Tasting : Old Brown Shoe 2.0 (Southern English Brown)

I always have problems when it comes to judging my own beer, once it's finally ready to drink. It's obviously impossible to be completely impartial, knowing the recipe, procedure, problems that may have occurred while brewing, etc. But I also find it difficult to not be TOO harsh; I'm always looking for any little indication on infection, fermentation problems, and a lot of other things that may arise when brewing.

On top of all that, forming an opinion on a beer style that is not available commercially to me is even harder. Southern English Brown is a style that has all but faded away outside of England. It's probably more available now than it has been in awhile, thanks to homebrewers giving the style a go, but commercially-speaking, there are very few brands out there (according to the BJCP). Sure, you can read lots about what a good SEB should taste/smell like, but I really wish I had a tried-and-true version to compare my own attempts to.

With this beer, I had made some changes to the first recipe I brewed in 2010. With an OG at the lower end of the style range, and a FG at the HIGH end (at 1.014, it came in several points above target), the beer ended up with a scant 2.6% ABV. You don't get much more sessionable than that! Unfortunately, despite the high FG, large percentage of specialty malts (35%) and high mash temp (155 F), the beer tastes slightly thin to me. However, maybe a low-carbonated, 2.6%-beer isn't SUPPOSED to be THAT full-bodied. Either way, this beer is pretty flavorful, and does make a nice alternative to high-alcohol beers... when needed. I still have one of my first SEB attempts around... I'll try to do a comparison sometime soon, to see just how different they are.

Appearance: Poured with a small, light-tan head that fades to a thin film on the beer. Body is dark brown, with excellent clarity.

Aroma: Malty-sweet aroma, lots of caramel, toffee, and chocolate. No hop aroma.

Taste: Very sweet and caremelly, but there’s a roast presence there that does not belong in this style of beer. I suspect that my LHBS's idea of Amber malt does not match mine, based on the color of the grain. Low bitterness in the finish.

Mouthfeel: Quite light-bodied, with low carbonation. Definitely too thin for this style of beer.

Overall: Very sessionable, and I enjoy the character from all of the specialty malts. BUT, the bit of roastiness isn’t appropriate, and the mouthfeel needs to be heavier. Unfortunately, I’m not really sure what went wrong in that department. Also difficult to tell what the no-sparge method added to all this, if anything.

Brewing a Southern English Brown - no-sparge method

I would say that one of my biggest dilemmas as a homebrewer is finding the time to brew all of the beers that I'd like to brew. Aside from all of the new beer styles out there, along with the numerous tried-and-true recipes available in books, from other homebrewers, and on the internet, there's also a lot of recipes that I've done myself that I really enjoyed and would love to brew again, exactly as before. And yet another group of beers: the styles I've brewed before, and would like to try again with some tweaking to the previous recipe.

All you can really do is find a balance that works for you. I usually do new recipes that I haven't tried before, and sometimes I'll fit in a style where I try to improve a previous attempt (like my Twenty Dollar Blonde). This can be pretty enjoyable, as it's really a great way to increase your knowledge of homebrewing ingredients and methods, along with basic recipe-formulation. Two years ago I brewed a Southern English Brown, a malty-sweet, medium-bodied, low-ABV, smooth session ale. I'm pretty low on sessionable homebrews at the moment, so it seemed like a good time to tackle the style again.

While I generally liked how the beer turned out the first time, I don't think I was a huge fan of what the Special Roast grain added to it, and would have liked the body and carbonation to be a bit higher. Here are the basic changes I made to the beer this time around:

- Completely cut out the Special Roast.
- Decreased the Crystal 80 L and 120 L, and added Crystal 40 L to make up the difference.
- Increased the amount of Pale Chocolate malt.
- Added a bit of Amber Malt for flavor and darkening purposes.
- Mashed at a slightly-higher temp for (hopefully) more body (155 F vs. 153 F the first time).
- Changed the yeast from Wyeast 1968 London ESB to Wyeast 1028 London Ale (mostly on a whim).
- When bottling, I'll likely aim for a carbonation of around 1.8-2 vol CO2 (vs. the 1.5 for my first SEB).

After reading up on and posting on the subject, I also decided to try the no-sparge method. Since many claim this approach gives a richer and more-intense malt flavor, I figured a SEB would be a good style to try it on. I went with Strong's suggested method, where you increase your grist by 33%, mash and mash-out as usual, then make up the remaining boil volume by simply pouring water into the boil kettle. I assumed 80% efficiency on BeerSmith and multiplied my grain amounts by 1.33, and luckily only missed my target OG by one point.

I still have one bottle of my first SEB on hand. It's almost two years old now, but I'd still like to compare the beers when this current batch has been bottled. With a high mash-temp, the no-sparge method, and 35% of the grist coming from specialty malts, I'm hoping this beer will come through with more malty-sweetness and a fuller body than my first attempt.

I should also note that my brew day came about a little short-notice, and it happened to be Learn to Homebrew Day. Unfortunately, it was too last-minute to get some friends who have been curious about homebrewing in on it... but luckily my mother was visiting, and was more than happy to assist!

Recipe targets: (5.5 gallons): OG 1.036, FG 1.010, IBU 14, SRM 22.5, ABV 3.5%

Grains:
64.3% Maris Otter
10.7% Pale Chocolate malt
7.1% Crystal 40 L
7.1% Crystal 80 L
7.1% Crystal 120 L
3.7% Amber malt

Hops:
East Kent Goldings - 28 g (3.7% AA) @ 60 min

Misc.:
1/2 tsp yeast nutrient @ 15 min
1/2 tab Irish moss @ 5 min

Yeast: Wyeast 1028 London Ale (PD Oct 6/12, with a 750 mL starter)

Water: Fredericton city water, carbon-filtered

- Brewed Nov 3rd, 2012, with my mother. 60-minute saccharification rest with 13.8 L of water for a mash temp of 155 F. Mashed-out with 4.85 L of boiling water, resulting temp low at 163 F. Let rest for another 10 minutes, then vorlaufed 3-4 L and drained into kettle. Filled kettle with another ~4 gallons of filtered-water, to a final pre-boil volume of 6.75 gallons.

