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THE CAT'S MEOW:
BEER RECIPES FROM THE USENET HOMEBREW DIGEST ARCHIVES
By the Subscribers of the Homebrew Digest
Edited by Mark Stevens and Karl Lutzen
.
PAGE ii
The Cat's Meow is a compilation of recipes from the Homebrew Digest
archives. This compilation may be stored in electronic form on any
computer system or transmitted in its original form to any interested
party provided that the book is not altered in any way, that this
copyright notice is preserved, and that no fees are charged for it.
Commercial use of this publication is strictly forbidden without the
express permission of the Digest coordinator or his designee. This
book is intended for the free sharing of information between members
of the homebrewing community, as such it may be freely copied, dis-
tributed, and used by any homebrewer, homebrewing club, or homebrew
supply shop, without charge.
Copyright 1991 by the Homebrew Digest. All rights reserved.
First edition, February 1991.
Electronic copies of this document are available as compressed
PostScript files (*.Z), and compressed plain text from the Homebrew
Digest archives via anonymous ftp to: mthvax.cs.miami.edu
Users with problems using the archive should send E-mail to:
aem@mthvax.cs.miami.edu
Homebrewers without network access can get copies of this compilation
in various electronic forms (or as hardcopy) by writing (please
enclose SASE) to either:
Macintosh users: Mark Stevens, P.O. Box 405, Glenn Dale, Maryland
20769.
DOS users: Karl Lutzen, Rt. #6 Box 419, Rolla, Missouri 65401.
Comments, corrections, or questions about this document can be sent to
Mark Stevens via E-mail to: stevens@stsci.edu or to Karl Lutzen at
lutzen@apollo.physics.umr.edu. GEnie users can send GE Mail to:
M.STEVENS21
.
PAGE iii
Acknowledgments
First and foremost, thanks are due to all of the subscribers of the
Homebrew Digest who contribute their collective experience, tips,
techniques, and of course, recipes. Through this sharing we improve
our homebrewing skills and our knowledge of beer and the brewing
industry. The digest would not be possible without the dedicated work
of Rob Gardner, the digest coordinator; we all owe Rob tremendous
praise for diligently collecting articles, collating them, and dis-
tributing the daily digest to a list of well over 1,000 subscribers.
Thank you Rob. Special thanks are also due to A.E. Mossberg who main-
tains the digest archives at Miami. Without these archives much of the
collective wisdom of the Homebrew Digest would be lost---especially to
future subscribers.
.
PAGE iv
Early Scottish Ale
------------------
Thrice the brinded cat hath mewed.
Thrice and once the hedge-pig whined.
Harpier cries. 'Tis time, 'tis time.
Round about the caldron go:
In the poisoned entrails throw.
Toad, that under cold stone
Days and nights has thirty-one
Swelt'red venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i' th' charmed pot.
Double, double, toil and trouble;
Fire burn and caldron bubble.
Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork and blindworm's sting,
Lizard's leg and howlet's wing.
For a charm of pow'rful trouble,
Like a hell-broth, boil and bubble.
Double, double, toil and trouble;
Fire burn and caldron bubble.
Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf,
Witch's mummy, maw and gulf,
Of the ravined salt-sea shark,
Root of hemlock digged i' the dark,
Liver of blaspheming Jew,
Gall of goat, and slips of yew
Slivered in the moon's eclipse,
Nose of Turk and Tartar's lips,
Finger of birth-strangled babe
Ditch-delivered by a drab,
Make the gruel thick and slab:
Add thereto a tiger's chaudron,
For th' ingredients of our caldron.
Double, double, toil and trouble;
Fire burn and caldron bubble.
--- by William Shakespeare, in the true homebrew spirit
.
PAGE v
Contents
Introduction vi
Chapter 1: Pale Ale 1
Chapter 2: Pale Lager 26
Chapter 3: Wheat, Steam, and Rauchbier 35
Chapter 4: Stout and Porter 44
Chapter 5: Bock and Dark Lager 78
Chapter 6: Dopplebock and Barleywine 82
Chapter 7: Herbal and Spiced Beer 90
Chapter 8: Fruit Flavored Beer 102
Chapter 9: Specialty Ales 116
Chapter 10: Mead and Other Beverages 128
Appendix A: Bibliography 148
Appendix B: Sources of Supplies 152
Appendix C: Beginners Guide to Homebrewing 168
.
PAGE vi
Introduction
The digest began back in 1988 with calls for a compiled book of reci-
pes first surfacing in Digest #77. Since then, there have been sever-
al pleas for a compiled source of recipes, and several offers to cre-
ate such a compilation. None have yet surfaced.
The recipes in this book are ordered by general categories, although
these are somewhat artificial and not always cohesive. For example,
Chapter 3 covers styles that do not fit neatly into another category,
yet bear little relation to each other---steam beer bears little rela-
tion to wheat beers. These styles were grouped together because there
were not enough of any one of these styles to warrant giving them
their own chapter. Chapters 7-10 are all made up of loosely-related
styles.
This recipe compilation will hopefully be a useful source of informa-
tion that serves you long and well. (If anybody wants to do volume 2
of this compilation, we stopped compiling recipes at issue #572).
In several of these recipes the authors did not fully explain the
process or did not mention steps and ingredients that theyassume home-
brewers know about---for example, several recipes do not tell you to
prime with 1/2 to 3/4 cup of corn sugar, even though that is common
practice among most homebrewers on the net. Most recipes are 5-gallon
batches unless otherwise specified. If you are unsure about how any
beer is produced, we suggest consulting a general homebrewing text
such as Charlie Papazian's Complete Joy of Homebrewing (a brief bibli-
ography is provided at the end of this book). One aspect of these
recipes that we did not make consistent is the authors' choice of
hops units. Many homebrewers still prefer to measure hops by the
ounce, while others prefer to use more exact measurements such as the
AAU, HBU, or IBU. These are all related to the amount of alpha acid
in the hops; basically, 1 ounce of hops with 1% alpha is 1 AAU. If
you use 2 ounces of Cascades hops with an alpha of 5.2%, then you are
adding 10.4 AAUs of hops. (See Miller's Complete Handbook of Home
Brewing for more information about hops units or the 1990 special hops
issue of Zymurgy magazine).
Cheers!
Mark Stevens and Karl Lutzen
.
CHAPTER 1: PALE ALE
Pale ales are one of the most popularly brewed styles among Homebrew
Digest subscribers. This chapter includes the substyles India Pale
Ale, and Bitter. The pale ale style is generally brewed with 2-row
pale malt for a full mash recipe, or with light extract for the more
basic recipes. The beer is generally characterized by a light yellow
or golden color, although some will range to a coppery color (espe-
cially among India Pale Ales) depending on the types and amounts of
specialty grains added as an adjunct. These styles are typically
well-hopped, usually with Fuggles, East Kent Goldings, or perhaps
Willamette varieties. Fermentation is carried out at warmer tempera-
tures, typically 60-70 degrees. For more information about the pale
ale style, see Terry Foster's Pale Ale, Fred Eckhardt's The Essentials
of Beer Style, (both available from the Association of Brewers) gener-
al beer texts such as Michael Jackson's World Guide to Beer.
1
.
Clara Bell
Author: Doug Roberts (dzzr@lanl.gov)
Digest: September 2, 1989, Issue #244
Ingredients:
7 pounds light, unhopped syrup
1 pound Cara-pils malt, cracked
1 pound light crystal malt, cracked
1-1/2 ounces Hallertauer hops pellets
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon citric acid
2-1/2 teaspoons yeast nutrient
2 tablespoons Irish moss
2 packs Munton & Fison yeast
Procedure:
Put cara-pils and crystal malt in 2 gallon pot with 170-180 degree
water for one hour, stir occasionally. Sparge into boiling pot with
enough water to bring volume to 3-1/2 gallons. Add syrup and 1 ounce
of hops. Boil one hour, adding Irish moss in last 1/2 hour and 1/2
ounce hops in last 10 minutes. Add salt, citric acid, and nutrient.
Put in primary with enough water to bring volume to 5 gallons. Pitch
yeast at about 75 degrees.
Comments:
This is simple, yet a little different from any of my previous batch-
es. Ingredients were ordered from Great Fermentations of Santa Rosa---
great company...good stuff and two-day delivery.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: 1.059
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
2
.
Dry Ale
Author: Martin Lodahl (pacbell!pbmoss!mal@hplabs.HP.COM)
Digest: July 18, 1989, Issue #203
Ingredients:
3 pounds light Scottish malt extract
3 pounds 2-row pale malt
9 AAU Kent Goldings hops
Edme ale yeast
1 teaspoon gelatin
1 ounce PolyClar-AT
1 cup corn sugar (priming)
Procedure:
This beer was made using the small-scale mash procedure described by
Miller in The Complete Handbook of Home Brewing.
Comments:
This beer had an unpleasant "dry" feeling to it and left me thirsty.
Possibly my sparging procedure could be at fault with too much hot
water being passed over the grains. It is also possible that the
yeast was too attenuative or that the fermentation temperatures were
too high (ambient temperature fluctuated between 70 and 90 degrees).
Method: Partial mash
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
3
.
Yeast Test Recipe
Author: Jeff Casey (casey@alcvax.pfc.mit.edu)
Digest: October 8, 1990, Issue #512
Ingredients:
6.6 pounds M&F light unhopped malt extract
3/4 pound M&F light unhopped spray
3/4 pound crystal malt
1 teaspoon gypsum
2 ounces clusters hops (boil)
1/2 ounce cascades hops (finish)
ale yeast
Procedure:
This is a 7-gallon recipe. Steep crystal malt while bringing water to
a boil. Remove malt and add extract. Boil.
Comments:
This is a 7-gallon recipe that was divided into 7 1-gallon fermenters
for the purpose of testing different yeasts. Fermentation was carried
out at 75-85 degrees. Best results were obtained with Edme ale yeast
which was well-rounded and slightly sweet. Some diacetyl, but nice
balance. Whitbread ale yeast was lighter and crisper, but had a poor-
er head and some esters. CWE ale yeast was very dry but had a good
head and no esters---fermentation was frighteningly fast.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: varied
Secondary Ferment: N/A
4
.
Pale Ale
Author: Rob Bradley (bradley@dehn.math.nwu.edu)
Digest: September 26, 1990, Issue #504
Ingredients:
7-8 pounds English 2-row malt
1/2-1 pound crystal malt
3 ounces Fuggles hops (boil)
3/4 ounce Hallertauer hops (finish)
ale yeast
Procedure:
You'll get good yield and lots of flavor from English malt and a 1-
stage 150 degree mash. In the boil, I added the finishing hops in
increments: 1/4 ounce in last 30 minutes, 1/4 ounce in last 15 min-
utes, and 1/4 ounce at the end (steep 15 minutes) don't have to be
Fuggles; almost any boiling hops will do, I usually mix Northern
Brewer with Fuggles or Goldings (just make sure you get .12-.15 alpha)
Conversion will probably only take 60 minutes rather than 90. Depend-
ing on when you stop the mash your gravity may vary as high as 1.050.
That's a lot of body!
Comments:
This is a simple all-grain recipe for a good pale ale that lets the
beginner concentrate on the mashing process. Hallertauer may not be
traditional for ales, but neither is a modern piano for sonatas. But
I think Beethoven himself would have used one if he had one.
Method: Full mash (infusion)
Original Gravity: varies; up to 1.050
Final Gravity: varies; up to 1.020
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
5
.
Pale Ale
Author: Alex Jenkins (atj@mirror.tmc.com)
Digest: January 24, 1989, Issue #57
Ingredients:
5 pounds pale malt
1 pound crystal malt
1 teaspoon gypsum
3-1/2 pounds pale dry extract
1-1/3 pound light brown sugar
1 ounce Willamette hops (boil)
1-1/2 ounce Hallertauer hops
1 teaspoon Irish moss
1 ounce Clusters hops pellets
Red Star ale yeast
Procedure:
Mash pale malt, crystal malt, and gypsum in 2-3/4 gallons of 170
degree water; this should give initial heat of 155 degrees (pH 5.0).
Maintain temperature at 140-155 degrees for 2 hours. Sparge. To
wort, add extract and brown sugar. Boil with Willamette hops. After
15 minutes add Hallertauer and Irish moss. Dry hop with clusters and
steep. When cool, add wort to carboy and pitch yeast.
The posted recipe called for 4 pounds of dry extract with 2
cups reserved for priming. This seemed excessive and a good
way to get exploding bottles, so we reduced the amount of
extract to 3-1/2 pounds and assumed that standard priming
techniques would be used, maybe replacing corn sugar with
3/4 to 1 cup of malt extract.
--- Ed.
Comments:
Notice that I screwed up the hops: Clusters are for bittering, and
Willamette (or Fuggles) for aromatic.
Method: Partial mash
Original Gravity: 1.048
Final Gravity: 1.011
Primary Ferment: 23 days
Secondary Ferment: N/A
6
.
Too Sweet Ale
Author: Bill Pemberton (flash@virginia.edu)
Digest: April 13, 1990, Issue #398
Ingredients:
1/2 pound crystal malt
3.3 pounds unhopped amber extract
3.3 pounds unhopped light extract
1-1/2 ounce Northern Brewers hops (boil)
1/4 ounce Cascade hops (finish)
Whitbread ale yeast
Comments:
This produced a wonderful beer, except that it was just too sweet for
my likings. I shouldn't complain too much, all my friends thought it
was great! I tried several variation of this, and all worked out
well, but were too sweet for me. Several people suggested cutting
back on the crystal and I may try that. I have also tried sing a
lager yeast to create a steam beer.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
7
.
KGB Bitters
Author: Andy Wilcox (andy@mosquito.cis.ufl.edu)
Digest: May 9, 1990, Issue #415
Ingredients:
1 can Alexanders Sun Country pale malt extract
3.3 pounds Northwestern Amber malt extract
1/2 pound dark crystal malt
3 ounces CFJ-90 Fresh hops
1/4 teaspoon Irish moss
ale yeast
Procedure:
Start grains in brewpot with cool water. Remove when boil commences.
Add malt extract and 1-1/2 ounce of hops. Boil 1 hour. Strain out
boiling hops and add 1/2 ounce more hops and Irish moss. Boil 5 min-
utes. Remove from heat and add another 1/2 ounce of hops. Steep 10
minutes and cool. Strain wort into primary fermenter with cold water
to make 5 gallons. Add final 1/2 ounce of hops.
Comments:
Water was filtered with a simple activated carbon system. This seems
to make a big difference. Amateur judge commented, "Beautiful color.
A bit under carbonated. Great hop nose and finishes very clean. Good
balance with malt and hops, but lighten up on finishing hops a bit and
it's perfect. Very marketable."
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
8
.
Pale Ale #2
Author: Todd Enders
Digest: May 15, 1990, Issue #417
Procedure:
Recipe makes 2 gallons. Mash in 5 quarts water at 140 degrees, main-
tain temperature of 150-152 degrees for 2 hours. Mash out 5 minutes at
168 degrees. Sparge in 2-1/2 gallons at 160 degrees. Boil 90 min-
utes. Add boiling hops 45 minutes into boil.
Ingredients:
2-1/2 pounds pale ale malt
2/5 pound 80L crystal malt
1/2 ounce Perle hops (7.6 alpha) (boil)
1/2 ounce Perle hops (finish)
Wyeast #1028: London Ale
Method: Full mash
Original Gravity: 1.041
Final Gravity: 1.010
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
9
.
Pale After Math Ale
Author: Ken van Wyk (ken@oldale.pgh.pa.us)
Digest: May 16, 1990, Issue #418
Ingredients:
6.6 pounds American classic light extract
1 pound crystal malt
2 pounds British pale malt
3 ounces Fuggles leaf hops
1 ounce Cascade leaf hops
2 teaspoons gypsum
1/2 teaspoon Irish moss
1 pack MEV high-temperature British ale yeast
Procedure:
Mash grains at 155 degrees. Sparge with 170 degrees water. Boil,
adding extract and boiling hops; the hops were added in stages, 1
ounce at 50 minutes, 1 ounce at 30 minutes, and 1 ounce at 20 minutes.
The Cascade hops were sprinkled in over the last 10 minutes of the
boil.
Method: Partial mash
Original Gravity: 1.054
Final Gravity: 1.018
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
10
.
The Drive Pale Ale
Author: Dave Baer (dsbaer@Sun.COM)
Digest: February 13, 1989, Issue #73
Ingredients:
6.6 pounds light, unhopped malt extract
5 pounds light dry malt extract
2 cups corn sugar
3/4 cup medium crystal malt
1/4 cup black patent malt
3-3/4 ounce Cascade hops pellets (4.4 alpha)
1-1/5 ounce Willamette hops pellets (4.0 alpha)
Whitbread ale yeast
Procedure:
This is a 10-gallon recipe; cut ingredients in half for 5 gallons.
Steep grains in a mesh bag until water reaches boiling. Remove
grains. Follow standard extract brewing process, adding extract and
Cascade hops. I boiled the wort in an 8-gallon pot and added 4 gal-
lons of cold water. Pitch yeast at about 80 degrees. I fermented
this in a 20-gallon open container for 4 days, then racked to glass
carboys for 24 days.
Comments:
This is a pale ale recipe I used for my class. I used M&F pale ex-
tract and grains were for demonstration more than flavor. I suggest
doubling grain quantities if you want to get something out of them.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: 1.047
Final Gravity: 1.010
Primary Ferment: 4 days
Secondary Ferment: 24 days
11
.
Killer Party Ale
Author: A.E. Mossberg (aem@mthvax.miami.edu)
Digest: March 7, 1989, Issue #95
Ingredients:
2 cans Pilsner/Lager or American light malt
15 cups corn sugar
2 jars Lyle's golden syrup (22 oz.)
2-1/2 ounce Hallertauer hops
2 pounds flaked maize
1 pack BrewMagic
yeast
Procedure:
In 1 gallon water, boil malt, golden syrup, sugar and 1-1/2 ounce hops
for 8 minutes. Add remaining hops and boil another 2 minutes. Pour
into primary fermenter with 2 gallons water. Bring another gallon of
water to a boil and add flaked maize. Turn off heat and 1/3 pack of
BrewMagic. Let sit 10 minutes. Add another 1/3 pack of BrewMagic.
Let sit 10 more minutes. Strain maize into primary fermenter, and
rinse with cold water. Discard maize. Fill primary to 5 gallon mark.
Comments:
This recipe comes from Craig McTyre at Wine & Brew By You. The Lyle's
syrup is available in many grocery stores, usually located near the
pancake syrup. BrewMagic is some sort of yeast nutrient/additive. It
is available from Wine & Brew By You.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: 1.090
Final Gravity: 1.015
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
12
.
Summer Pale Ale
Author: Jackie Brown (Brown@MSUKBS.BITNET)
Digest: April 24, 1989, Issue #134
Ingredients:
8 pounds 2-row pale malt
1 pound Munich malt
1/2 cup dextrin malt
1 teaspoon gypsum
20 grams Nugget leaf hops (14 alpha)
15 grams Brambling leaf hops
pinch Irish moss
1 pack Edme ale yeast
Procedure:
Use the standard temperature-controlled mash procedure described in
Papazian. Use a 30 minute protein rest at 122 degrees, 20 minutes at
152 degrees, and 20 minutes at 158 degrees. Sparge with 4 gallons of
180 degree water. Boil 1 hour with Nugget hops. Add Irish moss in
last 10 minutes. Remove from heat and steep Brambling hops for 15
minutes. Cool wort and pitch.
Comments:
This ale is light in color, but full-bodied. If you want an amber
color, add a cup of caramel malt. I get a strong banana odor in most
of my ales (from the Edme I believe) which subsides after 2-3 weeks in
the bottle. If you don't have the capacity for 9 pounds of malt, you
could substitute some extract for the pale malt. Just thinking about
this makes me want to speed home and have a cool one.
Method: Full mash (decoction)
Original Gravity: 1.045
Final Gravity: 1.015
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
13
.
Perle Pale
Author: Doug Roberts (roberts%studguppy@lanl.gov)
Digest: March 15, 1990, Issue #378
Ingredients:
8 pounds Klages malt
1 pound flaked barley
1/2 pound toasted Klages malt
1/2 pound Cara-pils malt
1-1/2 ounce Perle hops (boil)
1/2 ounce Willamette hops (finish)
1 teaspoon gypsum
1/2 teaspoon Irish moss
14 grams Muntona ale yeast
Procedure:
The 1/2 pound of Klages malt was toasted in a 350 degree oven for 10
minutes. The mash was done using Papazian's temperature-controlled
method. The Perle hops equal 12.4 AAUs. The Willamette hops are
added after the boil, while chilling with an immersion chiller. The
yeast is rehydrated in 1/2 cup of 100 degree water.
Comments:
Perle pale was a beautiful light-golden ale, crisp yet full-bodied.
Method: Full mash
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
14
.
Mild Ale
Author: Darryl Richman (darryl@ism.isc.com)
Digest: March 5, 1990, Issue #371
Ingredients:
5 pounds Klages 2-row malt
4 pounds mild malt
2 pounds crystal malt (80L)
1/2 pound English pale malt
1/2 pound flaked barley
1/5 pound chocolate malt
1 ounce Willamette leaf hops (5.9% alpha)
1/8 ounce Cascade leaf hops (6.7% alpha)
1/8 ounce Eroica leaf hops (13.4% alpha)
1/2 ounce Willamette leaf hops (finish)
yeast
Procedure:
Water was treated with 2 gm each MgSO4, CaSO4, KCl, and CaCO3. Mash
grains in 3 gallons of water at 134 degrees. Hold 120-125 degrees for
55 minutes, raise to 157 degrees for 55 minutes. Raise to 172 degrees
for 15 minutes. Sparge with 5-3/4 gallons water. Boil 15 minutes. Add
bittering hops. Boil 55 minutes. Add finishing hops and boil 5 more
minutes. Chill and pitch with Sierra Nevada or Wyeast Northern White-
shield yeast. Ferment and bottle or keg.
Comments:
This is the only beer I can make 10 gallons of on my stove. I mash and
boil 5 gallons and then add 5 gallons of cooling water. The Wyeast
makes this a beer a bit sweet and rich beyond its gravity. Emphasis is
on the malt, with crystal and chocolate bringing up the rear; hops
were noticeable, but not in the foreground.
Method: Full mash (decoction)
Original Gravity: 1.031
Final Gravity: 1.011
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
15
.
India Pale Ale
Author: Todd Enders (enders@plains.nodak.edu)
Digest: April 19, 1990, Issue #402
Ingredients:
2-1/2 pounds pale malt
5 ounces crystal malt (80L)
5.5 AAUs bittering hops (1 ounce of 5.5% Willamette)
1/2 ounce finishing hops (Willamette)
Wyeast #1028: London ale
Procedure:
This is a 2-gallon batch. Mash in 5 quarts 132 degrees (140 degree
strike heat). Adjust mash pH to 5.3. Boost temperature to 150 degrees.
Mash 2 hours, maintaining temperature at 146-152 degrees. Mash out 5
minutes at 168 degrees. Sparge with 2 gallons of 165 degree water.
Boil 90 minutes, adding hops in last hour. Add finishing hops 5 min-
utes before end of boil. Ferment at 70 degrees, 6 days in primary, 4
days in secondary.
Comments:
If you haven't tried mashing yet, you really should. You can start
small and grow as equipment and funds permit. Also, by starting
small, you don't have a large sum invested in equipment if you decide
mashing isn't for you.
Method: Full mash
Original Gravity: 1.043
Final Gravity: 1.008
Primary Ferment: 6 days
Secondary Ferment: 4 days
16
.
Special Bitter
Author: Chuck Cox (bose!synchro!chuck@uunet.UU.NET)
Digest: December 18, 1990, Issue #556
Ingredients:
15 pounds pale unhopped dry extract
2 pounds crystal malt
1 pound flaked barley
1 pound pale malt
1 teaspoon gypsum
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Irish moss
4-1/2 HBUs Fuggles hops (boil)
14 HBUs Northern Brewer hops
5 HBUs Cascade hops (boil)
1/2 ounce Fuggles hops (finish)
1 ounce East Kent Goldings hops
26 grams Fuggles hops (dry hop)
40 grams East Kent Goldings (dry)
Young's yeast culture
beechwood chips
Procedure:
This is a 10-gallon partial mash recipe. Use standard procedures,
brewing about 7 gallons of wort in a 10-gallon kettle, followed by a
7-gallon primary and 2 5-gallon secondaries, then keg (or bottle)
Method: Partial mash
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
17
.
1990 Christmas Ale
Author: Chuck Cox (bose!synchro!chuck@uunet.UU.NET)
Digest: December 18, 1990, Issue #556
Ingredients:
9.9 pounds pale unhopped liquid extract
6.6 pounds liquid wheat extract
3 pounds honey
1 pound flaked barley
1 pound pale malt
1 pound malted wheat
10 grams orange peel
1 teaspoon gypsum
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Irish moss
14 HBUs Chinook hops (boil)
7 HBUs Northern Brewer (boil)
1 ounce Kent Goldings (finish)
1 ounce Cascade hops (finish)
Young's yeast culture
Procedure:
This is a 9-gallon partial mash recipe. Use standard procedures,
brewing about 7 gallons of wort in a 10-gallon kettle, followed by a
7-gallon primary and 2 5-gallon secondaries, then keg (or bottle)
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
18
.
