All Grain Recipe: #23 Pliny the Elder, v2.0

I decided to give the Pliny clone another go. The problems I had last time were these:

• Slightly fruity; maybe even hot alcohol. Possibly high fermentation temp.
• Bitterness was too harsh. I'm not a huge fan of Columbus for bittering. Something smoother like Warrior or Magnum would be better.
• Not dry enough. Needed to do something to dry it out: more sugar, less crystal, lower mash temps.
• Carbonation was too high. Reduce it to 2.2-2.3.
• Too dark. Not really a problem, per se, but Pliny is very pale and mine was more dark bronze.

I ended up following the MoreBeer pliny clone recipe pretty closely this time, here.

The recipe can be found here, if you search for "Pliny" on the page. Note that this recipe uses dry yeast, while I recommend the WLP001 liquid + starter. The recipe is also for 5 gallons. If you brew 6 gallons to account for a gallon of losses to trub and other stuff, you'll need to scale up.

This version definitely came out better, even if it still doesn't taste like Pliny. Even with my lowered mash temp, lowered Crystal amount and increased sugar, I still ended up with something pretty thick. My version is more like a typical Imperial IPA - more of a sipper. What makes Pliny different is that it is so dry and drinkable that you have chugged 2 pints of it and didn't even notice.

On the bright side, my newest brew has no off flavors or hot alcohols, and is very good regardless. It just isn't Pliny :P

All Grain Recipe: #22 Janet's Brown Ale, v2.0

AKA, Janet's Light Brown Ale

Janet's Brown is the next of my beer rebrews - beers that I liked, but didn't come out quite as perfect as they could have. Several process changes later and I'm ready to make them even better.

As a reminder, the main process changes involved a lower efficiency, a change in the way I scale recipes to my efficiency, racking to secondary with gelatin, the use of 5.2 pH stabilizer and yeast nutrient and lower carbonation across the board.

What I didn't intend was to use Pale Chocolate malt instead of Chocolate. It must have been a brainfart while I was measuring out ingredients at MoreBeer. I didn't even realize the mistake until I was racking into the fermentor and wondering why in the hell my beer was brown instead of black!

For all of you who are confused, let me make it clear.

YOU CANNOT SUBSTITUTE PALE CHOCOLATE MALT FOR CHOCOLATE.

Ever.

You don't sub twice as much pale chocolate for chocolate, or half as much chocolate for pale chocolate. It is about more than color -- the the two malts don't even taste alike.

So once again, no matter what the doofuses at homebrewtalk.com tell you, there are no subs. Use the right one or get out.

Of course, using a different version of chocolate malt won't ruin your beer. It will just be a different beer. Since I've brewed the original, this is a pretty good way to compare the two. The main difference I noticed is that the new version, besides being brown instead of black, has a toasted bread or cracker flavor. It still has a bit of the roasted coffee-like flavor from the regular chocolate malt, but it is much more subtle and hidden in the background. It's actually pretty damn good.

Hops: Mash Hopping

Mash hopping: the process of adding hops, usually pelletized, directly into the mash. It supposedly contributes very little to bitterness but produces a unique type of flavor and aroma that you can't get with standard late hop additions.

Mash hopping is a confusing thing. By all logic, it shouldn't work. One would expect most of the hops to be left in the grain bed, and any hops that make it into the wort to be isomerized during the long boil that follows.

I'm not sure anyone knows why it works, and many people will tell you it *doesn't* work, but let your own experiments be the judge of that.

The following is according to Paddock Wood Brewing Co, quoted from their blog:

Based on the research of De Clerck and Fix, the theory is that the aromatic oils react in a special way with wort at a higher pH than occurs with wort during the boil (the pH falls during a boil, and reduces the utilization of the hop oils) and at a lower temperature (150F). The complex reaction between hops and the wort results in the formation of more permanent flavour and aroma chemicals remaining in the beer than is the case with traditional hopping methods such as late additions to the brew kettle. It may be important to use pelletized hops in this situation, however, as the release of aromatic oils from whole hop cones is greatly assisted by the action of the boiling wort. The pelletized hops are not transferred to the kettle but remain behind as the mash bed acts as a filter. The hop usage appears to be about 90% less than what you could expect from a start-of-boil addition, but we have not performed any technical data gathering or analysis.

I've tried it once, since it is a standard part of Janet's Brown Ale. Russian River Brewing apparently also uses it in their Pliny the Elder. Until I'm convinced, I won't be mash hopping unless a great recipe calls for it. I haven't done a side by side comparison, but some day I'd like to brew two identical batches - one that has been mash hopped and one that hasn't. I encourage any readers to try it and let me know the results.

All Grain Recipe: #17 Janet's Brown Ale

Janet's Brown Ale is a hoppy American Brown Ale originally designed by famed home brewer Mike "Tasty" McDole. The story goes that this was a favorite of Mike's late wife, Janet, and he named it for her.

Mike also brewed this for the 2009 GABF ProAm and was invited as a guest brewer to Russian River Brewery in Santa Rosa, where they made a full sized batch of the stuff.

Style-wise, it is somewhere in between an American Brown and a Black IPA. Whether "Black IPA" should even be considered a style is up for debate, as some consider Black IPA to be nothing more than an American IPA with a bit of black patent thrown in. This recipe is definitely too hoppy to be a brown, and too 'roasty' to be an IPA.

I haven't had Russian River's or Mike's version of this recipe, but mine is definitely the best beer I've ever brewed. Flavor is incredibly clean with a light, roasted background flavor. The body is thick but drinkable and the bitterness is high but balances perfectly. Finally, the massive centennial flavor is presented so well here that it has now become my favorite hop. This is the first brew to make me consider 5 gallon batches, and my first beer that I think could win an award.

Below is the recipe scaled to my system, followed by the original recipe from Brewing Classic Styles.