Al's Northern English Brown

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Permalink Reply by MrC on April 8, 2009 at 8:59pm

Well I decided to start the case swap with a tasting of Al's Northern English Brown.

Pours mid/dark brown with small off white head.
Smell of chocolate & caramel with light bananas. Not noticing any hop aroma.
Carbonation low creating a nice smooth mouthfeel.
Bitter/sweet balance is exactly as I like it (something I been working on in my own beers). As it warms up it’s tasting slightly more toasty/roasty.
Smooth bitterness lingers in the aftertaste along with chocolate and a caramel sweetness.

Very easy drinking for a beer with a lot of flavour. Very nice.

Good job Al. I’ve just added amber malt to my list of things to try next.

Cheers.

Permalink Reply by studio1 on April 9, 2009 at 8:14pm

All I can say is I really like this and I am going to brew a brown ale soon. Anyone tried that dry Nottingham Ale yeast before?

Permalink Reply by studio1 on April 13, 2009 at 9:29am

So this only clocked it a 3.6%?!
So much flavour for such a small beer.

Permalink Reply by Alasdair on April 13, 2009 at 2:57pm

Yeah, it came in smaller than I was intending, but I typically brew session beers anyway - it's rare that I brew anything above 5%.

I can't comment on the Nottingham yeast, but the aussiehomebrewer forum should have some useful info on it.

Glad you enjoyed it.

Cheers

Permalink Reply by studio1 on April 17, 2009 at 12:13pm

About to have a crack at this myself - although using Willamette at 5min as I don't have enough Fuggles. And 1469 yeast. What sort of IBUs did you hit? I have 20 loaded for a 25L batch

Permalink Reply by Alasdair on April 17, 2009 at 2:21pm

I'll check my notes when I'm home tonight. From memory the gravity/bitterness ratio was around .55 or .6

Permalink Reply by Alasdair on April 17, 2009 at 8:39pm

27 IBUs using the rager formula (a 21 litre batch).

Permalink Reply by studio1 on April 18, 2009 at 7:51am

Thanks mate - I had to no-chill this in the kettle - so the IBUs will probably be similiar. I'll be sure to send you a bottle if you like?

Permalink Reply by Alasdair on April 18, 2009 at 8:30am

Sounds great. It'll be interesting to see what character the 1469 gives it

Permalink Reply by denimglen on April 16, 2009 at 8:34pm

Strong chocolate, mild caramel and light fruity notes, a touch earthy too.

Dark brown in colour, a little hazy, light brown head, good retention.

Chocolatey in flavour, some toasty, nutty notes too. Nicely balanced towards sweet, starts a little sweet then rolls into a light bitterness.

Tasty beer bro, is disappearing from my glass quickly. I could slam a lot of this.

Permalink Reply by Ally Mcg on April 17, 2009 at 7:50pm

Halfway thru this but so far my hastily scribbled notes say

Decanted into a 1 litre jug, then pint glass. Pours dark brown with tan head. Holding up to the light, more dark brown. Lovely
Aroma fills the immediate air around the glass. Creamy melted chocolate with a smidge of toast on the nose. Carbonation velvety smooth. Smooth, smooth smooth. Tastes of choc, dark fruit, winegums (??) and toastiness.
Finished light, with a gentle bitterness inviting another sip.
Nice beer, and lots of appeal = slainte!

Permalink Reply by Reviled on April 20, 2009 at 8:08am

Pours a dark brown with a nice red hue and a creamy tan head. Aroma of choc and coffee with a hint of licorice, slightly earthy also. Flavour is of roasted malts, chocolate, toast with a nice creamy mouthfeel. Dissolves on the palate into a coffee like bitterness which lingers..

Nice and quaffable, reminded me of a light Porter in a way, nice and roasty. Yum! Cheers :o)

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