Nut Brown Ale

It's time for our monthly beer club meeting, and we are talking about a megabrew. That's what we call it when we make a brewery-sized batch of wort and parcel it out in 5 gallon carboys for fermentation into beer at home. This time we are talking Nut Brown Ale. That's Samuel Smith brewery in the picture.

Now the first thing to consider is that in England where this style originates, nut brown refers to color. The beer is not originally supposed to have nuts in it. In brewpub parlance, however, Katy bar the door! Hopefully, the club will leave the addition of flavor extracts to individual brewer taste---and the secondary fermentation at home.

From the BJCP Guide:

10B. Northern English Brown Ale

Aroma:

Restrained fruitiness; little to no hop aroma. May have a caramel aspect to the malt character.

Appearance:

Dark golden to light brown color.

Flavor:

Gentle to moderate sweetness, with a nutty character. Balance is nearly even, with hop flavor low to none. Some fruity esters should be present; low diacetyl is acceptable.

Mouthfeel:

medium-light to medium body, with a dry finish.

Overall Impression:

Drier and more hop-oriented that southern English brown ale, with a nutty character rather than caramel.

History/Comments:

English brown ales are generally split into sub-styles along geographic lines.

Ingredients:

English mild ale or pale ale malt base with caramel malts. May also have scant amounts darker malts. English hop varieties are most authentic. Moderate carbonate water.

Vital Statistics:

OG: 1.040-1.050

IBUs: 15-30 FG: 1.010-1.013

SRM: 12-30 ABV: 4-5.0%

Commercial Examples:

Newcastle Brown Ale, Samuel Smith Nut Brown Ale, Adnams' Nut Brown Ale.

Newcastle Brown Ale uses maize to lighten the taste, which will be pretty typical of UK beers in general---sugar or corn. It will be difficult to get the same gravity and light taste with an all-malt beer. So, just lower the gravity to 1032-6 and call it a nut-brown mild.

A Sam Smith page.

If you want to make a big all malt nut brown, here's one, or replace a pound or two of the malt with maize.

Here's one for extracts with an awesome name.

See ya at the meeting (I hope).