Decent Extract Pale Ale
Author: Florian Bell (florianb%tekred.cna.tek.com)
Digest: February 11, 1989, Issue #72
Ingredients:
7 pounds Steinbart's amber ale extract
1 pound cracked crystal malt
1/8 pound cracked roasted malt
2 ounces Cascade or other strong hops
1/2 ounce Kent Goldings hops
yeast
Procedure:
Add cracked grains to 2 gallons cold water. Bring to boil and prompt-
ly strain out grains. Add extract and Cascade hops. Boil 30 minutes.
Add Kent Goldings hops in last five minutes.
Comments:
This brew results in a chill haze, which I don't pay any attention to
since I don't care (I don't wash my windshield very often either) I am
so impressed with this ale that I can't seem to make enough of it.
can't seem to make enough of it. This is a good pale ale, but not an
excellent pale ale. It lacks sweetness and aroma.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
19
.
Hot Weather Ale
Author: Florian Bell (florianb%tekred.cna.tek.com)
Digest: April 19, 1989, Issue #132
Ingredients:
3 pounds pale malted barley
3 pounds Blue Ribbon malt extract
2 ounces Willamette hops
1/2 ounce Kent Goldings hops
1 pack Red Star ale yeast
1 cup corn sugar (priming)
Procedure:
Mash the 3 pounds of plain malted barley using the temperature-step
process for partial grain recipes described in Papazian's book. Boil
30 minutes, then add the Blue Ribbon extract (the cheap stuff you get
at the grocery store) Add Willamette hops and boil another 30 minutes.
Add Kent Goldings in last 5 minutes. When at room temperature, pitch
yeast. Ferment at about 68 degrees using a 2-stage process.
Comments:
This turned out refreshing, light in body and taste, with a beautiful
head (I used 1 cup corn sugar in priming) goodness of the outcome.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
20
.
Really Incredible Ale
Digest: T. Andrews (ki4pv!tanner@bikini.cis.ufl.edu)
Author: August 11, 1989, Issue #225
Ingredients:
5-7 pounds pale malt
3 pounds crystal malt
2 pounds wheat
2 ounces Northern Brewer hops
1 ounce Hallertauer hops
1/2 ounce Cascade hops
yeast
Procedure:
Mash all grains together. Add Northern Brewer at beginning of boil.
Boil 90 minutes. During last 1/2 hour, add the Hallertauer hops. In
last 15 minutes add the Cascade.
Comments:
The wheat helps make a beer very suitable to a warm climate. This has
been a hot summer; it has topped 100 degrees (in the shade) several
times.
Method: Full mash (infusion)
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
21
.
British Bitter
Author: Fred Condo (fredc@pro-humanist.cts.com)
Digest: October 31, 1990, Issue #528
Ingredients:
5 to 6 pounds Alexander's pale malt extract
1/2 pound crystal malt, crushed
10 ounces dextrose (optional)
1-1/4 ounces Cascade hops (boil)
1/4 ounce Cascade hops (finish)
Munton & Fison ale yeast
corn sugar for priming
Procedure:
Steep crystal malt and sparge twice. Add extract and dextrose and
bring to boil. Add Cascade hops and boil 60 minutes. In last few
minutes add remaining 1/4 ounce of Cascade (or dry hop, if desired).
Chill and pitch yeast.
Comments:
This really shouldn't be too highly carbonated. This is a well-
balanced brew with good maltiness and bitterness. It was good when
fresh, albeit cloudy, but this is okay in a pale ale. After 2 months
of refrigeration, it is crystal clear and still delicious! (And
there's only 1 bottle left.) By the way, Munton & Fison yeast is very
aggressive---fermentation can be done in 24-72 hours. I hope you like
this as much as I do.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: 1.058
Final Gravity: 1.022
Primary Ferment: 4 days
Secondary Ferment: N/A
22
.
Six Cooks Ale
Author: Jeffrey Blackman (blackman@hpihouz.cup.hp.com)
Digest: October 31, 1990, Issue #528
Ingredients:
10 pounds English pale malt (DME) extract
4 ounces Cascade hops pellets (boil)
2 ounces Hallertauer hops pellets (finish)
4 teaspoons gypsum
2 packs Edme ale yeast
1-1/2 cups corn sugar (priming)
Procedure:
This recipe makes 10 gallons. Bring 3 gallons of water to a boil. Add
4 teaspoons of gypsum, four ounces of hops, and 10 pounds of the DME
extract. Bring to boil. Boil 45 minutes. Add 2 ounces of Haller-
tauer hops in last 1 minute of boil. Strain wort into large vessel
containing additional 7 gallons of water (we used a 55 gallon trash
can). Allow wort to cool and siphon into 5-gallon carboys. Add yeast.
Caveat Brewor:
Trash cans are generally not food-grade plastic, digest
wisdom calls for avoiding non-food-grade plastic. Brewer
discretion is advised.
-Ed.
Comments:
This is more hoppy than most of the Old Style/Schaefer persuasion seem
to prefer. If you think its too much, cut back.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: 1.030
Final Gravity: 1.007
Primary Ferment: 3 weeks
Secondary Ferment: N/A
23
.
Bass Ale
Author: Rob Bradley (bradley@math.nwu.edu)
Digest: October 31, 1990, Issue #528
Ingredients:
6-7 pounds pale malt (2-row)
1 pound crystal malt
1 pound demarara or dark brown sugar
1 ounce Northern Brewer hops (boil)
1 ounce Fuggles hops (boil 30 min.)
1/2 ounce Fuggles hops (finish)
ale yeast
Procedure:
This is an all-grain recipe---follow the instructions for an infusion
mash in Papazian, or another text. The Northern Brewer hops are boiled
for a full hour, the Fuggles for 1/2 hour, and the Fuggles finishing
hops after the wort is removed from the heat, it is then steeped 15
minutes.
Comments:
I'm a hophead (as you may have guessed). Purists may object to brown
sugar in beer, but a careful tasting of Bass reveals brown sugar or
molasses in the finish---not as strong as in Newcastle, but present.
British malt, in particular, can easily stand up to a bit of sugar,
both in flavor and in gravity.
Method: Full mash (infusion)
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
24
.
Carp Ale
Author: Gary Mason (mason@habs11.enet.dec.com)
Digest: November 2, 1990, Issue #529
Ingredients:
3 pounds Munton & Fison light DME
3 pounds M&F amber DME
1 pound crystal malt
2.6 ounces Fuggles hops (4.7% alpha= 12.22 AAU)
1 ounce Kent Goldings hops (5.9% alpha = 5.9 AAU)
pinch Irish moss
1 pack Brewer's Choice #1098 (British ale yeast)
Procedure:
Break seal of yeast ahead of time and prepare a starter solution about
10 hours before brewing.
Bring 2 gallons water to boil with crushed crystal malt. Remove crys-
tal when boil starts. Fill to 6 gallons and add DME. After boiling
10 minutes, add Fuggles. At 55 minutes, add a pinch of Irish moss. At
58 minutes, add Kent Goldings. Cool (I used an immersion chiller) to
about 80 degrees. Pitch yeast and ferment for about a week. Rack to
secondary for 5 days. Keg.
Comments:
This is based on Russ Schehrer's Carp Ale from the 1986 Zymurgy spe-
cial issue. The beer has a light hops flavor and could use some work
on the mouth feel. It is also a bit cloudy.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: 1.016
Primary Ferment: 7 days
Secondary Ferment: 4 days
25
.
CHAPTER 2: PALE LAGER
Lagers do not seem to be brewed by Homebrew Digest subscribers as much
as other styles, probably because adequate refrigeration is not avail-
able, it takes longer to ferment and age, and the techniques are not
as straightforward as ale brewing. Still, lagers are the predominant
styles in many countries, such as the United States and Germany, so
homebrewers who want to emulate commercial beers usually find them-
selves brewing lagers.
Chapter 2 includes the pilsner style, as well as any of the continen-
tal or American style pale lagers. The beer is typically brewed from
a 6-row malt and hopped with some of the more delicate hops, such as
Hallertauer or Saaz. Fermentation typically takes place at lower temp-
eratures, around 40 degrees.
For more information about the pale ale style, see David Miller's
Continental Pilsner, Fred Eckhardt's The Essentials of Beer Style,
(both available from the Association of Brewers), or one of the gen-
eral beer texts such as Michael Jackson's World Guide to Beer.
26
.
German Malz Bier
Author: Doug Roberts (dzzr@lanl.gov)
Digest: January 16, 1991, Issue #566
Ingredients:
7 pounds light unhopped syrup
2 pounds Cara-pils malt
2 pounds light crystal malt
1 pound extra rich crystal malt
1/2 ounce Hallertauer (5.0% alpha)
1 ounce Willamette (4.5 alpha)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon citric acid
1 teaspoon yeast nutrient
1 tablespoon Irish moss
Edme ale yeast
Procedure:
Mash cara-pils and crystal malt for 2 hours in 140 degree water.
Sparge to make 4 gallons. Add syrup and Hallertauer hops. Boil 60
minutes, adding Irish moss in last 30 minutes. Decant to primary,
adding enough water to make 5 gallons. Add salt, citric acid, yeast
nutrient, and dry hop with Willamette hops.
Comments:
A year or so ago I went to a party where the host had about 20 dif-
ferent types of good beer. One was a German malz bier that was deli-
cious! It has a wonderful sweet, malty, full-bodied flavor. Working
on the assumption that its body is achieved with dextrin and crystal
malt, I cooked up this recipe. The intent is to have all or most of
the dextrin and caramelized maltose remain after fermentation for the
malz taste and body.
Method: Partial mash
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
27
.
Munich Style Lager
Author: Norm Hardy (polstra!norm@uunet.UU.NET)
Digest: October 11, 1990, Issue #515
Ingredients:
7 pounds Klages malt
3 pounds Vienna malt
6 ounces pearl barley
1-1/2 ounces Hallertauer leaf hops
1/2 ounce Hallertauer hops (finish)
Wyeast #2206
Procedure:
Soak the pearl barley overnight in the refrigerator, mix it into a
starchy glue using a blender. Mash the pearl barley with the grains.
Boil 1-1/2 ounces of Hallertauer with the wort. Add 1/4 ounce of fin-
ishing hops in last 10 minutes and steep 1/4 ounce after boil is com-
plete. Pitch yeast at about 76 degrees.
I put the fermenter in fridge for 23 days, then racked to secondary
for another 49 days before bottling.
Comments:
This is a wonderful Munich-style lager that I would like to think
rivals Andechs (I aim high).
Method: Full mash
Original Gravity: 1.052
Final Gravity: 1.015
Primary Ferment: 23 days
Secondary Ferment: 49 days
28
.
Lager
Author:Doug (dreger@seismo.gps.caltech.edu)
Digest: October 5, 1990, Issue #511
Ingredients:
3.3 pounds Northwest malt extract
1 pound light dry malt
1/2 pound Munich malt
2 pounds Klages malt
1 ounce Hallertauer hops (5.1 alpha)
1/4 ounce Nugget hops (11.0 alpha)
1 ounce Hallertauer hops (finish)
Wyeast #2042: Danish
Procedure:
Start yeast ahead of time. Mash Munich and Klages malts together.
Sparge. Add extract and boiling hops. Boil one hour. Add finishing
hops. Chill to 75-80 degrees. Pitch yeast. When airlock shows signs
of activity (about 6 hours) refrigerator at 42 degrees. After one
week, rack to secondary and ferment at 38 degrees for two more weeks.
Bottle or keg.
Comments:
This beer tastes great and is very clean. There are, however, two
things I will do next time: add more bitterness (perhaps 10-11 HBUs),
and second, add more malt.
Method: Partial mash
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: 1 week
Secondary Ferment: 2 weeks
29
.
B.W. Lager
Author: Alex Jenkins (atj@mirror.tmc.com)
Digest: January 24, 1989, Issue #57
Ingredients:
7 pounds cracked lager malt
5 pounds amber dry malt extract
1 teaspoon gypsum
2500 mg ascorbic acid
2 ounces Talisman leaf hops
1 teaspoon Irish moss
1/2 ounce Hallertauer leaf hops
1 ounce Willamette hops pellets
Red Star lager yeast
Procedure:
Add grain to 2-1/2 gallons of 170 degree water giving an initial heat
of 155 degrees and a pH of 5.3. Maintain temperature at 130-150
degrees for 2 hours. Sparge. Bring to boil. Add extract, and
Talisman hops. In last 20 minutes add Irish moss. In last 10 minutes
add Hallertauer hops. Strain wort and cool. Add Willamette pellets
for aroma. Pitch yeast.
Comments:
Tastes great, but low alcohol according to the measurements. Nice
amber lager.
Method: Partial mash
Original Gravity: 1.029
Final Gravity: 1.020
Primary Ferment: 30 days
Secondary Ferment: N/A
30
.
Lager
Author: Alex Jenkins (atj@mirror.tmc.com)
Digest: January 24, 1989, Issue #57
Ingredients:
7 pounds cracked lager malt
1250 mg ascorbic acid
3.3 pounds light unhopped John Bull malt extract
1-1/2 ounce Northern Brewer hops pellets
1 ounce Talisman leaf hops
1 teaspoon Irish moss
1 ounce Willamette hops pellets
Red Star lager yeast
Procedure:
Add grain to 2-1/2 gallons 170 degree water giving initial heat of 155
degrees. Maintain temperature for two hours. Sparge and add malt
extract. Bring to boil. Add Northern Brewer hops, Talisman hops, and
Irish moss in last 20 minutes of boil. Dry hop with Willamette pel-
lets and cool. Add water to make 5 gallons and pitch yeast.
Comments:
Higher gravity than previous recipe (B.W. Lager) reflecting a more
effective mash. On day 2 of ferment the bubbler got clogged and was
replace with blow tube. The resulting beer was fairly amber, not too
sweet, with a certain dryness in the aftertaste.
Method: Partial mash
Original Gravity: 1.046
Final Gravity: 1.018
Primary Ferment: 25 days
Secondary Ferment: N/A
31
.
Twelfth Lager
Author: Alex Jenkins (atj@mirror.tmc.com)
Digest: January 24, 1989, Issue #57
Ingredients:
10 pounds lager grain
4000 mg ascorbic acid
1 pound light dry malt extract
9 ounces Chinese yellow lump sugar
1 ounce Talisman hops (leaf)
1 ounce Hallertauer hops pellets
1 teaspoon Irish moss
1 ounce Cascade hops
Red Star ale yeast
Procedure:
Add grain to 3 gallons of 170 degree water giving an initial heat of
155 degrees. Mash at 130-155 degrees for 2 hours. Sparge and add ex-
tract and Chinese lump sugar. Boil. In last 20 minutes add Talisman
hops. In last 10 minutes add Hallertauer hops and Irish moss.
Strain. Add Cascade hops and steep. Strain into fermenter when cool
and pitch yeast.
Comments:
Slightly hazy and very light colored. This should not lack body.
Method: Partial mash
Original Gravity: 1.043
Final Gravity: 1.010
Primary Ferment: 35 days
Secondary Ferment: N/A
32
.
Pilsner
Author: Erik Henchal (henchal@wrair.ARPA)
Digest: April 15, 1989, Issue #128
Ingredients:
4 pound can Mountmellick hopped
light malt extract
3 ounces crystal malt
2 teaspoons gypsum
1/4 ounce Saaz hops (boil)
1/2 ounce Saaz hops (finish)
Wyeast #2007
Procedure:
This recipe makes 5-1/2 gallons. Make 2-quart starter for yeast.
Steep crystal malt at 170 degrees for 20 minutes in brew water.
Remove grains. Boil extract and boiling hops for 75 minutes. Add
finishing hops in last 10 minutes. Conduct primary fermentation at
47-49 degrees for 3 weeks. Lager for 4 weeks at 30 degrees.
Comments:
This recipe has produced one of the finest pilsners I have ever made.
What could be simpler?
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: 3 weeks
Secondary Ferment: 4 weeks
33
.
Number 17
Author: John Watson (watson@pioneer.arc.nasa.gov)
Digest: November 21, 1990, Issue #541
Ingredients:
3.3 pounds plain light malt extract
2.2 pounds maltose
3/4 ounce Cascade hops (boil)
3/4 ounce Cascade hops (finish)
yeast, cultured from a
Sierra Nevada bottle
Procedure:
The maltose is a cheap rice-malt mix obtainable from oriental markets.
Boil malt, hops, and maltose in 2-1/2 gallons of cold water. In last
2 minutes, add the finishing hops. The yeast was cultured from a
bottle of Sierra Nevada pale ale. By the next day, the yeast did not
seem to start, so I added a packet of Vierrka lager yeast. Rack to
secondary after one week. After another week, prime with 3/4 cup corn
sugar and bottle.
Comments:
Color similar to any American lager. Tastes much better, very mellow.
The goal was to brew 5 gallons of beer while only spending $10. This
came to about $11. I'm not sure what drives me to such frugalness,
but having grown up with American beer, sometimes I would rather have
it with certain foods, like pizza.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: 1.038
Final Gravity: 1.006
Primary Ferment: 1 week
Secondary Ferment: 1 week
34
.
CHAPTER 3: WHEAT, STEAM AND RAUCHBIER
Wheat beers, steam beers, and rauchbier have no more in common than
stout and lambic, yet they are grouped because each is specialty style
of interest to digest subscribers, yet none is brewed so often that a
significant number of recipes exist in the digest archives.
The wheat beer style includes both the weisse, common in Berlin, and
the weizen, common in Munich. Weisse is the lighter of the two, with
lower starting gravities and a lower wheat to barley ratio (typically
1 to 4). Weizen is a fuller-bodied brew and will often contain equal
portions of wheat and barley malt. Hallertauer is often the predomin-
ant hops choice for wheat beer, but homebrewers regularly experiment
with traditionally English hops (such as Willamette) or some of the
younger U.S. strains. Steam beer is fermented with lager yeast at
warmer temperatures, and rauchbier shows a hint of smoke, derived from
either adjuncts such as Wright's Liquid Smoke, or from barbecuing the
malted barley.
For more information about these styles, see Fred Eckhardt's The
Essentials of Beer Style, (both available from the Association of
Brewers), or one of the general beer texts such as Michael Jackson's
World Guide to Beer.
35
.
Weizen? Why Not?
Author: Jason Goldman (jdg@hp-lsd)
Digest: February 16, 1990, Issue #359
Ingredients:
6 pounds Williams wheat extract
1 pound crystal malt
1/2 pound toasted barley
1 pound honey
2 ounces Cascades hops (boil)
1/2 ounce Cascades hops (finish)
1 package Wyeast wheat yeast
Procedure:
Make a 2-quart starter before brewing. Steep crystal and toasted
barley in 4 gallons water for 40 minutes (use grain bags to make this
easier). Add extract, honey and bittering hops. Boil wort for 1
hour. Remove from heat. Add finishing hops and steep 2 minutes.
Chill and pitch yeast. After 3 days, rack to secondary. Bottle after
8 days.
Comments:
This beer was a bit cloudy and should have some Irish moss. I'm not
really sure what the honey added to this beer (more experimentation is
in order). However, it turned out so well that I won't omit it in the
future. This was a very good extract-based recipe (it well nigh evap-
orated).
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: 1.050
Final Gravity: 1.012
Primary Ferment: 3 days
Secondary Ferment: 5 days
36
.
Ole Bottle Rocket
Author: Wayne Allen (wa%cadillac.cad.mcc.com@mcc.com)
Digest: January 31, 1990, Issue #348
Ingredients:
6 pounds light dry malt extract
1/2 pound toasted malt
3/4 ounce Northern Brewer hops pellets (boil)
1/4 ounce Northern Brewer hops pellets (finish)
1 pack lager yeast
Procedure:
Toast grains on cookie sheet in 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes.
Crush malt as you would grain. Put in 1-1/2 gallons water and bring
to boil. Strain out grain. Add extract and boiling hops. In last 2
minutes of boil add finishing hops. Add to enough water to make 5
gallons and pitch yeast.
Comments:
I've made many variations of steam beer, but simple ones like this
seem to turn out best, not to mention being easy to make. I usually
use more Northern Brewer than this, but then nobody will eat my chili
either.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
37
.
Rauchbier
Author: Ken Weiss (cckweiss@castor.ucdavis.edu)
Digest: May 18, 1990, Issue #420
Ingredients:
7 pounds light dry extract
1-1/2 teaspoons liquid smoke
1-1/2 ounce Tettnanger hops (boil)
1 ounce Tettnanger hops (finish)
1/2 teaspoon Irish moss
2 packs Red Star lager yeast
Procedure:
Boil extract, liquid smoke, and boiling hops in 2-3 gallons of water
for 45 minutes. Add Irish moss and finishing hops and boil 5 more
minutes. Strain into fermenter, add cold water to make 5 gallons,
pitch yeast. After 3 days rack to secondary. Allow to ferment an
additional 3-4 weeks.
Comments:
This is basically a nice light beer, but with a definite smoke after-
taste. Mainstream, but with a non-commercial twist.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: 3 days
Secondary Ferment: 3-4 weeks
38
.
Anchor Steam-Style Amber
Author: Clay Phipps (hplabs!garth!phipps)
Digest: June 21, 1990, Issue #444
Ingredients:
7 pounds John Bull plain light malt extract
1/4-1/2 pound crystal malt
2 ounces Northern Brewer hops (11 alpha) (boil)
1 ounce Cascade hops (5.6 alpha) (finish)
2 packs lager yeast
Procedure:
Pour 1 gallon water into brewpot. Crush grains and add to brewpot.
Bring to boil. Remove grains. Add malt extract. Add 1/3 of the
boiling hops. After 20 minutes, add another 1/3 of hops. After
another 20 minutes add the last 1/3 of hops. After another 20 min-
utes, remove from heat and add finishing hops. Cover wort. Pour 3
gallons cold water into fermenter. Strain wort into fermenter along
with enough water to make 5-1/2 gallons. Pitch yeast and put in blow-
off tube or airlock.
Comments:
This recipe was offered in 1986 by the now-defunct Home Brewer shop
in San Jose, California, as the best approximation to Anchor Steam
possible with home-brew-scale extract brewing.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
39
.
Weizen
Author: Darryl Richman (darryl@ism780c.isc.com)
Digest: June 26, 1989, Issue #186
Ingredients:
14 pounds wheat malt
8 pounds Munich malt
6 pounds 2-row malt
90 grams Hersbrucker hops (3.4% alpha)
10 grams calcium carbonate
Sierra Nevada yeast
Procedure:
This is a 15-gallon batch. Our beer was 50% malted wheat, 30% Munich,
and 20% 2-row malt. Medium soft water was used with the addition of
10 grams CaCO4. Mash with 1-1/4 gallons water per pound of grain with
rests at 120 degrees (1-1/2 hours), 135 degrees for 45 minutes, 148
degrees for 30 minutes, and 156 degrees until converted. 172 degrees
for 15 minutes. We took our time with the sparge: 20 minutes to set-
tle in the lauter tun, at least 30 minutes of recycling, and 1-1/2
hours to sparge. We cut it off at a gravity of 1.015 because we
weren't getting sweetness, just grainy notes.
Comments:
The hot break in the boil was the most unbelievable thing I've ever
seen. It looked like egg drop soup. We took out a sight glass and
grabbed a bit and the flocks were huge---as much as 1/2 inch in diam-
eter.
Method: Full mash (decoction)
Original Gravity: 1.055
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
40
.
Blow Me Away Holiday Ale
Author: Steve Conklin (...!uunet!ingr!b11!conk!steve)
Digest: December 8, 1989, Issue #319
Ingredients:
6 pounds William's Weizenmalt syrup
2 pounds dark DME
2-3/4 pounds buckwheat honey
1 pound crushed crystal malt
1/4 pound crushed chocolate malt
2-1/2 ounces Cascade hops (boil)
1-1/2 ounces Hallertauer hops 3.6 alpha (boil)
3/4 ounce Hallertauer hops (finish)
4 teaspoons whole allspice
1 teaspoon Irish moss
yeast
2/3 cup corn sugar (priming)
Steep grains in 2 gallons water while heating to boil. Remove grains.
Add extracts and honey. Boil 1 hour with boiling hops, add 1 teaspoon
Irish moss at 30 minutes. Simmer allspice in water for 3 minutes,
remove allspice and add water to primary. After fermenting, prime
with corn sugar and bottle.
This beer turned out very well. It has just a hint of the allspice,
more in the aroma than the flavor, and is quite sweet tasting. There
is a slight bitter hops aftertaste, but I think that if it were any
less bitter, the sweetness would be overpowering. This beer will bring
color to your cheeks. The spice can be omitted with no great loss.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: 1.090
Final Gravity: 1.025
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
41
.
Wheat Amber
Author: Marc San Soucie (wang!mds@uunet.UU.NET)
Digest: July 1, 1989, Issue #191
Ingredients:
1 can Kwoffit Bitter kit (hopped extract)
3 pounds light dry malt extract
1 pound crystal malt
1/2 pound wheat malt
Fuggles leaf hops
Kwoffit yeast
Procedure:
Steep the crystal and wheat malts. Boil the resulting mixture with
the Kwoffit kit and the light extract. Add a small amount (up to 1/2
ounce) of the Fuggles hops in the last minute of the boil.
Comments:
The result is extravagantly tasty---very rich and full-bodied,
strongly hopped but not tart. I am quickly becoming a believer in the
value of a little wheat malt for adding flavorful body. It seems to
work very well with crystal malt. Body, crispness, sweetness, hoppi-
ness...heaven.