- SG 1.029 (target 1.030). 60-minute boil. Began chilling at flameout; took about 30 minutes to get to 64 F. Poured into BB; OG 1.035. Pitched yeast at 65 F, aerating by shaking well for several minutes before and after.

4/11/12 - In AM, airlock bubbling two times per second, temp 68 F. Some beer in airlock, but krausen has already settled back.

5/11/12 - In AM, activity virtually over, maybe bubbling q 10-15 seconds, krausen gone completely. Temp 68 F. Moved the BB into a separate room the next room, with the ambient temp set at 70 F.

20/11/12 - FG high at 1.014.

21/11/12 - Bottled with 67 g table sugar, aiming for 1.8 vol CO2 for 5 gallons, with max temp of 68 F reached.

22/1/13 - Tasting notes. Very malty and sweet, and extremely sessionable at 2.6% ABV, but I'm disappointed with the thin mouthfeel.

Tasting/Recipe : Old Brown Shoe

While trying to decide what beer to drink a few days ago (the best difficult decision to have), I came across a few bottles of a batch I had brewed in November, 2010. I had mostly forgotten about this beer, and was happy to try it again for the first time in months. It was a Southern English Brown, the first English Brown Ale I'd ever brewed; and I still haven't brewed another, despite really enjoying the style.

All of the English Browns are relatively low-alcohol; SEB is usually somewhere in between Milds and Northern English Browns. Good SEBs should be malty-sweet, moderately fruity, with no real hop character in the aroma or flavor. Creamy and smooth, with low carbonation, it's a great example of your classic English session ale. I'd be beating a dead horse by telling you that there are no SEBs available for sale in New Brunswick, so I won't mention it. Oops.

Anyway, I mainly decided to brew this beer because I HADN'T tried any of the style before, and liked the sound of it in the BJCP guidelines. The recipe in Brewing Classic Styles looked interesting, with plenty of specialty malts. One of these was Special Roast, which I had only used once before (in a Special Bitter) but still hadn't tasted, since the beer wasn't yet bottled. In terms of all the specialty grains I've used in homebrewing, Special Roast has got to be one of the most... "unique". It leaves a very distinct tart character (at least, it does to me), even in small amounts. To be honest, I'm still a little unsure of whether I like it or not, but if you're ever looking for something new to try in an English beer, give it a shot... but start with a low amount (say, 1/4 lb or so).

The beer was bottled sometime in December, and was entered in a couple of Canadian homebrew competitions in early-mid 2011. The first competition, the bottles arrived with the caps apparently intact, but with about 1/4 of the beer missing. Obviously I had had some issues with my bottle capper, so some leakage must have occurred. Of course, both judges commented that the beer had absolutely no carbonation, and was, probably as a result, lacking in body and aroma. It scored so-so, with 23.5 and 25 (in the "Good" category) out of 50 points overall.

No capping issues were reported for the second competition... scores here were 27, 27, and 33. The two lower-scoring judges both suggested the beer needed more sweetness, and more carbonation. The BJCP guidelines list carbonation as low to moderately-low, so I don't know if I agree that higher carbonation is the answer. The judge that gave the beer 33 had no complaints... and if you look closely at the scoresheet, you can see where he had changed his scores under all categories. Originally, his final score was 42! There must have been discussion to bring the three scores closer together, which from what I understand does happen from time to time. My thoughts on the beer are below:

Appearance: Poured with a small, light-tan head that quickly fades to a thin ring. Body is dark brown, but shows ruby highlights when held to the light. Excellent clarity.

Aroma: Rich aroma of caramel, chocolate, light-moderate fruity esters, and a bit of Special Roast "tang". No hop aroma.

Taste: Very rich and malty, but not cloying. Hints of chocolate, light coffee, fruit, and caramel. No hop flavor. Low hop bitterness in the finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium-light bodied, low carbonation. Smooth.

Overall: Personally, I like this beer. I find it quite flavorful; I think it WOULD benefit from some more sweetness, maybe by decreasing some of the darker Crystal malts for a lighter one. I think I would also mash a couple of degrees higher for more body, and increase the carbonation SLIGHTLY.

Recipe: (5.5 gallons, 85% efficiency): OG 1.043, FG 1.015, IBU 16, SRM 27, ABV 3.6%

Grains:
2.26 kg Maris Otter
454 g Crystal 80 L
284 g Crystal 120 L
227 g Special Roast
170 g Pale Chocolate
113 g Carafa Special II

Hops:
East Kent Goldings - 28 g (4.5% AA) @ 60 min

Misc.:
1/2 tsp yeast nutrient @ 15 min
1 tab Irish Moss @ 15 min

Yeast: Wyeast 1968 London ESB (~1/2 cup 2nd generation slurry)

- Brewed Nov 21st, 2010, with Jill. 60 minute mash with 13.5 L of strike water, mashed in at 152 F. Sparged with ~4.5 gallons of 180 F water for final volume of 6.75 gallons in the kettle. 60 minute boil.

- Chilled to 65 F with immersion chiller. Poured into Better Bottle. Yeast slurry pitched at 63 F, aerated by shaking before and after.

- Fermentation activity was fast and short, slowing quickly after 2-3 days, temp reaching up to 69 F. Bottled about 3 weeks after brewday, with 44 g table sugar, aiming for 1.5 vol CO2.