something like sam smith's nut brown ale

cheech226

cheech226

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i'm very new at the craft. my first brew is in my lbk from mr. beer right now. my goal is to make something close to my favorite brew, the nut brown ale. i want to begin gathering supplies for the next batch. i'd rather not use a hme. i'm pretty sure i could handle a malt extract and hop it myself. what i look for right now is advice on yeast. i've read good things about us-05, but i have little practical knowledge. please make some recommendations for me, not just for yeast.
 
wow! i see i'm getting a little ahead of myself here. thanks for the link. that's what i want to make, but for the next couple batches i'm gonna keep it simple and acquire the gear i need for future brews. all i have now is the mr. beer nut brown ale kit.
 
You’ll have to have boil capability if you’re buying extract that isn’t hopped. You can do a partial boil. Brewers Best also sells some hardware kits that are an excellent starting point for extract brewing.
 
I've brewed for the Mr. Beer LBK size batch and I think I have some recipes that would suit. I'll dig around and see what I've got.
 
Better, yet...this is exactly what you need:
http://www.britishbrewer.com/2010/04/recipe-samuel-smiths-nut-brown-ale/
Proper sized batch for you, procedure explained, lots of information that you can use. You need to ease up the learning curve a little further, but you could make this beer. The only thing I would change is the yeast. Get a packet of S-04 and ferment at 65 degrees air temp. And try not to get ahead of yourself. You'll make a few batches of beer that are okay at best, but if you're careful about things, you'll be making some very good beer before you know it.
Good Luck! :)
 
J A said:
Better, yet...this is exactly what you need:
http://www.britishbrewer.com/2010/04/recipe-samuel-smiths-nut-brown-ale/
Proper sized batch for you, procedure explained, lots of information that you can use. You need to ease up the learning curve a little further, but you could make this beer. The only thing I would change is the yeast. Get a packet of S-04 and ferment at 65 degrees air temp. And try not to get ahead of yourself. You'll make a few batches of beer that are okay at best, but if you're careful about things, you'll be making some very good beer before you know it.
Good Luck! :)
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J A, that's what i was looking for! i wish i had about 6 of me so i could search and process info at a faster rate ;-) i have to check myself once in a while to remind me to kiss. due to my gear limits i have plenty of time to read, read, read. i'm on a pretty strict budget but i will buy 12 more bottles and a hydrometer so i can begin brewing soon after i bottle my first batch. thanks!
 
well.....i don't like 12 oz bottles - yet anyway. i drink 16 oz cans at the moment. i'm still refining and re-refining my to do list. at this point i'm thinking of 12 more 750 ml pet bottles. i know i'll outgrow them in time. i must buy a little fridge and thermostat soon. i'm lucky the temps here have been cold. it won't be long and it'll be 90 outside and i'll be needing a nice temp controlled environment.
 
Fair enough. I always ask friends to save them too, and to give them a quick rinse after they're done
 
Don't be above dumpster diving! :D
If you can find a coffee shop that also sells beer, the trash is less disgusting. At one point I had 10 cases stacked up full of beer made with Mr. Beer equipment. But I took advantage of clearance sales and bought several kits for a little over $10 each. I could keep a rotation and bottle beers almost weekly if needed. Almost all those bottles came from scrounging and friends saving up bottles from parties, etc. Don't bother keeping screw-tops. PS...you'll need a bottle capper. they're not particularly expensive. You can often find "step-up" equipment for very inexpensive prices on Craigslist.
 
my first brew is doing well in the lbk. so far it's been easy to control temp.
i was able to save all the ingredients for the sam smith nba to a wish list on a vendor site. thanks for the link J A! i've read and re-read the procedure to brew it and i am confident it can be done by me. the best part is the cost is less than a refill of the ale i'm brewing now and i'll have stuff leftover for next time. it's going to be my next brew. i'm excited. i'm looking for bottles wherever and i'm sad (now) they ever went to screw tops. more than likely i'll use pet bottles for my next batch. i'll do better in a while.
i'm not sure how y'all feel about mentioning vendor names. i used some folks that remove labels from bottles. i'm hoping they are worthy, prices looked ok. much more to come!
 
cheech226 said:
well.....i don't like 12 oz bottles - yet anyway. i drink 16 oz cans at the moment. i'm still refining and re-refining my to do list. at this point i'm thinking of 12 more 750 ml pet bottles. i know i'll outgrow them in time. i must buy a little fridge and thermostat soon. i'm lucky the temps here have been cold. it won't be long and it'll be 90 outside and i'll be needing a nice temp controlled environment.
Click to expand...
can you find Grolch style swing caps in stores? you can buy them on amazon just get brown or green. only buy the highly rated ones
 
J A said:
Don't be above dumpster diving! :D
If you can find a coffee shop that also sells beer, the trash is less disgusting. At one point I had 10 cases stacked up full of beer made with Mr. Beer equipment. But I took advantage of clearance sales and bought several kits for a little over $10 each. I could keep a rotation and bottle beers almost weekly if needed. Almost all those bottles came from scrounging and friends saving up bottles from parties, etc. Don't bother keeping screw-tops. PS...you'll need a bottle capper. they're not particularly expensive. You can often find "step-up" equipment for very inexpensive prices on Craigslist.
Click to expand...
Hahaha! I've done it when I bottled. I'd go downtown early Sunday mornings and hit the glass recycling bins at the local watering holes. I guess there are benefits to recycling AND smoke free...go figure!
 
it helps to have a bunch of good breweries near by meaning all the stores sell their beer, the key is to drink the pop off bottle only with a good sturdy case holding them and I have narrowed it down to the shorties and I have at least 500 12 oz shorty bottles now and I'm done saving bottles, "drank them all" :rolleyes:
 
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I'm just starting to brew for competitions so now suddenly I'm needing bottles again. I'm going to have to start hunting.
 
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Hawkbox said:
I'm just starting to brew for competitions so now suddenly I'm needing bottles again. I'm going to have to start hunting.
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same, although I'm doing it because I'm on a small / test batch kick, not for competitions. Wish I didn't turn away so many bottles over the summer...
 
You can scavenge if you're patient enough to peel labels. I buy them at the LhBS, clean, for about 50 cents per bottle.
 
i have all the ingredients for the nut brown ale on the way and i'll probably brew it on saturday feb 3 if the brew i have now in my lbk is ready to bottle.. i have the procedure down pat but have one question. the recipe calls for 2.5 lb dried malt extract. i want to use 1.25 - 1.5 gal of water (including the steeped grain wort) to dissolve it and boil. is this enough to dissolve the dme and boil proper? i plan to use ice cold water and/or room temp water to get up to volume of 2.5 gal. and cool my wort to proper temp prior to pitching the yeast. so the question really is - what is the minimum volume of water that can be used to dissolve/boil 2.5 lb of dme?
the dme is muntons light dried malt extract
 
cheech226 said:
i have the procedure down pat but have one question. the recipe calls for 2.5 lb dried malt extract. i want to use 1.25 - 1.5 gal of water (including the steeped grain wort) to dissolve it and boil. is this enough to dissolve the dme and boil proper?
Click to expand...
You can do this but you have to work it out in the recipe calculator so that your hop additions are right. Either you do a partial volume boil with all the DME in it or you do a partial boil with some of the DME in it and the rest added 10 minutes before flame out and compensate by using 2 separate ingredient listings for the split quantity and check the "late addition" box on the portion you're adding late. Either way you'll adjust hop amounts to be sure you're getting the proper IBUs.
 
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