Brown’s Brewing Co.
Dear Replicator,
Is there any chance you can get a clone recipe from Brown’s Brewing in New York? I especially love their Cherry Razz ale and miss it since I have moved away. The other aspect was the setting of their brewery . . . having a pint or two at their Walloomsac taproom was one of the most peaceful places I’ve been to. Thank you in advance.
Jeff Damico
Milford, New Hampshire
Thanks, Jeff, for this request. I hope that this article and the accompanying recipe will illuminate your quest for brewing something close to the real deal. The beer itself has morphed over the course of time so I hope that this article’s recipe is more reminiscent of your experiences. Just a side note, true to the community-like character of Brown’s, my interactions with them were of a friendly conversation and more akin to a fun back-and-forth between friends just chatting about beer and the development of their brewery. I mainly spoke with Sarah Hoffman, Brown’s Brewing Company’s Brand and Marketing Manager who graciously helped fill in several of the details surrounding the brewery’s history and their taprooms.
Brown’s Brewing Company has been independent and “fiercely defending happier hours since 1993” when Garry and Kelly Brown spent three years renovating a forgotten warehouse on a then-blighted River Street in Troy, New York. Their goal was simply to create an aesthetically pleasing place for employees to brew and customers to enjoy a beer. This commitment to hard work with an eye towards their patron’s experience helped build a highly regarded brewery and taproom that subsequently helped spur a resurgence in the city of Troy, an old industrial town that had fallen on hard times. It is a city that is home to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), the first college in the U.S. dedicated to engineering and the first to offer a degree in civil engineering for college students.
Several decades of sustainable growth eventually meant Brown’s needed more space. They were able to acquire a 175-year-old factory space located in North Hoosick, New York, another old industrial town located close to the Vermont border. After an incredible amount of renovation, while staying true to the industrial history of the factory, the Walloomsac Brewery and Taproom opened in 2013 providing the opportunity for Brown’s beer to be brewed and packaged along with a beautiful space located on a scenic spot on the Walloomsac River. With two separate brew houses, a state-of-the-art canning facility, and two award-winning restaurants, Brown’s Brewing Company has created a loyal following throughout the region.
The Walloomsac brewery is currently Brown’s production site. It’s outfitted with five open fermenters, which are typically favored for producing a more colorful, ester-forward fermentation, in particular English beers as well as weissbier. Each fermenter isn’t your run-of-mill size though, but rather an impressive 100-BBL capacity. In addition, the brewery features two 70-BBL cylindroconical fermenters, two dish bottom 70-BBL fermenters that pull double duty as conditioners, and another five horizontal 70-BBL conditioning tanks. With two 120-BBL brite tanks, the facilities combined boast an impressive total capacity of 870 BBLs of beer with an annual production of 4,000 BBLs.
With such a brewing capacity, Brown’s is uniquely positioned to be both a destination brewery as well as a local watering hole. Both locations are situated on the banks of rivers and are a draw for not only craft beer enthusiasts but also folks in search for a beautiful setting for a beer or a spot to dine. Additionally, both taprooms feature modern amenities while still showcasing much of the original industrial infrastructure of each building.
As for Brown’s commitment to their local community, one doesn’t have to look far to see what organizations they help support. Annually, the Troy location hosts the Firehouse Chili Cook-Off with all proceeds benefiting The Burn Center and the New York State Firemen’s Home. They regularly support Dinners with Love (a program through which they donate meals to hospice patients and their families), Troy Boys & Girls Clubs, and Habitat for Humanity, just to name a few community fundraisers.
One brewing aspect that they’re proud of is their barrel-aged sour series. Sarah says, “It pulls from a diverse stock, conditioned largely in French oak, for up to two years. Each beer is a unique blend, and a snapshot in time of barrels that happen to be both at their peak at that time, as well as working symbiotically. From there we choose additions (fruit, spices, etc.) to complement or augment the flavors already inherent in that particular blend. Once packaged, blends are refermented in the bottle to allow for better shelf stability. Many of these can develop in the bottle for months or even years, while others are best consumed fresh.”
For brewing Cherry Razz, Brewer Duncan MacCrea has several suggestions that can be found in “Tips for Success” at the end of this page. I’d pay close attention to them. One consideration is that a British ale yeast was recommended to increase ester production, hence the recommended strains. If you have a favorite British ale strain, feel free to substitute it here. You could also experiment with an open fermentation (keep the lid loose) to see if that aids in creating additional esters. Best of luck in recreating this, Jeff!
