Back to back double brown ale October's Ordinary Bitter November's Ordinary Bitter Slip it slowly Scotch Ale Warm-up Scottish Ale Sweet winter's stoutRecipes (stories) available:
Back to back double brown ale
October's Ordinary Bitter
November's Ordinary Bitter
Slip it slowly Scotch Ale
Warm-up Scottish Ale
Sweet winter's stout
Kriek 97
Celis Gran Clone
Attempt at a clone of Celis Raspberry
My first framboise
Ommegang Clone
Adaven Arries Pale Ale
Highlander's Redhook ESB clone
Maytag Man California Common
MPA (Matty Pumpkin Ale)Michael Sackett
Witchita, Kansas
"Back to back double brown ale"
English Brown
| 5 | lb Klages malt |
| 3 | lb Munich malt |
| 2 | lb Vienna malt |
| 1 | lb 60 °L crystal malt |
| ¾ | lb 20 °L crystal malt |
| ¼ | lb roasted malt |
| ¼ | lb chocolate malt |
| 1 | oz Fuggles hop pellets, 4.4% alpha acid (75 min) |
| 1 | oz Wiliamette hop pellets, 3.7% alpha acid (75 min) |
| ½ | oz Cascade hop pellets, 4.2% alpha acid (15 min) |
| 1 | oz Cascade hop pellets, 4.2% alpha acid (3 min) |
| Wyeast No. 1056 American Ale liquid yeast culture | |
| 1 | cup corn sugar (priming) |
| Original specific gravity: 1.068 |
| Final specific gravity: 1.012 |
| Boiling Time: 75 min |
| Primary fermentation: two weeks at 70 degrees F in plastic |
| Age when judged (since bottling): four months |
Mash grains at 148F 90 minutes.
"Nice caramel sweetness in beginning. Astringency from roasted grains is a bit much. Aroma could be better. Oxidized aroma a problem."
"On the low end of the color scale.
Only appears to be about 14 SRM.
Very full-flavoured beer but overly roasty. Big in the mouth.
Try cutting back on the roasted grains."
I've had a lot of luck with English-style ales. Here are some of my favorite or award winners.
Alan Mead
Urbana, Illinois
"October's Ordinary Bitter"
Ordinary Bitter
| last runnings of a strong ale (sg=1.019) | |
| 3 | lb Alexander's pale malt extract |
| 7.5 | HBU Williamette leaf hops (30 min) |
| Wyeast No. 1056 American Ale liquid yeast culture | |
| 2/3 | cup cane sugar (priming) |
| Original specific gravity: 1.032 |
| Boiling time: 30 min |
| Primary fermentation: 4 weeks in plastic |
| Brewed on: 10/5/97 |
Alan Mead
Urbana, Illinois
"November's Ordinary Bitter"
Ordinary Bitter
| 5 | lb pale 2-row malt |
| 1 | lb crystal malt (30L) |
| .5 | lb wheat malt |
| 6 | HBU Centennial leaf hops (60 min) |
| .5 | oz UK Goldings pellets(dry hop) |
| 1 | tbsp Epsom salts |
| 1 | tbsp Gypsum |
| 1084? | Wyeast Irish Ale yeast culture |
| Original gravity: 1.030 |
| Final gravity: 1.008 |
| Primary fermentation: 7 days, 70F, glass |
Prepare 6 quarts soft water to strike temp of 168F. Add boiling water to stabilize at 152F; mash 60 minutes. Meanwhile prepare 4g sparge water at 172F. Sparge to collect 5 g (gather second runnings for a table beer, psuedo-kreusen, or starter medium). Top off kettle to 6g. Add hops at kettle full. Boil 80 minutes. Force chill to no more than 70F, separate hops by pouring wort through a sanitized strainer into a second vessel or primary fermenter (aerating well). Pitch yeast and ferment at 70F. Primary about 7-10 days. Secondary another 7-10 days.
