: Hammer & Nails Brown Ale (Watertown, Connecticut), Pete’s Wicked Ale (Boston, Massachusetts), Shipyard Moose Brown (Portland, Maine) and Smuttynose Old Brown Dog (Portsmouth, New Hampshire).
The aroma is mild to strong and citrusy. The esters and dark malt aspects are mild to moderate. The color ranges from dark-amber to dark-brown. Hop bitterness, aroma and flavor dominate the malty richness. Some toasty malt character is evident and the body is medium.
Hops, Malt and Yeast
American hops should be used often and generously. Cascade, Centennial, Chinook, Liberty, Willamette and Mt. Hood can be used with a smattering of English hops (East Kent Goldings and Fuggles) if desired. These ales should contain bittering, flavor, aroma and, in some cases, dry hops.
The grist should consist mainly of well-modified pale malt, either U.S. or British two-row pale with crystal and darker malts complementing the grain bill. Appropriate dry and liquid malts for the extract-and-grain brewer to use would include Alexander’s pale liquid malt, Northwestern dry gold and Muntons extra-light or light DME.
A myriad of yeasts can be used for this style. If you are aiming for a crisp, clean, dry ale you can use American Ale (Wyeast 1056), American Ale II (Wyeast 1272), or British Ale (Wyeast 1098 or White Labs WLP005) or London Ale (Wyeast 1028). For a maltier profile, you can use Irish Ale (Wyeast 1084), Whitbread Ale (Wyeast 1099), English Ale (White Labs WLP002) or London Ale III (Wyeast 1318).
Serving Suggestions
Serve at 50° F in a dimpled pub mug with soft-shell crabs in a brown ale-butter sauce, with thick cut sweet potato fries, chopped salad and warm beer bread.
Ides of March Brown Ale
(5 gallons, extract with grains)
OG = 1.057 to 1.058
FG = 1.014 to 1.015 IBU = 34
Ingredients
10 oz. U.S. crystal malt (60° Lovibond)
3.5 oz. British chocolate malt
4 lbs. Alexander’s pale malt extract syrup
3.25 lbs. Muntons extra-light DME
2 oz. malto-dextrin
9 AAUs Chinook (0.75 oz. at 12% alpha acid) (bittering)
2.5 AAUs Cascade (0.50 oz. at 5% alpha acid) (flavor)
2.5 AAUs Willamette (0.50 oz. at 5% alpha acid) (flavor)
1 tsp. Irish moss
2.5 AAUs Cascade (0.50 oz. at 5% alpha acid) (aroma)
2.5 AAUs Willamette (0.50 oz. at 5% alpha acid) (aroma)
2.5 AAUs Cascade (0.50 oz. at 5% alpha acid) (dry hop)
2.5 AAUs Willamette (0.50 oz. at 5% alpha acid) (dry hop)
London ESB (Wyeast 1968) or English Ale (White Labs WLP002)
1-1/4 cup Muntons extra-light DME
Step by Step
Bring 1/2 gal. of water to 155° F, add crushed grain and hold for 30 min. at 150° F. Strain the grain into the brewpot and sparge with one gal. of 168° F water. Add the malt extract syrup, dry malt, malto-dextrin and bittering hops. Bring the total volume in the brewpot to 2.5 gal. Boil for 45 min. Add the flavor hops and Irish moss. Boil for 13 min., then add the aroma hops. Boil for 2 min. Remove from the stove.
Cool wort for 15 minutes. Strain into the primary fermenter and add water to obtain 5-1/8 gal. Add yeast when wort has cooled to below 80° F. Oxygenate-aerate well. Ferment at 68° F for 7 days then rack into secondary (glass carboy) and add dry hops. Ferment until target gravity has been reached and beer has cleared (3 weeks). Prime and bottle. Carbonate at 70° to 72° F for 2 to 3 weeks. Store at cellar temperature.
Partial-mash option: Acidify the mash water to below 7.2 pH. Mash 2.25 lbs. U.S. two-row pale malt and the specialty grains in 1 gal. water at 150° F for 90 min. Sparge with 1.5 gal. of water at 5.7 pH and 168° F. Then follow the extract recipe, omitting 1.75 lbs. of Muntons extra light DME from the boil.
All- grain option:
Acidify the mash water to below 7.2 pH. Mash 10.5 lbs. U.S. two-row pale malt and the specialty grains in 3.75 gal. of water at 153° F for 90 min. Sparge with 4.75 gal. of water at 5.7 pH and 168° F. The total boil time is 90 min. Add 7 AAU of bittering hops for the last 60 min. of the boil. Add the flavor hops, Irish moss, aroma hops and dry hops as indicated.
Helpful Hints:
If your water is soft (below 50 ppm hardness), add 1/3 tsp. gypsum and 1/2 tsp. non-iodized table salt to adjust your water for the style. If your water is hard (greater than 200 ppm hardness) dilute it 50/50 with distilled water. This is ready to drink as soon as it’s carbonated. It will peak between 1 and 4 months and will last for up to 8 months at cellar temperatures.
