Dragon Spit Brown Ale
I decided to brew another beer in
Tuke on Easter Sunday. The only
extracts I had left from Mr. Beer were a can of Englishman's Nut-Brown
HME and 1 Can Mellow Amber UME. If you have been paying attention,
you know that is what is in Northern Amber Ale,
and that is what
had been fermenting in Rutt for a week.
As I did not need two of the same beer (plus the fact that I did not have any extra hops to add, I decided to change up the recipe a bit to make it a bit darker with more alcohol and a slightly more complex malty flavor. I have never tried brown sugar in a brew or any spices and for this beer I added both along with some dark DME that I had gotten from my local home brew shop awhile ago.
The result was a couple shades darker with less hops and more malts. The alcohol by volume is 6% rather than the 5 in Northern Amber. Not sure I totally detected what the cinnamon did to the flavor.
The name "Dragon Spit" is sort of in honor of the great beer "Moose Drool" and the several dragons Tyler has drawn or colored for me in the past. I incorporated one of Tyler's pictures on the label of this beer.
After tasting both Dragon Spit and Northern Amber Ale, I decided to combine the recipes a bit to make a go-to beer for my lineup. Dragon Spit was great, but needed more hops, so I added on the same U.S. Goldings that were in Northern Amber Ale. After getting some Columbus hops for Fools Gold ale, I also decided to add some to this brew as well to push up the bitterness a bit and I think make a pretty balanced beer.
Batch 3 is being brewed at the same time as Dragon Spit II, which is also a brown ale with a similar hop profile, but with all non-Mr. Beer ingredients. We'll see which I like better.
| Dragon Spit Brown Ale - Batch 3 --- cost $25.47 |
| Style | American Brown Ale | Batch Size | 2.40 gal | |||
| Type | Extract | Boil Size | 1.92 gal |
Recipe Characteristics
| Recipe Gravity | 1.058 SG | Estimated FG | 1.015 SG | ||||
| Recipe Bitterness | 42.4 IBU (Rager) | Alcohol by Volume | 5.56 % | ||||
| BU : GU | 0.736 | ||||||
| Recipe Color | 16.9 SRM |
|
|||||
| Measured OG: | 1.066 | Measured FG: | 1.016 | ||||
| ADF: | 76% | Measured ABV: | 6.5% |
Ingredients
| Amount | Item | Type | % or IBU |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 lbs 3.4 oz | Mr. Beer Englishman's Nut Brown HME (17.0 SRM) | Extract | 29.02 % |
| 1 lbs 3.4 oz | Mr. Beer Mellow Amber UME (17.0 SRM) | Extract | 29.02 % |
| 1 lbs | Briess Pilsen Light LME (2.0 SRM) | Extract | 23.98 % |
| 8.0 oz | Caramel/Crystal Malt - 75L (75.0 SRM) | Grain | 11.99 % |
| 0.25 oz | Columbus [14.20 %] (30 min) | Hops | 16.9 IBU |
| 0.50 oz | Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (15 min) | Hops | 6.2 IBU |
| 0.05 oz | Cinnamon Stick (Boil 5.0 min) | Misc | |
| 0.25 tsp | Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 min) | Misc | |
| 0.25 tsp | Yeast Nutrient (Boil 10.0 min) | Misc | |
| 4.0 oz | Brown Sugar, Light (8.0 SRM) | Sugar | 6.00 % |
| 1 Pkgs | SafeAle American Ale (Fermentis #US-05) | Yeast-Ale |
Mash Profile
Steep grains as desired (30-60 minutes)
Remove
grains, and prepare to boil wort
Bring 1 gallon water to 155F - 168F. Add specialty grain in muslim sack to water and steep for 30 minutes. Remove grain sack and let drain into wort. Add and boil DME, UME. Add hops and Irish moss at appropriate times. Add cinnamon and brown sugar last 5 minutes of boil.
