Rob Bonici is a passionate homebrewer and a member of the Yarra Valley Brewers. He had some great success in September 2024, with two of his recipes taking third place at Vicbrew.
Here he shares his American Brown Ale recipe, which was adapted from a recipe in Brewing Classic Styles by Jamil Zainasheff and John Palmer.
“I took the grain bill from the book but mixed up the hop varieties and additions to create a punchier hop profile,” Bonici tells Beer & Brewer.
“I always increase the hopping rates when brewing American styles from this book because I think we’ve come to expect a lot more hop flavour and aroma from them since the book was published 18 years ago. There has also been a lot of exciting new hop varieties released in that time, so I don’t like to limit myself to what the book suggests.
“I think American Brown Ale is a great style because it demonstrates the interesting flavours that both hops and malt can bring at the same time. This beer has a nice caramel and toasty grain flavour contributed by the malt, with citrus and grapefruit notes courtesy of the hops.”
Recipe: American Brown Ale
OG: 1.050
FG: 1.009
ABV: 5.4%
IBU: 32
Volume: 21L
Fermentables:
4.5KG Pale Malt (86.9%)
225g Chocolate Malt (4.3%)
225g Light Crystal (4.3%)
115g Medium Crystal (2.2%)
115g Biscuit Malt (2.2%)
Hops:
15g Cascade for 60 mins
10g Citra for 60 mins
10g Cascade for 15 mins
10g Citra for 15 mins
25g Cascade 0 mins (whirlpool)
25g Citra 0 mins (whirlpool)
55g Citra dry hop
50g Cascade dry hop
Yeast: 1 pack US-05
Method:
- Mash at 66 degrees for 1 hour.
- Remove grain bag (I use BIAB) and bring to boil.
- Add hops at times indicated. After boiling for 60 mins turn off heat and start chilling wort. Add whirlpool hops once the wort temperature drops to 80 degrees.
- Continue chilling until wort is around 20 degrees.
- Transfer to fermenter, pitch yeast and ferment at 19 degrees for 2 weeks. Add dry hop charge after about 1 week or when fermentation activity appears to be slowing.
- Bottle or keg, then enjoy!
For all the other recipes in our continuing series, head here. If you have a recipe you’d like to share with us, email Deb on djackson@intermedia.com.au.