Prime with 3/4 c. sugar or 1 c. malt extract.
Alan Mead
Urbana, Illinois
"Slip it slowly Scotch Ale"
120 Shilling Wee Heavy Scotch Strong Ale
| 4 | lb pale unhopped malt syrup |
| 8 | lb pale malt |
| 1 | lb smoked pale malt |
| 1.5 | lb crystal malt |
| 1 | oz roasted barley |
| 10.1 | HBU hops |
| 1728 | Wyeast Scottish ale yeast |
| Original specific gravity: 1.090 |
| Final specific gravity: 1.028 |
| Boiling time: 60 min |
| Primary fermentation: 55F 10 days |
| Bottle conditioning: 50-55F 30 days |
Prepare 8 quarts soft water to strike temp of 175F. Add boiling water to stabilize at 158F; mash 90 minutes. Meanwhile prepare 6g sparge water at 180F. Sparge to collect 6.5 g (gather second runnings for a table beer, psuedo-kreusen, or starter medium). Add hops at kettle full. Boil 60-80 minutes. Force chill to no more than 65F, separate hops by pouring wort through a sanitized strainer into a second vessel or primary fermenter (aerating well). Pitch yeast and ferment at 55F. Primary about 7-10 days. Secondary up to a month or condition in the bottle.
Important: Aerate well and pitch at least a 4 quart starter. I actually brew the warm-up recipe and then rack the fresh wort on top of the yeast cake.
Prime with 3/4 c. sugar or 1 c. malt extract.
A BUZZard who shall remain nameless completely panned it as having too many esters (I probably didn't pitch an adequate starter).
Al Korzonas of the Urban Knaves of Grain complained that it had been "oxidized, but not in the packaging" whatever that means.
Alan Mead
Urbana, Illinois
"Warm-up Scotch Ale"
70 Shilling Scottish Ale
| 6.5 | lb pale 2-row malt |
| 1 | lb crystal malt (30L) |
| .5 | lb peat smoked malt |
| 1 | oz roasted barley |
| 7 | HBU hops |
| 1728 | Wyeast Scottish ale yeast |
| Original gravity: 1.039 |
| Final gravity: ~1.012 |
| Boiling time: 60 min |
| Primary fermentation: 55F 7 days |
| Bottle conditioning: 50-55F 30 days |
Prepare 10 quarts soft water to strike temp of 168F. Add boiling water to stabilize at 158F; hold for 45 minutes. Meanwhile prepare 5g sparge water at 180F. Sparge to collect 6g (gather second runnings for a table beer, psuedo-kreusen, or starter medium). Add bitter hops at kettle full. Boil 60 minutes. Force chill to no more than 65F, separate hops by pouring wort through a sanitized strainer into a second vessel or primary fermenter (aerating well). Pitch yeast and ferment at 55F. Primary about 7 days. Secondary up to a month or condition in the bottle.
Important: Aerate well and pitch at least a 2 quart starter.
Prime with 3/4 c. sugar or 1 c. malt extract.
While studying for the BJCP exam, I got very interested in the Belgian styles, especially the sour beers. Also, although they are probably fairly Americanized (I'm just guessing, maybe a Belgian can let me know?) I love the Celis Raspberry and Gran Cru beers. The raspberry is just enormously refreshing with just the right amount of bitterness. The Gran Cru is noticeably alcoholic but one of the most complex beers I've had. I wish I could pour more than half a bottle without having flakes of the sediment swimming around my glass. (BTW, on the hypothesis that the sediment was a fermenting agent, I've tried culturing the lees but either they have a sterilization process, or the high alcohol content kills the fermenters, or perhaps the sediment isn't a fermenter at all. Anyway, it refused to reduce my starter medium the least bit even after several weeks at room temp.)