Method:
Original Gravity:
Final Gravity:
Primary Ferment:
Secondary Ferment:
42
.
Not-So-Sweet Beer
Author: William Pemberton (flash@virginia.edu)
Digest: April 30, 1990, Issue #408
Ingredients:
6.6 pounds M&F amber extract
1/4 pound toasted barley
1/4 pound crystal malt
1-3/4 ounces Northern Brewer hops
Vierka lager yeast
Procedure:
Steep toasted and crystal malts. Boil wort with hops for 45 minutes.
Chill and pitch. Age in carboy for 2 weeks.
Comments:
This was a steam beer that turned out really well. It hasn't aged
very long, but I am quite happy with the results.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
43
.
CHAPTER 4: STOUT AND PORTER
Stout and porter are the most popular styles of beer brewed by digest
subscribers, as evidenced by the number of recipes in this chapter.
Porter is the older of the two styles, dating back to the early 18th
century. It is a dark---almost black---brew characterized by a roast
barley flavor and a fairly high hopping rate. It is typically brewed
to a starting gravity of about 1.050. Stout is a thicker, heartier
version of porter that is usually placed in either a dry or a sweet
subcategory. The sweet stout typically contains unfermentable sugars,
such as lactose, added. Russian Imperial stouts are significantly
heavier and stronger than either of the other two substyles. Typical
stouts are brewed to a starting gravity of about 1.060 while Imperial
stouts are brewed to starting gravities in excess of 1.100.
For more information about these styles, see Fred Eckhardt's The
Essentials of Beer Style, (both available from the Association of
Brewers), or one of the general beer texts such as Michael Jackson's
World Guide to Beer.
44
.
Oatmeal Stout
Author: Patrick Stirling (pms@sfsun.West.Sun.COM)
Digest: January 29, 1991, Issue #572
Ingredients:
8 pounds amber malt extract
1/2 pound black patent malt
1/2 pound roast barley
1/2 pound chocolate malt
1 pound steel cut oats
2 ounces Eroica hops (boil)
1 ounce Fuggles hops (finish)
Whitbread ale yeast
Procedure:
Crack all grains (except oats), add to 2 gallons cold water, add oats,
bring to boil. Remove grains with strainer when boil is reached. Add
malt extract and boiling hops. Boil 60 minutes. Add finishing hops
and boil another minute or so. Remove from heat, let steep 15 min-
utes. Put 4-6 inches of ice in bottom of plastic fermenter and strain
wort into fermenter. Sparge. Bring volume to 5-1/4 gallons and mix.
The temperature should now be below 80 degrees. Rack to 6 gallon
glass carboy and pitch yeast. Bottle when fermentation is done (about
2-3 weeks).
Comments:
I really liked this beer! Dark and smooth with a creamy mouth feel.
No specific oatmeal flavor, but lots of body. Light brown head. The
only problem I had was that after about 3 months in the bottle it
developed a distinct off flavor. Could be from the ice, or maybe it
got oxygenated during bottling.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: 2-3 weeks
Secondary Ferment: N/A
45
.
Mackeson's Stout
Author: Marty Albini (hplabs!hpsd139!martya)
Digest: September 1, 1989; Issue #244
Ingredients:
5 pounds pale malt
1/2 pound crystal malt
1/2 pound roast black malt
1 pound soft brown sugar
1-3/4 ounce Fuggles hops
ale yeast
Procedure:
Treat the water with 1/4 ounce of magnesium sulfate and 1 ounce of
common salt. Crush all grains and mash in 2 gallons of water at 165
degrees for 2 hours. Sparge with 2 gallons of 170 degree water. A
few drops of caramel may be added at this stage if proper color has
not been sufficiently achieved. Boil 1-1/2 hours with hops and sugar.
Bring to 5 gallons, pitch yeast when at correct temperature. This
recipe can be brewed at an O.G. of 1.045 by adding 1/4 pound of dark
extract. May also add 1/4 pound of lactose in boil to provide a
slightly higher gravity and a sweeter palate.
Comments:
This recipe is based on one presented by Bob Pritchard in his book All
About Beer. He also advocates adding saccharine. In digest #245,
Doug Roberts said that he made this beer and did not like the results.
He said, "I will never again make a batch with brown sugar as an in-
gredient (a little honey or molasses, perhaps, but not caramelized
refined sugar). The recipe absolutely no resemblance to thick, rich,
sweet Mackeson. It was a thin, cidery sorry imitation."
Method: Full mash (infusion)
Original Gravity: 1.040
Final Gravity: 1.008-1.010
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
46
.
Mackeson's Stout
Author: Marty Albini (hplabs!hpsd139!martya)
Digest: September 1, 1989, Issue #244
Ingredients:
4 pounds dark malt extract
2 pounds soft brown sugar
8 ounces gravy browning (caramel)
1-3/4 ounces Fuggles hops
ale yeast
Procedure:
Boil hops in 20 pints of water for 1 hour. Strain and dissolve ex-
tract, caramel and sugar. Boil for 15 minutes. Bring to 5 gallons,
pitch yeast at correct temperature.
As in the previous recipe, this can be brought to a gravity of 1.045
by increasing the extract by 1/4 pound, and lactose may also be added.
A few drops of caramel may be added at this stage if sufficient color
has not been achieved. Saccharine can be added at bottling to increase
apparent sweetness.
Comments:
I haven't tried either of these, and I'm not about to go adding
saccharin to my beer, so you're on your own from here.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: 1.040
Final Gravity: 1.008-1.010
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
47
.
Basic Stout
Author: Marc San Soucie (mds@wang.wang.com)
Digest: August 3, 1989, Issue #219
Ingredients:
6-8 pounds dark malt extract
1/2-1 pound roasted barley
1/2-1 pound black patent malt
3-4 ounces bittering hops (e.g., Bullion)
small amount aromatic hops (optional)
ale yeast
Procedure:
To these skeleton ingredients I add other adjuncts, or remove things
if the wind blows from the south. A nice beer is made by using only
dark malt and black patent malt. A good strong bittering hops is key;
Bullion is lovely, as are Nugget or Chinook.
There are no appreciable differences between making stouts and other
ales, save the larger quantities of grain. Beware of 9-pound batches
as these can blow the lids off fermenters.
Comments:
There are scads of other additives that can lobbed into a stout with-
out damaging it. Almost anything works when making stout, but match-
ing your own taste preference is a matter of experimentation. Be pre-
pared though to give up drinking commercial bottled stouts, because
frankly, nothing can match the taste of homemade.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
48
.
Crying Over Spilt Stout
Author: Darryl Richman (darryl@ism.isc.com)
Digest: August 4, 1989, Issue #220
Ingredients:
22 pounds Klages 2-row malt
2 pounds roasted barley
2 pounds flaked barley
1/2 pound chocolate malt
4-5 ounces high alpha hops
(e.g., 4-1/4 ounce of 10% alpha Eroica)
yeast
Procedure:
This recipe makes 15 gallons. Give the beer a lot of temporary hard-
ness (e.g., lots of
carbonate).
Comments:
I would not leave flaked barley out of a stout. This is what gives
Guinness its creamy white head and rounds out the body. This beer
will have a rich creamy body with a balanced bitterness. It is very
dark, but not opaque. It makes a great substitute for your morning
coffee. The name refers to a huge tragedy. I was filling carboys and
rocking them to knock down the head. I must have rolled one over a
pebble because there came a distinct click noise and beer poured
everywhere.
Method: Full mash (infusion)
Original Gravity: 1.048
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
49
.
David Smith's Porter
Author: David Smith, posted by Russ Pencin (parcplace!pencin@Sun.COM)
Digest: August 9, 1989, Issue #223
Ingredients:
3.3 pounds John Bull dark extract
3.6 pounds light Australian dry malt
1 pound black patent malt (coarsely crushed)
2 ounces Cascade hops
1/2 ounce Tettnanger hops
1 ounce Tettnanger hops (finish)
1 pack Edme ale yeast
3/4 cup corn sugar (priming)
Procedure:
Add crushed black patent malt to 1-1/2 gallons cold water. Bring to
boil. (This recipe was made by boiling malt for 10 minutes, however,
conventional wisdom is to avoid boiling whole grains). Strain out
malt. Add extract and dry malt and Cascade and 1/2 ounce Tettnanger
hops. Boil 60 minutes. Add finishing hops and boil 1 minute. Remove
from heat and steep 1-2 minutes. Sparge into 3-1/2 gallons cold
water. Cool and pitch yeast.
Comments:
This recipe was modified from Papazian's "Sparrow Hawk Porter" and won
first place at the Santa Clara County Fair.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: 1.056 at 60 degrees
Final Gravity: 1.024
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
50
.
Mackeson Triple Stout Clone
Author: Doug Roberts (dzzr@lanl.gov)
Digest: August 15, 1989, Issue #229
Ingredients:
7 pounds Australian light syrup
1 pound chocolate malt, cracked
1-1/2 pound black patent malt
12 ounces crystal malt, cracked
12 ounces lactose
2 ounces Kent Goldings leaf hops
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon citric acid
2-1/2 teaspoons yeast nutrient
ale yeast
Procedure:
Bring syrup and enough water to make 3 gallons to boil. Add crystal
malt. Boil 10 minutes. Add hops. Boil 5 minutes. Turn off heat.
Add chocolate and black patent malt in grain bag. Steep 10 minutes.
Sparge grain bag with 2 gallons boiling water. Add lactose. Pitch
yeast and ferment. When bottling, prime with malt extract.
Comments:
It took me three tries, but I finally got a batch that was closer to
the original Mackeson sweet stout than I could have hoped for. It was
wonderful! After aging about three months, it was as wonderfully
smooth, dark, and sweet as the real Mackeson. Maybe better.
Ingredients were obtained from Great Fermentations.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: 1.057
Final Gravity: 1.022
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: 5-6 weeks
51
.
Oatmeal Stout
Author: Patrick Stirling (pms@Corp.Sun.COM)
Digest: September 11, 1990, Issue #493
Ingredients:
8 pounds British amber extract
1/2 pound black patent malt
1/2 pound roasted barley
1/2 pound chocolate malt
1 pound steel cut oats
2 ounces Eroica hops (boil)
1 ounce Fuggles hops (finish)
Whitbread ale yeast
1/2 cup corn sugar (priming)
Procedure:
Crack grains using a rolling pin. Add grain and oats to 2 gallons
cold water. Bring to boil. Strain out grains. Add extract and
Eroica hops. Boil about 1 hour. Add Fuggles and boil an additional 2
minutes. Steep 15 minutes. Sparge through sieve over ice. Mix.
Rack to 7-gallon carboy and pitch yeast. Bottle when fermentation is
complete (about 1 week).
Comments:
This was one of my best beers yet. Black, smooth and creamy. The
oatmeal doesn't add a very pronounced flavor; I think it rather con-
tributes to the creaminess and smoothness, which is becoming more
pronounced as the beer ages. It has a fairly dark brown head, presum-
ably from roasted barley---creamy with small bubbles.
This recipe was derived from several posted by Jay H. in digest #459.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: 1.062
Final Gravity: 1.015
Primary Ferment: 1 week
Secondary Ferment: N/A
52
.
Halloween Stout
Author: Alex Jenkins (atj@mirror.tmc.com)
Digest: January 24, 1989, Issue #57
Ingredients:
5 pounds pale malt
1 pound crystal malt
1 pound chocolate malt
3.3 pounds John Bull unhopped dark malt extract
1 ounce Clusters hops pellets
1 ounce Hallertauer leaf hops
1 tablespoon Irish moss
1/2 ounce Willamette hops pellets
2 packs Red Star ale yeast
Procedure:
Mash malts in 2-1/2 gallons of 170 degree water; 154 degrees, ph 5.2,
maintain at 140-150 degrees for 90 minutes. (Ending pH was 4.8.).
Sparge and bring to boil. Add dark extract. Add Clusters and
Hallertauer hops 20 minutes into boil. Add Irish moss after another
10 minutes. Add Willamette hops in last 15 minutes. Cool wort and
add to carboy. Pitch yeast. Set carboy in cool basement with blow
tube. On second day, replace blow tube with airlock. Bottled after
29 days.
Method: Partial mash
Original Gravity: 1.044
Final Gravity: 1.014
Primary Ferment: 29 days
Secondary Ferment: N/A
53
.
Cream of Oats Stout
Author: Glenn Colon-Bonet (gcb@hpfigcb.hp.com)
Digest: May 4, 1990, Issue #412
Ingredients:
6 pounds Klages 2-row pale malt
1/2 pound Dextrin malt
1-1/8 pound rolled oats
1/2 pound crystal malt
1/2 pound chocolate malt
1/4 pound roasted barley
1 ounce Clusters boiling hops (7.4 alpha)
1/2 ounce Cascade hops
10 ounces lactose
1/2 teaspoon Irish moss
Wyeast #1007: German ale
Procedure:
Mash in 3 quarts cold water. Raise temperature to 153 degrees and
hold until iodine test indicates complete conversion. Transfer to
lauter tun and sparge to yield 7 gallons. Boil 1 hour, adding boiling
hops. Add finishing hops and Irish moss in last 10 minutes. Sparge,
cool and pitch yeast.
Comments:
Very smooth, silky mouth feel. Great flavor, nice sweetness with mild
roasted malt flavors. Somewhat thin for style. Will use ale malt
next time. Could also use more dextrin and pale malt and possibly
mash at higher temperature. Overall, a very nice beer!
Method: Full mash (infusion)
Original Gravity: 1.040
Final Gravity: 1.015
Primary Ferment: 7 days
Secondary Ferment: 3 weeks
54
.
Russian Empirical Stout
Author: Rob Bradley (bradley@dehn.math.nwu.edu)
Digest: May 15, 1990, Issue #417
Ingredients:
5-1/2 pounds 2-row pale malt
1 pound caramel malt
1/4 pound chocolate malt
1/4 pound black patent malt
4-1/2 pounds diastatic malt extract
2-1/2 ounces Fuggles hops
1/4 ounce Chinook hops
1 teaspoon Irish moss
Leigh Williams Yeast
Pasteur champagne yeast
1/4 cup corn sugar (priming)
Procedure:
This will yield about 3-1/2 gallons at a density of 1106. Mash grains
using infusion method for about 1 hour. Boil two hours with all hops
added---that's right, no finishing hops. Cool and pitch Williams
yeast. Ferment for 4 days then rack to glass jugs. Rack again on
24th day. Add champagne yeast. Let ferment another 4 months.
Bottle.
Comments:
After two years this beer showed a little oxidation, but by and large
it was till in excellent shape. Viscous and black with light carbona-
tion and a fine-beaded medium-brown head, it still had good balance,
although the hop bitterness had faded with time to give predominance
to the dark malts. It was bittersweet and almost unbelievably long in
the finish.
Method: Full mash (infusion)
Original Gravity: 1.106
Final Gravity: 1.032
Primary Ferment: 4 days
Secondary Ferment: 24 days + 4 months
55
.
Oatmeal Wheat Stout
Author: Don Wegeng (Wegeng.Henr@Xerox.COM)
Digest: March 10, 1989, Issue #95
Ingredients:
3.3 pounds Edme Irish stout extract
3.3 pounds Edme light beer extract
3 pounds pale, 2-row malt
2 pounds crystal malt
1 pound wheat malt
1 pound old-fashion oatmeal
2-1/2 cups roasted barley
4 cups black patent malt
1 pack Edme ale yeast
1 stick brewers licorice
2 ounces Hallertauer leaf hops
1 ounce Tettnanger leaf hops
1/2 teaspoon Irish moss
1 teaspoon diastatic enzyme powder
Procedure:
Crush pale and crystal malt. Loosely crush black patent malt. Place
oatmeal in cheesecloth. Mash all except 2 cups of the black patent
malt for 1-1/2 hours. Add diastatic enzyme. Sparge and begin boil.
Add extracts and licorice. After 15 minutes of boil, add 1 ounce
Tettnanger and continue boil. After another 15 minutes, add 1/2 ounce
Hallertauer. During last 15 minutes, add Irish moss and 2 cups black
patent malt. During last 2 minutes of boil add 1 ounce Hallertauer.
Cool rapidly and pitch yeast. Ferment in 5-gallon carboy with blow
tube attached. Proceed with normal single-stage fermentation.
Comments:
This recipe was developed by Kenneth Kramer who published it in the
June 1986 issue of All About Beer magazine. I won't comment on the
choice of hops.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: 1.078
Final Gravity: 1.032
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
56
.
Mega Stout
Author: rogerl@Think.COM
Digest: March 15, 1989, Issue #101
Ingredients:
2 cans Munton & Fison stout kit
3 pounds Munton & Fison extra dark dry malt extract
2 cups chocolate malt
2 cups black patent malt
2 cups roasted barley
3 ounces Fuggles hops (boil)
1/2 ounce Cascade hops (finish)
ale yeast
1/4 teaspoon Irish moss
3/4 cup corn sugar (priming)
Procedure:
Steep whole grains in 6 cups of water and bring to boil. Remove
grains at boil. Add extract and boiling hops. Boil 1 hour. Add Irish
moss in last 15 minutes. After boil, add Cascade hops and steep 15
minutes. Cool and pitch yeast.
Comments:
This recipe was developed by Doug Hinderks, president of the Northern
Ale Stars Homebrewers Guild. The recipe was used as the basis for
"Ursa Stout," which follows. Ursa differs in the addition of pale,
crystal, and dextrin malts in place of some of the dry extract.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: 1.071
Final Gravity: 1.020
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
57
.
Ursa Major Stout
Author: rogerl@Think.COM
Digest: March 15, 1989, Issue #101
Ingredients:
2 cans Munton & Fison stout kit
2 pounds Munton & Fison light dry malt extract
1 pound crushed pale malt
1 pound crushed crystal malt
1/2 pound dextrin malt
2 cups chocolate malt
2 cups black patent malt
2 cups roast barley
2 ounces Fuggles hops pellets (boil)
1-2 ounce Willamette leaf hops (finish)
2 packs M&F stout yeast
1/4 teaspoon Irish moss
3/4 cup corn sugar (priming)
Procedure:
Mash grains in 1-2 gallons of water. Sparge with enough water to end
with 2-3 gallons in pot. Bring to boil. Stir in extract and bring to
boil. Add boiling hops. Boil 40 minutes. Add Irish moss in last 15
minutes. At end of boil, add aromatic hops and steep 15 minutes.
Sparge into primary with enough water to make 6 gallons. Cool and
pitch yeast. Rack to secondary when initial blow off subsides. Prime
and bottle about a month later.
Comments:
This brew is so dark I think the Irish moss may be superfluous. This
was the most active brew I've had in a while. Expect to use some sort
of blow off method for primary and then rack to secondary with an
airlock. Very black! Thick, but not as much as Guinness. Well
rounded flavor and smooth with almost no bite. Very dark head. Maybe
using less roast barley and a bit more black patent would lighten the
head and keep the body from suffering. Everybody who tasted it really
like it. I do believe I've found my house stout.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: 1.058
Final Gravity: 1.016
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
58
.
Porter
Author: Gary Benson (inc@tc.fluke.COM)
Digest: April 11, 1989, Issue #124
Ingredients:
1 can Munton & Fison dark hopped extract
1/2 can Edme bitters kit
1 stick brewers licorice
1/2 pound toasted barley
1 pound flaked barley
2 ounces Cascade hops pellets
1 ounce Northern Brewer hops pellets
Edme ale yeast
Procedure:
Make toasted barley into a tea. Bring flaked barley to boil. Sparge
with kitchen strainer and boiling water. Boil extracts and Cascade
hops. Add Northern Brewer. Cool and Pitch.
Comments:
This makes what I consider to be an excellent porter. Fermentation
seemed to take off and I bottled within 7 days of brewing. Fermenta-
tion took place at 74 degrees.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: 1.045
Final Gravity: 1.005
Primary Ferment: 2 days
Secondary Ferment: 5 days
59
.
Dextrinous Porter
Author: Peter Klausler (pmk@bedlam.cray.com)
Digest: June 16, 1989, Issue #177
Ingredients:
8 pounds Munton & Fison 2-row pale malt
1-1/2 pounds crystal malt
1/4 pound chocolate malt
1/4 pound black patent malt
1/2 pound flaked barley
1 ounce Willamette hops (boil)
1/2 ounce Cascade hops (boil)
1/2 ounce Cascade hops (finish)
yeast
Procedure:
Mash grains. Add boiling hops and boil 90 minutes. Dry hop with 1/2
ounce Cascade.
Comments:
My mash temp was too high, as I misjudged the quantity of strike
liquor and the mash spent a lot of time in the 160-170 degree range
before I brought it down to 154 degrees. Conversion was good (1.048
for 5 gallons), but now after fermentation slowed to 1 bubble every 2
minutes, the gravity is 1.024. I suspect there's nothing I can do to
turn this sweet porter into the dry porter I intended so my question
is, "Is there some style I can claim to have intended in the first
place?" I guess I need some level of plausible brewability.
Method: Full mash (infusion)
Original Gravity: 1.048
Final Gravity: 1.024
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
60
.
Crankcase Stout: An Experiment in Extravagance
Marc San Soucie (hplabs!decvax!wang!mds)
June 16, 1989, Issue #178
Ingredients:
1 pound crushed crystal malt
1 pound crushed roasted barley
1-1/2 pounds crushed black patent malt
9 pounds Munton & Fison dark dry malt extract
1 can John Bull dark hopped malt extract
2 inches brewers licorice
2 ounces Nugget leaf hops
2 ounces Galena leaf hops
1 ounce Cascade hops
2 packs Doric ale yeast
1 ounce amylase enzyme
Procedure:
Put grains into two gallons water and boil. When pot reaches boil,
remove grains. Add dry extract and stir. Add hopped extract and
licorice. Add Nugget and Galena hops. Boil 70 minutes. This was a
big thick mess and needs a big pot---mine boiled over. Add Cascade
for finishing. Cool and pitch yeast and amylase. Put in a big
fermenter with a blow tube---my batch blew the cover creating a
marvelous mess all over the wall. Eventually rack to secondary and
ferment a long time (at least 3 weeks).
Comments:
Intimidating. Heavy, strong, thick. Not really drinkable after 4
months. Interesting, but not completely enjoyable. Too much of too
many good things.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: 3 weeks +
61
.
Tina Marie Porter
Author: Doug Roberts (roberts%studguppy@lanl.gov)
Digest: March 15, 1990, Issue #378
Ingredients:
8 pounds Klages 2-row malt
1 pound Munich malt
1/2 pound crystal malt (90L)
1/2 pound chocolate malt
1/2 pound black patent malt
1/2 pound roasted barley
1/2 ounce Northern Brewer hops (boil)
1/2 ounce Cascade hops (boil)
1/2 ounce Cascade hops (finish)
1 teaspoon gypsum
1/2 teaspoon Irish moss
14 grams Whitbread ale yeast
Procedure:
The mash was done based on Papazian's temperature-controlled method.
The boiling hops used were Northern Brewer and Cascade, but other hops
can be used, this recipe uses 10.75 AAUs. The finishing hops are
added after the boil and steep while cooling with an immersion chil-
ler. The Irish moss is added in the last 20 minutes of the boil. The
yeast is rehydrated in 1/2 cup of 100 degree water.
Comments:
This was a marvelous bitter-sweet velvet black porter.
Method: Full mash
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
62
.
Baer's Stout
Author: Michael Eldridge (dredge@hitchcock.Stanford.EDU)
Digest: March 20, 1990, Issue #380
Ingredients:
1/4 pound flaked barley
1/4 pound medium crystal malt
6 pounds dark Australian malt extract
1/2 pound dark Australian dry malt
1/4 pound black patent malt
1/2 cup molasses
2 ounces Cascade hops (boil)
2/3 ounce Northern Brewer hops (finish)
Wyeast British ale yeast
Procedure:
Steep flaked barley and crystal malt for 50 minutes at 153 degrees.
Strain and boil 90 minutes. Add 1/3 of boiling hops after 30 minutes.
Add black patent and molasses at 45 minutes. After 60 minutes add 1/3
of boiling hops. At end of boil add remaining hops. Steep. Strain,
cool, and ferment.
Comments:
This is based on one of the excellent recipes from Dave Baer (from
this digest). This one came out great! Apologies to Dave for what we
may have done to the original.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: 1.051
Final Gravity: 1.018
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
63
.
Black Cat Stout #1
Author: Mark Stevens (stevens@stsci.edu)
Digest: February 1, 1990, Issue #349
Ingredients:
6.6 pounds Munton & Fison dark extract syrup
1 pound Munton & Fison dark dry extract
1/2 pound black patent malt
3/4 pound crystal malt
1/2 pound roasted barley
1/2 cup dark molasses
3/4 ounce Willamette hops (boil)
3/4 ounce Cascade hops (boil)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup French roast coffee
2 packs Edme ale yeast
Procedure:
Brew a pot of coffee with 1/2 cup of French roast coffee. Steep
specialty grains in water as it boils. Remove grains. Boil malts,
hops, and vanilla 60 minutes. Strain wort into fermenter. Pour in pot
of coffee. Add ice water to make 5 gallons. Pitch yeast. Rack to
secondary after 3 days. Bottle 23 days later.