Remove from heat and add HME. Add to fermentor and pitch yeast as usual.
http://www.fermentis.com/FO/pdf/HB/EN/Safale_US-05_HB.pdf
Ferment 2 weeks. First 3 days around 65. After that, let get as hot as it wants.
Batch prime with 2.25 oz sugar. Condition for 2 - 4 weeks.
| Dragon Spit Batch #2 |
| Recipe | Dragon Spit | Style | American Amber Ale | |||
| Brewer | Sheppy Brew | Batch | 2.13 gal | |||
| Extract |
Recipe Characteristics
| Recipe Gravity | 1.061 OG | Estimated FG | 1.016 FG | |||
| Recipe Bitterness | 43 IBU | Alcohol by Volume | 5.9% | |||
| Recipe Color | 16° SRM | Alcohol by Weight | 4.6% |
Ingredients
| Quantity | Grain | Type | Use | |||||
| 0.25 lb | Brown Sugar, Light | Sugar | Other | |||||
| 0.50 lb | Crystal 75L | Grain | Steeped | |||||
| 0.484 lb | Briess Pilsen Light LME | Extract | Extract | |||||
| 1.21 lb | MrB. Englishman's Nut-Brown Ale | Extract | Extract | |||||
| 1.21 lb | MrB. Mellow Amber UME | Extract | Extract | |||||
| Quantity | Hop | Type | Time | |||||
| 0.125 oz | Columbus | Pellet | 40 minutes | |||||
| 1.00 oz | MrB. Englishman's Nut-Brown Ale | Pellet | 5 minutes | |||||
| 0.50 oz | U.S. Goldings | Pellet | 15 minutes | |||||
| Quantity | Misc | Notes | ||||||
| 1.00 unit | Ale yeast | Yeast | Fermentis SAFEALE US-05 | |||||
| 0.50 unit | Cinnamon | Spice | 1/2 tsp. | |||||
| 0.50 unit | Irish Moss | Fining | 1/2 tsp added 15 left in boil | |||||
Recipe Notes
Bring 1 gallon water to 155F - 168F. Add specialty grain in
muslim sack to water and steep for 30 minutes. Remove grain sack and
let drain into wort. Add and boil DME, UME. Add hops and Irish moss at
appropriate times. Add cinnamon and brown sugar last 5 minutes of boil.
Remove from heat and add HME. Add to fermentor and pitch yeast as
usual.
http://www.fermentis.com/FO/pdf/HB/EN/Safale_US-05_HB.pdf
Ferment 3 weeks.
Batch prime with 2.25 oz sugar. Condition for 2 - 4 weeks.
Batch Notes
Substituted Briess Pilsen Light LME for Light DME because I had a bunch that needed to be used up.
6/24/2010 Brewed this up. Used 2 Mr. Beer packets instead of yeast nutrients. Pitched at about 60. OG was pretty high, but I am ok with that.
6/27/2010 Temps pretty well controlled until this morning after DSII was in with this. Got up to 72, but I think most of the heavy fermentation is done. Removed from the cooler for the remainder.
7/8/2010 Bottled up with 1.5 cup water and 2.25oz table sugar. Used my growler, 2 liter bottles, and the balance in 12 oz bottles. Almost a whole percent higher in alcohol than the estimated due to the high OG. Could really taste the cinnamon and I think the brown sugar came through as well. This is extremely tasty right now.
7/8/2010 14 12oz bottles. 2 liter bottles. 1 half gallon growler.
7/23/2010 Had the LB last night and another sample today. The cinnamon is prominent, but I like it. Might want to try to save some of this for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
9/8/2010 Still like DSII better, but this is very good too.
10/7/2010 Connor brought me one to drink with dinner. It is interesting how as the cinnamon fades it starts to take on sort of a hop bitterness character. This beer tastes really good right now.
10/20/2010 The cinnamon blends so nicely into the malt and hop taste and aroma. I wonder how many people would taste this beer and realize it has cinnamon. There are only 6 left. Don't think I'm going to be able to hold onto these much longer.