Enjoy the taste of a classic “nut brown ale recipe all grain!”
You can easily make this beer home with the right ingredients and equipment.
Take your brewing to the next level and impress your friends with a delicious nut brown ale.
This recipe is perfect for those exploring the world of all-grain brewing.
With a few simple steps, you’ll be on your way to a tasty nut-brown ale.
Northern Brown Ale (Nut Brown Ale) 101
Do you love nutty flavors?
Then you’ll love Northern English brown ale!
This malt-focused beer has hints of nuttiness, biscuit, and caramel. It’s reddish-brown with a moderate, off-white to light tan head.
The malt sweetness and hop bitterness are balanced, with biscuity and nutty flavors and aromas.
Hops only play a supporting role, balancing bitterness and subtle hop flavor.
The finish can be slightly sweet or dry, the body is medium, and the overall impression is balanced.
A classic example is Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale.
Other great examples include Wychwood Hobgoblin, Tröegs Rugged Trail Ale, and Samuel Adams Brown Ale.
Brown Ales in General
It’s not easy to define as a style.
Historically, it was the most common beer in Europe and Britain.
Making pale malt was difficult and expensive, so all beers were brown.
Pale ales, porter, and mild ale emerged as distinct styles.
Still, nothing was explicitly called brown ale until the early 20th century.
Mann’s and Newcastle Brown Ale came on the market, but other brewers tried to get into the market by bottling their mild ale as a brown ale.
Brown ale declined, but American micros re-invented it at the end of the 20th century.
Now, there are three types of brown ale listed by BJCP: Southern English, Northern English, and American Brown Ale.
Brewing Nut Brown Ales
Malts and Main Ingredients
You can create a delicious nut brown ale with just a moderate amount of crystal malt.
Darker crystal malts add richer colors and flavors like dark caramel, toasty, roasted, and raisin.
Lighter crystal malts add sweeter caramel notes.
You can experiment with different colors and amounts from 30 to 150 °L.
But remember that too much crystal malt can make the beer cloying and heavy.
Try Victory (28 °L) and pale chocolate (200 °L) malt for a nuttier, toasty character.
Don’t use malts darker than pale chocolate (200 °L), as they can quickly add a strong roasted flavor inappropriate for the style.
Corn, cane sugar, and other adjuncts are traditional in many English beers but are unnecessary for a nut-brown ale.
They thin the body and reduce the intensity of the base malt flavors. Brown sugar won’t add much in the way of flavor, either.
For a great nut brown ale, stick to just base malted barley.
Hops
Nut brown ales are best with English hops like East Kent Goldings, Fuggles, Target, Northdown, or Challenger. You can also use US hops like Willamette for bittering.
Aim for 20-30 IBU for the bitterness. Balance the malt sweetness with the hop bitterness.
Darker-kilned malts add dryness, while crystal malts add sweetness.
Aim for a bitterness-to-starting gravity ratio of 0.4-0.6 for a good result.
Add most of the hops at 60 minutes and a small amount near the end of the boil for flavor.
Ferment with an English yeast strain for interesting esters and a low-moderate attenuation.
Keep the fermentation temperature between 65-70°F for the best flavor and aroma.
Related Reading: A List Of Hoppy Beer And Measuring Hoppiness – Dive Deeper Here.
Yeasts
There are lots of great yeast strains that give the beer unique flavors and aromas.
Use an English yeast that attenuates 70-75%.
White Labs WLP013 London Ale, WLP005 British Ale, WLP023 Burton Ale or Wyeast 1028 London Ale, 1098 British Ale, 1275 Thames Valley Ale, and 1335 British Ale II are all good choices.
If you prefer dry yeast, Safale S-04 is a great option.
Ferment around 68°F (20°C).
Carbonation should be restrained at two volumes for bottled, 1.5 for kegged, and just over 1 volume of CO2 for cask-conditioned beer.
Serve your nut brown ale at around 50-55°F (10-13°C) at cellar temperature.
This allows the beer’s character to shine through.
Don’t go below 50°F (10°C), or you won’t get the full flavor!
Related Reading: Choosing Between Yeasty Beers – Learn More Here.
Example Nut Brown Ale Recipe All Grain
- (5 gallons/19 L,all-grain)
- OG = 1.051 FG = 1.013
- IBU = 26 SRM = 14 ABV = 5.1%
Ingredients
- White Labs WLP013 (London Ale), Wyeast 1028 (London Ale), or Fermentis Safale S-04 yeast
- 3.5 AAU East Kent Goldings hops (0.7 oz./20 g at 5% alpha acids) (5 min.)
- 3.5 AAU East Kent Goldings hops (0.7 oz./20 g at 5% alpha acids) (60 min.)
- Four oz. (113 g) Crisp pale chocolate 200 °L (or similar)
- 5 oz. (141 g) Briess Victory malt 28 °L (or similar)
- 5 oz. (141 g) Great Western crystal malt 40 °L (or similar)
- 10.6 oz. (300 g) Briess special roast 50 °L (or similar)
- 8.82 lb. (4 kg) Crisp British pale ale malt three °L (or similar)
Instructions
- Start by milling the grains and mixing them with 1.5 quarts of water per pound of grain.
- Heat the mixture to 152°F and hold it until the enzymatic conversion is complete.
- Then, raise the temperature to 168°F and sparge with 170°F water.
- Boil the wort for about 60 minutes, adding the bittering hops at the start and the Irish moss and last hop addition with 15 and 5 minutes left.
- Chill the wort to 68°F and aerate it. Pitch 9 grams of dry yeast or two packages of liquid yeast.
- Ferment at 68°F until the yeast drops clear.
- Let the beer mature for two days after fermentation.
- Finally, rack to a keg or bottling bucket, add priming sugar, and bottle.
- Serve the beer at 50-55°F.
Related Reading: How To Make Orange Beer – Recipes And Alternatives – Read More Here.
Final Thoughts
You’ve made it! You’ve just finished brewing a delicious nut brown ale all-grain recipe.
The result is a smooth, malty beer with subtle notes of roasted nuts and a hint of chocolate.
You can enjoy this beer or pair it with various foods.
The nutty flavor of the beer makes it an excellent match for dishes like roasted chicken, pork chops, and even grilled vegetables.
The nut brown ale all-grain recipe is a great way to get started with all-grain brewing.
It’s an easy-to-follow recipe that produces a tasty beer with a unique flavor profile.
The versatile recipe allows you to adjust the ingredients to suit your taste.
Brewing your beer is a rewarding experience.
You get to enjoy the satisfaction of creating something from scratch, and you can share your creation with friends and family.
The nut brown ale all-grain recipe is a great place to start your brewing journey.
So grab your ingredients, get brewing, and enjoy the fruits of your labor!
