Since I love Browns so much, I decided that I’d like to have one or two "signature" beers that I brew often - tweaking the recipes until I’ve got them just right. Old Brown Shoe, therefore, has been deemed one of those beers.
This time I changed the Crystal Malt to British Dark Crystal 120L (sounds like a movie title) and increased the amount to 2 pounds. Also, since the last incarnation was a ligher brown than I wanted, I added in 4 oz. of black patent. The hops I kept relatively the same but went with, out of necessity since the brewstore was out of Crystal, Mt. Hood for the finish hops. To impart some extra sweetness I added some brown sugar to the boil.
Unfortunately, I missed the boat with brewing a brown this time around. Actually, upon looking at the ingredient list, calculating the bitterness, and figuring out the alcohol content, this beer actually turned out to be more of a robust porter. Therefore, I’m reclassifiying it. Nonetheless, the beer is very good. It’s going to take me a few tries to get a brown where I want it, but as porters go, this one is pretty damn tasty. No wonder the brew store employee asked me if I was brewing a porter...friggin’ A.
Next time, to brew a true Northern English Brown, I’ll ease up on the bittering hops, reducing them down to 1 ounce or so. The other hop additions should also be cut down, probably in half. Additionally, I think I’ll omit the black patent and roasted barley, change up the crystal from 120 to 40 or 60, and reduce the chocolate malt in half. I may consider adding some biscuit malt to round out the flavor. Harumph!