Alan Mead
Urbana, Illinois
"Kriek 97"
Kriek
| 8 | lb pale 2-row |
| ½ | lb pale 2-row |
| 2 | HBU hop pellets (boil) |
| lambic culture | |
| 10 | lb fresh sour pie cherries |
| 2/3 | cup cane sugar (priming) |
| Original specific gravity: ? |
| Boiling time: unknown |
| Primary fermentation: plastic |
| Brewed on: 7/?/97 |
Jimmy Stewart and I made this batch together before I had learned much about lambics. This is Papazian's recipe from TNJOHB and he doesn't call for wheat which I've since learned is a major issue in traditional belgian brewing. Apparently, if you want a real lambic taste, you need real lambic fermenters and they require some of the unfermentables developed in the turbid mash using wheat.
Sour mash pale 2-row: Mash as usual. Cool to 130F and mix in ½# crushed 2-row. Cover liquid with tin foil. Cover bucket tightly, wrap in blankets and allow to sour 24 hours. Remove foil and discard and scum or mold. Top off with cool tap to 1g and raise to 150F. Combine with remaining grains. Add 1.5g boiling water and stabilize at 160F. Wrap in blankets and mash overnight. Lauter with 3g 180F water. Boil down to 4.5g. I pitched Wyeast 1056 and then a couple weeks later a pair of Troy Jessse's lambic cultures. After about a month, I introduced the cherries: I raised 1g tap water to 180F. I squished 12 lbs. sour pie cherries into 1g hot water, pit, skin, juice and all. Then held for 30 minutes to pasteurize. Then I just dumped it into the fementer. A secondary fermentation was not visible in the airlock but after about a month, the pits, which formed a layer on top of the brew, has been covered by a fine white mold. The fermenter has an excellent cherry aroma and deep red color. This beer will be ready in the spring.
Original recipe by JA Barnes (jabarnes1@aol.com)
Extensively adapted to all-grain by Alan Mead
Urbana, Illinois
"Ommegang Clone"
Belgian Abbey Beer
| 6 | lb pale 2-row |
| 1 | lb toasted pale 2-row |
| 2 | lb Munich |
| 1 | lb CaraVeine |
| 4 | oz Special B |
| 11 | HBU northern brewer hops (60 min boil) |
| .25 | oz Hallertauer or Mount Hood hops (20 min boil) |
| .25 | oz Hallertauer or Mount Hood hops (10 min boil) |
| 1 | lb raw honey (10 min boil) |
| 1214 | Wyeast Belgian Abbey yeast culture |
| 1 | cup light molasses or sorghum molasses (priming) |
| Original gravity: 1.063 |
| Final specific gravity: 1.016 |
Toasted grain at 350F for 10 minutes. Grind all grains. Strike with 9 quarts 168F water; stabilize at 152F 90 minutes. Sparge with 5g 175F water to collect 6.5 gallons. Boil 90 minutes. Force chill. Pitch active 2 quart starter. Ferment at 60F.
Alan Mead
Urbana, Illinois
"Celis Gran Clone"
Belgian Strong Ale?
Spiced Ale?
| 10 | lb pale 2-row |
| 1 | lb toasted pale 2-row |
| 1 | lb CaraPils |
| 4 | HBU Cascade hops (60 min boil) |
| 4 | HBU Cascade hops (30 min boil) |
| ½ | oz bitter orange peel (15 min boil) |
| ½ | oz Saaz hops (15 min boil) |
| 2/3 | oz ground coriander (15 min boil) |
| ½ | oz Saaz hops (10 min boil) |
| 3 | lb raw soy honey (10 min boil) |
| ½ | oz Saaz hops (5 min boil) |
| Wyeast Belgian Wit liquid yeast culture | |
| ¾ | cup cane sugar (priming) |
| Brewed on: 10/5/97 |
| Bottled on: still in the carboy |
| Original specific gravity: 1.061 |
| Final specific gravity: still in carboy |
| Boiling time: 75 min |
Toasted grain at 350F for 10 minutes. Grind all grains. Strike w/ 2.25g 130F water, stabilize at 122F 30 minutes. Added 2g boiling water and stabilize at 160F (had to apply heat). Mash 2 hours. Sparge with 3g 175F water. Force chill. Pitch active starter.
