Critique my American brown recipe

[Orthobrewsky]

This is something I put together this morning to brew soon. Each of the grains appeal to me in this for their own reasons, but maybe the grain bill is too busy at this point, I don't know.

Amt Name Type # %/IBU
8 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 69.6 %
1 lbs Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 2 8.7 %
1 lbs Brown Malt (65.0 SRM) Grain 3 8.7 %
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 4 6.5 %
4.0 oz Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 5 2.2 %
4.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 6 2.2 %
4.0 oz Special B Malt (150.0 SRM) Grain 7 2.2 %
0.50 oz Cascade [9.30 %] - First Wort 70.0 min Hop 8 18.5 IBUs
0.75 oz Cascade [9.30 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 9 11.0 IBUs
0.75 oz Cascade [6.20 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 10 5.9 IBUs
0.75 oz Cascade [6.20 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 11 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) [23.66 ml] Yeast 12 -

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.057 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.016 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.3 %
Bitterness: 35.5 IBUs Calories: 192.1 kcal/12oz
Est Color: 22.1 SRM

Mash at 154

 

[bierhaus15]

Yeah I'd say it is 'too' busy. If you really want to brew a BJCP American brown, I'd cut pretty much everything but the crystal 80L and chocolate malt. Some people may disagree, but I have never found the combination of dark crystal and roast malts to pair well with citrusy hops. With that in mind, if you want to keep the Cascades, I'd at least drop the aromatic and brown malt, since they aren't really needed. Brown malt at 8% is going to be quite strong tasting and better suited for porters or English browns. The aromatic at 2% isn't going to do much, so why use it, especially if you are using a good quality basemalt. And I'd save the flaked barley for your stouts, since you are going to get plenty of mouthfeel with the darker crystal malts. Head retention comes standard with good brewing practices and chemistry.

For an Am. Brown, I would feel comfortable brewing something like this: 85% pale, 8% c80L, 4% chocolate, 3% special B.

I would also use a different yeast... wy1968, 1272, 1450, 1056 would be good choices.

 

[Orthobrewsky]

Yeah I'd say it is 'too' busy. If you really want to brew a BJCP American brown, I'd cut pretty much everything but the crystal 80L and chocolate malt. Some people may disagree, but I have never found the combination of dark crystal and roast malts to pair well with citrusy hops. With that in mind, if you want to keep the Cascades, I'd at least drop the aromatic and brown malt, since they aren't really needed. Brown malt at 8% is going to be quite strong tasting and better suited for porters or English browns. The aromatic at 2% isn't going to do much, so why use it, especially if you are using a good quality basemalt. And I'd save the flaked barley for your stouts, since you are going to get plenty of mouthfeel with the darker crystal malts. Head retention comes standard with good brewing practices and chemistry.

For an Am. Brown, I would feel comfortable brewing something like this: 85% pale, 8% c80L, 4% chocolate, 3% special B.

I would also use a different yeast... wy1968, 1272, 1450, 1056 would be good choices.

Thanks for the input. Honestly, 3 of the grains (flaked, aromatic, special B) were partially motivated by the fact that I've had them lying around not doing much for quite a while and thought they might be nice in this.

The brown malt was something I had in a brown porter which really tasted good and I wanted to try it in a brown. I've been brewing more in the way of British beers for a while, but sort of felt like I should try something different. I'm not at all determined to brew to style, but I was in the mood for a moderately high gravity brown, while the English browns are lower in gravity. I'm somewhat adventurous, so out of style is fine, but dissonance of flavors is something I would like to avoid, which is why I was seeking some advice from experienced brewers. It can be hard to decide what I really want to brew sometimes.

Again, thanks, and any other comments which might come to mind are welcome.

 

[JesperX]

Yea, 30% specialty malts is REALLY heavy. I'd cut the aromatic and special B altogether, up the chocolate to 5%. Drop the brown malt to 3% or cut it altogether, it'll work here but this isn't a brown porter. Up to you. Drop the flaked barley to 3% or so and keep your C80 at about 7%.

 

[Orthobrewsky]

You're both making sense to me and I had actually dropped the aromatic and special B before either of you had responded. I think I'll ponder this a while longer, since I've decided there are a couple of other favorite brews I need to get back into my pipeline before they start to run low.

I appreciate the help with this.