Janet's Brown Ale

**kal** · Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 8:34 pm Post subject: Janet's Brown Ale

Photo (c) TheElectricBrewery.com

This is a recipe by well known home brewer Mike McDole (aka 'Tasty' on the forums he frequents).

It's a recipe that got some great publicity when it took gold at the 2004 National Homebrew Competition (NHC) - it was entered under category 23 Specialty Ale.

Some may want to call it an American Brown Ale but is a bit outside the numbers for that style because it has slightly too much hops and alcohol. You could call it an Imperial American Brown Ale I suppose (if that category existed). UPDATE: The new 2014 BJCP Guidelines include a category 21B called "Specialty IPA" which covers White, Black, Belgian and other varieties, as well as allowing, like all categories, strength variations (Session, double, Imperial, etc). According to both Gordon Strong (BJCP President) and Tasty, under the new Guidelines this beer would be "Category 21B - Specialty IPA - American Brown Session IPA".

It's a beer that I had heard about for years but never got around to making... I finally brewed it last weekend (Oct 2011). I couldn't resist and sampled a bit yesterday and it's coming along wonderfully!

If you like hoppy American style ales, this is one you definitely have to try. A nice fall beer.

JANUARY 2013 UPDATE: I've brewed this beer numerous times now and it's one of my favourites to keep on tap. The malt and hop flavours work perfectly together.

FEBRUARY 2014 UPDATE: I brewed this beer again in the fall of 2013 but but this time I'm serving it using a beer gas blend (70% nitro / 30% CO2) instead of straight CO2, pushed through one of my stout faucets to get a nice creamy head and close to flat beer. Absolutely wonderful. I enjoy it a lot more than on regular CO2 so this one's always going to be served this way from now on.

It's also available in extract and all-grain kit form with everything you need from More Beer:

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Janet's Brown Ale (134)

Size: 12.0 US gal (post-boil)
Mash Efficiency: 95%
Attenuation: 76.8%
Calories: 225 kcal per 12.0 fl oz
Original Gravity: 1.068 (style range: 1.045 - 1.060)
Terminal Gravity: 1.016 (style range: 1.010 - 1.016)
Color: 18.3 (style range: 18.0 - 35.0)
Alcohol: 6.8% (style range: 4.3% - 6.2%)
Bitterness: 64 (style range: 20.0 - 40.0)

Ingredients:
19.15 lb Domestic 2-Row Malt (75%)
1.6 lb Pale (or White) Wheat Malt (6.3%)
2.0 lb Carapils®/Carafoam® (7.8%)
2.0 lb Crystal Malt 40L (7.8%)
0.8 lb Chocolate Malt (3.1%)
2 oz US Northern Brewer Hops (8.5%) - added during mash*
3 oz US Northern Brewer Hops (8.5%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
2 oz US Northern Brewer Hops (8.5%) - added during boil, boiled 15 min
1 Whirlfloc Tablet (Irish moss) - added during boil, boiled 15 min
3.0 oz Cascade Hops (6.0%) - added during boil, boiled 10 min
4.0 oz Cascade Hops (6.0%) - added during boil, boiled 0 min
36 g Fermentis Safale US-05 dry yeast
4 oz Centennial Hops (9.2%) - added dry to secondary fermenter

*If using pellet hops break them up before adding them to the mash, otherwise they will clump up and you won't get much out of them. I find the easiest way to do this is to add the hops to 2-3 cups of hot strike water in a bowl and let them soak for a few minutes to allow them to break up. Then stir until it's an even soup (no clumps) and dump and mix well into the mash. You may find that your mash will foam up a bit more than usual with hops in there. This is normal.

Notes:
Add 500mg potassium metabisulphite to 20 gallons water to remove chlorine/chloramine (as required).
Water treated with brewing salts to: Ca=110, Mg=18, Na=16, Cl=50, S04=279
(Basically Randy Mosher's ideal Pale Ale numbers with slightly less Sulphate).
For complete details on how to adjust your water, refer to our step by step Water Adjustments guide.
1.25 qt/lb mash thickness. Single infusion mash at 152F for 90 mins. Mashout to 168F.
60-90 min fly sparge with ~5.6-5.8 pH water (measured at mash temperature). Collect 14.9 gallons in the boil kettle.
Boil for 90 minutes. Lid on at flameout with 0 minute hops, start chilling immediately.
Cool wort to 66F and aerate well. Ferment at 66-68F until complete. Dry hop for 5-7 days.
Rack to CO2 purged brite tank (secondary), crash chill to near freezing (if possible), add 1 tsp of unflavoured gelatin dissolved in a cup of hot distilled water per 5 gallons of beer, and let clear for 2-3 days.
Package as you would normally. I keg and carbonate on the low side (around 2 to 2.2 volumes of C02) to minimize carbonic bite and let the hop/malt flavour come through.

If you prefer to use liquid yeast, either of these is an excellent choice as they are the same clean fermenting Chico strain as US-05:

Wyeast 1056 American Ale
White Labs WLP-001 California Ale

You'll need to use 5 packs/vials or make an appropriate starter. For more information see Chapter 6 of How to Brew and Appendix A of Brewing Classic Styles. Also see the stirplate/starter equipment I use.

For complete brewing instructions, see our Brew Day: Step by Step guide.

Purchasing through our affiliate links helps support our site at no extra cost to you. We thank you!