I tried to investigate Celis' brewing technique and ingredients before I tried it. The label declares that "Only traditional brewing methods are used by ... Celis" and that the raspberry is "beer fermented with raspberry juice". Finally, the Celis homepage lists the some specifics such as the OG and types of malts. Finally, I emailed Celis and asked how he handled the raw winter Texas wheat he uses and one of the brewers emailed me back saying that they don't do anything different, just do a good long mash. Although I'm open to persuasion, I think Celis Raspberry is a framboise albeit a rather non-tart version. Most of the tartness seems to come from (or is at least reminiscent of) the tartness of the raspberries. I started with a sour mash so I may have an overly sour mash but I don't think I'll mind.
Alan Mead
Urbana, Illinois
"Frambogus"
fruit beer?
| 5 | lb pale 2-row |
| 1.5 | lb pale 6-row |
| 2 | lb wheat malt |
| 1 | lb unmalted hard red winter wheat |
| 2.4 | HBU hop pellets (boil) |
| Wyeast Belgian Wit liquid yeast culture | |
| 1.5 | quarts Wine Supply raspberry solid pack |
| .9 | cup cane sugar (priming) |
| Original specific gravity: 1.047 |
| Boiling time: unknown |
| Primary fermentation: plastic |
| Brewed on: 10/5/97 |
Sour mash pale 2-row: Mash as usual. Cool to 130F and mix in ½# crushed 2-row. Cover liquid with tin foil. Cover bucket tightly, wrap in blankets and allow to sour 24 hours. Remove foil and discard and scum or mold. Top off with cool tap to 1g and raise to 150F. Combine with remaining grains. Add 1.5g boiling water and stabilize at 160F. Wrap in blankets and mash overnight. Lauter with 4g 180F water. Boil down to 5.5g. Added 1.5 quarts raspberry pack on 10/31/97.
Alan Mead
Urbana, Illinois
"Framboise 97"
Framboise
| 5 | lb pale 2-row |
| 1.5 | lb pale 6-row |
| 2 | lb wheat malt |
| 1 | lb unmalted hard red winter wheat |
| 2.4 | HBU hop pellets (boil) |
| lambic culture | |
| 1.5 | quarts Wine Supply raspberry solid pack |
| .9 | cup cane sugar (priming) |
| Original specific gravity: 1.047 |
| Boiling time: unknown |
| Primary fermentation: plastic |
| Brewed on: 10/5/97 |
I actually mashed this batch with the "Frambogus" batch and then split the 11 gallons into two fermenters, one is this and the other is the Frambogus. I don't think this had much effect but who knows...
Sour mash pale 2-row: Mash as usual. Cool to 130F and mix in ½# crushed 2-row. Cover liquid with tin foil. Cover bucket tightly, wrap in blankets and allow to sour 24 hours. Remove foil and discard and scum or mold. Top off with cool tap to 1g and raise to 150F. Combine with remaining grains. Add 1.5g boiling water and stabilize at 160F. Wrap in blankets and mash overnight. Lauter with 4g 180F water. Boil down to 5.5g. I believe I pitched two of Troy Jessse's lambic cultures but I was worried they weren't active (or sour enough) so I also inoculated a starter with a sample of my (then) 3-month-old lambic. So I don't know the pedigree of the bugs but I can report that the surface of the brew is covered by the same fine white mold as my lambic. It had a suitably "earthy" smell when I added 1.5 quarts raspberry pack on 10/31/97.