Brown’s Brewing Co.’s Cherry Razz clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.064 FG = 1.014
IBU = 15 SRM = 12 ABV = 6.6%
Ingredients
9 lbs. (4.08 kg) Pilsner malt
1.75 lbs. (0.79 kg) wheat malt
1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) crystal malt (20 °L)
12 oz. (0.34 kg) crystal malt (60 °L)
4 oz. (113 g) crystal malt (80 °L)
1 lb. (0.45 kg) frozen raspberries
0.6 lb. (0.27 kg) frozen tart cherries
4 AAU Summit™ hops (60 min.)
(0.25 oz./7 g at 16% alpha acids)
Wyeast 1318 (London Ale III), or White Labs WLP066 (London Fog), or LalBrew Verdant IPA
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Mill the grains, then mix with 4.2 gallons (15.7 L) of 169 °F (76 °C) strike water to achieve a single infusion rest temperature of 154 °F (68 °C). Hold at this temperature for 60 minutes. Vorlauf until your runnings are clear before directing them to your boil kettle. Batch or fly sparge the mash to obtain 6.5 gallons (24.6 L) of wort.
Boil for 60 minutes, adding the Summit™ hops at the beginning of the boil. At 10 minutes left in boil, add a kettle fining agent such as Irish moss or a Whirlfloc tablet and a yeast nutrient of your choice.
After the boil, rapidly chill the wort to slightly below fermentation temperature, which is 66 °F (19 °C) for this beer. Aerate the wort (if using a liquid strain) then pitch the yeast.
Maintain a steady temperature for the duration of active fermentation. Once primary fermentation is done, rack into a secondary fermenter containing the raspberries and cherries. If you have access to carbonation, try to purge the receiving vessel. Allow for complete fermentation of the fruit, which can take up to two weeks.
Bottle or keg the beer and carbonate to approximately 2.5 volumes.
Brown’s Brewing Co.’s Cherry Razz clone
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.064 FG = 1.014
IBU = 15 SRM = 12 ABV = 6.6%
Ingredients
5 lbs. (2.27 kg) Pilsen dried malt extract
1 lb. (0.45 kg) wheat dried malt extract
1.25 lbs. (0.68 kg) crystal malt (20 °L)
12 oz. (0.34 kg) crystal malt (60 °L)
4 oz. (113 g) crystal malt (80 °L)
1 lb. (0.45 kg) frozen raspberries
0.6 lb. (0.27 kg) frozen tart cherries
4 AAU Summit™ hops (60 min.) (0.25 oz./7 g at 16% alpha acids)
Wyeast 1318 (London Ale III), or White Labs WLP066 (London Fog), or LalBrew Verdant IPA
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Bring 6.5 gallons (25 L) of water to roughly 150 °F (66 °C). Steep the crystal malts for 15–30 minutes before removing. Add both malt extracts, with stirring, until fully dissolved. Turn on heat and bring wort to a boil. Boil for 60 minutes, adding the Summit™ hops at the beginning of the boil. At 10 minutes left in boil, add a kettle fining agent such as Irish moss or a Whirlfloc tablet and a yeast nutrient.
After the boil, rapidly chill the wort to slightly below fermentation temperature, which is 66 °F (19 °C) for this beer. Aerate the wort (if using a liquid strain) then pitch the yeast.
Maintain fermentation temperature. Once primary fermentation is done, rack into a secondary fermenter containing the raspberries and cherries. Allow for complete fermentation of the fruit, which can take up to two weeks.
Bottle or keg the beer and carbonate to approximately 2.5 volumes.
Tips for Success:
This month’s tips all come straight from the brewer, Duncan MacCrea’s pen. First off, “We do a single infusion mash at 154 °F (68 °C), which may seem high for the target final gravity but we do not raise the temperature at the end of the mash to denature the enzymes, we simply allow conversion to continue through lautering and found the higher temperature necessary to not overshoot target final gravity. If you intend to raise the temperature at the end of mashing to denature the enzymes, you will likely find you need a lower target mash temperature to achieve the desired final gravity.”
Secondly, “We once used raspberries and tart cherries in equal proportion but found that reducing the cherries kept the cough syrup flavor from coming through. Be sure to use tart cherries, not sweet cherries. Any amount of sweet cherries tastes like cough syrup after the sugar has fermented out. The fruit is added after the beer has been racked off the yeast into a conditioning tank. This allows time for the sugars of the fruit to ferment without the delicate aromas to be driven off by the vigor of primary fermentation. We centrifuge this beer for clarity but if a centrifuge is not found in your homebrewery, pectic enzyme can aid with clarification.”
Finally, “Any fruit beer, short of some Belgian sour styles, are not intended to be aged and should be consumed fresh. This is no exception. We generally brew, ferment, condition, centrifuge, package, and send this beer out the door within three weeks. Ideally, it spends as little time as possible on the shelf and is consumed fresh.”