Comments:
This stout turned out pretty tasty and the coffee flavor seems to come
through more in the aftertaste with the predominant flavor being the
dark malts. I should probably have let it ferment in the secondary a
bit longer or not used anything for priming because I got a few gush-
ers after a couple months---but by then, most of the beer was gone
anyway.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: 1.069
Final Gravity: 1.028
Primary Ferment: 3 days
Secondary Ferment: 23 days
64
.
Colorado Crankcase Stout
Tom Hotchkiss (trh@hpestrh.hp.com)
February 6, 1989, Issue #352
Ingredients:
3.3 pounds Edme SFX dark malt extract
3.3 pounds John Bull dark malt extract
2 pounds amber dry malt extract
1 pound crystal malt
1 pound roasted barley
1 pound chocolate malt
3/4 pound black patent malt
1/2 stick brewers licorice
2 ounces Brewers Gold hops
2 ounces Fuggles hops
1/2 pound French roast coffee beans
Wyeast #1028: British ale
Procedure:
Steep grains in water while heating. Remove grains just before boil-
ing. During boil, add licorice and extract. Add 1 ounce of Brewer's
Gold for 60 minutes, 1 ounce for 45 minutes, and 1 ounce of Fuggles
for 30 minutes. Cool wort and pitch yeast. Add unground coffee beans
and remaining ounce of Fuggles. The next day skim off all crud,
including coffee beans and hops. One day later, rack to secondary.
Ferment three weeks and bottle.
Comments:
Wyeast #1028 does not seem to have high attenuation, causing high
final gravity. After 1 month in bottles, the beer has low carbonation
levels. I like it this way! The beer feels thick and sweet. If you
want a good sweet stout, like Mackeson, this recipe with Wyeast #1028
is a good way to go. This stuff is black! When you pour a bottle, it
sucks all the light out of the room...you have to drink it in the
dark. Amazingly, there isn't much hops aroma and taste, but with so
many other flavors and aromas, you don't miss it.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: 1.065
Final Gravity: 1.026
Primary Ferment: 2 days
Secondary Ferment: 3 weeks
65
.
Martin's Porter
Author: Martin Lodahl (pbmoss!mal@hplabs.HP.com)
Digest: December 4, 1989, Issue #315
Ingredients:
3 pounds 2-row pale lager malt
10 ounces black patent malt
8 ounces wheat malt
4 pounds Scottish light malt extract
12 AAUs Northern Brewer hops (boil)
1 ounce Fuggles hops (finish)
3 teaspoons yeast nutrient
Edme ale yeast
1 teaspoon gelatin finings
1/2 cup corn sugar (priming)
Mash-in 3 minutes in 6 quarts of water at 122 degree (strike heat 126
degree). Adjust pH to 5.0-5.5. Protein rest 30 minutes at 131
degrees. Starch conversion 60 minutes at 150-141 degrees (longer is
better). Mash out 5 minutes at 168 degrees. sparge with 2 gallons of
water at 168-160 degrees. Boil 60 minutes. Add extract, yeast nutri-
ent and bittering hops at start of boil. Add finishing hops 10 min-
utes before boil ends. Force cool and bring volume to 5 gallons.
Pitch yeast.
Comments:
If this beer doesn't have enough body, you might try substituting
unmalted barley for the wheat malt and extend starch conversion rest
to 2 hours. Bitterness can be reduced by cutting back bittering hops
to 8 AAUs or so.
Method: Partial mash
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
66
.
Double Stout
Author: Chip Hitchcock (cjh@ileaf.com)
Digest: October 18, 1990, Issue #520
Ingredients:
1/2 pound crystal malt
1/4 pound roasted barley
3.3 pounds Mountmellick stout kit
1/2 pound amber dry malt
1/2 teaspoon gypsum
1/2 teaspoon Irish moss
1/4 ounce Fuggles hops plug
yeast
Procedure:
This is a 2-1/2 gallon recipe. Steep the grains 30 minutes in 1 quart
of 150 degree water. Strain out grains and bring liquid up to 3
quarts. Add stout kit, amber malt, gypsum and boil 45 minutes. After
15 minutes of boiling, add Irish moss. After removing from heat,
steep Fuggles hops pellets for 4 minutes. Strain into ice water and
pitch yeast.
Comments:
This recipe is based on the Double Stout recipe that appeared in
Zymurgy magazine, but the quantities have been adjusted to make a half
batch.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment:N/A
67
.
Chocolate Point Porter
Author: Doug Roberts (roberts%studguppy@lanl.gov)
Digest: October 2, 1989, Issue #269
Ingredients:
7 pounds unhopped extract syrup
1 pound chocolate malt, not cracked
1/2 pound black patent malt, not cracked
1/2 pound crystal malt (90 degrees L.)
1/2 pound Sumatra decaf coffee
1-1/2 ounce Cascade hops (boil)
1/2 ounce Cascade hops (finish)
yeast
Procedure:
Place chocolate, patent, and crystal malts in about 2 gallons of water
and bring to almost boil, Sparge into boiling pot. Add 2 more gallons
of water. Bring to boil and add bittering hops. 30 minutes into the
boil, add 1/2 teaspoon Irish moss. Boil one more hour. Add finishing
hops in last 2 minutes of boil. Pour into fermenter and add coffee.
Pitch yeast.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
68
.
Partial Mash Porter
Author: Martin Lodahl (mal@pbmoss.pacbell.com)
Digest: October 10, 1989, Issue #274
Ingredients:
3 pounds 2-row pale lager malt
10 ounces black patent malt
6 ounces crystal malt
4 pounds Australian dark extract
11 AAUs Northern Brewer hops
Doric yeast
1/2 cup corn sugar (priming)
Procedure:
Mash-in (6 quarts water) at 131-122 degrees, stir 3 minutes. Adjust pH
to 5.0-5.5 (using calcium carbonate or gypsum). Protein rest 131-120
degrees for 30 minutes. Starch conversion 155 degrees for 60 minutes.
Mash out at 168 degrees for 5 minutes. Sparge with 2 gallons of 168-
160 degree water. Bring liquid to boil and add extract and hops. Boil
60 minutes.
Comments:
The result is sweet, but very tasty. My next batch of porter will be
somewhat drier, tending toward stout. Changes will include a less
sweet extract (Scottish light), dropping the crystal malt altogether,
bumping the bittering hops up a point, adding an ounce of Fuggles 10
minutes before the end of the boil for finish, and going to Edme
yeast, which I believe to be more attenuative. I'm also toying with
the idea of adding 8 ounces of wheat malt to improve the head, which
is the only real defect this beer seems to have.
Method: Partial Mash
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
69
.
Stout
Author: Allen Hainer (ajhainer@violet.waterloo.edu)
Digest: October 18, 1989, Issue #281
Ingredients:
8.8 pounds unhopped dark malt extract
1 pound roasted barley
1 pound wheat malt
1/2 pound black patent malt
1/2 pound chocolate malt
4 ounces Bullion hops (boil)
1 ounce Cascade hops (finish)
yeast
Procedure:
The bullion hops are added 30 minutes into the bullion. I used pel-
letized hops and there was a huge amount of sediment when I racked it-
--not sediment in the normal sense---it was mostly beer with hops
floating in it, but it was too thick to go through the siphon.
Comments:
This is better than any stout
I have ever tasted. It is based on the stout recipe posted by Marc
San Soucie in Digest #219.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: 1.075
Final Gravity: 1.035
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
70
.
All Grain Porter
Author: Doug Roberts (roberts%studguppy@lanl.gov)
Digest: November 4, 1989, Issue #296
Ingredients:
8 pounds American 6-row (Klages) malt
1 pound Munich malt
1/2 pound crystal malt (90L)
1/2 pound black patent malt
1/2 pound chocolate malt
1/2 pound roasted barley
1 teaspoon calcium carbonate
1 ounce Northern Brewer hops (boil)
1/2 ounce Cascade hops (boil)
1/2 ounce Cascade hops (finish)
Whitbread ale yeast
Procedure:
Use Papazian's temperature-controlled mash procedure. Sparge and
boil.
Comments:
This recipes is based on Papazian's Silver Dollar Porter. I suspect
the difference in quality between this batch and an extract batch is
going to be the difference between fresh-brewed coffee and instant.
The wort had a much better hot and cold break than I've ever exper-
ienced using extracts, and it tasted better too.
Method: Full mash
Original Gravity: 1.051
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
71
.
Sweet Darkness
Author: Marty Albini (martya@hp-sdd@hplabs.csnet)
Digest: November 8, 1989, Issue #298
Ingredients:
7 pounds Australian light syrup
1 pound chocolate malt, cracked
1-1/2 pounds black patent, uncracked
12 ounces crystal malt, cracked
12 ounces lactose
2 ounces Kent Goldings hops (whole leaf)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon citric acid
2-1/2 teaspoons yeast nutrient
yeast
Procedure:
Bring the wort to boil (water and syrup to make 3 gallons),then add
crystal. Boil 10 minutes, then add hops. Boil 5 minutes. Turn off
heat and add chocolate and black patent malt in a grain bag. Steep
about 10 minutes. Sparge grain bag with about 2 gallons of boiling
water. Add lactose. Chill and pitch. When fermented, try priming with
3/4 cup of light dry malt extract.
Comments:
This is based on Doug Roberts' Mackeson Triple clone. This will be
lighter than the real Mackeson's with a lighter head. Very similar
aromas and head retention. Overall a resounding success. One or two
things I'll do different next time: Reduce black patent malt to 1/2
cup (crushed), add a bit of dextrin to increase body, and maybe add a
touch of roasted barley. I recommend this to anyone who likes their
coffee strong, with cream and sugar.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: 1.057
Final Gravity: 1.022
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
72
.
Broglio's Quaker Stout
Author: Jim Broglio (microsoft!jamesb@uunet.uu.net)
Digest: December 29, 1989, Issue #334
Ingredients:
6 pounds dry amber extract
1 pound crystal malt
1/2 pound roasted barley
1 pound Quaker oats
1 ounce Eroica hops (boil)
1 ounce Kent Goldings hops(finish)
2 packs Edme ale yeast
Procedure:
In two gallons of cold water, add crystal, barley, and oatmeal. Steep
until water comes to boil. Sparge with about 1 gallon of hot water.
Add dry extract. Bring to boil. Add Eroica hops. Boil 45 minutes.
In last 5 minutes of boil, add Kent Goldings hops. Cool to about 75
degrees. Transfer to primary and pitch yeast. Have a homebrew and
wait.
Comments:
This is very lightly carbonated, but that I can live with. Could use
more hops. Smooth aftertaste. Overall, I give it a thumbs up.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
73
.
Original Oatmeal Stout
Author: Jay Hersch (75140.350@compuserve.com)
Digest: July 14, 1990, Issue #459
Ingredients:
6.6 pounds John Bull dark extract
1-1/2 pounds plain dark extract
2 ounces Bullion hops (boil)
1/2 pound steel cut oats
7 grams Muntona ale yeast
Irish moss
water crystals
Procedure:
This is the first of a series of experiments in brewing oatmeal
stouts. It is an extract brew, with any specialty grains (not in this
particular recipe) being added in the standard stovetop method and
removed at boil. When grains are used, they are cracked with a rolling
pin and boiled for 30 minutes before straining.
Comments:
These recipes rank among my best beers. This one probably had the
most noticeable oat flavor of all the variations due to the balance
between the amount of malt and oats. It had a nice deep dark head,
opaque color and smooth creamy flavor. I'd probably use an Irish
liquid ale yeast or Whitbread if I did this again.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: 1.042
Final Gravity: 1.021
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
74
.
Second Try
Author:Jay Hersh (75140.350@compuserve.com)
Digest: July 14, 1990, Issue #459
Ingredients:
6.6 pounds John Bull plain light extract
1-1/2 pounds plain dark dry extract
3/4 pound black patent malt
1/4 pound roasted barley
1/2 pound chocolate malt
1/2 pound steel cut oats
7 grams Muntona ale yeast
1/2 ounce Fuggles hops (boil)
1 ounce Hallertauer hops (boil)
1-1/2 ounces Cascade hops (finish)
Irish moss
water crystals
Procedure:
This is the second of a series of experiments in brewing oatmeal
stouts. It is an extract brew, with specialty grains being added
using the standard stovetop method and removed at boil. When grains
are used, they are cracked with a rolling pin and boiled for 30 min-
utes before straining. The finishing hops are added in the last 5
minutes of the boil.
Comments:
The addition of grains made the oatmeal less noticeable. Color and
hop balance were good again. Irish ale yeast could yield some nice
results and I think the steel cut oats need to be bumped up to 1 pound
to bring them to the fore.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: 1.050
Final Gravity: 1.022
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
75
.
Not So Oatmeal
Author: Jay Hersch (75140.350@compuserve.com)
Digest: July 14, 1990, Issue #459
Ingredients:
3.3 pounds Munton & Fison plain light extract
4 pounds Alexanders pale unhopped extract
1/2 pound black patent malt
1/4 pound roasted barley
1/2 pound crystal or cara-pils malt
1/2 pound steel cut oats
1 ounce Hallertauer hops (boil)
3/4 ounce Fuggles hops (boil)
1 ounce Cascade hops (finish)
1/2 ounce Cascade hops (dry)
14 grams Muntona ale yeast
Irish moss
water crystals
Procedure:
This is the third of a series of experiments in brewing oatmeal
stouts. It is an extract brew, with specialty grains being added in
the standard stovetop method and removed at boil. Grains are cracked
with a rolling pin and boiled for 30 minutes before straining. The
finishing hops are added 5 minutes before the end of the boil. The
dry hopping is done after 4 days in the primary.
Comments:
This turned out real fruity, probably because of the Alexander's. Dry
hopping also helped, again the amount of steel oats to other grains
was too low. To get opaqueness it was necessary to use at least 1-2
pounds of dark malt extract; because I didn't do that, this ware more
of a brown ale in color and body.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: 1.018
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
76
.
Most Recent Oatmeal Stout
Author: Jay Hersch (75140.350@compuserve.com)
Digest: July 14, 1990, Issue #459
Ingredients:
6.6 pounds Munton & Fison light unhopped extract
3.3 pounds Munton & Fison dark unhopped extract
1/2 pound cara-pils malt
1/2 pound black patent malt
1/2 pound roasted barley
3/4 pound steel cut oats
1/2 pound malt-dextrin
2 ounces Sticklbrackt hops (boil)
1 ounce Bullion hops (boil)
1 ounce Cascade hops (finish)
1 ounce Cascade hops (dry)
14 grams Whitbread ale yeast
Irish moss/water crystals
Procedure:
Last in the series of experiments in brewing oatmeal stouts. It is an
extract brew, with specialty grains being added in the standard stove-
top method and removed at boil. Grains are cracked with a rolling pin
and boiled for 30 minutes before straining. The Sticklbrackt are
added in 1/2 ounce batches at 20 minute intervals, the Bullion 1/2
ounce at a time in between the Sticklbrackt. The finishing hops are
added 5 minutes before the end of the boil. The dry hopping is done
in the primary.
Comments:
Darker and more astringent than the other recipes, also more boldly
hopped but still well-balanced due to the higher gravity. A little
like Xingu or Mackesons with its residual sweetness.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: 1.030
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
77
.
CHAPTER 5: BOCK, DARK, AND AMBER LAGER
Dark lagers must be seldom brewed by Homebrew Digest subscribers if
posted recipes are any indication of brewing frequency. Still, dark
lagers and bocks are important styles with a long brewing heritage,
especially in Germany.
This chapter includes not only bock, but the dark beers of Dortmund,
Munich, and even amber beers such as Vienna or Maerzenbier. Lager
beer is typically brewed from a 6-row malt and hopped with some of the
more delicate hops, such as Hallertauer or Saaz. Darker colors come
from specialty malts such as crystal, black patent, or chocolate.
Starting gravities are typically in the 1.050 range with bocks in the
1.060 range. (Dopplebocks are covered in another chapter.) Fermenta-
tion typically takes place at lower temperatures, around 40 degrees.
For more information about dark lagers, see Fred Eckhardt's The Essen-
tials of Beer Style, (available from the Association of Brewers), or
one of the general beer texts such as Michael Jackson's World Guide to
Beer.
78
.
Maerzen Beer
Author: Florian Bell (florianb%tekred.cna.tek.com@RELAY.CS.NET)
Digest: May 24, 1990, Issue #424
Ingredients:
4 pounds pale malt
3 pounds light dry extract
1/2 pound crystal malt (40L)
2 ounces chocolate malt
1/2 pound toasted malt
1/2 pound Munich malt
2 ounces dextrin malt
2-1/2 ounces Tettnanger hops (4.2 alpha)
1/2 ounce Cascade hops (5.0 alpha)
3 teaspoons gypsum
Vierka dry lager yeast
Procedure:
Make up yeast starter 2 days before brewing. Grind all grains togeth-
er, dough-in with 5 cups warm water. Use 3 quarts water at 130 de-
grees to bring up to protein rest temperature of 122 degrees. Set for
30 minutes. Add 8 pints of boiling water and heat to 154 degrees.
Set for at least 30 minutes. Bring to 170 degrees for 5 minutes for
mash out. Sparge with 2 gallons water.
Add dry extract, bring to boil. Boil 15 minutes and add one ounce of
Tettnanger. Boil one hour. Add 1 ounce of Tettnanger at 30 minutes.
Add 1/2 ounce of Tettnanger and 1/2 ounce of Cascade at 5 minutes
(with Irish moss if desired). Strain and chill. Rack off trub.
Pitch yeast.
Ferment at 68 degrees for 3 days. Rack to secondary and lager 18 days
at 42 degrees. After 18 days keg and lager an additional 17 days.
Comments:
This brew was dark brown-red with a distinct nutty flavor coming from
the toasted malt barley. A good head, little chill haze.
Method: Partial mash (decoction)
Original Gravity: 1.056
Final Gravity: 1.020
Primary Ferment: 3 days
Secondary Ferment:15 days
79
.
Helles Belles Maibock
Author: Chuck Cox (bose!synchro!chuck@uunet.UU.NET)
Digest: December 18, 1990, Issue #556
Ingredients:
18 pounds pale unhopped extract
2 pounds crystal malt
1 pound lager malt
1 pound toasted malt
1 teaspoon Irish moss
14 HBUs Hallertauer hops (boil)
14 HBUs Tettnanger hops (boil)
1/2 ounce Hallertauer hops (finish)
1/2 ounce Tettnanger hops (finish)
Anheuser-Busch yeast
Procedure:
This is a 10-gallon partial mash recipe. Use standard procedures,
brewing about 7 gallons of wort in a 10-gallon kettle, followed by a
7-gallon primary and 2 5-gallon secondaries. Then keg (or bottle).
The toasted malt was done 5 minutes in a 350 degree oven. The yeast
was cultured from bakers yeast.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
80
.
Dos Equis
Author: Len Reed (lbr%holos0@gatech.edu)
Digest: May 8, 1990, Issue #414
Ingredients:
3.3 pounds 6-row malt (1.6L)
1.1 pound 2-row malt (1.2L)
1/3 pound Munich malt (9.7L)
1/4 pound crystal malt (80L)
Hallertauer hops
yeast
Method: Full mash
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
81
.
CHAPTER 6: DOPPLEBOCK AND BARLEYWINE
Dopplebock and barleywine are among the strongest beers brewed. Both
are brewed to very high gravities, typically 1.100 or higher, and age
several months before drinking. The difference between the two styles
is that dopplebock is a lager whereas barleywine is an ale (although
both may sometimes need a wine or champagne yeast to complete their
fermentation).
For more information about these heavy beers, see Fred Eckhardt's The
Essentials of Beer Style, (available from the Association of Brewers),
or one of the general beer texts such as Michael Jackson's World Guide
to Beer. You may also want to look at the Russian Imperial stouts
described in Chapter 4.
82
.
The Grommator
Author: Jack Webb (jack.l.webb@office.wang.com)
Digest: February 4, 1991, Issue #575
Ingredients:
1/2 pound pale malt
1/2 pound crystal malt
1/2 pound chocolate malt
9.9 pounds dark malt extract syrup
1 pound dry amber malt extract
3-1/2 ounces Saaz hops (boil)
1/2 ounce Hallertauer hops (finish)
lager yeast
3/4 cup corn sugar (priming)
Procedure:
Roast pale malt in 325 degree oven for 15 minutes or until golden
brown. Crack grains and add to 1-1/2 gallons cold water. Bring to
boil. Before serious boil starts, remove grains. Add extract and
Saaz hops. Boil 60 minutes. Add Hallertauer hops and boil 5 more
minutes. Remove from heat. Cover and let hops steep 15 minutes.
Strain into 3-1/2 gallons cold water. (Be sure to strain out as much
stuff as possible.) Pitch yeast and ferment one week at about 65
degrees, then rack to secondary. Secondary fermentation should last
about 3 weeks at 45-50 degrees. Prime and bottle. Refrigerate
bottles for about 1 month.
Comments:
This dopplebock was based on a recipe from Papazian's book. In making
this beer, I used hops plugs for the first time. Wonderful stuff.
They expand and give the appearance of fresh hops and they smell
great! This batch turned out really well. Very dark and smooth,
lightly carbonated, with a considerable alcoholic whammy. Great sip-
pin' beer.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: 1 week at 65 degrees
Secondary Ferment: 3 weeks at 45-50 degrees
83
.
Barleywine
Author: Nick Thomas (nt@Eng.Sun.COM)
Digest: January 16, 1991; Issue # 566
Ingredients:
12 pounds dry pale malt extract
1/2 pound honey
1 pound dry light malt extract
1-1/2 pounds corn sugar
2 ounces Chinook boiling hops (13.2 alpha)
2 ounces Cascade boiling hops (5.5 alpha)
2 tsp. Irish moss
2 ounces Fuggles hops (finish)
2 tsp. Sparkeloid
champagne yeast
Procedure:
Boil malt, boiling hops, and corn sugar in 1-1/2 gallons water for
about 1 hour. In last 30 minutes add Irish moss, Fuggles, and spark-
eloid. Add to 3-1/2 gallons cold water in fermenter. Pitch yeast and
ferment about 7 months. Bottle and age.
Comments:
I made a batch of this about a year ago and it was so good that I've
got two batches of it running in tandem. This has a nice balanced
flavor.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: 7 months.
Secondary Ferment: N/A
84
.
Marigold Ale
Author: Wayne Allen (wa%cadillac.cad.mcc.com@MCC.COM)
Digest: January 18, 1991; Issue #567
Ingredients:
10 pounds Munton & Fison light unhopped extract
2 pounds marigold honey
4 ounces Fuggles leaf hops (boil)
1 ounce Cascade pellets (finish)
Munton & Fison ale yeast
champagne yeast
Procedure:
Boil malt, honey, Fuggles for 60 minutes. Add Cascades in last five
minutes. Pour in fermenter with 3-1/2 gallons cold water. Pitch ale
yeast. When fermentation subsides, pitch champagne yeast. When
clear, rack to secondary. Let sit a long time and then bottle. Age
at least one year.
Comments:
This is the best beer I've ever brewed (and getting better by the
year!) The hops may not seem to be enough, but it is. Watch out, you
can get addicted to barleywine!
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: Long Time
85
.
Norman Conquest Strong Ale
Author: John Mellby (jmellby@ngst11.csc.ti.com)
Digest: February 23, 1990, Issue #364
Ingredients:
3.3 pounds American light malt extract syrup
3.3 pounds Coopers bitter ale kit
3.3 pounds Coopers Draught ale kit
1 pound amber malt extract
3/4 pound crystal malt
2 ounces Northern Brewer hops (boil)
2 ounces Willamette hops (finish)
2 teaspoons gypsum
1 pack MEV 031 high-temp ale yeast
Procedure:
Start yeast 2 days ahead and add to quart of sterile wort 3 hours
before brewing. Add gypsum to 2 gallons water, add crystal malt.
Bring to boil. Strain out grain. After 10 minutes add Northern
Brewer hops. 30 minutes into boil add Willamette hops. Boil a few
more minutes. Remove from heat. Strain into fermenter with cold
water to make 5 gallons. Pitch yeast.
Comments:
What I want to know is, how does the wort know exactly when my back is
turned so it can instantly boil over? I never see it start to rise,
but I turn to the sink for one second and when I turn around, the
stove is covered with molten wort!
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
86
.
Brain Death Barleywine
Author: Chuck Cox (uunet!bose!synchro!chuck)
Digest: December 18, 1990, Issue #556
Ingredients:
17-1/2 pounds pale dry extract
3 pounds crystal malt
1-1/2 pounds flaked barley
1-1/2 pounds wheat malt
1 teaspoon gypsum
1 teaspoon Irish moss
68 HBUs Chinook hops (boil)
20 HBUs Cascade hops (boil)
2-1/2 ounces Goldings hops (finish)
10 grams Chinook hops (dry hop)
20 grams Goldings hops (dry hop)
50 grams Cascade hops (dry hop)
Sierra Nevada ale
1/2 - 1 pound Herbal hops substitute
Procedure:
This recipe makes 5 gallons of full-strength barleywine plus 4 gallons
half strength. Follow normal procedures, but brew in a 7-gallon
kettle and then divide the wort into separate fermenters. The special
hops substitute is a mix of hops repeatedly soaked and sparged in
lukewarm water for at least 4 hours to eliminate water-soluble off-
flavors. Special hops are added to the secondary fermenter about 1
week before kegging. Quantity used depends on quality of herbs/hops.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
87
.