Alan Mead
Urbana, Illinois
"New Year's Stout"
Sweet Stout
| 7 | lb pale 2-row |
| 3 | lb toasted pale 2-row |
| 2 | oz chocolate malt |
| 7 | HBU hop pellets (boil) |
| Wyeast irish stout culture | |
| 1 | c. cane sugar (priming) |
| Original specific gravity: ??? |
| Boiling time: about 2 hours |
| Primary fermentation: plastic |
| Brewed about: 1/20/98 |
I brewed this quickly and without much attention to notes. It came out well in a BUZZ in-house mini-competition (about a 36). Judges suggested I use a bit more priming sugar for more head, a bit more malt, and a cooler fermentaion or less atttenuative yeast to get a little more sweeness. Could probably use a scotch ale yeast, mash hotter, or include more dextrin malt.
Alan Mead
Urbana, Illinois
"Maiskueste Pilsner"
German Pilsner
| 9 | lb Pils malt |
| 1 | lb Carapils |
| 9 | HBU hop pellets (boil) |
| .5 | oz Saaz (15 min) |
| .5 | oz Saaz (5 min) |
| 1 | oz Saaz (dry hop) |
| Wyeast Munich lager culture | |
| 1 | c. priming sugar |
| Original specific gravity: in progress |
| Boiling time: about 90 minutes |
| Primary fermentation: plastic |
| Primary fermentation: glass |
| Brewed about: 7-5-98 |
Alan Mead
Urbana, Illinois
"Adaven Arries Pale Ale"
American Pale Ale
| 10 | lb pale 2-row |
| 1 | lb Crystal malt (60L) |
| 1 | lb Munich malt |
| 7 | HBU hop pellets (boil) |
| .5 | oz Cascade pellets (15 min) |
| .75 | oz Cascade pellets (5 min) |
| 1 | oz Cascade pellets (dry hop) |
| Wyeast American Ale culture | |
| 1 | c. priming sugar |
| Original specific gravity: in progress |
| Boiling time: 90 minutes |
| Primary fermentation: plastic |
| Brewed about: 7-5-98 |
Mash in 3g 165F water to rest 149F 60 minutes. Sparge with 4g 168F water to collect about 5.8g. Boil 60 minutes. Cool, aerate, pitch yeast. Ferment at cool room temperature 4-5 days. Rack to secondary, dry hop. After two weeks, bottle. Avoid aeration, except as noted, to preserve hop flavor and aroma.
This recipe is based on, and almost identical to, the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone presented by Ray Daniels in the Summer 98 Zymurgy. I added some munich malt to help bring out a maltiness to balance the strong hops.
Highlander
"Diacetyl Hook ESB"
British Special Bitter
| 7 | lb pale 2-row |
| 1 | lb toasted 2-row malt (60L) |
| 1 | lb 60L crystal malt |
| 9 | HBU hop pellets (boil) |
| 1 | oz Tettnang pellets (15 min) |
| 1 | oz Williamette pellets (5 min) |
| Wyeast 1098 Britsh Ale culture | |
| 1 | c. priming sugar |
| Original specific gravity: 1.055 |
| Boiling time: 60 minutes |
Toast 1# of the 2-row by spreading over a cookie sheet and baking at 350F for no longer than 20 minutes. Ideally, you should (1) allow it to cool before crushing and (2) toast immediate before brewing. (I toast then crush hot.) Mash using 2.3g 161F strike water (treated), stabilize at 145F and rest 30 min. Raise temperature to 156F for 30 min. Mash out at 170F for 5 min. Sparge with 5.2g 182F water. The longer and slower the sparge the better. (Sparge water will naturally cool during sparge). Collect 6.5g, boil one hour (down to 5.5g). Force cool, pour (roughly--try to aerate as much as possible) into plastic fermenter and pitch. Rack 5g fermenting beer into clean fermenter.
I found this recipe on the Highlander recipe page and modified it quite a bit (like adding instructions). The original recipe called for Tettnag to be used as part of the bittering hops. I find it's use as a flavor hop alone to be strange for this style... I calculated that at 33 points/pound I would have a 1.070 beer (which seems awefully high for RH ESB) so I reasoned that the recipe was formulated using a much lower figure like 25p/p; that gives an OG of 1.055. If you know YOUR EFFICIENY, you can adjust the grain bill to hit 1.055.
