My good friend, a.k.a. The Capmaster, is back in town. We're brewing.

We're going to do a single boil for an American brown ale and American pale ale. We'll mash maris otter, light crystal malts and possibly some additional base malt for a target gravity of 1.058 (it's a strong pale ale.) Then we'll do separate steep grains with darker crystal and chocolate malt to make a 3/4 gallon addition to go with 4.25 gallons of the 9.5 gallons of wort we should end up with. That will give us 5 gallons of pale ale wort at 1.058 and 50 IBU and brown ale at 1.049 and 42 IBU. This is clearly an American brown ale, as it is way to bitter to be a British brown. Indeed, it will be on the verge of a porter, but that's what American brown is anyway.

Here's a more detailed version of the recipe:

Mash
18 lbs. Maris Otter Malt
1 lb. 10-20L Paul's crystal malt
.75 lb. 40L American Crystal malt
@ 152 degrees for 50 minutes with 7.5 gallons of water.

Sparge to yield 11 gallons.

Boil wort for 75 minutes with 1 oz. Target and 1 oz. Simcoe hops. Add 1 oz. each yakima goldings amarillo hops with 2 minutes remaining in the boil.

Steeped Grains (prepared during the boil)
Steep one half pound each british chocolate malt and 120L crystal in 3/4 gallon of tap water for 30 min at 155 degrees in a grain bag. Add the extract to a sanitized carboy.

Drain 5 gallons of the chilled wort into one sanitized carboy and 4.25 gallons into the carboy with the steeped grain extract. Ferment with Safale American Ale Yeast.


Expected results:
American Brown Ale A well-bittered American brown with ample caramel/honey flavors of crystal malt to balance the roast character of chocolate malt. Pleasant aroma of hops dominates the nose, but the malt characters come through in the taste, providing a dynamic drinking experience.

Capmaster's Back Pale Ale Caramel, honey and malt combine with potent bitterness do deliver a drinkable yet malt-driven beer. The strong aroma of hops gives an impression of hopiness on the palate, making this beer very much a pale ale without overwhelming the malts.