Newcastle Clone Recipe Experience?

[biertourist]

I'm looking for people's experience brewing Newcastle Clones or other North English Brown Ales.

I've been analyzing the various BJCP categories trying to find styles that seem more likely to medal and focusing my time on those styles, plus my buddy REALLY likes Newcastle so we're going to brew a 10 gallon batch and split it.


I am NOT interested in brewing it via making 2 separate beers and blending them, so I'm looking for a "brew it once" recipe / feedback.

I'm not actually interested in a true clone, but what makes a tasty beer that roughly fits within the North English Brown style guidelines.


I'm going to stay rather close to Jamil's recipe mostly because I've looked at a few past NHC winners and the beers that have done well stay pretty close to it.

-Briess special roast malt @ 5.3% is where I'm at now but I've never used the malt; it's supposed to be intensely toasty/ biscuity with sour dough bread-like flavors when used in large percentages. -Like UK Biscuit Malt / Victory Malt with the flavor amped up in intensity.  It's weird to me that it's made from 6 row malt, though...



I could NOT find a 55L UK Crystal malt like I REALLY wanted so I went with CaraMunich from Franco-Belges as it uses European malt varieties and is roughly the same color intensity at 60L and even if it brings a little munichy toastiness I think that can only help a brown ale.  -My alternative option was Briess Crystal but it tastes nothing like lighter UK crystal, IMHO.

I actually hate low color US Crystal it just tastes like caramely lowest common denominator US Brew Pub Pale Ale - US Crystal+ Cascade -Exciting in the 1990s but BORING today.  ;-)


I was really going back and forth on yeast strains but I landed on the London Ale strain.


Water treatment is a huge questionmark for me with this beer; I'm planning a 33/66 blend of gypsum and calcium chloride, I think.

I'm shooting for the high end of the BJCP range for OG and FG because that's what the judges go for. (A 1.050 Mild Ale won the final round @ NHC and the judges said "We can't believe how much malt flavor you got out of a 1.038 OG beer!... *Sigh BJCP -Do I REALLY want to do this?!?/



Adam