Beer Style: Brown Ale Family
Gordon Strong’s British Brown Ale
The base malt is a mix of Maris Otter and Golden Promise. Torrified wheat provides some of the character flavor and a little body. Mid-range crystal malts provide some caramel flavors, and the light dose of chocolate malt gives enough of the nutty flavor without tasting overtly chocolate-like.
British Brown Ale
British brown ale is open to a wide range of interpretations, however one constant is that the style is all about drinkability and balance. Learn more about its history, which at a time nearly went extinct, and how to brew your own version.
Gordon Strong’s Irish Red Ale
My recipe is a middle-of-the-road example for Ireland. It uses a rather dextrinous base malt (mild malt) with a little bit of oats to increase the mouthfeel.
Neon Raptor’s Barnum Brown clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)OG = 1.052 FG = 1.012IBU = 18 SRM = 20 ABV = 5.2% This is a good example of the hoppy version of the American brown ale style
Avery Brewing Co.’s Ellie’s Brown Ale clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)OG = 1.056 FG = 1.014IBU = 20 SRM = 24 ABV = 5.5% Avery Brewing Co. Ellie’s Brown Ale is quite restrained in its color but a big
Thornbridge Brewery & Bundobust Brewery’s Nut Brown Ale clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)OG = 1.044 FG = 1.011IBU = 25 SRM = 14 ABV = 4.3% Thornbridge and Bundobust’s collaborative Nut Brown Ale is an homage to the classic
Cigar City Brewing Co.’s Maduro Brown Ale clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)OG = 1.059 FG = 1.017IBU = 25 SRM = 32 ABV = 5.5% This is far darker than the BJCP guidelines for an English brown and pushes past
Beppy’s Brown
This simple brown ale recipe illustrates the differences between brewing all-grain batches and extract batches of beer with extract replacing one malt in the ingredients and different techniques to get your wort in the boil kettle.
Newcastle Brun Ale
Newcastle Brun Ale (5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)OG = 1.034 FG = 1.007 IBU = 18 SRM = 15 ABV = 3.6% Intrigued by a local landmark remembering a group of priests who
Saddle Mountain Brewing Co.’s Taildragger Clan-Destine clone
Checking in at 6.2% ABV and 22 IBU, Clan-Destine is medium-full bodied, drinks rich with notes of toffee and caramel from Golden Promise and Crystal 77 additions, yet finishes clean without being heavy.
Gordon Strong’s Scottish Export
This recipe can easily be scaled down to make a Scottish heavy, say at 3.5% ABV, or scaled up to a stronger but still export strength 5.2% beer. Pick the alcohol level you want, and let your recipe software do the work for you to scale it.
Denny’s American Mild (Final Version, #8)
Denny has been working on a recipe for an American mild ale for several years. The objective was to make a beer with the qualities of a British mild (malt character, low integrated hop flavor, body, 1.035 OG, under 4% alcohol) but with only American ingredients.
