Honey Brown Ale (My Recipe)

This is a great, mid-range type beer which goes great with meals as well as just enjoying a cold one in the evening. Personally, I like to serve it just above the freezing point.

Brewer:	Paul Smith		Email:	split-routine@mailcity.com
Beer:	Honey Brown Ale (My Recipe)		Style:	American Brown
Type:	Extract w/grain		Size:	26 liters
Color:	23 HCU (~13 SRM)		Bitterness:	22 IBU
OG:	1.045		FG:	1.003
Alcohol:	5.4% v/v (4.2% w/w)
Water:	I've never had a problem using just normal tap water, but boil all water used to drive off the chlorine smell/taste.
Grain:	500g American crystal 60L 50g British chocolate
Steep:	Steep grains in seperate bags for 30 min (but no more!). Nominal temperature for steeping would be at 71°C (160°F)but it isn't easy to control, so just boil, remove from heat and let stand 10 minutes, then place your grains in and steep for 30 min.
Boil:	80 minutes	SG 1.090	13 liters
	3kg Light malt extract 500g Honey
	-I allow 20 minutes of boiling for the hotbreak, then the hopping schedule begins for 60 minutes. -If you add the honey to the wort at the beginning of the boil, you increase the boil gravity to 1.090, (based on a partial boil of 13 liters or 3 gallons) which decreases the IBU input to 19. If you add the honey after completion of the boil, the boil gravity is decreased to 1.076 and therefore increases your IBU input to 22. It's much better to add the honey after the boil is completed anyway, so as not to loose the honey aroma through boiling.
Hops:	0.5 oz. Galena (12% AA, 60 min.) 1 oz. Cascade (5.1% AA, 30 min.) 1 oz. Cascade (5.1% AA, 15 min.)
Yeast:	I've used several types of dry yeast with good results every time. Coopers ale yeast seems to work well, but my favorite is Danstar Nottingham yeast, which has some lager taste qualities about it, producing less esters in the finished beer. I've always pitched 2 packs. In my latest brew I decided to use a dry lager yeast produced by Saflager. I'm still waiting for the finished results. Using a lager yeast will obviously change fermentation and aging times.
Log:	Primary fermetation for about 7 days (depending) whcih gives an S.G of about 1.004. Then Secondary with isinglas and anti-chill haze (polyclar) for a minimum of 2 weeks, but better for 4 weeks. Age in bottle for 1 month after that. I try to keep the temperature around 15.5° C (60°F) throughout the entire fermenting and aging period. This may seem a little low for ale yeast, but experience has shown that even though you have to wait a little longer, you end up with a better beer.
Carbonation:	2.8 volumes	Corn Sugar: 5.95 oz. for 23 liters @ 16°C
	If you can't find a method to weigh your priming sugar, this amount is equal to 1 full cup of corn sugar.
Tasting:	Don't be fooled with the IBU measurement of 25. I calculated it using the Tinseth method and might be a little low to what it actually is. I once added a full ounce of Galena, which according to the Tinseth method produces 42 IBU. But believe me, it ended up a helluva lot more then that, and I was telling people it was an English bitter!

Recipe posted 01/29/04.