I’m aiming for an English-All-Day-Brown-IPA-kinda-thing.
I added the Black Malt at the end of the mash to minimize the roastiness, eliminating the need for specialized debittered black malt. This technique was popularized by Greg Noonan of Vermont Pub & Brewery, attributed with creating the trendy American Black IPA concept. Incidentally, that brewpub is where Alchemist founder John Kimmich got his start and where he got his "Conan" yeast. They didn't invent the technique though; German Alt brewers have been doing that for generations.
Regarding new UK Archer hops: obviously it's too early to tell how they'll taste in finished beer, but they're certainly intriguing so far. Hard to describe. Recognizably English, somewhat similar to Goldings, but smells very "green." Hot greenhouse, intense tea essence, alfalfa shots, mossy, a little mustardy...in a good way...hopefully. We'll see.
SEYMOUR ARCHER RYE BROWN ALE
all-grain recipe
5 US gallon = 4.2 Imperial gallon = 19 Liters
GRAINBILL
51% = 3.75 lbs = 1700 g, Pale Malt (mine was leftover blend of US 2-Row, 6-Row, and Irish Stout Malt)
18% = 1.32 lb = 600 g, Rye Malt (US)
7% = .51 lb = 233 g, Mild Malt (UK)
4.5% = .33 lb = 150 g, CaraMalt (UK)
2.5% = .18 lb = 83 g, Crystal 40 Malt (US)
7% = .51 lb = 233 g, Black Malt (UK), save until the very end of mash
10% = .73 lb = 333 g, Dark Invert Syrup (homemade), in boil
TOTAL: 7.35 lbs = 3.33 kg
HOCHKURZ MASH
145°F/62.8°C for 15 minutes, then 159°F/70.6°C for 45 min, then stirred-in crushed Black Malt.
+ ¾ tsp Calcium carbonate
Immediately VORLAUFED and SPARGED ≈ 170°F/76.7°C.
BOIL for 60 minutes, added Sugar Syrup at beginning, Irish Moss at 15 minutes remaining.
HOPS
.5 oz = 14 g, UK Archer, First Wort Hops
.5 oz = 14 g, UK Archer, 30 minutes remaining
2.5 oz = 71 g, UK Archer, at flame-out, steep 15 minutes, then RACKED and CHILLED to 65°F/18.3°C.
YEAST
Conan, fermented at 66°F/18.9°C
STATS (assuming 77% mash efficiency and 77% yeast apparent attenuation)
OG: 1040
FG: 1009
ABV: 4.07%
IBU: 27
COLOUR: dark reddish brown
Counter-top Prep: there's the fresh yeast slurry, Calcium carbonate, Sodium Metabisulphite, crushed Black Malt, 3 pre-measured hop additions.
Adding the crushed Black Malt at the end of the mash.
Look at the difference in those colours! Vorlaufing before and after the Black Malt addition.
Sparging onto the First Wort Hops.
There's Albus, my colour-coordinated Assistant Brewer.
Nice dark wort colour, but the flavours and aromas are more like a caramelly bitter.
I've got my Archer Rye Brown Ale aging in this oak bourbon barrel. It's been less than a week, but the beer has already absorbed a lot of wood and vanilla and boozy traits. Apparently it happens much faster with these 5 gallon pins, because there's so much more wood-to-beer surface area contact than in a full-size barrel. Plus this pin was freshly emptied of bourbon, and this is it's first reuse. I've heard the bourbon-barrel character lessens each time.