SEE OUR OTHER RECIPES »

Kal

RussH · Joined: 28 Feb 2011 Posts: 83

Kal, You've read my mind. One of the local Micro's (the one who gave me the wedge wire) makes a Cascadian Brown Ale, a very hoppy brown, and it's delicious. I decided I wanted something like it for a fall/winter beer, so that was my plan for my next beer. This is one of the recipes I was eying up. I think you've made up my mind for me.

rmessick · Joined: 20 Feb 2011 Posts: 123 Location: Millers Falls, MA

Janet's Brown is a great recipe, if you like hoppy beers! Everyone I know who has brewed it has received rave reviews.

-Dick

**kal** · Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 4:11 pm Post subject:

I just added the dry hops and tasted a sample beforehand... I can see why everyone likes this one!

Kal

RussH · Joined: 28 Feb 2011 Posts: 83

How is it Kal? I'll be dry hopping mine on tuesday. Really excited.

**kal** · Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2011 1:37 am Post subject:

I just put a keg of it in the chest freezer 2 days ago (had to wait for a spot to clear up). I'd say this one's a definite must brew again in my books if you like american style hoppy beers.

Kal

RussH · Joined: 28 Feb 2011 Posts: 83

Had the first bottle of this last night. Then the second, then the third.... This is some seriously good stuff. I want to brew it again right away, just so there's no down time between batches.

**kal** · Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 1:09 am Post subject:

Fast forward a few months.... the first keg is done and the second was placed in the serving freezer about 2-3 weeks ago.
This is a really nice beer that I plan on keeping in circulation. It almost has a slightly 'Porter' taste to it but with an American slant.

it's citrusy/fruity hops paired with a rich malt background of chocolate, roast, and caramel flavours and aromas.

While it's hopped as high as many America IPAs it doesn't taste it because of all the malt backbone.

The roast is very subtle. Everything you read says don't combine roasty with hoppy but for whatever reason the levels here are subdued enough that it just works. I can see why this beer has won many awards.

Kal

Sparky · Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 3:26 am Post subject:

Kal,
What efficiency level is the recipe listed?
(ie - most recipes are 70-75% efficiency)
Thanks,
Sparky

**kal** · Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 1:58 pm Post subject:

**kal** · Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 9:26 pm Post subject:

I made this beer again ~2 weeks ago and last night I racked out of the primary after dry hopping (1 week ferment, add dry hops to primary, leave 1 week).

The beer's now in a couple of 5 gallon glass carboys with gelatine. (My 'brite' tanks). They'll stay there for ~2 days and then kegged.

This beer is fantastic as usual. Anyone else making it recently?

Kal

Kevin59 · Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 6:20 am Post subject:

Kal - Just read the recipe for the first time and I think this will be one of the first few batches to brew on my new setup! Here's hoping mine comes out!

**kal** · Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 1:52 pm Post subject:

Like most American Ales it's an easy beer to make. Just make sure to let it ferment out properly. I usually leave it for a good 7-10 days at around 66F ambient and then add the dry hops directly to the primary and leave another 7-10 days, then rack to a secondary to clear. Leaving the beer on the primary yeast this long always helps clean things up and attenuates the beer properly.

The biggest mistakes new brewers make is trying to do things too soon (like racking) thinking that they need to take some action. 99% of the time if you think there's some issue during fermentation, the best thing to do is simply wait. A secondary fermentation is not required and will do more harm than good. Don't rush it.

Kal

Kevin59 · Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 3:42 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the tips Kal - much appreciated. I'll likely brew this batch as the first one to go into my 15 gallon plastic conical after I get it setup, and then I'll be sure to be patient! Smile

Castermmt · Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2012 5:52 pm Post subject:

I'm brewing this today for the second time using Wyeast 1056. It's a perfect blend of malts and hops and for a pretty big beer it's very enjoyable as well. I sat on this beer all summer and when I got back from my assignment(Pittsburgh, PA) I was able to enjoy this as one of my favorites and will always be in my cooler. If you haven't tried this beer your missing something pretty darn special. Mug

Be safe and have a Happy New year, Castermmt Mug

225 · Joined: 07 Jan 2013 Posts: 27 Location: New Orleans

What would be a good replacement for hops, if I didn't want it to be a real hoppy beer?

**kal** · Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 1:15 am Post subject:

It's not the hop choices that make it hoppy, it's the amounts. The types of hops make it decidedly american (as do the choices of grain and yeast).

You could cut the hops in half or so.

Depends whether you mean hop flavour, aroma, or bitterness too when you say "hoppy".

If you don't like hoppy beers, I would probably make something else. Start a new thread about what types of beers you like and maybe someone can offer recipe suggestions.

Kal

Kevin59 · Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 11:05 pm Post subject:

**kal** · Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2013 12:31 am Post subject:

Errr, wait a second. It's supposed to be a 90 minute boil, not 60. I fixed the recipe in the original post to call for 90 minute boil. The grain amounts were right. You'll need to start off with more pre-boil. 14.9 gallons in my case but boil off rates are different for each system. Sorry about that. The grain percentages and the OG were right however. That's all that matters. With any recipe you play with the grain amounts until you get the target OG you want for you system's efficiency for the given boil duration.

The second time I made it I reduced the grain amounts slightly to account for a 60 minute boil (I didn't see the point of 90 as per the original recipe, but I wanted to stay true the first time I made it). The result seemed identical to me from what I remembered from brewing it the first time.

Looking around the interwebs, for this popular recipe some call for 60 mins boil, some for 90 min. I'm sure either will give great results. (Both have for me).

Kal

Kevin59 · Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2013 1:01 am Post subject:

No worries! I just wanted to make sure I can still do math! Cool

My first batch on my new system was this recipe, and in spite of several miscues by me that first time it still came out great. I'm having a pint now in fact.

Thanks Kal!