Archives for December 2013

Never mind other brown ale recipes, here’s Fugmission.

This is the final recipe in the Easy, Surefire Recipe series. The idea was to present a series of homebrew recipes that played to the strengths of malt extract, were easy to make, and made good beer. Fugmission is an English brown ale with a complex mix of malts. It is hopped a little more generously than most brown ales for a very balanced taste. Although an English brown ale, Cascade hops are used as a portion of the late hops. A bit rebellious for a brown ale, perhaps, but that fits with the name — Fugmission.

The name is a reference to the Fuggles hops that give this beer it’s earthy hop character and the song “Submission,” by the English band The Sex Pistols. Back in the mid-70s, the band’s manager (Malcolm McLaren) asked John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) to write a song called “Submission,” about sexual dominance and submission. McLaren thought the risqué topic would gain the band some notoriety. However, Lydon didn’t like being told what to do and instead wrote a song about a submarine mission — a sub mission — instead. The track ended up on the band’s only studio album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols, and, as it turned out, the band didn’t really need a lot of help generating notoriety.

Fugmission

English Brown ale

by Chris Colby

Extract; English units

DESCRIPTION

A rich brown ale with an earthy hop profile. This beer has nutty, biscuit-like and bready notes from the kilned malts, roasted flavor from the chocolate malt, and caramel, raisin and prune-like notes from the stewed (crystal) malts. The relatively light carbonation enhances the rich mouthfeel. The light citrus character from the small addition of Cascade hops contrasts the earthy character of the primary hop, Fuggles. With a moderately fruity nose, this beer is flavorful and complex, but — at 4.4% ABV — very “sessionable.”

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The equipment you’ll need — beyond normal extract brewing equipment — to make this beer. A 3-gallon (11-L) cooler, a large grain bag and a measuring cup. You will also need a brewpot capable of boiling 3.5 gallons (13 L) of wort.

Here is an example recipe for a golden ale, made with malt extract. This is actually a moderately-sized partial mash. You will need a large grain bag and a 3-gallon (11-L) beverage cooler, the kind with spigot on the bottom to serve cold or hot liquids. You will also need to be able to boil 3.5 gallons (13 L) of wort.

“Frejya’s” Eyes

Golden Ale

by Chris Colby

Partial mash; English units

DESCRIPTION

A crisp golden ale with a grainy and bready pale malt flavor. Hop bitterness and flavor are quite high for this type of beer, but not to the point of masking the malt character. The relatively high pitching rate and low fermentation temperatures yield a fairly clean fermentation, even though a Belgian yeast strain is used.

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