Southern English Brown
Never had one since only a few breweries still make in UK only. Never made one, so makes sense to try. Supposed to be a small milk stout or a sweet dark mild. Hmmm, sounds good. Really want to make a few good low-gravity beers for those all-night poker sessions.
Brewer: | Christo | Email: | - | |||||
Beer: | Southern English Brown | Style: | English Dark Mild | |||||
Type: | Extract w/grain | Size: | 5.5 gallons | |||||
Color: |
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Bitterness: | 20 IBU | |||||
OG: | 1.039 | FG: | 1.016 | |||||
Alcohol: | 3.0% v/v (2.3% w/w) | |||||||
Water: | Gypsum or CaCl2 recommended (did not do this time). Moderate to high carbonate water is good for this style to cut any astringency from larger percentage of dark grain. | |||||||
Grain: | 8 oz. English crystal 80L 6 oz. Chocolate 4 oz. Carafa II 8 oz. American crystal 10L 8 oz. American crystal 120L 8 oz. Biscuit |
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Steep: | Mash in at 154ºF (temp got up as high as 165ºF after thermometer shifted out of mash and turned on heat to compensate by mistake) | |||||||
Boil: | 60 minutes | SG 1.033 | 6.5 gallons | |||||
1 lb. 8 oz. Muntons Light dry malt extract 3 lb. John Bull Light malt extract |
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Add 4 oz. of lactose to boil to add sweetness & body. Add Irish moss last 15 min of boil. In lieu of John Bull LME, used Munton & Fison w/ 6 oz. of malto dextrine. Key is to keep up amount of unfermentables in such a low gravity beer so it doesn't taste watery. |
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Hops: | 1.25 oz. Fuggles (4.75% AA, 60 min.) | |||||||
Yeast: | WL002 English Ale yeast | |||||||
Log: | Did not make a starter this time so it had a long lag period of 42 hours. Primary for 9 days after fermentation began, secondary for 5 days, both at 68 degF. | |||||||
Carbonation: | Bottle primed w/ 3/4 cup per 5.5 gallons. Med-low carbonation is norm. | |||||||
Tasting: | Primary goal was to make a 3% abv beer and not taste watery, and I think I accomplished that fine. Not the best brew/ferment procedures on this batch. Did not add the chalk and ended up a little astringent - definitely would boost next time to counteract dark grains as well as really watch mash temp from getting too high. Maybe some phenols detected probably a slight amount of infection from long lag period - make sure active starter used next time. Will use 0.25 oz. less Fuggles next time as well as is slightly to hoppy side which might work for a Northern Brown but not a Southern Brown - have to be light on hops with such low gravity. Not as dark as calculated, more in the high teens. All in all a good start but will make adjustments next time as noted. |
Recipe posted 12/11/06.