Nothing Exceeds Like Excess
Author: Martin Lodahl (pbmoss!malodahl@PacBell.COM)
Digest: November 13, 1990, Issue #536
Ingredients:
12 pounds 2-row pale malt
2 pounds Munich malt
2 pounds crystal malt
4 pounds Edme light extract
4 pounds Alexander's light extract
4 ounces dark molasses
1/4 cup priming sugar
2-1/2 ounce Northern Brewer @8%
1-1/2 ounces Kent Goldings @5.2%
1/2 ounce Hallertauer @2.8%
1/2 ounce Cascade @5.2%
Wyeast Vintner's Choice
champagne yeast
Procedure:
Mash in 18 quarts water @148 degrees (adjust pH to 5.3). Starch con-
version 2 hours at 150-141 degrees. Mash out 5 minutes at 168 de-
grees. Sparge at 168 degrees. Boil wort 2-1/2 hours. 90 minutes
after start of boil, add extracts, molasses, and Northern Brewer hops.
30 minutes later, add Kent Goldings hops. In last 15 minutes, add
Hallertauer and Cascade hops.
Comments:
This was not an easy batch. The yeast took off immediately and blew
out 1-1/2 gallons through the blow tube. Once the yeast subsided, I
let it sit for a week and then bottled. I should have taken a sample
and pitched some Red Star Pasteur champagne yeast because it turns out
the gravity was still 1.091! The flavor is impossibly syrupy, but
I'll put in the cellar and forget about it for a few months. This
could be my most expensive failure yet, then again, maybe not. Maybe
I can pour it over ice cream...
Method: Partial mash
Original Gravity: 1.126
Final Gravity: 1.092
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
88
.
Barleywine
Author: Fred Condo (fredc@pro-humanist.cts.com)
Digest: January 16, 1991, Issue #566
Ingredients:
5 pounds Alexander's pale malt extract
1 pound crystal malt
11 AAU Nugget hops (boil)
1/2 ounce Cluster hops (finishing)
1/2 ounce Cluster hops (dry)
ale yeast
Procedure:
This recipe makes 2 gallons. Steep the crystal malt and sparge twice.
Add Nugget hops and boil. In last few minutes add 1/2 ounce Clusters
and then dry hop with an additional 1/2 ounce of Clusters. Cool wort
and pitch yeast.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
89
.
CHAPTER 7: HERBAL AND SPICED BEER
Homebrewers love to experiment with different flavors in their beers,
and over the past couple years there have been discussions about using
everything from hot chili peppers to sweet maple syrup in homebrew
recipes. This chapter describes some of the recipes that have been
shared. Many of these are Christmas wassails spiced with cinnamon,
cloves, allspice, or similar spices. These recipes can be either ales
or lagers...firm rules do not apply.
90
.
Ginger Beer
Author: (BROWN%MSUKBS.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU)
Digest: August 5, 1989, Issue #221
Ingredients:
6 pounds light dry extract
2-1/2 cups crystal malt
4 ounces grated ginger
1 ounce Northern Brewer leaf hops (14% alpha)
3/4 ounce Brambling leaf hops
1 pack Edme ale yeast
Procedure:
Boil malt, ginger, and Northern Brewer hops in five gallons of water
for 60 minutes. Remove from heat and add Brambling hops. Allow to
steep 10 minutes. Force cool, and pitch yeast.
Comments:
This batch turned out pretty good. It's a light amber color, with a
light sweetness. The ginger comes through nicely. Light and thirst-
quenching for the summer months.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
91
.
Spicy Xmas Beer
Author: John Bates (bates%palmen.Colorado.EDU)
Digest: October 16, 1990, Issue #518
Ingredients:
3.3 pounds Northwestern light malt extract
2 pounds dark malt extract
2 pounds wildflower honey
2 ounces Hertsburger hops (boil)
1/2 ounce Goldings hops (finish)
2 ounces grated ginger (boil)
1 ounce grated ginger (finish)
2 packs Munton & Fison ale yeast
Procedure:
Start yeast. Boil malt extract, honey, boiling hops and boiling gin-
ger for about 1 hour. Strain. Add finishing hops and ginger. Cool
rapidly in tub. Pitch started yeast. Ferment. Prime and bottle.
Comments:
This was based on a ginger beer recipe from Papazian's book. It was
tasty after just one week in the bottle. This is a light beer with a
nice ginger aroma and flavor.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: 1.049
Final Gravity: 1.014
Primary Ferment: 2 weeks
Secondary Ferment: N/A
92
.
Ginger Beer
Author: Jay Hersh (jhersh@yy.cicg.rpi.edu)
Digest: November 18, 1988
Ingredients:
1 True-Brew continental light beer kit
(from Crosby & Baker)
3.3 pounds Munton & Fison hopped light extract syrup
1 cup corn sugar
3 ounces fresh grated ginger root
2 packs Edme ale yeast
Comments:
This will produce a light beer with a fairly strong ginger character.
Method: N/A
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
93
.
Garlic Beer
Author: A.E. Mossberg (aem@mthvax.cs.miami.edu)
Digest: December 29, 1989, Issue #334
Ingredients:
1 can Pilsner lager hopped malt extract
4 heads garlic, cleaned
6 cups corn sugar (dextrose)
yeast
Procedure:
Bring 2 gallons of water to boil. Add dextrose, malt extract and
garlic. Boil about 16 minutes or so. Remove from heat. You can
either make super-garlic beer or regular-garlic beer. For regular
garlic beer, strain out garlic. Add wort to fermenter with enough
water to make 5 gallons. Pitch yeast. If making super garlic beer,
rack to secondary after a few days, straining out garlic when racking.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
94
.
Spruce Beer
Author: Louis Clark (hplabs!mage!lou)
Digest: July 4, 1990, Issue #453
Ingredients:
6.6 pounds Munton & Fison dark malt extract
3 pounds dry dark extract
3 ounces Cascade hops (4.3 alpha)
3 teaspoons gypsum
1 ounce Cascade hops
1/2 teaspoon Irish moss
1/2 ounce spruce essence
Leigh & Williams Beer & Stout yeast
Procedure:
Boil malt and boiling hops for 1 hour. In last 10 minutes add the 1
ounce of Cascade finishing hops and the Irish moss. In the last 2
minutes add the spruce essence. Chill and pitch yeast.
Comments:
My tasting notes on this say that at 2-1/2 months after bottling it
was "fair." This tells me that it was unremarkable. My recollection
is that it was drinkable but unexciting. Perhaps the dark extract
overwhelmed the spruce and more spruce essence should have been used.
Where the bottle says "Sufficient for 8 gallons of spruce beer" they
may mean for a somewhat lighter beer.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: 1.040
Final Gravity: 1.018
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
95
.
Holiday Ale
Author: Doug Roberts (dzzr@lanl.gov)
Digest: December 6, 1989, Issue #317 (and #318)
Ingredients:
7-1/2 pounds Klages malt
1-1/2 pounds crystal malt (90L)
1/4 pounds chocolate malt
1/4 pound black patent malt
1/2 pound dextrin powder
1/2 cup molasses
1 teaspoon cardamom
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
grated rind of 4 oranges
1-1/2 ounce Nugget hops (boil)
1 ounce Willamette hops (finish)
Whitbread ale yeast
1/2 cup molasses (priming)
Procedure:
Mash grains. Add dextrin (I was out of Cara-pils), 1/2 cup molasses,
spices, boiling hops, and orange peel. Boil 1 hour. Add finishing
hops in last few minutes. Strain into fermenter. Cool and pitch
yeast.
Comments:
During the boil the spices combined with orange peel and malt made the
house smell really good---kind of like a beer fruit cake. After smell-
ing and tasting the wort, I think I've identified one of the secret
ingredients in Anchor's Christmas Ale: cardamom. I'm guessing they
use 1/4-1/2 teaspoon per five gallons.
Method: Full mash
Original Gravity: 1.045
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
96
.
Honey Ginger Beer
Author: Oliver Grillmeyer (topramen@ernie.Berkeley.EDU)
Digest: March 15, 1989, Issue #101
Ingredients:
4 pounds honey
6 ounces grated ginger
3 pounds light malt extract
1 ounce Brewers Gold leaf hops
1/2 ounce Northern Brewer hops pellets
1/2 ounce Saaz hops pellets yeast
Procedure:
Use two brew kettles. In the first, add 4 gallons water, honey, and
ginger. Maintain at 180 degrees for 45 minutes. While first pot is
heating, add malt extract to 3 gallons water in the second pot. Bring
to boil. Add 1 ounce of Brewers Gold to boil for 45 minutes. Add 1/2
ounce of Northern Brewer at 30 minutes. When second pot is removed
from heat, add 1/2 ounce of Saaz hops and steep. Combine pots, cool,
and pitch. I also brewed a second batch with the same procedure,
except that I used 8 pounds of honey instead of 4, 1/2 ounce of
Northern Brewer hops replaced the 1 ounce of Brewers Gold, and 1/2
ounce of Galena replaced the 1/2 ounce of Northern Brewer.
Comments:
Six ounces of ginger seems about right to give a nice balanced flavor.
The ginger was grated in food processor, but it had to struggle as the
ginger tends to break up into strands that get stuck in the blades.
(I did not peel the ginger). This beer had an amber color and all
flavors were readily apparent---hops, malt, ginger, and light honey.
The color was a medium amber shade.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: 1.051
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
97
.
Ginger Beer
Author: Jackie Brown (brown@MSUKBS.BITNET)
Digest: June 3, 1989, Issue #168
Ingredients:
3.3 pounds Munton & Fison dark plain malt extract
1-1/2 pounds Munton & Fison plain dark dry extract
1 cup corn sugar
3/4 pound crystal malt
1/2 pound chocolate malt
hunk ginger, grated
2 ounces Cascade hops (boil)
1 ounce Fuggles hops (finish)
ale yeast
Procedure:
Add crushed grains to 2 gallons cold water. When mixture begins to
boil, remove grains. Boil 1 hour with malt extracts, ginger and
Cascade hops. Turn off heat, add Fuggles and steep five minutes.
Strain into primary, add water to bring to 5 gallons and ferment 3
days. Rack to secondary. Prime and bottle.
Comments:
My long-term taste bud memory says this was brown, bitter, and slight-
ly sweet with a great ginger flavor and tingle at the back of the
throat as it went down. It was overcarbonated (7/8 cup of priming
sugar is too much!) I wish I could tell you how much ginger I used,
but I remember I wished it were more. Go for it! I've found nothing
better to drink with Chinese food.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: 3 days
Secondary Ferment:N/A
98
.
North East Holiday Beer
Author:Jim Conroy (AS2JXC%BINGVMA.BITNET)
Digest:December 18, 1989, Issue #325
Ingredients:
2 pounds crystal malt
6 pounds amber dry malt extract
2 ounces Fuggles and Bullion hops (boil)
1-1/2 ounce Saaz hops (finish)
3 ounces fresh grated ginger
1 stick cinnamon
1 pack Edme ale yeast
Procedure:
Steep crystal malt until boil is reached. Strain out grain and add
extract and boiling hops. Boil 60 minutes. Add Saaz hops, ginger and
cinnamon in last 15 minutes of boil. Cool, top off fermenter and
pitch yeast.
Comments:
This batch had a furious fermentation and blew the blow tube off the
fermenter, losing about 1-1/2 quarts in the bargain.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
99
.
Maple Syrup Stout
Author: Jim, Kipps, reposted by Robert Nielsen
(robertn%fml@sc.intel.com)
Digest: December 11, 1989, Issue #320
Ingredients:
6 pounds Australian dark extract syrup
1-1/2 ounces Bullion hops (boil)
12 ounces maple syrup
ale yeast
3/4 cup corn sugar (priming)
Procedure:
Add six ounces of the maple syrup during the boil and the other 6 in
the last couple minutes of the boil (much like a finishing hops).
Total boil time was 1 hour.
Comments:
This is a very good beer. I don't typically drink stouts, but I real-
ly like this one. I absolutely don't like Guinness, but I do like
Young's Oatmeal Stout and Rubicon Stout. I think the maple stout is
better than any of these. It is very smooth going down, and has sweet
but mellow maple flavored aftertaste. Thanks to Jim Kipps for posting
this recipe.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
100
.
Sparky's After-Burner Brew
Author: Marc Light (light@cs.rochester.edu)
Digest: August 28, 1990, Issue #483
Ingredients:
3.3 pounds John Bull amber malt extract
1/2 pound crystal malt
1/2 pound dark dry malt
1/2 pound corn sugar
10 fresh Jalapeno peppers
2 ounces Cascade hops
Munton & Fison ale yeast
Procedure:
Chop up Jalapeno peppers and boil them with the wort for 30 minutes or
so. Strain them out when pouring wort into primary. Rack to second-
ary about 4 hours after pitching yeast.
Note: When handling jalapenos, be sure to wash hands thor-
oughly or wear rubber gloves. You'll find out why if you are
a contact lens wearer. (I discovered this the hard way---
making pickles, not beer.)
--- Ed.
Comments:
The beer is amber, clear, has enough hops for me, and has a great
spicy (bordering on hot) aftertaste.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: 1.020
Final Gravity: 1.002
Primary Ferment: 4 hours
Secondary Ferment: 8 days
101
.
CHAPTER 8: FRUIT FLAVORED BEER
Fruit is usually shunned by commercial brewers (with the notable ex-
ception of Belgian lambic ale brewers) but embraced by homebrewers as
a distinctive adjunct. Some of these recipes are great, some are of
questionable taste---you be the judge! These recipes can be either
ales or lagers...firm rules do not apply.
102
.
Blueberry Ale
Author: Patrick Stirling (pms@Corp.Sun.COM)
Digest: September 11, 1990, Issue #493
Ingredients:
7 pounds British amber extract
1-1/2 pound crystal malt
2 ounces Northern Brewer hops (boil)
1 ounce Fuggles hops (finish)
Whitbread ale yeast
2 pounds fresh frozen blueberries
Procedure:
Steep crystal malt while bringing to boil. Remove grains and add
extract and boiling hops. Boil 60 minutes. Add finish hops and let
steep 15 minutes. Sparge into ice, mix. Rack to 7-gallon carboy. At
peak of fermentation add blueberries. Ferment 1 week and rack to
secondary. Prime with corn sugar.
Comments:
When I tasted this during the bottling stage there was not much blue-
berry flavor. More blueberries may be required to give a stronger
taste. The beer came out remarkably clear with a nice reddish tint.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: 1 week
Secondary Ferment: N/A
103
.
Apples in the Snow
Author: Shannon Posniewski imagesys!shannon@uu.psi.com
Digest: October 19, 1990, Issue #521
Ingredients
6.6 pounds John Bull light malt extract (or other brand)
1 pound corn sugar
2 ounces Hallertauer hops (boil)
1/2 ounce Hallertauer hops (finish)
12 pounds apples (9 pounds Granny Smith, 3 # Macintosh)
water crystals
2 packs Edme ale yeast
3/4 cup corn sugar (priming)
Procedure:
Cut apples into 8-10 slices. Put 1-1/2 gallons water into pot, add
boiling hops and bring to boil. Add extract and corn sugar. Boil 40
minutes. Add finishing hops and apples. Steep 15 minutes. Pour wort
into 3-1/2 gallons cold water. Push apples to one side and pitch
yeast. Ferment 3 weeks.
Comments:
This is based on Papazian"s "Cherries in the Snow." We used Granny
Smith and Macintosh because we wanted high-fructose varieties---be-
sides, we like them. Perhaps the use of Saaz or a more delicate hops
would be in order because this was too hoppy. Beer seems to improve
with age and after a few months the flavor was described as "immacu-
late" but with balance tipped more toward hops than apple.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: 1.050
Final Gravity: 1.015
Primary Ferment: 3 weeks
Secondary Ferment: N/A
104
.
Feelix the Cat Dark Cherry Lager
Author: Mike Herbert (michaelh@homebrew.wv.tek.com)
Digest: June 18, 1990, Issue #441
Ingredients:
3.3 pounds John Bull dark unhopped malt extract
2 pounds Munton & Fison light dry extract
1/2 cup black patent malt
2 ounces Cascades hops
2 tablespoons gypsum
1 teaspoon salt
3-5 pounds pitted chopped cherries
1/2 ounce Hallertauer hops
yeast
Procedure:
Steep black patent malt in 2 gallons of water bringing to boil.
Strain out grain. Add extract and boil with Cascade hops, gypsum, and
salt. Boil 60 minutes. Remove from heat. Add finishing hops and
cherries. Steep 30 minutes. Strain into fermenter with cold water to
make 5 gallons. Pitch yeast.
Comments:
This recipe came from Charlie Papazian many years ago. This is sup-
posed to make a lager, but I've never actually produced a lager with
this recipe, only an ale. The cherries add a sweetness, but are not
overpowering in a dark beer. I also tried another cherry beer called
"Sinfully Red Cherry Ale" from the Spring 1984 issue of Zymurgy. This
used 10 pounds of cherries and made a much lighter beer.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
105
.
Dark as the Night Stout
Author: Wayne Allen (wa@cadillac.cad.mcc.com)
Digest: November 29, 1989, Issue #312
Ingredients:
8 cans blueberries (or 10 pints fresh, or 6# frozen)
1/2 pound roasted barley
1/3 pound black patent malt
1 pound crystal malt
6.6 pounds John Bull dark unhopped malt extract
1-1/2 ounce Fuggles hops (boil)
1/2 cup corn sugar (priming)
yeast
Procedure:
Crush and boil blueberries in 1-1/2 gallons of water for 10 minutes.
Strain out berries. Add grains and steep. Add extract and hops and
bring to boil. Strain into fermenter with enough cold water to make 5
gallons. Pitch yeast. Give this lots of time in the secondary fer-
menter or add champagne yeast after initial fermentation.
Comments:
This tastes like a normal stout, but after 4 or 5 sips, a warm glow
begins to suffuse your throat and tummy; great for winter nights.
Don't worry about pectin haze, you definitely won't see it!
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
106
.
Pick of the Season Cherry Ale
Author: Chuck Coronella (coronellrjds@che.utah.edu)
Digest: June 26, 1990, Issue #447
Ingredients:
6 pounds Laaglander light dry extract
1/4 pound crystal malt
1/4 pound lactose
7-8 pounds fresh sweet cherries
1/2 ounce Chinook hops (boil)
1/2 ounce Chinook hops (finish)
1/2 ounce Hallertauer hops (dry)
1/2 teaspoon Irish moss
Whitbread ale yeast
Procedure:
This recipe makes 5-1/2 gallons. Freeze cherries a couple days before
brewing. Defrost in the fridge. While wort is boiling, remove stems
and crush cherries. After boiling, pour wort over cherries in fermen-
ter. Add cold water and pitch yeast. After a couple days, rack to
secondary, straining out cherries.
Comments:
I decided to use lactose because several people thought Papazian's
Cherries in the Snow was a bit dry.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: 2 days
Secondary Ferment: 6-8 weeks
107
.
Blackberry Stout
Author: Andy Wilcox (andy@mosquito.cis.ufl.edu)
Digest: May 9, 1990, Issue #415
Ingredients:
1 can Mount Mellick Famous Irish Stout extract
3 pounds M&F dark dry malt extract
4 pounds frozen blackberries
1 pound dark crystal malt
1/2 pound black patent malt
1/2 pound roasted barley
1-1/2 ounce Hallertauer hops
1/2 ounce Fuggles hops
ale yeast
corn sugar (priming)
Procedure:
Start grains in brewpot with cool water. Remove when boil commences.
Add all malt and Hallertauer hops. Boil 1 hour. Add Fuggles and boil
5 more minutes. Remove from heat. Add thawed blackberries and steep
15 minutes. Cool. Dump whole mess into primary. After a couple rack
to secondary, straining out berries.
Comments:
This stout reaches prime in 4-6 weeks and rapidly deteriorates from
there, acquiring a winey flavor as the residual blackberry sweetness
erodes. An amateur judge commented, "Good and black. Good mouth
feel. Unbelievable finish---seems to last forever! Fruit? I want
the recipe. Nice job."
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
108
.
Basic Fruit Beer
Author: John Isenhour (LLUG_JI%DENISON.BITNET)
Digest: June 14, 1989, Issue #177
Ingredients:
4-pound can Alexanders pale malt extract
1/2 pound light dry extract
10 HBU hops
1/4 teaspoon Irish moss
2 gallons fruit juice (such as apple,
pineapple, cranberry, or raspberry)
yeast
Comments:
This recipe was described in the Summer 1987 issue of Zymurgy. See
the issue for procedural details. When I brew with fruit I do not add
fruit to the boil, this will set the pectins to creating a haze.
Instead add them after the boil and steep. I generally use a wheat
malt extract to emulate a lambic frambozen. Try a Lindemann Framboise
to see what you're shooting for. They use unmalted wheat in their
beer.
Method: N/A
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
109
.
Framboise
Author: Cher Feinstein (crf@pine.circa.ufl.edu)
Digest: April 19, 1990, Issue #402
Ingredients:
6-7 pounds light malt extract
1/4 pound crystal malt
2-1/2 cups raspberry puree
1 ounce boiling hops (Hallertauer,
Saaz, Tettnanger)
yeast
10 cups raspberry puree
Procedure:
Crack, steep, and strain crystal malt before boiling. Add extract and
hops. Boil. Strain into primary. Add 2-1/2 cups raspberry puree.
Add enough cold water to make 5 gallons. Pitch yeast. When racking to
secondary, add another 10 cups raspberry puree.
Comments:
I figured that I'll sterilize anything I use to add the puree, while
taking my chances with the puree itself (rather than heating it up and
risking setting the pectins).
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
110
.
Cranbeery Ale
Author: Tim Phillips (tcp@esl.ESL.com)
Digest: December 20, 1989, Issue #327
Ingredients:
5 pounds pale malt extract syrup
1 pound corn sugar
2 ounces Hallertauer hops (boil)
1/2 ounce Hallertauer hops (finish)
6 pounds cranberries
ale yeast
corn sugar (priming)
Procedure:
Crush cranberries. Boil wort. Add cranberries to wort at time fin-
ishing hops are added. Turn off heat and steep at least 15 minutes.
Pour wort into fermenter with enough water to make 5 gallons. Pitch
yeast. After about 5 days, strain into secondary fermenter, avoiding
sediment. Bottle after about 1 more week. Age bottles about 2 weeks.
Comments:
This isn't the best beer I've ever had, but the red color and mixture
of cranberry, champagne, and beer tastes (in that order) together make
wonderful conversation pieces. A perfect treat for the holidays. The
cranberry taste is quite dominating: I might try just 2 or 3 pounds of
cranberries in the future. This recipe is based on Papazian's
Cherries in the Snow.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: 5 days
Secondary Ferment: 1 week
111
.
Great Pumpkin Bitter
Author: Barry Cunningham (abvax!calvin.icd.ab.com!bwc)
Digest: November 9, 1989, Issue #299
Ingredients:
1 can Cooper's bitter hopped malt syrup
1-1/2 pound M&F dry malt extract
1/4 pound black patent malt
1 cup Brer Rabbit molasses
1/2 ounce Tettnanger hop pellets
(boil 30 minutes)
1/2 ounce Tettnanger hops pellets (finish)
2 sticks cinnamon
2-3 ounces fresh grated ginger
10 pounds pumpkin mush
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1-2 ounces fresh grated ginger
2 packs Pasteur champagne yeast
Procedure:
Steep black patent malt. Remove grain and add extracts. Boil wort 60
minutes with 2-3 ounces ginger, add boiling hops at 30 minutes. At 10
minutes add cinnamon. In last couple minutes, add finishing hops.
Prepare pumpkin while wort is boiling: place pumpkin flesh in blender
or food processor and mush. Mix chopped cilantro and 1-2 ounces fresh
ginger in with mush. Place pumpkin mush, wort, and water to make 6-
1/2 gallons in primary fermenter. Let primary fermentation proceed 1
week. Remove pumpkin mush and strain remaining liquid into 5 gallon
carboy. Rack again after 3 weeks. Bottle after another 2 months.
Comments:
This is quite aromatic and will make a good sipping beer for next
halloween. It is definitely not for consuming in large quantity.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: 1 week
Secondary Ferment: 2 weeks + 2 months
112
.
Washington Apple Ale
Author: Joe Shirey (jshirey@jarthur.Claremont.edu)
Digest: March 2, 1990, Issue #370
Ingredients:
4 pounds Telford's Yorkshire nut brown ale hopped malt
1 pound honey
1/2 pound corn sugar
1/2 pound dark crystal malt
4 pounds red apples
2 teaspoons cinnamon
ale yeast
Procedure:
In cold water, place crushed dark crystal malt in a cheesecloth.
Bring water to boil. When boiling commences, remove grain and add
Telford's. Boil 15-20 minutes. Add sugar and honey and boil another
10 minutes. Reduce heat so that boiling stops. Add cinnamon and
sliced apples and steep 15 minutes. Remove apples with strainer and
transfer wort to primary.
Comments:
This beer has a medium body with a hint of apple flavor. It is very
smooth with little or no bitterness, but that can be changed by adding
finishing hops.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
113
.
