Down the Rabbit Hole Brown Ale

Several weeks ago I tried a celery seed soda for the first time, and it seemed like the complex sweet, peppery, earthy flavors would lend themselves well to a beer. Given this flavor profile, I figured I'd use a basic brown ale recipe as a base and add several other flavors to balance out the celery. Having previously made a Reading Ale, a spiced British pale ale with coriander and grains of paradise based on a historical recipe in The Complete Practical Brewer (see page 179), coriander seemed like a good choice for balancing out the celery flavor. To add a little additional complexity and earthiness, I decided to use Brettanomyces after the primary fermentation (I’ve never used Brett in any of the beers I've made so far, but I’ve been interested in playing with it for a while).

Hopefully I’ll end up with a spicy but balanced dark session beer!

 

Down the Rabbit Hole Brown Ale

(Partial Mash)

Batch Size: 5 Gal

OG: 1.050

Anticipated Alcohol: 5.2% abv

Anticipated SRM: 18

Anticipated IBU: 28

Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Fermentables:

7 lbs Light malt extract syrup

1 lb Crystal 50-60 L

0.75 lbs British Brown

2.5 oz Chocolate

Hops:

1 oz Willamette (4.7 AA) - 60 min

.5 oz Homegrown Cascades - 15 min

.5 oz Homegrown Cascades - 3 min

Extras:

0.5 oz Coriander - 5 min

0.5 oz Celery Seed - 5 min

Yeasts:

Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale

Wyeast 5112 Bettanomyces Bruxellensis

Mini Mash Schedule:

60 min @ 150˚ F

Notes:

Brewed 10/24/10

Racked 10/30/10 – Added the Brettanomyces


Took a hydrometer reading 11/5/10 - FG is 1.011 (5.9% abv)


Bottled 11/6/10


See tasting notes for this beer.