Smoked Brown Dog - recipe feedback please?

[MCJones87]

I am trying to put together a recipe for a smoked dark brown ale and am planning to split the final batch and age a couple of gallons in separate demijohns with a combination of bourbon smoked oak chips, standard oak chips, and may even chuck some vanilla into one as well - haven't fully decided yet.

Would love some feedback on the recipe as a whole, in particular the grain bill and yeast combo - I am hoping the end product should come out with a thick chewy consistency and plenty of flavour without being too bitter. Reason for the yeast is simply that is what I have in the fridge at the moment - as I am yet to get the oak chips and plan to head to LHBS to collect, I can obviously change this to something that will be better suited to the style I am after. ok... rambling now - please let me know what you think :drink::

Grain (60 Min mash planned though could be tempted to go for overnight)

Maris Otter - 4.5kg - 57.3%
Smoked Malt - 1kg - 12.7
Crystal 60L - 0.75kg - 9.6%
Special B - 0.5kg - 6.4%
Flaked Barley - 0.35kg - 4.5%
CaraRed - 0.25KG 0 3.2%
Chocolate - 0.5kg - 6.4%

Hops
12.5 g Summit - 60Min 29.06 IBUs
10 g Amarillo - 15 min 2.89 IBUs

Yeast
Wyeast British Ale 1335 fermenting at 22C

Batch size - 23L
Target OG - 1078
Target FG - 1024
Target ABV - 7.12%

 

[Covrich]

You might need to sort your formatting out there mate I cannot read that ?

 

[MCJones87]

You might need to sort your formatting out there mate I cannot read that ?

Hope that looks better?

 

[rodabod]

The thickest, chewiest beer I've had is probably Siren Liquid Mistress. May be worth looking up clone discussions online. It literally leaves a sticky syrup on the glass as it dries, suggesting large amounts of unfermentables.

Do you want it to actually taste sweet at all? I had a Mikkeller Jackie Brown recently which was nice, but I think I'd prefer that style to be richer/sweeter.

I like Amarillo and as it's relatively soft and don't find it too in-your-face, so I'd be tempted to add more if it were me (not that you asked about the hops).

 

[MCJones87]

The thickest, chewiest beer I've had is probably Siren Liquid Mistress. May be worth looking up clone discussions online. It literally leaves a sticky syrup on the glass as it dries, suggesting large amounts of unfermentables.

Do you want it to actually taste sweet at all? I had a Mikkeller Jackie Brown recently which was nice, but I think I'd prefer that style to be richer/sweeter.

I like Amarillo and as it's relatively soft and don't find it too in-your-face, so I'd be tempted to add more if it were me (not that you asked about the hops).

Liquid Mistress is a great brew - I posted a thread about another beer from Siren not long ago - Mrs Brown - if you like them thick and chewy then this is definitely a beer to hunt down. They also have a beer called Caribbean Chocolate Cake which sounds incredible - link here

Had a look for a clone recipe and did find one on brewers friend - here the grain profile is very different though the style is billed as a Red IPA so that doesn't bother me overly much.
I have used Amarillo once before in a pale ale that turned out very nicely - I kegged and bottled it but have to say the bottles turned out considerably better than keg.

 

[clibit]

There's more crystal type malt in there than I would want - when you add up the crystal 60, Special B and Carared it's almost 20%. But you may want it. There's also a lot of chocolate for a brown ale. It's looking more like a porter to me. As for the smoked malt I can't comment. 1kg seems a lot but it depends how smoky it is, obviously.

I've not used 1335 but, from what I know of it, it should be well suited.

 

[HebridesRob]

I think that beer is going to be very dark. Is that what you're looking for?

 

[rodabod]

They also have a beer called Caribbean Chocolate Cake which sounds incredible - http://www.sirencraftbrew.com/caribbean-chocolate-cake/

I've had the Caribbean Chocolate Cake, and it's probably the best imperial stout I've ever had. Best on draught (but hard to find) and still amazing from the bottle.

 

[MCJones87]

I think that beer is going to be very dark. Is that what you're looking for?

In a nutshell - yes. Dark and thick with bags of flavour!

 

[MCJones87]

There's more crystal type malt in there than I would want - when you add up the crystal 60, Special B and Carared it's almost 20%. But you may want it. There's also a lot of chocolate for a brown ale. It's looking more like a porter to me. As for the smoked malt I can't comment. 1kg seems a lot but it depends how smoky it is, obviously.

What is that amount of crystal going to do? Will it simply add too much colour or will it drastically impact the flavour?
Is there anything you would suggest trying that wouldn't impact the ABV too much?

I sort of felt the smoked grain might be too high when I wrote it up but having never used it before I wasn't sure - would be a shame to go too heavy and effectively waste a batch... perhaps dialling that back a notch wouldn't be too bad an idea?

 

[rodabod]

I looked up a commercial smoked pilsener and it contained 30% smoked malt. I've never used it myself though. I guess how much depends on if you want it to be noticeably smoky, or just to enrich the flavour.

Sometimes I don't like it when flavours are too upfront.

 

[clibit]

The crystal will add sweetness and richness. But the special B is very dark and not so sweet. It's a very distinctive malt though.

I'm actually tempted to say go for it. There are a lot of strong flavours going in there, so it could go either way, and it will be a porter rather than a brown ale, but theres nothing that actually screams no! If anything I'd drop the chocolate a bit, to 3 or 4%. But that's just a nudge. I'd be interested to hear how it turned out. But I'd probably do a smaller trial batch if it was me!

 

[HebridesRob]

In a nutshell - yes. Dark and thick with bags of flavour!

I suspect the chocolate malt will be overdoing it a tad. Might overpower the rest.

edit: I see Clibit got there first :-D

 

[MCJones87]

Thanks for the comments. I think I'll give it a go with a slightly reduced chocolate malt level and see how it turns out. May even stick some of it in a 5 litre keg to see how it compares to a bottle.

 

[rodabod]

I may have the Kernal Double-Brown ale recipe at work. Will have a look at it in case there's anything worth mentioning.

 

[rodabod]

Chocolate malt level in a Mikkeller American brown ale which I had recently is down as 1.8%.

The Kernal Brown Ale seems to use black malt in a much higher quantity though: around 7.5%. It's a higher ABV brew though. The Mikkeller is more of a classic brown, though as I mentioned before, I would have preferred more sweetness.

I've not used the Wyeast strain which you suggested, but I'd be careful about getting ester-y flavours as they can be a bit unpleasant. 22c might be towards the upper limit.

 

[MCJones87]

Chocolate malt level in a Mikkeller American brown ale which I had recently is down as 1.8%.

The Kernal Brown Ale seems to use black malt in a much higher quantity though: around 7.5%. It's a higher ABV brew though. The Mikkeller is more of a classic brown, though as I mentioned before, I would have preferred more sweetness.

I've not used the Wyeast strain which you suggested, but I'd be careful about getting ester-y flavours as they can be a bit unpleasant. 22c might be towards the upper limit.

Thanks for checking that recipe rodabod! I think I'm going to dial back to about 3.5% on the chocolate and see what happens, though I am more than likely going to give MyQul's overnight mash a go so will see what sort of gravity reading I get...

Wyeast state 17-24 ºC on 1335 so maybe worth sticking it in a waterbath to try and control the temps a little lower than 22.