Raspberry Imperial Stout
Author: Dan Miles (miles@cs.washington.edu)
Digest: August 28, 1990, Issue #483
Ingredients:
15-1/4 pounds bulk light extract
3/4 pound roasted barley
3/4 pound black patent malt
3/4 pound chocolate malt
2 pounds English crystal malt
3-3/4 ounces Bullion pellets (9.6 alpha)
1-1/4 ounces Northern Brewer pellets (6.7% alpha)
2 ounces Kent Goldings pellets
13 pounds fresh raspberries
4 teaspoons gypsum
Sierra Nevada yeast
1 cup corn sugar (priming)
Procedure:
This makes 6-1/2 to 7 gallons. This is based on Papazian's recipe
from the Summer 1990 issue of Zymurgy, except that I use more rasp-
berries than Charlie. Follow his directions, or E-mail me for direc-
tions. (Directions are pretty standard.)
The Bullion hops and Northern Brewer are used for bittering and are
added to the boil. The Kent Goldings pellets are used for dry-
hopping.
Comments:
This had a very strong raspberry taste with a slightly coffee/dark
malt and hoppy/bitter aftertaste. The raspberry taste is accompanied
by a sort of astringency or acidity that will supposedly soften with
age. It's still very young for an Imperial stout.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: 1.087
Final Gravity: 1.022
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
114
.
My Framboise Recipe
Author: Cher Feinstein (crf@pine.circa.ufl.edu)
Digest: August 22, 1990, Issue #479
Ingredients:
6.6 pounds wheat malt extract
1/2 pound crystal malt
1 ounce Hallertauer hops
1 pack Wyeast #3056, Bavarian wheat
5 or 6 bags frozen raspberries (12 ounce bags)
Procedure:
The wheat malt should ideally be a 60-40 mix of wheat and barley. The
crystal malt is cracked and steeped in hot water for 20 minutes, then
strained. The hops are then added and the mixture is boiled for 45
minutes. Chill and add yeast. Allow the beer to ferment for 7 days
and then prepare raspberry mixture by defrosting berries and using
blender to puree. Pitch in fermenter and after 48 hours, bottle.
Next time I make this, I will modify the recipe to use 1 can (6.6#) of
Ireks wheat malt, 3-4 pounds of light DME, 1 ounce of Hallertauer (35
minute boil), and again, Wyeast #3056. By using a 100% wheat extract,
such as Ireks, I can control the amount of barley extract to assure
60% wheat to 40% barley.
Comments:
I've been getting a large head with good lace, and an enormous aroma
of raspberries. The brew is also crystal clear, with a deep ruby
color (which I consider to be just plain luck since wheat beers are
characteristically cloudy). As aging continues, any hints of astrin-
gency are disappearing. It will probably need 4P6 months aging time,
quite possibly more.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: 7 days
Secondary Ferment: 48 hours
115
.
CHAPTER 9: SPECIALTY ALE
This is a catch-all chapter for various types of ale that don't fit
neatly into a larger category,for example, Scotch ale, brown ale, or
Kolsch. Scotch ales are typically dark brown strong beers brewed to a
starting gravity of about 1.055.
Brown ales were historically brewed in the U.K. as a lightly-hopped
medium-bodied beer. They are usually brewed from pale malt with
additional crystal, caramel, or roasted malts for coloring. These are
not usually very heavy beers, and the English mild may be brewed to a
gravity as low as 1.035 while other brown ales will hover around
1.050.
For more information about brown ales, Scotch ales, or any other style
in this chapter, see Fred Eckhardt's The Essentials of Beer Style, or
Michael Jackson's World Guide to Beer.
116
.
My Own Scotch Ale
Author: Todd Enders (enders@plains.NoDak.edu)
Digest: January 16, 1991, Issue #566
Ingredients:
6 pounds Klages 2-row malt
1 pound Munich malt (10L)
1 pound Dextrin (Cara-pils) malt
1/2 pound crystal malt (80L)
4 ounces black patent malt
1 cup dark molasses
3/4 ounce East Kent Goldings hops (6.2 alpha)
1 pack Wyeast #1028 London Ale
2/3 cup corn sugar (priming)
Procedure:
Mash in 2 gallons water at 138 degrees, adjust pH to 5.2 using Cal-
cium Carbonate. Protein rest 30 minutes at 158 degrees. Conversion
rest 30 minutes at 158 degrees. Mash out 5 minutes at 168 degrees.
Sparge with 5 gallons water at 165 degrees. Boil 90 minutes, adding
hops in last 30 minutes. Chill wort, pitch yeast and ferment 1-2
days. Rack to secondary for 5 more days and bottle.
Comments:
This is the first try at formulating my own recipe. It turned out
quite nice, malty with just a touch of hops. You may not be able to
drink just one! This is one of the smoothest batches I ever brewed.
It is really smooth even after only 2 weeks in the bottle. The rather
intense malt flavor and low hopping rate makes it a refreshing change
of pace from my steady production of IPA.
Method: Full mash (decoction)
Original Gravity: 1.055
Final Gravity: 1.015
Primary Ferment: 2 days
Secondary Ferment: 5 days
117
.
Sort of Nut Brown Ale
Author: Todd Enders (enders@plains.NoDak.edu)
Digest: June 27, 1990, Issue #448
Ingredients:
2.4 pounds pale ale malt
0.4 pound crystal malt (80L)
1/4 pound pan roasted barley
1/2 cup dark molasses
1/2 ounce Willamette hops (5.5 alpha)
Wyeast #1028
Procedure:
This recipe makes 2 gallons. Raw unmalted barley was roasted in a pan
over medium heat until the outside was quite dark but the inside was
only tan---stir often to avoid scorching. Mashin in 132 degrees (5
quarts of water) at pH of 5.2 Mash 2 hours at 152-153 degrees. Mash
out 5 minutes at 168 degrees. Sparge in 2-1/2 gallons of 165 degree
water. Boil 90 minutes adding hops 30 minutes before end of boil.
Chill and strain and pitch yeast.
Comments:
The toasted barley probably had a Lovibond rating around 80-100, the
unfermented wort was delicious. This is similar to many stout recipes
but the barley isn't roasted long enough to give it that much dark-
ness.
Method: Full mash
Original Gravity: 1.051
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
118
.
Full Moon Ale
Author: David Haberman (habermand@afal-edwards.af.mil)
Digest:March 22, 1989, Issue #106
Ingredients:
6 pounds dark Australian DME
1 pound caramel crystal malt
1-1/2 ounce Willamette hops
1-1/2 ounce Fuggles hops
1 pack Wyeast #1098: British Ale
3/4 cup corn sugar (priming)
Procedure:
Boil 2 gallons of water and turn off heat. Add crystal malt and steep
about 15 minutes. Strain through muslin into kettle. Heat another
gallon of water to 170 degrees. Pour through grain into pot. Heat to
boiling and add DME and 1/3 of hops. After 45 minutes add another 1/3
of hops. Turn off heat after 15 minutes and add last 1/3 of hops.
Steep. Cool wort and add 2 gallons of cold water. Pour in wort and
pitch yeast. Rack to secondary after 4 days top off with enough water
to make 5 gallons. After 4 weeks, prime and bottle.
Comments:
I thought that the final gravity of this beer was a bit high, but the
beer came out tasting great and no bottles exploded. In order to call
this a porter it needs more hops, therefore I think it is a Scotch
ale.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: 1.055
Final Gravity: 1.017
Primary Ferment: 4 days
Secondary Ferment: 4 weeks
119
.
Cat's Paw Brown Ale
Author: Doug Roberts (roberts%studguppy@lanl.gov)
Digest: March 15, 1990, Issue #378
Ingredients:
7 pounds Klages malt
1/4 pound chocolate malt
1/4 pound black patent malt
1/2 pound crystal malt (90L)
1 ounce Willamette hops (boil)
4/5 ounce Perle hops (boil)
1/2 ounce Willamette hops (finish)
1 teaspoon gypsum
1/2 teaspoon Irish moss
Whitbread ale yeast
Procedure:
The mash was done using Papazian's temperature-controlled mash. The
boiling hops (Willamette and Perle) equal 9.84 AAUs. The finishing
hops are added after the boil (while chilling with an immersion chill-
er). The ale yeast is rehydrated in 1/2 cup of 100 degree water.
Comments:
This batch was what my fond memories of drinking London Brown Ales in
Canterbury, UK were all about. A classic.
Method: Full mash
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
120
.
Geordie Brown Ale
Author: Elaine May (elaine@hpmtlx.hp.com)
Digest: February 21, 1990, Issue #362
Ingredients:
2 cans Geordie Extra Strong ale
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 cups corn sugar
1/2 pound crystal malt
1/2 cup maltodextrin
1/2 teaspoon Irish moss
1 ounce Willamette leaf hops
Procedure:
Bring grain to boil in 1 gallon water; remove grain when water starts
to boil. Add another 1/2 gallon of water and bring to boil again. Add
extract and sugars, boil for 15 minutes. Add Irish moss and hops for
last 5 minutes of boil. Put it in fermenter with enough water to make
5 gallons. Add ale yeast and wait.
Comments:
The beer is a brown ale with sweetness from the sugars and crystal
malt; not much hop flavor. The maltodextrin contributes a strange
slightly syrupy quality (I think)---I might leave it out next time.
Anyway, I thought it was a nice, drinkable brown ale.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: 1.057
Final Gravity: 1.018
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
121
.
Boonesburger Winterale
Author: Florian Bell (florianb@tekred.cna.tek.com)
Digest: December 15, 1989, Issue #324
Ingredients:
5 pounds light dry extract
3 pounds 2-row pale malt
1/2 pound crystal malt (40L)
2 ounces roasted barley
4 ounces wheat malt
2 ounces dextrin malt
2 ounces Cascade hops (5.2% alpha)
1/2 ounce Tettnanger hops (4.9% alpha)
1/2 ounce Perle hops (7.2% alpha)
1/2 ounce Kent Goldings hops (5.2% alpha)
1 teaspoon Irish moss
1 pack Wyeast Irish
Procedure:
I used Papazian's partial mash method, except used 2 gallons of sparge
water. I got 18 pints of sparge and added two pints of water to the
boil, along with the dry extract. Boil 60 minutes. Add 1 ounce Cas-
cade, 1/4 ounce Perle, and 1/4 ounce Tettnanger at 40 minutes. Add
1/2 ounce Cascade, 1/4 ounce Perle, and 1/4 ounce Tettnanger at 30
minutes. Add 1/2 ounce Cascade, and 1/2 ounce Kent Goldings in hop
bag at 3 minutes. Strain into primary fermenter. Transfer hops bag
to primary.
Comments:
Twelve days in the bottle was sufficient. I prefer this over Widmer
Festbier, after which it was patterned. It's also a lot cheaper.
Method: Partial mash
Original Gravity: 1.060
Final Gravity: 1.012
Primary Ferment: 3 days
Secondary Ferment: 9 days
122
.
Barrel Bottom Black Bitter
Author: Ted Manahan (tedm@hpldola.hp.com)
Digest: November 23, 1989, Issue #309
Ingredients:
6 pounds Australian dark malt extract syrup
2/3 pounds chocolate malt
1/3 pound crystal malt
2 ounces Perle hops
1-1/2 ounces Cascade hops
Burton liquid ale yeast
Procedure:
Soak malt in a pot of hot water for 1 hour. While soaking, begin
boiling Australian dark malt with the Perle hops. After 1 hour, add
Cascade hops and turn off heat. Steep about 30 minutes. Strain
everything into primary and add cold water to bring volume to 5
gallons. Pitch yeast when cool.
Comments:
Barrel Bottom is a very dark, rich and bitter brew with a full head of
tan foam. It could pass as a stout. The only bad part is that my 5
gallons is almost gone, in less than two months. Ingredients were
obtained from William's Brewing, the Australian extract is their dark-
er variety.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
123
.
Chimight (Chimay Light)
Author: Chuck Cox (bose!synchro!chuck@uunet.UU.NET)
Digest: December 18, 1990, Issue #556
Ingredients:
15 pounds pale unhopped extract
3/4 pound brown sugar
1 pound crystal malt
1 pound flaked barley
1 pound pale malt
1/2 pound wheat malt
1/4 teaspoon gypsum
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Irish moss
7 HBUs Northern Brewer hops (boil)
14 HBUs Chinook hops (boil)
1 ounce Saaz hops (finish)
1/2 ounce Tettnanger hops (finish)
Chimay yeast
Procedure:
This is a 9-gallon partial mash recipe. Use standard procedures,
brewing about 7 gallons of wort in a 10-gallon kettle, followed by a
7-gallon primary and 2 5-gallon secondaries. Then keg (or bottle).
The yeast was cultured from a bottle of Chimay.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
124
.
Chimay Trippel
Author: Chuck Cox (bose!synchro!chuck@uunet.UU.NET)
Digest: December 18, 1990, Issue #556
Ingredients:
3.3 pounds pale unhopped extract syrup
12 pounds pale dry extract
1 pound 6-row pale malt
1 pound wheat malt
1 pound Vienna malt
2 pounds light brown sugar
1/2 pound corn sugar
10 grams coriander
8 grams orange peel
4 HBUs Saaz hops (boil)
4 HBUs Hallertauer hops (boil)
4-1/2 HBUs Fuggles hops (boil)
handful hops (finish)
1 teaspoon Irish moss
Chimay yeast culture
Procedure:
This is a 7-gallon partial mash recipe. Use standard procedures,
brewing about 7 gallons of wort in a 10-gallon kettle, followed by a
7-gallon primary and 2 5-gallon secondaries or a 7-gallon secondary.
Then keg (or bottle). The yeast was cultured from a bottle of Chimay.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
125
.
Old Peculiar
Author: Mike Fertsch (FERTSCH@adcl.RAY.COM)
Digest: August 11, 1989, Issue #225
Ingredients:
4 pounds dark malt extract
1/2 pound roast barley
1/2 pound crystal malt
2 pounds dark brown sugar
2 ounces Fuggles hops
5 saccharin tablets
yeast
Procedure:
This recipe uses saccharin, but I will not use this in my beer; in-
stead I may add brewer's licorice or lactose for sweetness. The
amount of fermentables also seems low; I would add a pound or two of
light extract to increase the gravity to the mid-fifties. The recipe
also calls for priming with 3 ounces of black treacle, which is molas-
ses. This seems low, and it also seems that different brands would
contain different amounts of fermentable sugar.
Comments:
This recipe is for one of my favorite old ales---Old Peculiar. It
comes from Dave Line's book Brewing Beers Like Those You Buy.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
126
.
Scottish Steamy Ale
Author: Ken Ellinwood (!sun!suntzu!aimla!ken)
Digest: November 9, 1989, Issue #299
Ingredients:
6 pounds M&F light dry extract
1 pound Scottish crystal malt (40L)
1 ounce Northern Brewer leaf hops (boil)
1/2 ounce Northern Brewer (finish)
Brewers Choice American ale yeast
Procedure:
Boiling hops are put in kettle for a 55 minute boil. The finishing
hops are put in for an additional 5 minutes.
Comments:
My last batch came out too light because I added only 1/2 pound of the
crystal malt---I was convinced it was in the 90 Lovibond range. I
also used 6.6 pounds of canned extract. The resulting beer was about
1/3 as dark as the original.
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
127
.
CHAPTER 10: MEAD AND OTHER BEVERAGES
Meadmakers will bend your ear for hours about the rich long tradition
surrounding their honey-based brew. Mead is a sublime elixir, favored
by many homebrewers for its variety and subtlety. It is, however,
much stronger than typical beers, and also takes months or years to
properly ferment and age.
Mead flavored with apple juice is called a cyser; if flavored with
grape juices, it's called pyment; if it uses other fruit juices, it's
called melomel; it it draws it' s flavor from herbs and spices, it's
called metheglin. There are several books available on mead, the one
used by most digest subscribers seems to be Acton & Duncan's Making
Mead.
Other beverages included in this chapter are easy recipes for making
hard cider and a couple recipes for making liqueurs.
128
.
Basic Small Mead
Author: Cher Feinstein (crf@pine.circa.ufl.edu)
Digest: September 30, 1989, Issue #267
Ingredients:
2-3 cloves
2 sticks cinnamon
2 thin slices ginger
2-4 teaspoons orange peel
2 pounds honey yeast
1/4 cup vodka or grain alcohol
Procedure:
In a 1-gallon pot, simmer cloves (lightly cracked), cinnamon (broken),
and ginger. Add orange peel. The amount of orange peel will vary
depending on type of honey used. Use less orange peel with orange
blossom honey, for example. Simmer.
Add water to bring volume to 3 quarts. Return to simmer. Add honey,
stirring constantly. Do not boil! Skim off any white scum. If scum
is yellow, reduce heat. When no more scum forms, remove from heat,
cover pot, and leave overnight. The next day, strain to remove as
much spice particles as possible. Pitch yeast. Replace pot cover.
Twelve hours later, rack mead to 1-gallon jug, leaving dregs of yeast.
Top off jug, bringing to base of neck. Take a piece of clean paper
towel, fold into quarters, and put over mouth of jug. Seal with rub-
ber band. Ferment for 36 hours, replacing paper towel whenever it
becomes fouled. Refrigerate 8-12 hours. Rack to new jug and put back
in refrigerator for 12 hours. Add 1/4 cup vodka to kill yeast. Rack
to fresh jug. Refrigerate 3-4 days. Bottle.
Comments:
This is a quickie mead, drinkable in 2 weeks, however, it does improve
with age. Aging at least a couple months is recommended. This mead is
excellent chilled.
Method: N/A
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: 2 days
Secondary Ferment: 2 weeks
129
.
Hard Cider
Author: (jwhite@anovax.enet.dec.com)
Digest: October 2, 1990, Issue #508
Ingredients:
5 gallons sweet cider
3 pounds brown sugar
3 pounds honey
2 packs champagne yeast
Procedure:
Strain 3 gallons of cider into a 5-gallon carboy. Strain 1/2 gallon
into pot and heat enough to allow sugar and honey to thoroughly dis-
solve. Pour into carboy and finish filling to neck. Pitch yeast and
seal with airlock. When fermentation stops, bottle. Prime with sugar
to add carbonation.
Comments:
For this recipe to turn out well, do not use pasteurized apple juice.
My last batch took 3 weeks to ferment. If you notice unpleasant
smells during this time, you can ignore them. Boy, does this turn out
great!
Method: N/A
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: 3 weeks
Secondary Ferment: N/A
130
.
Blueberry Mead
Author: Jonathan Corbet (gaia!jon@handies.ucar.edu)
Digest: November 28, 1988
Ingredients:
7-10 pounds fresh blueberries
1-2 pounds corn sugar
1-2 ounces hops (Cascades is fine)
10 pounds honey
Procedure:
To make 6-1/2 gallons of mead, Boil the honey, sugar, and hops for at
least an hour (although boiling honey is not favored by most digest
subscribers, it works fine and is the method used by Papazian). Clean
berries and mash well. Put mashed berries, hot wort, and enough water
to make 6-1/2 gallons into a fermenter. Pitch yeast. After one week,
strain out berries and rack to secondary. Ferment at least one more
month and then bottle, priming with corn sugar and perhaps some lemon
grass tea. Age 6 months to a year.
Comments:
This mead usually comes out quite dry. This recipe makes 6-1/2
gallons.
Method: N/A
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: 1 week
Secondary Ferment: 4 weeks+
131
.
Peach Melomel
Author: Michael Bergman (bergman%odin.m2c.org@RELAY.CS.NET)
Digest: March 1, 1989, Issue #90
Ingredients:
6 pounds peaches
3/4 pint elderflowers
2-1/2 pounds acacia honey
1/30 ounce tannin
Graves yeast
1/4 ounce tartaric acid
1/4 ounce malic acid
Procedure:
Press peaches (after removing pits). Dissolve honey in 4 pints warm
water, blend in peach juice along with acid, tannin, and nutrients.
Add 100 ppm sulfite (2 campden tablets). After 24 hours, add yeast
starter, allow to ferment 7 days before adding elderflowers. Ferment
on flowers for 3 days then strain off lowers and top off to 1 gallon
with cold water. Ferment until specific gravity drops to 10, then
rack. Rack again when gravity drops to 5, and add 1 tablet campden.
Rack again when when a heavy deposit forms, or after 3 months, which-
ever comes first. Add another campden tablet. Rack again every 3-4
months, adding a tablet after every second racking.
Comments:
This recipe is based on procedures outlined in Making Mead, by Bryan
Acton and Peter Duncan. They advocate the use of campden rather than
boiling because they feel that after boiling for a long time most of
the essences of the honey are gone. Read the "Basic Procedures" sec-
tion of Acton & Duncan for more info.
Method: N/A
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
132
.
Riesling Pyment
Author: Jackie Brown (BROWN@MSUKBS.BITNET)
Digest: June 24, 1989, Issue #184
Ingredients:
4-1/2 pounds wildflower honey
5-1/2 pounds partial blueberry honey
2 tablespoons acid blend
1 tablespoon pectic enzyme
4 pounds Alexander's Johanissberg Riesling extract
1 pack Red Star champagne yeast
Procedure:
Boil honey, acid, enzyme and Riesling extract for 1 hour (I have since
learned that honey is best not boiled; subsequent batches have been
made by holding the mixture for 2 hours). Cool and pitch yeast. Rack
to secondary after 8 days. Bottle after 4 months.
Comments:
This is more winey than your straight mead, but very pleasant. Medium
dry and spritzig---very nice as a table wine. Those of you set up to
crush your own grapes might try a grape honey mix. A drink of noble
history!
Method: N/A
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: 8 days
Secondary Ferment: 4 months
133
.
Rice Wine---Saki
Author: David Herron (mailrus!ukma!davids.UUCP!david)
Digest: January 10, 1989, Issue #48
Ingredients:
2-1/2 pounds rice (husked or raw)
1/2 pint grape concentrate
7 pints hot water
2-1/2 pounds corn sugar or honey
3 teaspoons acid blend
3/4 teaspoon yeast energizer
1 tablet Campden
1 pack sherry yeast
Procedure:
Wash and crush rice. Place rice in nylon straining bag and place in
primary. Pour hot water over rice and stir in all ingredients except
yeast and engergizer. Wait 48 hours. Add yeast and energizer and
cover primary. Stir daily, checking gravity and pressing pulp light-
ly. When gravity reaches 1.050 (2-3 days), add another 1/4 pound
dissolved sugar or honey per gallon. When gravity drops to 1.030 (6-7
days) strain any juice from bag. Rack to secondary. Attach airlock.
Rack again in 2 months, if necessary. Bottle when ready. It is
possible to continue building up alcohol by adding additional sugar
until fermentation ceases. For a sweeter drink, add 1/2 teaspoon
stabilizer and 1/4 pound dissolved sugar.
NOTE: Any additional sugar added should be corn sugar, not cane sugar.
Comments:
This recipe came from a collection of wine recipes by Raymond
Massaccesi titled Winemakers Recipe Handbook. Various digest sub-
scribers question the authenticity of this recipe. Sake should con-
tain only rice---no corn sugar, grape concentrate, or honey. Authen-
tic sake should also be inoculated with koji. There is a sake brewery
in Berkeley, California, that will conduct tours for those interested
in learning more about sake. Sake is discussed by Fred Eckhardt in
Best of Beer and Brewing Vol. 1-5, available from the AHA. Koji is
available from Great Fermentations of Santa Rosa.
Method: N/A
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
134
.
Glog
Author: A.E. Mossberg (aem@mthvax.miami.edu)
Digest: December 25, 1988
Ingredients:
1 quart cheap red port
1 quart cheap vodka
1-1/2 cups sugar
4 cups water
8 pods cardamom
20 cloves
1 peel of orange
2 sticks cinnamon broken
1 handful raisins
4 almonds
Procedure:
Dissolve sugar in water and add the last 6 ingredients. Boil 15 min-
utes then add vodka and port. Bring back to boil and remove from
heat. Serve warm.
Comments:
This is a traditional Swedish holiday drink. It cures the common cold.
Method: N/A
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
135
.
Hard Cider
Author: A.E. Mossberg (aem@mthvax.miami.edu)
Digest: December 23, 1988
Ingredients:
1 gallon unfiltered apple juice
1/3 packet yeast
Procedure:
Remove 1 pint of juice to allow room for yeast activity. Add yeast.
Let sit 4-10 days. Replace pint of juice. Place in refrigerator and
enjoy.
Comments:
Sometimes I rack the cider before placing in refrigerator because
there is a heavy build up of dead yeast and particulate matter from
the apple juice.
Method: N/A
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: 4-10 days
Secondary Ferment: N/A
136
.
Berry Liqueur
Author: Nicolette Bonhomme (bb13093@pbn33.prime.com)
Digest: December 21, 1988
Ingredients:
1 quart frozen raspberries
1 quart frozen blueberries
1 can frozen grape juice concentrate
1 quart brandy
sugar
Procedure:
Soak berries, grape juice and brandy for at least one week. Strain
into a jar, being sure to squeeze all juice out of fruit. Increase
volume by 25-50% with a sugar syrup made from half water and half
sugar. Cool syrup to room temperature before adding to liqueur mix.
Method: N/A
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
137
.
Prickly Pear Cactus Mead
Author:John Isenhour (LLUG_JI.DENISON.BITNET)
Digest: June 15, 1989, Issue #177
Ingredients:
20 pounds Mesquite honey
75-100 ripe prickly pear cactus fruits
2 packs sherry wine yeast
Procedure:
See Papazian's book. This recipe was based on it.
Comments:
This is Dave Spaulding's version that won the grand prize at the 1986
Arizona State Fair.
Method: N/A
Original Gravity: 1.158
Final Gravity: 1.050
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: 5 months
138
.
