Christmas Eve. That time of year when the kids are getting antsy with anticipation. A feast is being prepared. Candy is out. The tree is lit. There is a festive warmth to the air. What better time to brew some beer?
Tragor’s Brown Ale, as I am calling this one. I did have a bit of inspiration with this, though….
Papazian Brown Ale Recipe
I modified the recipe to the following.
7lbs dark malt extract syrup
1/2lb 60L crystal malt
1/4lb black patent malt
2oz Fuggles (boiling)
1/4oz Cascades (finishing)
4tsp Gypsum
English Ale yeast (Wyeast WLP002)
Used a grain bag on the grains, held at 150 degrees for 30 minutes. Discarded grains, added dark malt extract and brought to a boil. Normally I wait till it’s boiling before adding the malt. This time I added it before the boil to prevent it from burning and sticking to the bottom of the pot. It worked, I had an easy clean up of the pot when I was done. I bought whole leaf Fuggles for the boil and boiled away. Added my Cascade pellets with 10 minutes remaining.
Grain Bag
Brown Ale Wort boiling
Once done I strained out the hop leaves and poured the lot into my fermenter and topped it off to 5 gallons. Pitched the yeast Christmas day eve; initial gravity was 1.052. Should be a nice 5 to 5.25% alcohol by volume. Tastes yummy so far. Going to be a good beer.
Brown ale in fermenter
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