American Brown Ale | Making Your Own Amber Malt

[@zacharybyrne1849]

I roasted my own chocolate rye malt a few months ago to make Black is Beautiful. Made the whole house smell like brownies, it was great

[@TheHomebrewChallenge]

🤩

[@ChuckUnderFire]

I gotta say my mind is a little blown at making my own Amber malts from my pales and 2-rows! Amazing! Cheers!

[@TheHomebrewChallenge]

😆

[@brewingindian1526]

I have always drawn inspiration from your simple yet elegant way of presenting. Love from India

[@TheHomebrewChallenge]

Thanks!

[@thecoastalelite2074]

Nicely done as always - I love the tutorials in every one of your videos. Now I gotta get cracking on some of my own!

[@TheHomebrewChallenge]

Go for it!

[@WhipsawWillys]

I've never broken a hydrometer, but made the switch to a refractometer anyway, so much less fuss, well worth a shot if you break anymore of those hydrometers

[@andrewhamblin9028]

So glad I found your channel! I've learned so much from your videos and you've given me lots of great brewing ideas. Your videos convinced me on the Clawhammer Brewing solution! Looking forward to watching the rest of the brews. Hope we may cross paths in our local Atlantic Brew Supply! Cheers!

[@TheHomebrewChallenge]

That’s great to hear. See you at ABS!

[@willgoldenbaum6642]

I haven't made an American brown in awhile...might have to add it to the rotation with the cooler weather coming!

[@TheBruSho]

Brown ale is so underrated! Now craving one..

[@AlwaysMakesAFive]

I roasted my own 2-row (Marris otter) for an English brown ale a few months ago. Came out great! Tasted a lot like newky.

[@TheHomebrewChallenge]

😋

[@brewraja9863]

Your ideas and new equipment and tricks are always nice. But still I suggest you to show what you are doing behind the curtain. How many days for fermentation, add of hops, malt exact hybrid measurement? This are unanswered questions.

[@pepperjenkins3047]

Brown ales are underrated. Itching to brew one now. Cheers!

[@HopsANDgnarly]

That’s the same hydrometer that I use! The flask is 👌🏼 Cheers!

[@ericpare2571]

Just by your reaction, I decided to make a batch before the brutal winter months in Montreal. Cheers!

[@TheHomebrewChallenge]

Excellent. Would imagine this one might improve with a little bit of conditioning.

[@danielrowe2174]

I just brewed a Brewer's best English brown ale with white labs 005 British ale yeast. Looking forward to how it turns out. A great British ale to try is ESB blue label. That is a great beer for the english style.

[@TheHomebrewChallenge]

I think I may have tried that Brewers Best kit too at some point. Good luck!

[@CM-ef8fu]

Nice style. Gonna try it!

[@richbradley2164]

One of my fave styles. Also I'm loving how you say the americanised version of 'process' and Lauren is aglecising 'glasses'

[@TheHomebrewChallenge]

We’re messed up 😂

[@JohnnyReverse]

I was just thinking about how sad I am going to be when this series is done...

[@DenkerNZ]

Can't beat a refractrometer for brewday convenience. Only use hydrometer for FG readings personally.

[@malagamafia7729]

Fantastic content as always and my personal favorite style to boot! If you have never tried an American brown, I highly recommend you try the Moose Drool from Big Sky Brewing Company if you can find it. Cheers!

[@TheHomebrewChallenge]

Thanks for the recommendation

[@bigjplay]

Another great video! Consistently informative and entertaining every week! So which English style is your favorite? Do you prefer the Northern or the Southern Brown ale?

[@TheHomebrewChallenge]

When it comes to brown ale, Northern gets my vote.

[@thebackyardbrewer5611]

Coopers make a plastic hydrometer, ive broken all my glass ones but my coopers keeps soldiering on, it may not be exactly 100% accurate but its the difference in measurements that matters the most and it doesnt shatter!

[@TheHomebrewChallenge]

I need this!

[@hugovandenberg313]

You can make your own crystal malt too. Soak the malt in water for 30 minutes. Drain the water and spread on an oven tray. Heat to 65C for 20-30 minutes. You're essentially mashing now. Then heat the oven to 120C (light crystal) to 180C (dark crystal) for 15-30 minutes. You need to take samples regularly and take it out of the oven just before you reach the desired result.