Chuck's Homemade Ozark Rootbeer
Author: Chuck Cox (bose!chuck@uunet.UU.NET)
Digest: January 9, 1990, Issue #338
Ingredients:
2 ounces birch beer extract
10 ounces root beer extract
1 pound honey
1 cup blackstrap molasses
1 cup grade B maple syrup
1 gallon sugar (about 8 pounds)
Procedure:
This recipe makes 15 gallons. Mix all ingredients in a standard keg.
Add water to fill keg. Carbonate. Drink.
Comments:
I thought the molasses taste was a bit harsh and will try either reg-
ular molasses, or use less. I will also try substituting 2 ounces of
sarsaparilla extract for 2 ounces of the rootbeer extract. This
recipe makes a strong tasting rootbeer with about half the sweetness
of commercial rootbeers. This was made with artificial carbonation,
but it could be adapted to make alcoholic rootbeer by substituting
malt extract for some of the sugar.
Method: N/A
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
139
.
Nathan's Ginger Beer
Author: Bill Crick
Digest: December 1, 1989, Issue #314
Ingredients:
1/2 pound fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 lemon
5 teaspoons cream of tarter
5 cups white sugar
2-1/2 gallons water
Procedure:
This stuff is dangerous---do not make it. WARNINGS: Use only real
champagne bottles, beer bottles will explode. If left out of fridge
more than 4 weeks, bottles will explode. Do not leave in fridge more
than 4 weeks after bottles start to scare you, otherwise, bottles will
explode. Set off outside---corks go 60-70'. Do not let bottles sit
around too long---I'm not kidding!
Peel and grate ginger. Grate lemon, squeeze, and cut remainder into
slices. Boil all ingredients, mixing. Cool to 80 degrees or less and
add lager yeast. Ferment 3-7 days, then bottle in champagne bottles.
Wire down plastic corks. Leave out 1 week, then move to cool area.
Chill and test open 1 bottle each week until they start to scare you,
then put all bottles in fridge and drink within 2 weeks.
Comments:
I've been making this for many years. It is very carbonated, and
quite refreshing. Also, because it has a limited shelf life (after
which it explodes), it prompts lots of impromptu ginger beer parties.
I call several friends to say "I'm setting off a dozen ginger beers
tomorrow afternoon. Wanna come?"
Method: N/A
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: 3-7 days
Secondary Ferment: Couple weeks
140
.
My Daddy's Beer Recipe
Author: Stephen Hansen (hansen@gloworm.Stanford.edu)
Digest: July 18, 1990, Issue #462
Ingredients:
1 can Blue Ribbon malt
1 pack Fleishmann's yeast
1 cup rice
1 tablespoon salt
5 pounds powdered cane sugar
Procedure:
In a large (3 gallon) porcelain pan, add 3 quarts water and bring to
boil. Add sugar, stirring. Bring back up to boil and add 1 can of
malt. Return to boil again and let simmer for 15 minutes. Fill large
glass 1/2 full of luke warm water (not over 130 degrees) and add rice,
yeast, and salt.
Clean crock and fill 1/3 full of warm water. Pour in wort. Add cold
water to within 3 inches of top. Add yeast solution and cover. After
6-10 hours remove foam with wire strainer. Let sit until hydrometer
says "bottle." Fill bottles, adding 1/2 teaspoon sugar to each. Cap
and let stand 21 days.
Comments:
Back when I first started making beer (about 20 years ago now) I ac-
tually made several batches using this recipe. The results varied
from barely drinkable to snail bait. I especially like his comparison
in the last line of the original---"This should make 5 cases of pint
bottles of beer equal to or superior to Millers High Life."
Method: Extract
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
141
.
Romulan Ale
Author: Karl Wolff (1st recipe), Robert N. (2nd recipe)
(wolff@aqm.ssc.af.mil) (robertn@fml.intel.com)
Digest: November 6, 1990 and November 7, 1990, Issues #531 and #532
Ingredients:
Karl's Recipe:
1 fifth Bacardi 151
1 fifth Blue Curaco
2 liters Sprite or 7-Up
Robert's Recipe:
1 fifth Bacardi 151
1 fifth Everclear
1 fifth Blue Curaco
Procedure:
Mix all ingredients. Chill for approximately 3 hours and serve.
Comments:
Robert comments that this is done in shots because the average human
cannot stand up to a tall cool glass of Romulan ale; he suggests that
Karl's recipe may be fit for human consumption.
Method: N/A
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
142
.
Cyser
Author: Arun Welch (welch@cis.ohio-state.edu)
Digest: November 14, 1990, Issue #537
Ingredients:
4 gallons fresh cider (no Pot.Sorb)
5 to 6 pounds honey
1 gallon water
1 large stick cinnamon
5 cloves
2 pods cardamom
2 packs Red Star Pasteur champagne yeast
Procedure:
Simmer the spices in the water for 10 minutes. Dissolve honey. Sim-
mer and strain crud until there isn't any more. Transfer to primary,
along with cider (this should bring primary to a good pitching temper-
ature). Pitch yeast and wait 1 to 2 weeks for the foam to die down.
Transfer to secondary. Ferment in secondary 3-6 months. Bottle and
age another 3 or more months.
Comments:
I made up this recipe as I went along.
Method: N/A
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: 1-1/2 weeks
Secondary Ferment: 3 to 6 months
143
.
Wassail Mead
Author:Mal Card card@apollo.hp.com
Digest: November 15, 1990, Issue #538
Ingredients:
12-1/2 pounds light clover honey
4 teaspoons acid blend
5 teaspoons yeast nutrient
wine yeast
Procedure:
Add honey, acid blend, and yeast nutrient to 2 gallons of water and
boil for 1/2 hour. Add this to 1-1/2 gallons of cold water in the
primary fermenter. Pitch yeast when the temperature reaches 70-75
degrees. Use a blow off tube if you use a carboy. Allow fermentation
to proceed for 3 weeks or more (up to several months). When the mead
becomes fairly clear, rack to secondary. Attack air-lock. Leave the
mead to sit at least 3 weeks. When yeast settles to bottom and is
clear, it is ready to bottle. Adding 3/4 cup of corn sugar at
bottling will produce a sparkling mead. Sparkling meads should not be
made with an original gravity higher than 1.090.
Method: N/A
Original Gravity: 1.100
Final Gravity: 1.000
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
144
.
Quick Mead
Author: Kevin Karplus (karplus@ararat.ucsc.edu)
Digest: November 16, 1990, Issue #538
Ingredients:
3 gallons water
5 pounds honey
1/3 cup jasmine tea
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
ale yeast
Procedure:
Boil water, adding tea and spices. Remove from heat and stir in
honey. (Some mead makers boil the honey, skimming the scum as it
forms). Cover boiled water, and set aside to cool (this usually takes
a long time, so start on the next step). Make a yeast starter solu-
tion by boiling a cup of water and a tablespoon or two of honey. Add
starter to cooled liquid. Cover and ferment using blow tube or fer-
mentation lock. Rack two or three times to get rid of sediment.
The less honey, the lighter the drink, and the quicker it can be made.
1 pound per gallon is the minimum, 5 pounds per gallon is about the
maximum for a sweet dessert wine. This mead is a metheglin because of
the tea. The yeast is pitched one day after starting the batch, the
crud skimmed about 10 days later, then wait 3 days and rack to second-
ary. Wait 2 more weeks and bottle---about 4 weeks from start to fin-
ish.
Comments:
Yield is 3.1 gallons. Excellent clarity, fairly sweet flavor, slight
sediment, light gold color. An excellent batch.
Method: N/A
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
145
.
Sack Mead
Author: Kevin Karplus (karplus@ararat.ucsc.edu)
Digest: November 16, 1990, Issue #538
Ingredients:
3 gallons water
16 pounds honey
1/4 cup keemun tea
1/4 cup oolong tea
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon whole anise seed
18 clusters cardamom, crushed
20 allspice, crushed
1 inch galingale root, crushed
yeast
unflavored gelatin (fining)
Procedure:
Boil water, adding tea and spices. Remove from heat and stir in
honey. (Some mead makers boil the honey, skimming the scum as it
forms). Cover boiled water, and set aside to cool (this usually takes
a long time, so start on the next step). Make a yeast starter solu-
tion by boiling a cup of water and a tablespoon or two of honey. Add
starter to cooled liquid. Cover and ferment using blow tube or fer-
mentation lock. Rack two or three times to get rid of sediment.
This recipe took about 6-1/2 months from brewing to bottling. First
rack took place 15 days after brewing. 2nd rack 3 weeks later. 3rd
rack 3 months later. Gelatin added 1 month later. Bottled about 2-
1/2 months later. Yield 3.7 gallons.
Comments:
Sweet, smooth, potent. A dessert wine. This is perhaps the best of my
20 or more batches of mead.
Method: N/A
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
146
.
Roses for Arthur
Author: Ye Olde Batte (mhalley%mun.BITNET)
Digest: November 31, 1988
Ingredients:
rose petals
water
sugar
dry yeast
Procedure:
Fill a glass container with rose petals. Cover with water and let
set, covered by a clean cloth, for 3 days. Strain water through a
cloth and measure. Add to it, one quarter of its volume of white
sugar. Set in a glass jar or crock, add a pinch of dry yeast and stir
well. When it is sparkling (3 days to a week), put into beer or cham-
pagne bottles and cap. Age 1-6 months.
Comments:
This recipe comes from a booklet called The Delicious Rose by
Geraldine Duncann. It was called Rose Melemell, although it has no
honey. This is an effervescent brew with a hint of summer roses.
Method: N/A
Original Gravity: N/A
Final Gravity: N/A
Primary Ferment: N/A
Secondary Ferment: N/A
147
.
APPENDIX A: BIBLIOGRAPHY
The following books are generally available from the Association of
Brewers at (303) 447-0816. Quite a few may also be available from
various homebrew shops or mail order sources.
Beach, David. Homegrown Hops. 1988, David Beach, 103 pages.
A complete guide on growing hops geared toward the homebrewer. Covers
everything from hop selection and cultivation through harvesting and
drying.
Burch, Byron. Brewing Quality Beers. 1986, 50 pages.
This is a good, basic text on homebrewing geared toward the beginner.
Eckhardt, Fred. Essentials of Beer Style. 1989, Fred Eckhardt
Associates, Portland Oregon, 224 pages.
Parts of this book are rehash of material covered better elsewhere,
such as the basic brewing process and how to serve beer, but the sec-
tions that describe the characteristics that define beer styles have
more than enough value to justify buying this book. If you have ever
wondered what exactly makes a porter a porter rather than a stout, or
what the difference is between a Vienna-style lager and a Maerzen
beer, then this book is for you.
Fix, George. Principles of Brewing Science. 1989, Brewers Publica-
tions, Boulder Colorado, 246 pages.
This is an interesting book for the advanced brewer with some back-
ground in chemistry, but would have little value to the beginner.
Describes chemical process that take place in the fermentation pro-
cess, water chemistry, proteins, enzymes, carbohydrates, etc.
Foster, Terry. Pale Ale. 1990, Brewers Publications, Boulder
Colorado, 134 pages.
Largely geared toward the consumer who wants a knowledge of the his-
tory, evolution, culture, and techniques that make pale ale such a
revered style in Britain. Some sections describe the ingredients and
procedures for making pale ales.
148
.
Gayre, Lt. Col. Robert. Brewing Mead. 1986, Brewers Publications,
Boulder Colorado, 200 pages.
Most of this book is a historical look at the place of mead in his-
tory. Not a great deal of practical information, but interesting.
Guinard, Jean-Xavier. Lambic. Brewers Publications, Boulder
Colorado, 169 pages.
Discussion of the history and evolution of lambic ales, includes
directory of breweries making lambic ales and recipes for homebrewers.
Hough, J.S., D.E. Briggs, R. Stevens, and T.W. Young. Malting and
Brewing Science. 1982, Chapman and Hall Publishing, 914 pages.
Two-volumes detailing every step in the brewing process, from agricul-
tural techniques used in producing malt and barley through packaging
and marketing. This book is geared to the commercial brewer and
assumes a good knowledge of chemistry and microbiology.
Jackson, Michael. Pocket Guide to Beer. 1982, 1989, 1991, Simon and
Schuster, New York, 138 pages.
Short, concise descriptions of breweries throughout the world along
with descriptions of the beers they make and ratings (5-star scale).
One of the few sources for original gravity and alcohol content infor-
mation on commercial beers. Great for the traveler.
Jackson, Michael. World Guide to Beer. 1977, 1988, Running Press,
Philadelphia, 255 pages.
Probably the single most important book on beer available today.
Accurate and complete. Describes the history, culture, and techniques
used in the beer industry throughout the world. Describes styles of
beer that predominate in various geographic areas along with their
heritage and commercial examples.
Leistad, Roger. Yeast Culturing for the Homebrewer. 1983, G.W. Kent
Co., 40 pages.
Short, but detailed discussion of how yeast can be cultured. Probably
not of interest to the beginner.
Line, Dave. Brewing Beers Like Those You Buy.
A somewhat dated text from Britain that tries to emulate such note-
worthy commercial beers as Mackeson Triple Stout. Some of the recipes
can try your patience as you try to figure out what "treacle" is or
whether you should really brew with saccharine.
149
.
Mares, William. Making Beer. 1988, Alfred Knopf Publishing Co., New
York, 178 pages.
Invaluable for its advice on why not to become a commercial brewer,
this is a fascinating look at one homebrewer's life of beer. Witty
and insightful descriptions of such wondrous homebrewing experiences
as bottles bursting in the middle of the night.
Master Brewers Association. The Practical Brewer. 1977, Master Brew-
ers Association of the Americas, 475 pages.
Advanced, comprehensive text covering various aspects of brewing.
Geared toward the commercial brewer, but much of the information is
useful to homebrewers as well.
Miller, David. The Complete Handbook of Homebrewing. 1988, Garden
Way Publishing, Pownall Vermont, 248 pages.
Comprehensive homebrewing text that is often preferred by more
advanced brewers because it is somewhat more technical and detailed
than Papazian and better organized with a comprehensive index.
Miller, David. Continental Pilsner. 1990, Brewers Publications,
Boulder Colorado, 102 pages.
Story of pilsner and similar lagers, explored through its history and
evolution. Describes how to brew pale lagers at home.
Moore, William. Home Beermaking. 72 pages.
Good basic homebrewing text---for the beginner.
Morse, Roger A. Making Mead---History, Recipes, Methods, and Equip-
ment. 1980, Wicwas Press, 127 pages.
In-depth look at brewing techniques, troubleshooting, and analysis of
mead. Written by beekeeper and horticulturist.
Noonan, Greg. Brewing Lager Beer. 1986, Brewers Publications, Boul-
der Colorado, 293 pages.
Somewhat advanced text geared to the advanced brewer who wants to try
bottom-fermented beers. A must if you want to try a decoction mash.
Excellent discussion of water treatment and quality by geographic
area.
150
.
Papazian, Charlie. The Complete Joy of Home Brewing. 1984, Avon
Books, New York, 352 pages.
The most universally accepted reference among homebrewers. Excellent
selection of recipes. Good choice as a general text, especially if
you can only afford one. This book will hold your hand as you begin
brewing and will take you gradually through progressively more diffi-
cult steps. Desperately cries out for an index.
Priest, F.G. and I. Campbell. Brewing Microbiology. 1987, Elsevier
Science Publishers, Amsterdam.
Reese, M.R. Better Beer and How to Brew It. 1981, Garden Way Pub-
lishing, Pownall Vermont.
Zymurgy. Magazine of the American Homebrewers Association, Boulder
Colorado.
Quarterly magazine covering all aspects of homebrewing. The annual
special issues alone are worth the cost of the subscription. Past
topics have included troubleshooting, hops, and yeast.
151
.
APPENDIX B: SUPPLIERS
The following list of suppliers was compiled by Chris Shenton
(chris@asylum.gsfc.nasa.gov) and originally appeared in the Homebrew
Digest Feb 16, 1990. We extend our heartiest thanks to Chris for the
effort he put into this list. According to Chris, there was once an
updated list, but one hungry tape later, and all his work was gone.
Fortunately the following work has been saved in the archives for all
to enjoy.
INTRODUCTION
The following lists unit prices for a sample of supplies from a number
of vendors. These are only representative data points on some of the
more common items and should help in deciding where to shop. Some
vendors sell in small quantities, and some only in large quantities,
but give bulk prices. Consult the notes following the table for ad-
dresses and information about quantities. Please send me any other
vendors you have information about so I can keep this list current.
Thanks for your support.---Chris Shenton
SELECTION PHILOSOPHY
I didn't include most specialty grains (or specialty items) because
they are ordered in small quantities. Prices selected are for low-
est-cost variety available; for example, if US and German Munich malt
is available, I quote the cheaper US variety. When price or amount
depends on quantity ordered, I've tried to select an amount suitable
for a couple of batches, because that's the way I would order by mail.
For example, if there are 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 Lb bags of grain, I used
the 20 Lb price because that seems like a realistic purchase quantity
--- enough for about two batches. Likewise, if there's a 6-can dis-
count on a case of extract, I quote that price, rather than the higher
per-can price. With hops, same deal: if there were 1, 2, 5, 10 oz
packs, I'd quote the 5 oz pack price.
OTHER SUPPLIERS
There are a couple suppliers which do not fit in the chart because
they specialize in only one item, or sell somewhat unusual items.
They are included separately from the chart and its addresses.
(Freshops is force-fit into the chart below, however).
PERUSAL
My guinea pig said he found the raw data too overwhelming and would
prefer a more iconic style. Therefore, I've taken my numbers (price
per quantity), and broken things into intervals, then marked them
using the familiar $, $$, $$$, $$$$ notation. Then, for each suppli-
er, I averaged the interval-measure of each available ingredient to
get an average value for all that supplier's merchandise. Presented
in an iconic form at the extreme right, this shows at a glance which
dealers are expensive (e.g.: Wine & Brew By You) and which are cheap
152
.
(e.g.: Green Acres and Brew For Less [I would hope so with a name like
that! :-]). Note that this ignores unavailable ingredients, and
therefore variety/selection; companies with only a couple inexpensive
items (e.g.: Freshops) come out looking good, too. After the body of
the chart, I list the minimum, average, and maximum prices for the
items, in dollars per the quantity-measure specified in the column
heading.
FEEDBACK
I would be willing to maintain a list of user reports for each vendor.
Send me any comments on ones you have dealt with: price, knowledge,
quality, freshness, turn-around time, etc. I'll compile and send out
updates every now and then. If you have other vendors I didn't in-
clude, send me a line or two with the prices calculated for the ingre-
dients in this table. (I can't afford to keep current on all the deal-
ers!)
DISCLAIMER
Some suppliers will have inevitably been omitted. These include
places with no catalog (eg. Col. John's), places which charge for
catalogs (eg: Brass Corkscrew / Brewer's Warehouse), and places I am
not aware of. I apologize for any omissions.
(The obligatory null-statement indicating my opinions are no one
else's.)
153
.
SUPPLIERS COMPARISON CHART
Comp Extract $/Lb Malt $/Lb Hops $/oz Yeast $/pk
any St --------- --------- ---- ---- Soda
Abbr at Edme M&F Dry Klag Pale Crys Muni Casc Saaz Liqu Whit Caps
ev. e Bulk DMS Plai Ligh es tal ch Flwr Pell Cult Dry $/gr
==== == ==== ==== ==== ==== ==== ==== ==== ==== ==== ==== ==== ==== ====
AmBr NC $$$ ____ ____ ____ $ $ $$$ $$ $$ $$ $$ ____ ____ | $$
AmWo PA ____ $ $$ $$ $$$$ $$$$ $$$$ ____ ____ $$$ ____ ____ $$$$ | $$$
BAWH MA ____ $ $$ $$ $$$ $$ $$ $$$ $$ $$ $$$ $$$$ $$$ | $$
BBM WI $$ ____ $ $ $ $$ $ $ $$ $$ $ ____ $ | $$
BFL IL $ $ $ $ $ $ $ ____ $$ $ $ ____ $$ | $
BM&V MA ____ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$$ $$$ | $$
BrHa TN $$$ $$ $$ $$ $ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $ ____ $ | $$
CW PA $$$ $$ $$ $$ $$$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$$ ____ $$$ $$$ | $$
Cell WA $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ ____ $$ $$ $ $$ $$ ____ $$$$ | $$
Cros CT ____ $$ $$ $$ ____ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$ $$ $$$$ $$$ $$$ | $$$
ECK MO ____ ____ $$ $$ ____ $$$ $$$ ____ $ $$ ____ ____ $$$$ | $$
FH OR ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ $ ____ $ ____ ____ | $
FHSC OR $ $ $$ $ $ $ $ $ $$ $$$ $ ____ ____ | $
GFM CA $$ $$ $$ $$ $ $$ $$ $$ $ $$ $ $$$$ $$$ | $$
GFSR CA $$$ $$$ $$ $$ $ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $ $$$$ $$$ | $$
GrAc MN $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ ____ $$ | $
HBII FL $$$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$$ $$$ $$ $$$ ____ ____ $ | $$
HHS PA ____ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ ____ ____ $$ | $$
HSH PA ____ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $ $$ ____ ____ $$$ | $$
Henn NY $$$$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$$ $$$ | $$
JHBS NH ____ $$ $$ $$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$ $ ____ $ $$ | $$
Joe OH ____ $$ $$ $$ $$$ $$$$ $$ $$ $$ $$ ____ ____ $$ | $$
KMB IL ____ ____ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$$$ $$ ____ ____ $ | $$
LOWS IL ____ $ $ $ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ $ ____ ____ $ | $
MMHS OK ____ ____ ____ $$ $$ ____ $$ $$ $$ $$ ____ ____ $ | $$
Mark OH ____ ____ $ $ $$ $$ $ $ ____ $ ____ ____ $ | $
Maye NY ____ $$ $$ $ $$ $$ $$ $$ $ $$ $ ____ $$$ | $$
OBW CA $$ ____ ____ $ ____ $ $ $$$ ____ $ ____ ____ $$$ | $$
PF WI ____ $$ $$ $$ $$$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $ ____ ____ $$$ | $$
S&R NY ____ $ $$ $ $$ $$ $$ $$ $ $$ ____ ____ $$$ | $$
SBS FL ____ ____ $$ $$ ____ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$ $$ $$ ____ $$ | $$
THB CA ____ $$ $$ $ $ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$ $$ $ ____ $$$ | $$
TMBC MA ____ $$ $$ $$ ____ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $ $$$ $$$ | $$
WBBY FL ____ $$$$ $$$$ $$$$ $$$ $$$$ $$$$ $$$$ $$$ $$$$ ____ ____ $$$ | $$$$
WM MO ____ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $ $ $ ____ ____ $ | $$
WiBr CA $$$$ ____ ____ $$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $$$ $ $ $$ ____ $$$ | $$
Min == 1.11 1.82 1.50 1.81 0.60 0.70 0.70 0.65 0.48 0.83 3.25 1.40 0.85
Avg == 1.58 2.47 2.32 2.60 1.01 1.15 1.17 1.11 0.81 1.37 3.81 1.87 1.37
Max == 2.08 4.28 4.54 5.00 1.75 1.90 1.90 1.90 1.85 2.49 5.45 2.10 1.99
154
.
ADDRESSES AND COMMENTS
Note:
`$' indicates quantity used for the quoted price below,
`_' indicates not available or information not given
AmBr American Brewmaster
2940-6 Trawick Road
Raleigh, NC 27604
919-850-0095
Extract:
American Classic malt in 1.65# and 3.3# $ boilable pouches
Malt: Klages/Pale 1#, 3#, 25# $, 50#; Crystal and Munich 1# $
Hop Flower: 2oz $, 1#, 2#, 4#
Hop Pellets: 1oz $, 1#, 2#, 4#
Discounts: %5 @ 13.2# $, 10% @ 26.4# extract & applies to other
thing's too!
Comments: Yeast culturing supplies; good discounts; quality malt
P & H: extra
Use Note: Fast service, knowledgeable staff.
AmWo Ambler Woodstove
Bethelehem and Butler Pikes
Ambler, PA 19002
215-643-3565
Extract: Dry is M&F 1# $
Malt: 1# $ amounts
Hop Flower: _
Hop Pellets: 1oz $
Discounts: Malt --- 10% 10-25#, 25% for 55#; Hops discounted for 8oz
Comments: Brewing is not their main business; limited selection.
P & H: extra
Use Note: ??
BAWH Beer and Wine Hobby
PO Box 3104
Wakefield, MA 01880
617-933-8818
Extract: Dry 1#, 3# $, 55#; 1 can, 6 can case $
Malt: 1#, 5#, 10#, 55#
Hop Flower: 4oz $, 8oz, 1#
Hop Pellets: 1oz
Discounts: _
Comments: Good selection beer and wine; yeast propagation kit, keg
system
P & H: extra
Use Note: ??
155
.
BBM Basement Brewmaster
4280 N. 160th St
Brookfield, WI 53005
414-781-BREW
Extract: Bulk is 3# $ heat-sealed bags of Wisconsin extract
Malt: 1# $
Hop Flower: 4oz $
Hop Pellets: 1oz $
Discounts: _
Comments: New company, not a large selection yet
P & H: extra
Use Note: ??
BFL Brew for Less
P.O. Box 32 195
Chicago, IL 60632-0195
312-581-BEER
Extract: Bulk is M&F 55# $; Edme 2# $; M&F 3.3# $; M&F dry 3# $
Malt: M&F 2-row in 5#, 20# $, 55#
Hop Flower: 0.5# $ and 1.0# bags
Hop Pellets: 0.25# $ and 1.0# bags
Discounts: _
Comments: Decent selection
P & H: UPS extra, Handling $1
Use Note: ??
