Northern English Brown Ale Brew Day - 11/10/17

I'm a big fan of The Civil Life Brewing Co. in St. Louis. I tried it out for the first time in June, 2014 at public defender training on the advice of a friend and fellow public defender. I bought one of their growlers and filled it with their Rye Pale ale, one of their beers for which they're most notable.

Since then I've learned that they really good English ales, whether it's their bitters or their brown ales, and they have a few of each. They specialize in session beers and as best I can tell adhere to classic styles, so I don't expect to ever see a fruited beer or a barrel aged stout.

One of the best things about the place is the atmosphere. The pub area is a relatively small portion of the building. It's long and narrow and has a bar that runs the length of the room. It's cash only. They serve their beers in 10 oz pub glasses ($2.50) or 20 oz ($5.00). If you hand over $3.00, they'll give you a Kennedy half dollar as change. They set out reading material for their patrons, such as the Post-Dispatch or The New York Times.

The beer and the atmosphere meld perfectly. The beers are delicious. And you really feel like you're in an English pub. I've never actually been in a real English pub, but it seems like The Civil Life is a good approximation.

Unfortunately, Civil Life is over three hours away from me. So I can't just drop in after work for a pint or two. And yet, the types of beers they're making are the beers that I want to drink!

Thankfully homebrewing is here to save the day. I'll just have to (try to) make the beers they serve myself. That was the plan for this brown ale. A Northern English Brown Ale. Is it a recognized BJCP style? I'm not sure. There's a British Brown Ale, which lists Newcastle as a representative beer, and which has an SRM that matches the one I was going for with this beer. But what's the difference between Northern and Southern English Brown ALe? It seems there is a difference, but the 2015 BJCP doesn't seem to make room for a distinction. Alas, the 2008 BJCP guidelines did. Why has this category been combined? I'm not sure. I'll have to leave that to the experts.

Wort was a rich caramel brown color. Time got away from me - including a business trip to St. Louis along with a visit to Civil Life - and so this beer remained in the fermenter for about six weeks. I kegged it on December 17, the same day I brewed a Styrian Goldings English bitter. FG was 1.08.

Wort.

I bottled six bottles. The rest went into a keg, which for most of the last two weeks has been out in my garage, taking advantage of exceptionally cold temperatures. In that time, the beer has carbonated and has cleared (it was actually clear in the fermenter too; apparently with time 1469 does flocculate pretty well).

Tasting Notes:

Aroma: Toast. Malt. Chocolate. Coffee. Caramel. Malt sweetness. No hops. Aroma is actually pretty strong. 

Taste: Follows the aroma. Chocolate, coffee, malt sweetness, a sweetness that lingers in the aftertaste. Sort of like chocolate that melts n your mouth. A slight tanginess. Low bitterness. Nutty. Slightly toasty. Caramel. Again, no hops.

Overall, really solid beer. The only change I'd make is to be more careful with the amount of malt. This beer clocks in at around 6%, but the goal was 5.4%, per the recipe. Next time I'd reduce the base malt by a pound or so.

https://www.brewtoad.com/recipes/northern-english-brown-6dedea