To capture that special Red Hook flavor, you should rush the beer off the yeast. This can be done by crashing the yeast: immediately after fermentation slows to a crawl, chill the beer down to 32.5F (do not allow to freeze)--the yeast should settle out of the beer, rack to a secondary. (Hold your nose is diacetyl bothers you!)
Original recipe by Homebrew Adventures
http://www.homebrewadventures.com/Recipes/Maytag.htm
Adapted to all-grain by Alan Mead
Urbana, Illinois
"Maytag Man California Common"
California Common Lager
| 8.75 | lb pale 2-row |
| 1 | lb crystal malt (120L) |
| 1 | lb victory malt (120L) |
| 12 | HBU (1/5 oz northern brewer @ 8AAU) (boil; 60 min) |
| 1 | oz northern brewer (finish; 2 min) |
| 1 | tsp Irish moss |
| 2112 | Wyeast California Common lager culture |
| 3/4 | c. priming sugar |
| Original gravity: 1.055 |
| Final gravity: 1.016 |
| Boiling time: 60 minutes |
| Primary fermentation: glass |
| IBU: about 40 |
Maytag Man California Common is a copper colored lager that is fermented at ale temperatures. It possesses a medium body and a bitter bite to go along with a toasted/caramel like maltiness in aroma and flavor. This recipe is based on an extract/kit recipe of the same name published by Homebrew Adventures (http://www.homebrewadventures.com/Recipes/Maytag.htm).
Prepare 10 quarts moderately hard water to strike temp of 168F. Stabilize at 152F and hold for 70 minutes. Meanwhile prepare 6g sparge water at 172F. Sparge to collect 6g (gather second runnings for a table beer, psuedo-kreusen, or starter medium; feel free to increase sparge temp to 180F for second runnings). Add bitter hops at kettle full. Boil 60 minutes. Add Irish moss after 45 minutes. Add finishing hops for last 2 minutes. Force chill to no more than 65F, separate hops by pouring wort through a sanitized strainer into a second vessel or primary fermenter (aerating well). Pitch yeast and ferment at 60F. Primary about 4 days. Secondary up to 2 weeks; secondary may be dry-hopped.
Prime with 3/4 c. corn sugar or 1 c. malt extract.
Matt & Alan Mead
"Matty's Pumpkin Ale"
Spiced vegtable ale
| 3.3 | lb EDME DMS pale malt syrup |
| 3.3 | lb amber malt syrup |
| .5 | lb munich malt |
| .5 | lb carapils malt |
| .5 | lb caramel malt (30L) |
| 5 | lb baked pumpkin |
| 2 | tsp ginger |
| 2 | tsp allspice |
| 2 | tsp nutmeg |
| 1 | tsp cinnamon |
| .5 | tsp cloves |
| 5 | HBU (cascade) (boil; 60 min) |
| .5 | oz cascade (finish; 20 min) |
| .75 | oz cascade (finish; 2 min) |
| 1 | tsp Irsih moss |
| 1084? | Wyeast Irish Ale yeast culture |
| 3/4 | c. priming sugar |
| Original gravity: 1.075 |
| Final gravity: 1.020 |
| Boiling time: 60 minutes |
| Primary fermentation: glass |
Bake pumpkin the evening before. Place halved and cleaned pumpkin hollow-side down on a baking dish with a 1/2 c. water. Bake at 375F for 45 minutes. Turn pumpkin over and bake at 450F for 30 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature. Dice pumpkin. Mash with adjunct in 1g 150F water with DMS syrup for 60 minutes. Strain into kettle. Add remaining syrup and top off kettle to 4g. Boil one hour, adding hops according to schedule. Add Irish moss with 20 minutes left in the boil. Add spices with final hop addition.
Prime with 3/4 c. corn sugar or 1 c. malt extract.