BM&V Barleymalt & Vine
4 Corey St
W. Roxbury, MA 02132
617-327-0089
Extract: Dry is M&F 3# $
Malt: 1#, 10# $, 55#
Hop Flower: 4oz $, 1#
Hop Pellets: 1oz, 4oz $, 1#
Discounts: _
Comments: Cornelius system for $179!, kegs for $25!; fairly comp-
lete
P & H: Free for orders more than $30
Use Note: ??
156
.
BrHa Brewhaus
4955 Ball Camp Pike
Knoxville, TN 37921
615-523-4615
Extract: Bulk is M&F 55# $; Dry is Laaglander 3# $, 55#, M&F 3,
55#
Malt: Klages 1# $, 55#; others in 50# bags
Hop Flower: 1oz $
Hop Pellets: 1oz $, 1#
Discounts: 10% case extract
Comments: Solid catalog; wide selection; Klages 55# bag for $0.55/#!
P & H: extra
Use Note: Knowledgeable staff, reasonably fast turnaround. Good
prices.
CW Country Wines
3333 Babcock Blvd
Pittsburgh, PA 15237
412-366-0151
Extract: Bulk is EDME 55# $ DMS or SFX; dry: M&F 1#, 3# $, 55#
Malt: _
Hop Flower: 2oz, 4oz $
Hop Pellets: 10 g, 1oz $
Discounts: _
Comments: Good wine selection
P & H: UPS extra; handling $1 on orders < $8
Use Note: ??
Cell The Cellar
P.O. Box 33525
14411 Greenwood Ave, N.
Seattle, WA 98133
206-365-7660
Extract: 1 can, 6 can case $; Bulk is 58# $ Alexanders
Malt: 3# $, 55#
Hop Flower: 2oz $, 1#
Hop Pellets: 2oz $, 1#
Discounts: Extract cans 10% case discount
Comments: Good selection, lots of equipment and other toys
P & H: UPS extra
Use Note: ??
157
.
Cros Crossfire
PO Box 530
Somersville, CT 06072
203-623-6537
Extract: 1 can, 6 can case $; 1#, 3# $, 55#
Malt: 1# $, 55#
Hop Flower: 1oz $
Hop Pellets: 1oz $
Discounts: extract can case above
Comments: Good selection of wine and beer
P & H: extra
Use Note: ??
ECK E.C. Kraus
9001 East 24 Highway
P.O. Box 7850
Independence, MO 64053
816-254-7448
Extract: 4 3.3# cans $
Malt: 10 1# bags $
Hop Flower: 4oz $
Hop Pellets: 3oz $
Discounts: _
Comments: Mostly wine (though not extensive), not much beer
P & H: $0.75 handling, most items postpaid
Use Note: ??
FH Freshops
36180 Kings Valley Hwy
Philomath, OR 97370
503-929-2736
Extract: _
Malt: _
Hop Flower: 4oz, 8oz $, 12oz, 1#, 2#, 3#, 4#, 5-10#,11+#
Hop Pellets: _
Discounts: based on quantity
Comments: Rhizomes! N. Brewer, Chinook, Willamette, Perle, CFJ90,
Hallertauer, Tettnanger
P & H: included
Use Note: ??
158
.
FHSC F.H. Steinbart Co
602 SE Salmon
Portland, OR 97214
503-232-8793
Extract: Bulk 7# $; Dry is domestic 5# $, 55#
Malt: 1#, 10#, 25# $, 50#, 80# at various discounts
Hop Flower: 2oz $, 1#
Hop Pellets: 1oz $, 1#
Discounts: Extract case discount
Comments: Good wine selection too; lots of variety.
P & H: extra
Use Note: ??
GFM Great Fermentations of Marin
87 Larkspur St
San Rafael, CA 94901
415-459-2420
Extract: Bulk 1# $; Dry 5# $, 55#
Malt: 1#, 5# $
Hop Flower: 4oz $
Hop Pellets: 2oz $
Discounts: _
Comments: Complete: hop rhizomes! 7gal carboys, kegging, lots of
books
P & H: handling $1 ($3 for orders < $20); postage extra
Use Note: ??
GFSR Great Fermentations of Santa Rosa
PO Box 428
Fulton, CA
800-544-1867
Extract: Bulk generic, and the usual cans
Malt: 1# $; Munich is US --- German available
Hop Flower: 4oz $; Cascade and Northern Brewer
Hop Pellets: 2oz $; domestic @ $1.95, imported @ $2.95
Discounts: order > $100 10%, > $250 25%
Comments: Very well produced catalog, descriptive
159
.
GrAc Green Acres
216 Vork Rd
Esko, MN 55733
218-879-2465
Extract: Bulk is Breiss unhopped (5 gal, 58# pail) for $72
Malt: 1#, 4#, 20# $, 50#, 55#
Hop Flower: 1oz, 2oz, 4oz $, 8oz, 1#
Hop Pellets: 1oz, 2oz, 4oz $, 8oz, 1#
Discounts: per ingredient, varies
Comments: Selection not extensive but they have all the essentials
P & H: UPS extra; Handling --- order <$25 $3, <$50 $1, >$50 $none
Use Note: ??
HBII Home Brew Intl, Inc
1126 S. Federal Hwy
Suite 182
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316
305-764-1527
Extract: Bulk is M&F 55# $; Dry is M&F 1#, 3# $, 55#
Malt: Klages and Pale 1#, 55# $; others 1# $, 55#
Hop Flower: 4oz $
Hop Pellets: 1oz $, 1#
Discounts: _
Comments: Good selection beer/wine; kegging; cheese, sourdough, et al
P & H: extra
Use Note: Slow service (still waiting --- about 3 weeks)
HHS Hayes Homebrew Supply
Suite 117
311 S. Allen St
State College, PA 16801
Extract: Dry is Laaglander 3.0# $
Malt: Klages 1#, 5# $, 50#; others 1#, 5# $; pale is English
Hop Flower: 1oz, 2oz, 4oz $, 1#
Hop Pellets: 1oz, 2oz, 4oz $, 1#
Discounts: _
Comments: Decent selection of the basics
P & H: Handling $1.50 for orders < $20; postage extra
Use Note: ??
160
.
HSW Home Sweet Homebrew
2008 Sansom St
Philadelphia, PA 19103
215-569-9469
Extract: Dry is M&F 3# $
Malt: Klages and Pale 1#, 5# $, 50#; others 1#, 5#
Hop Flower: 2oz $, 1#
Hop Pellets: 2oz $, 1#
Discounts: _
Comments: Reasonable selection
P & H: Handling $2 for orders <$15; postage extra
Use Note: ??
Henn Hennessy Homebrew
470 North Greenbush Road
Rensselaer, NY 12144
518-283-7094
Extract: Bulk is 55# $ dry M&F; Diastatic is by M&F, not Edme
Malt: 1#, 5# $, 50#
Hop Flower: 4oz $
Hop Pellets: 2oz $
Discounts: _
Comments: Fairly good selection of beer and wine
P & H: Handling $1.50; postage included for states northeast US
Use Note: ??
JHBS Jaspers Home Brew Supply
116 Page Road
Litchfield, NH 03051
603-881-3052
Extract: Dry is M&F, 1#, 3# $, 6#, 12#
Malt: 1# $
Hop Flower: 1oz $, 1#
Hop Pellets: 1oz $, 1#
Discounts: _
Comments: Limited selection
P & H: $7.50 (unless paying by VISA), excess refunded; >$50 UPS split
Use Note: ??
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Joe Joe and Sons
P.O. Box 11276
Cincinnati, OH 45211
513-662-2326
Extract: Dry is M&F 3# $
Malt: 1# $
Hop Flower: 1oz $
Hop Pellets: 1oz $
Discounts: _
Comments: Mostly wine, reasonably extensive
P & H: extra
Use Note: ??
KMB Koeppl's Master Brewing
2311 George St
Rolling Meadows, IL 60008
312-255-4478
Extract: _
Malt: 1#, 5# $
Hop Flower: 2oz $ (price doesn't seem right)
Hop Pellets: 2oz $
Discounts: _
Comments: Large selection, very good draft component/system selection
P & H: handling $1.50 for orders < $10; postage extra
Use Note: ??
LOWS Lil' Olde Winemaking Shoppe
4S245 Wiltshire Ln
Sugar Grove, IL 60554
708-557-2523
Extract: Dry is M&F 3# $
Malt: _
Hop Flower: _
Hop Pellets: 2oz $
Discounts: _
Comments: Large extract selection, but limited otherwise
P & H: extra
Use Note: ??
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MMHS Marbull's Malt & Hop Shop
709 Highland
Lawton, OK 73501
405-355-6690
Extract: Dry 3# $
Malt: 1# $
Hop Flower: 1oz $
Hop Pellets: 1oz $
Discounts: _
Comments: Did not give quantity for caps; small selection
P & H: extra
Use Note: ??
Mark Mark's Malts
14 Tonkin Ct
Kent, OH 44240
Extract: 1 can, 6 can case $; dry is M&F 3# $
Malt: 1#, 15# $, 35#, 50#
Hop Flower: _
Hop Pellets: 1oz $
Discounts: Hops 10% @ 8oz
Comments: Not a large selection
P & H: postage extra; $1.50 extra for orders under $20
Use Note: ??
Maye Mayer's
699 Five Mile Line Rd
Webster, NY 14580
800-543-0043
Extract: Dry is Telford's 1#, 3# $, 56#
Malt: 1#, 5# $, 55#, 110#
Hop Flower: 1oz $
Hop Pellets: 1oz $
Discounts: _
Comments: Reasonable beer/wine selection
P & H: $2 when weight >25#; postage extra
Use Note: ??
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OBW Oak Barrel Winecraft
1443 San Pablo Ave
Berkeley, CA 94702
415-849-0400
Extract: Bulk syrup 0-5, 6-10 11-20# $, 21-40, 41-60; dry 3, 6# $,
44
Malt: 3#, 7# $, 50#
Hop Flower: Flower/Pellet not specified --- only pellets assumed
Hop Pellets: 2oz, 4oz $, 1#, 5#
Discounts: _
Comments: Somewhat chaotic catalog, not very complete
P & H: extra
Use Note: ??
PF Purple Foot
3167 S. 92nd St
Milwaukee, WI 53227
414-327-2130
Extract: Dry is M&F 3# $
Malt: 1# $
Hop Flower: 1.5oz $
Hop Pellets: 2oz $
Discounts: _
Comments: Decent selection
P & H: postage/UPS extra
Use Note: ??
S&R S & R Homebrewing & Winemaking Supplies
P.O. Box 544
Union Station
Endicott, NY 13760
607-748-1877
Extract: Dry 3# $ bags
Malt: 1--10#, 11--20# $, 21+# bags
Hop Flower: 2oz $
Hop Pellets: 4oz $
Discounts: _
Comments: Decent though not mind-blowing selection of beer, wine
P & H: postage extra; $1 handling for orders < $10
Use Note: ??
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SBS Sebastian Brewers Supply
1762 Sunrise Lane
Sebastian, FL 32958
Extract: 1 can, 6 can case $;
Malt: 1#, 5+# $
Hop Flower: 1oz $
Hop Pellets: 1oz $
Discounts: 10% for 5 hops, and extract/malt given above
Comments: Good selection; keg system for $200
P & H: extra
Use Note: ??
THB The Home Brewery
16490 Jurupa Ave
Fontana, CA 92335
714-822-3010
Extract: Dry is Brewmaster 3# $; also Telford's, Laaglander
Malt: Klages 1#, 10# $, 50#; others 1#, 5# $
Hop Flower: 2oz $
Hop Pellets: 2oz $
Discounts: 10% on 6 or more cans extract
Comments: Good selection
P & H: extra
Use Note: ??
TMBC The Modern Brewer Company
P.O. Box 511
Cambridge, MA 02140
800-SEND-ALE
Extract: Dry is M&F 1#, 3# $
Malt: 1#, 10# $, 55#
Hop Flower: 1oz $
Hop Pellets: 1oz $
Discounts: _
Comments: Beer selection is fairly complete.
P & H: extra
Use Note: ??
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WBBY Wine & Brew By You
5760 Bird Rd
Miami, FL 33155
305-666-5757
Extract: Dry is M&F 3# $
Malt: Klages is `Brewer's Pale' 10# $; others 1#, 5# $
Hop Flower: 1oz $
Hop Pellets: 1oz $
Discounts: _
Comments: Used kegs $23, float conversions $3
P & H: extra
Use Note: ??
WM Winemaker's Market
4249 N. Essex Ave
Springfield, MO 65803
417-833-4145
Extract: Dry is 3# $ M&F
Malt: 1#, 10# $
Hop Flower: 1oz, 8oz $
Hop Pellets: 1oz, 8oz $
Discounts: _
Comments: Good beer/wine selection (except yeasts)
P & H: extra
Use Note: ??
WiBr William's Brewing
14310 Wicks Blvd
P.O. Box 2195
San Leandro, CA 94577
415-895-2739
Extract: Bulk in variety of styles in 6# $ boilable bags; Dry 5#
$, 55#
Malt: Klages and English Pale, 1#, 50# $; others 1# $9
Hop Flower: 6oz $
Hop Pellets: 2oz, 6oz $
Discounts: Available on extract
Comments: Very informative catalog, good selection
P & H: extra
Use Note: ??
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ADDRESSES AND DESCRIPTIONS OF OTHER SUPPLIERS
Hauge Enterprises
P.O. Box 17170
Portland, OR 97217
Brewing equipment and gadgets. Gas burner, wort chiller, stainless
brewpot (5 gal), copper siphon tube, sparge water sprayer.
Brew Co
P.O. Box 1063
Boon, NC 28607
Brewing gadgets. Bru Heat, BrewCap, improved sparge bag, brew chiller
(modified counterflow).
Braukunst
55 Lakeview Drive
Carlton, MN 55718
Kegging and tapping using systems using soda kegs. Complete system:
$250; includes 5 gallon Cornelius keg, 5# CO2 tank, two-gauge regula-
tor, fridge-mounted faucet, drip pan, hoses and connectors.
Foxx
421 Southwest Blvd
Kansas City, MO
800-821-2254.
Kegging system: $152; includes 5 gallon Cornelius keg, 1 gauge regula-
tor, CO2 tank, hoses, connectors, picnic tap. Two gauge regulator: add
$6. All they sell is beer and soda kegging stuff, and they know what
they sell. Extensive catalog.
Rapids Inc
1011 2nd Ave SW
P.O. Box 396
Cedar Rapids, IA 52406
800-553-7906.
Restaurant wholesale equipment. Most interesting: 10 gal 20 gauge
stainless pot: $80; matching lid: $20. The pot is quality, and it's
a good company with which to do business.
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Stew's Brew
R.R. 4 Box 243
River Falls, WI 54022
715-425-2525
Sells only malt ("various strains blended to a brewmaster specs").
His prices are very good, and one user (John Freeman, aka
jlf@earth.cray.com) said it was of high quality. Stew has an informa-
tive (lots of low-cost technique and speed-up tips) and somewhat odd
`catalog'. Prices are 32# @ $0.55/Lb; discounts are 5% on 2-3 68 Lb
parcels, 10% on 4+ 68 Lb parcels. Postage extra.
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APPENDIX C: BEGINNERS GUIDE
I hope that the following guide can help some beginners with their
first batches. I obviously can't cover every little detail of home-
brewing here, but I have tried to give an easily followed outline of
the process, along with most of the common pitfalls faced by begin-
ners. I would welcome any comments or criticism on this section, as
it will probably appear again, in hopefully better form.
-Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator
1. The first thing I recommend to the new brewer is to find a source
of brewing supplies. It may be a local brew shop or a mail order
store. Check out books on homebrew either at a library or bookstore.
The book I recommend getting is Charlie Papazian's "Complete Joy of
Homebrewing." This is easily one of the best homebrewing books around,
and it is very useful for both beginners and experienced brewers.
There are lots of other good books around, so don't worry if you can't
find this one. One caveat: stay away from books published in the UK,
as these can be confusing and/or misleading for the beginner. They
specify ingredients that aren't found in the US, and generally give
poor advice, like adding lots of sugar.
2. The next thing to do is buy a kit. Most brew stores sell kits
that contain everything you need to make your first batch, except for
bottles. They'll cost anywhere from $35-$60 depending on how fancy
they are. I'd recommend getting a kit that includes a 5 gallon glass
carboy as well as a plastic pail. Other useful items that the kit
might not include are thermometer and hydrometer. The kit should
include: 10 gallon plastic pail, siphon equipment, bottle filler,
bottle brush, bottle caps, bottle capper, fermentation lock, chlorine
cleaner, and perhaps ingredients. If the kit includes a carboy, it
should also include a short length of plastic hose for the "blow-by,"
and a funnel. There might be some other odd items, such as a stirring
spoon. The major difference between one kit and another will be the
presence of a glass carboy, so in this article I will indicate when a
difference in technique is called for. If the kit does not include
ingredients, there are usually several kinds of malt extract to choose
from. Try to pick something not too heavy for the first time; a light
or amber ale is a very good choice. Also try to get a hopped malt
extract the first time to keep it simple. If none is available, then
get 2 ounces of fresh hops if available. Failing that, get 2 ounces
of hop pellets.
3. Relax, don't worry, and have a homebrew. Now you are about ready
to start brewing. If possible, it is extraordinarily helpful at this
point to find somebody who's done it before, and have them help you.
Doing this will greatly improve your chances of success the first
time, but don't worry if you can't swing it, your chances are still
pretty good. Remember to tell yourself, "Relax, don't worry, and have
a homebrew." The first time, ordinary beer will have to do, but do
try to drink homebrew whenever you brew---it will help you to not
worry. (Worrying can ruin the taste of your homebrew.)
169
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4. To begin, you'll need a large pot to boil the malt extract in. The
pot should be large enough to hold at least 2 gallons of water---the
bigger the better. Fill the pot up about half way (whatever that
happens to be) with water and boil it. The idea is to boil as much
water as possible, but to have room in the pot for foam that will be
produced by boiling. While the water is heating up, remove the label
from the can(s) of malt extract, and put the can(s) in some hot water
to soften the extract. When the water boils, put in the extract and
let it boil again, stirring frequently so the extract doesn't burn.
When it comes to a second boil, watch out---it has a strong tendency
to foam up and make a legendary mess on your stove. When the foam
rises, remove the pot from the fire and let it settle down a minute.
When you put it back, it will have (slightly) less tendency to boil
over, but it needs watching.
5. If you have hops or hop pellets, add them now, and boil the wort
(wort == unfermented beer) for at least a half hour (an hour is bet-
ter.) If you're not using hops, but instead, hopped malt extract, then
it is not necessary to boil very long---15 minutes is sufficient.
6. While the wort is boiling, you should sanitize everything that
will come in contact with the beer. This includes the fermentation
container, fermentation lock, utensils, everything. Sanitizing is
done by soaking in a solution of water and the sanitizing chemical
that came with your kit. A few teaspoons of household bleach in a
gallon of water is quite effective also. I generally fill a large
bowl with bleach solution and throw in everything to be sanitized.
After sanitizing, rinse well with clean water at least 3 times. No-
tice I keep saying "sanitize" and not "sterilize." Well, it would be
nice if you could sterilize, but you can't. Sterilization is very
difficult, i.e., boiling under pressure for an hour, so sanitizing is
the best we can do. Needless to say, be careful not to breath the
fumes or get any sanitizing solution in your eyes. Sanitizing might
sound like a pain, but that's only because it is. However, it's abso-
lutely the most important thing you can do to make your beer a suc-
cess. You can screw up a dozen other things, but if you keep every-
thing clean, you'll still liable to brew a good beer. But if you're
not sanitary, the finest ingredients and techniques won't help -
you'll brew quite undrinkable beer.
7. Now put about 2 gallons of cold water into your fermenter, and add
the boiled wort. A funnel is handy at this point if you are using a
carboy. If your boiling pot is very large, use less than 2 gallons---
remember, we're eventually making 5 gallons. (Do not pour the hot
wort directly into a carboy without cold water in it---you are likely
to crack the glass!) If you added hops, you'll want to use a strainer
to remove them, but don't worry if you don't get them all. Now fill
your fermenter up to 5 gallons with cold water. If you're using the
plastic pail, it helps if you've previously marked where 5 gallons
occurs---a magic marker works well. If you're using a carboy, fill it
up to several inches from the top. Depending on how much water you
boiled, the temperature of the wort might be too high to add the
yeast. If so, let it cool until it is below 90 degrees F.
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8. Now the packet of yeast may be added to the wort. If you like,
you can "start" the yeast. I usually do this to give it a "running
start" and also simply to be sure that the yeast is good. To start
the yeast, sanitize a bottle, and mix 2 teaspoons of corn sugar with a
half cup of 80 degree water, and add the yeast. Stick a fermentation
lock on top and let it sit while the wort cools. By the time the wort
is cooled, the yeast starter should be busy fermenting, and you should
see bubbles percolating through the fermentation lock. Now just dump
the yeast mixture into the wort. If you're using a carboy, be careful
when filling it with water to leave room in it for the yeast mixture.
9. After the yeast is added, put the lid on the plastic fermenter and
attach the fermentation lock. Don't forget to put some water in the
lock. If you're using a carboy, force the short piece of plastic
tubing through the stopper a little bit, and put it on the carboy.
Place the other end of the tube in a bucket of water. This type of
fermentation lock is known as a "blow-by," and is necessary because
the fermentation will produce lots of foam and sludge, and it has no
place to go except out. If you used an ordinary lock, it would quick-
ly fill up with garbage. In a plastic pail, there is plenty of space
for the foam to grow.
10. Now put the whole thing into a cool, dark, place to let it fer-
ment. Dark is important because sunlight can damage the beer. Cool
is important because beer-fouling organisms don't thrive as well at
lower temperatures. Room temperature is usually fine---about 70 de-
grees F. If you can get it to 65 or 60, that would be better. Don't
make it colder than 60, however, because then the yeast won't work
very well. (Most beginners will be using top fermenting yeast, which
works best at 60 degrees and above. Bottom fermenting yeast works
fine all the way down to freezing.) If you can't get the temperature
below 80, then you should look for a better place to keep your beer.
If you are using the carboy method, check the bucket daily for over-
flow. Signs of fermentation should appear within a couple of hours,
and by the next morning, it should be fermenting madly.
11. After a few days, it will start to slow down, and will finish
sometime between 4 and 10 days after you began. If you are using the
carboy and blow-by, replace the blow-by with a fermentation lock when
it stops blowing out garbage and starts blowing only bubbles. How
will you know when it's done fermenting? If you like, you can take
hydrometer readings, and wait until it stabilizes (same reading on 3
consecutive days.) However, I've found it works just as well to ob-
serve the frequency of the bubbles in the airlock. When you watch it,
but don't see any bubbles for a few minutes, it's quite ready to be
bottled. When it finishes fermenting, you don't have to bottle it
immediately, but it's best to bottle it within 3-4 weeks of beginning.
12. The first step in bottling is to acquire bottles. Go to a liquor
store or bar and pay $2.50 for 2 cases of empty deposit bottles. Do
not use the throwaway kind with the screw-off tops, as these are not
strong enough. Chances are the bottles will be pretty scummy, so pour
an inch or two of strong bleach solution into each, and let them sit
for an hour. Then rinse them well, using your bottle brush if neces-
sary, and your bottle washer if you have one (see issue #1.)
171
.
A simple time saver is to go to your favorite drinking establishment
and find out from the barkeep when the distributor picks up the empty
bottles and then show up the day after to pick up the cases of emp-
ties. You will have less crud in the bottom of the bottles if you do
this. Also ask for bottles with paper labels. Soak the bottles in a
bleach solution and the labels will be floating in 12 to 24 hours.
Load your dishwasher up with your bottles, turn on the sanitize set-
ting (or `HEAT WATER'), and let run through two or three rinse cycles.
PLEASE DO NOT USE ANY SOAP. It clings to the glass. ---Ed.
13. If you fermented your beer in a carboy, siphon(*) the beer into
the sanitized plastic pail, and add a boiled solution of 3/4 cup corn
sugar and water. If you used the pail to ferment, then you must
"prime" the bottles with 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of sugar each. This added
sugar is what produces the carbonation in the bottles. Do not use
more than 1 cup per 5 gallons or 1 teaspoon per bottle, or you risk
the danger (and social embarrassment) of exploding bottles.
14. Now fill the bottles with the siphon and bottle filler, and cap
them. Store at room temperature for at least a week, then try to move
the beer someplace a little cooler. (I keep mine underneath a
window.) The beer should be drinkable 3 weeks after bottling, depend-
ing on ingredients. You might want to try a bottle every week after
bottling just to taste the changes that occur.
* siphoning: don't suck on the tube to start it, that will introduce
lots of bacteria into the beer. A good trick is to fill the siphon
with water to start it. Remember that the level of liquid in the
source container must be higher off the ground than the top of the
destination container in order for the siphon to work.
Now don't rush to brew the second batch quite yet. Why not wait a few
weeks and see how the first turned out? That way, if you really did
something wrong, you have a chance to find out what, and avoid the
problem in the second batch.
Good luck!
- Rob Gardner, Somewhere in HP
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