Beginner's Luck Brown Ale

This recipe can be found at Beerrecipes.org

Ingredients:

4 lb malt extract syrup
6 oz crystal malt
1.5 oz black malt
2 oz roasted barley
1 oz flaked or rolled barley
1 oz wheat malt
2 oz Northern Brewer hops
1 oz Goldings hops
28 oz dark brown sugar
2 oz lactose
ale yeast

Procedure:

Hops: these are two of the six or so types available here in the UK; I'm afraid I don't know what the US equivalents would be because I've been brewing only since my transplantation from the States in early '92. [If anyone knows a reasonable set of hops equivalencies, I`m all ears.] Northern Brewer is a very sharp hop that is a prime-requisite for British dark beers and stouts (and some pale ales); Goldings is a much "rounder" hop that is a prominent component of southern-English bitters. US brewers use yer best guesses, I guess. Procedure: I treat my water with 0.25 tsp salt per gallon to adjust pH; the water here (Bristol, in the SW) is fairly soft by UK standards but contains some dissolved CaCO3. I have had no difficulties whatever using tap water. I dissolve the malt extract and then boil the adjunct grains + hops in it for about an hour. I then strain a couple of kettlesful (kettlefuls?) of hot water into the primary through the spent grains and hops to rinse them. I dissolve the sugar in a couple of pints of warm water and add this to the wort, then top up with cold water to 5 gallons. When the wort is cool, I then measure OG (usually about 1035 to 1039), then add the lactose and pitch the (top-fermenting) yeast. The lactose gives just a hint of residual sweetness in the final brew; if that's not to your taste, omit it. This brew ferments to quarter-gravity stage in about 3 days when temperatures are about 20C (70F) and in about 5 days when temps are about 10C (mid-40s F). Final gravity is usually about 1005, resulting in ABV's of 4.5 to 5%. I prime my secondary fermentation vessel with about 1 tsp of dark brown sugar, and usually let it sit in the secondary 7 to 10 days, adding finings after the first 48 hours or so. I have not tried dry-hopping this recipe. I prime my bottles with 1/2 tsp of brewer's glucose; maturation is sufficiently complete in about 10 days, but obviously the longer the better.

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