[@TheHomebrewChallenge]

Awesome! Will have to give this a try.

[@hugovandenberg313]

@@TheHomebrewChallenge Apparently there's a lot of ways to do this, with varying results. Soak longer, do the mashing phase at different temperatures and separate the drying and toasting phases (I did those in one run). You may want to read up on what other people do as well.

[@A2an]

Looked good... 👍

[@austin2842]

Looks like a nice drop. Do you know if the homemade amber malt affected your mash pH?

[@gregmorris2022]

Favorite quote from this episode: “Alright, so the brown ale is brown.” 👍🏽👍🏽

[@TheHomebrewChallenge]

Nothing gets by us...

[@Peter-Southern-Victoria-Aust]

roasting your own malt is a good idea if you run out, I'm on a farm in SE Australia all I want is someone to invent portable malting machine and malt toasting machine then I'll grown a couple of acres of my own barley and hops and become self sufficient in beer, wouldn't that be great

[@wildrangeringreen]

a concrete floor, swimming pool, and a drum roaster?

[@TheHomebrewChallenge]

Wow yes it would!

[@Vykk_Draygo]

They make plastic hydrometers. When mine eventually breaks, I'm thinking about switching. Do love the feel of glass though.

[@TheHomebrewChallenge]

Ooooh!

[@Tricky_Adventures]

After my first one broke I got a plastic one, find it works just as well and I don't worry about accidentally hitting it against the counter.

[@aaronwolfenbarger2122]

Did I miss it, or was a mash temp mentioned?

[@TheHomebrewChallenge]

152F

[@aaronwolfenbarger2122]

@@TheHomebrewChallenge thanks Martin, I figured it had to be somewhere around 150-154°F. Cheers!

[@ChuckUnderFire]

Did you actually make the starter in that jar or just decant it from a flask into it?

[@TheHomebrewChallenge]

That’s the decanted version. I also stole some of the starter for my frozen yeast bank.

[@luisrico8059]

Hi, What were your additions of salts in the mash?

[@TheHomebrewChallenge]

Epsom salt, gypsum, calcium chloride based on BeerSmith profile.

[@davidbeiler6364]

do you have a process for making your own recipes?

[@TheHomebrewChallenge]

Nothing clever. Some Googling to understand the style and typical ingredients, then tweaked to my own tastes.

[@dogsdinner99]

Thought you used the Tilt hydrometer or have you broken that a well 😄

[@TheHomebrewChallenge]

Yeah most brews I use it. But sometimes I have more beer fermenting that I have available Tilts.

[@davidbeiler6364]

@@TheHomebrewChallenge i wish i had that problem

[@AlwaysMakesAFive]

Hey Martin, do you ever fine?

[@TheHomebrewChallenge]

Typically not. I do have a bag of gelatin that I should make better use of.

[@crescenzo4760]

I made myself some light smoked malt in the bbq at 130C for 30 min. I recomand using 0,5% or 1% of the grist for this smoked malt to add an interesting touch. Cheers!

[@TheHomebrewChallenge]

Super idea!

[@filop2011]

Interesting "American twist"! I'm wondering what happens if you play with fermentation temperatures, any thoughts? Cheers!

[@Duci1989]

Watching you swinging that hydrometer around made me nervous as heck!

[@Mikkogram]

Are there any electronic devices for measuring SG? I also tend to break my hydrometers

[@carlosh8113]

Hanna digital 96811, but you still have to convert from brix. I wouldnt brew without it now.

[@NoIceDams]

Wouldn't you still need a hydrometer for FG. The hanna digital only works for SG.

[@carlosh8113]

@@NoIceDams Take the readings of the Og and FG and enter them in the online calculator that corrects it.

[@thebeardedvaper137]

Time for a refractometer good for everything till you add the yeast runs under 20 bucks on Amazon

[@TheHomebrewChallenge]

Yes it probably is time...

[@WhipsawWillys]

Does the yeast affect the accuracy?

[@thebeardedvaper137]

@@WhipsawWillys yes by the way they work of bouncing light through the wort off the lenses to see specific gravity or brix

[@aliampolizzi]

Why not use a refractometer?