Revisited - Pigskin American Brown

Pint from 2nd Keg of Pigskin Brown Ale

So, I likely rushed through the first keg and my initial review doesn't do this beer justice.  It's reeeeally come into it's own, truly.

For the 2nd keg, I opted to forgo the dry hopping, this was most certainly the right call.  It's made a world of difference.  What was once a dank, bitter hop forward beer (with no real character to speak of), has now become a malty goddess.  The Munich and Pale Chocolate malts are playing so well off each other.  Along with the biscuity Pale Ale Malt... what  can I say, a match made in heaven.

I must say however, the Willamette hops added during the boil, are not lost.  There's a supremely balanced floral bitterness which I absolutely adore.  Maybe the First Wort Hops?  Pacman is also glorious.  The beer is all sorts of chewy, beautiful mouth feel, incredible.  All I attribute to this amazing yeast.  What a few extra weeks of conditioning can do to a beer!  I can't wait to make it again!

Pigskin American Brown Ale

Brewed on Superbowl XLVIII

45% Dark Munich, 5%ea Crystal 60 and Pale Chocolate Malt.  The Chocolate added late during vorlauf. Target 1060, hit 1057

FWH w/ Willamette, Chinook @ 60 for 20 IBU.  Big hit of Willamette and a smaller amount of Simcoe @ 5 minutes remaining.  45g Keg hop 3:1 w/Willamette:Simcoe.  43 IBU's total

Pacman yeast, fermented ambient (18c), finished high @ 1018.

Great head retention.  Sticky lacing evident.  Medium body, could use more.  Doesn't taste overly sweet contrary to the high finishing gravity (not sure what happened there).  Nicely bittered.  Subtle floral, earthy flavours and aroma.  Hints of roast, loving Pale Chocolate malt.  Could use perhaps another few percentage points of crystal malt.  Nice beer!

Pigskin American Brown Ale

New Malts! Amber, Brown and Pale Chocolate

I've received some unique malts, Amber, Brown and Pale Chocolate, all Thomas Fawcett & Sons.  I am really anxious to put them to use.  Here's what the Maltser has to say...

Amber	90 - 110	Bitters - Pale Mild
Brown	110 - 140	Milds and Darker Bitters
Pale Chocolate	500 - 600	Dark Milds - Stouts Small quantities used for flavour and colour enhancement on dark beers

Not a heck of a lot to go on.  I turn to OBK for a more info...

Amber Malt

Colour test.  Amber Left, Brown Right.

Amber Malt. This is a very rounded, biscuit like malt. Warm, pleasant, toffee, biscuit, bready notes with subtle coffee undertones. Great addition to red ales, Belgian ales, porters, IPA's, etc.

Brown

Brown Malt. Adds a mild roastiness flavour and bitterness to a beer. Great for use in many English ales, brown ales, porters, milds, stouts.

Pale Chocolate

Pale Chocolate Malt. A milder roasted grain than the typical chocolate malt. Adds colour and smooth chocolate, coffee, and nutty flavours to your beer. Great for use in milds, porters, stouts, brown ales, barleywines.

...  Looks like I'll have some Porters, Milds and Stouts in the upcoming rotation!  With summer fast approaching, I am not sure I want to have so many dark beers on tap, I may need to work in an IPA and a Red as well.

First order of business, Dark(ish) Mild.  Here's what the recipe is looking like.

OG 1.036 / IBU 13 / SRM ~20 / ~41L

69.0% Maris Otter - Muntons

08.6% Crystal 240 (90L) - Muntons

08.6% Flaked Barley

05.2% Amber Malt - Thomas Fawcett

05.2% Pale Chocolate Malt - Thomas Fawcett

03.4% Carafa II Sp - Weyermann

4.8 AAU of Willamette @ 45 min

3.9 AAU of Styrian Goldings @ 12 min  

WLP022 Essex Ale yeast

I really want to play on the bready/biscuit flavours from the Amber and Maris Otter malts and incorporate some nutty chocolate without going roasty (ie. Pale vs standard Chocolate  Carafa vs Black Malt).  The yeast should do well to further develop bready flavours.

Flavorful British style yeast. Drier finish than many British ale yeast. Produces slightly fruity and bready character.   

While my intent is a malt driven ale, the hop selection should bring a subtle spice and earthiness to the party.

I'll use a medium-high mash temperature, perhaps somewhere in the 153-154F range since there is quite a bit of unfermentables in the purposed grist.  The WLP022 is a decent attenuator, if I can get it to finish somewhere in the 1.012-1.013 range (~3% ABV), I think that would work really nicely.  

The hop schedule isn't completely locked in, I may decide to move the Goldings closer to flame-out which would mean a slight increase to the bittering addition or perhaps an additional charge somewhere in the middle of the boil.

Favorites - "Moose Tracks"

Mild (11A)

For a nice change of pace, I thought to have a session beer available.  After an unsuccessful attempt at an Ordinary Bitter, I formulated this recipe, a Dark Mild.  I find it very chocolatey, semi-sweet and extremely quaffable.  Galaxy hops are not to style but this beer isn't about hops.  You may also notice the insane mash schedule, I mashed in then went to work.  Came home, sparged and boiled.

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Fermentis Safale S-04
Yeast Starter: Nope
Additional Yeast : Nope
Batch Size (Post Boil): 26L
Original Gravity: 1.038
Final Gravity: 1.014
IBU: 27.3
Boiling Time (Minutes): 65
Colour (SRM): 20

Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 5 @ 64-70F
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 5 @ 64F
Conditioning [Bottle] (# of Days & Temp): 21 @ 68F

Ingredients

70.0% Maris Otter (Muntons)
09.5% Crystal 110 (Muntons)

09.5% CaraAroma (Weyermann)

05.1% Flaked Barley (OiO)

03.8% Chocolate Malt (Muntons)

0.20% Roast Barley (Muntons)

27.3 IBU Galaxy @ 60min

Water (City tap water treated with Campden)

Chalk, Calcium Chloride and Epsom Salt added

Mash
Single infusion,  8hrs (156F to 138F)
Mash-out (170F) , double batch sparge, collected ~30L into the boil kettle

Favorites - "Janet's Brown"

American Brown Ale (10C)

Notes
Based on Mike McDole's world famous, award winning recipe.  Janet's Brown is a huge American Brown Ale clocking in at 7% ABV.  The brew uses a copious amount of Northern Brewer hops for balance, is very hop forward yet remains incredible balanced for a beer of this magnitude.  It's awesome!

For my interpretation, I supplemented a donated supply of Northern Brewer (Thanks Deric!) with Columbus.  I did so because McDole (aka Tasty) is on record stating Columbus as a suitable sub.  I didn't use the recommended Chico liquid yeast and instead opted for a cheaper US-05 alternative; again Tasty approved.  I experimented with dry-hopping in the primary post fermentation, I was unhappy with the result. When I brew this again I will dry-hop longer, perhaps 10-12 days and use a secondary.

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Fermentis Safale US-05
Yeast Starter: Nope
Additional Yeast : Nope
Batch Size (Post Boil): 26L
Original Gravity: 1.068
Final Gravity: 1.015
IBU: 60.8
Boiling Time (Minutes): 65
Colour (SRM): 16

Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 9 @ 64-70F
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 9 @ 64F
Conditioning [Bottle] (# of Days & Temp): 21 @ 68F

Ingredients

75.0% Canadian 2-Row (OiO)
07.8% Crystal 110 (Muntons)

07.8% CaraFoam (Weyermann)

06.3% Wheat Malt (OiO)

03.1% Chocolate Malt (Muntons)

1.0oz Northern Brewer (8.5% AA) @ Mash Hop

0.2oz Columbus  (13.9% AA) @ Mash Hop

1.5oz Northern Brewer (8.5% AA) @ 60min

0.2oz Columbus (13.9% AA) @ 60min

1.0oz Northern Brewer  (8.5% AA) @ 15min

0.2oz Columbus  (13.9% AA) @ 15min

1.5oz Cascade  (5.5% AA) @10min

2.0oz Cascade (5.5% AA) @ 0min

2.0oz Centennial (11.1% AA), Dry-hop, 5 days

Water (City tap water treated with Campden)

Gypsum, Calcium Chloride and Epsom Salt added
Ca-81/Mg-13/Na-18/Cl-91/S04-130
1 tsp extra of Gypsum added to the boil

Mash
Single infusion,  60 minutes (154F)
Mash-out (170F) , double batch sparge, collected ~30L into the boil kettle