Microbrewed Adventures (37 page)
Prime with sugar and bottle. If kegging, you may add optional keg hops to your keg by placing them into a sanitized hop bag (nylon stockings can work well) and then into your keg. Prime and let naturally carbonate at 70 degrees F (21 C) for 3 to 5 days or until carbonated.
“Hop whompus?” and thank you, Jeff Bagby.
STONE 03.03.03 VERTICAL EPIC ALE
Lee Chase, Head Brewer
Lee Chase. Courtesy Stone Brewing Co.
THERE ARE
several guidelines, recipes and homebrew “challenges” on Stone's website (www.stonebrewing.com). Among them are recipes for their annual “Stone Vertical Epic” series of beers. Here is the 2003 Vertical Epic released on March 3, 2003, with commentary (in italics) from head brewer Lee Chase.
Recipe adapted from Stone Brewing Company's website
All right, now this is going to be a little different than last year's (OK, a LOT different!!). By now you might know that these “Vertical” beers are not just the same recipe as each other, they are designed to be quite different from each other. We are not trying to make the recipe as difficult to brew as possible (we're not doing triple decoctions, or aging them in oak barrels for three yearsâ¦yet!). Instead we're just trying to make what we think is a great beer, and have a little fun in the process. So read on, and do the best you can. That's kind of what I didâ¦
Adapted from a recipe at www.stonebrewing.com
- TARGET ORIGINAL GRAVITY: 1.078 (19 B)
- APPROXIMATE FINAL GRAVITY: 1.014 (3.5 B)
- IBU: ABOUT
48 - APPROXIMATE COLOR: 17 SRM (34 EBC)
- ALCOHOL: 8.2% BY VOLUME
All-Grain Recipe
for 5 gallons (19 l)
12 lbs.: (5.4 kg) 2-row pale malt
12 oz.: (340 g) flaked wheat
6 oz.: (168 g) Belgian Special-B malt
4 oz.: (113 g) chocolate wheat malt
0.85 oz.: (24 g) Warrior hops 16% alpha (13.6 HBU/380 MBU)â75 minutes boiling
¼ oz.: (7 g) Centennial hop pelletsâdry hopping
½ oz.: (14 g) freshly crushed whole coriander seed
½ oz.: (14 g) freshly crushed grains of paradise (alligator pepper)
0.2 oz.: (6 g) freshly crushed whole coriander seedâadded with dry hops
0.2 oz.: (6 g) freshly crushed grains of paradise (alligator pepper)âadded with dry hops
¼ tsp.: (1 g) powdered Irish moss
White Labs Abbey Ale 500 yeast
Stone “house yeast” cultured from one of their bottle-conditioned ales
¾ cup: (175 ml measure) corn sugar (priming bottles) or 0.33 cups (80 ml) corn sugar for kegging
If at all possible (and at Stone, it is), put on the Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys song “What's a Matter with the Mill?” (Lyrics: Took my wheat down to get it ground/the man who runs the mill said the mill's broke down/what's a matter with the mill?/it done broke down/what's a matter with the mill?/it done broke down/can't get no grindâ¦tell me what's a matter with the mill.)
A one-step infusion mash is employed to mash the grains. Add 13 quarts (12.4 l) of 168-degree F (76 C) water to the crushed grain, stir, stabilize and hold the temperature at 152 degrees F (66.5 C) for 60 minutes. Then raise temperature to 167 degrees F (75 C), lauter and sparge with 3.5 gallons (13.5l) of 170-degree F (77 C) water.
I have found that the use of some down-home sounds from the Hot Club of Cowtown can also help to influence a smooth runoff and a faster conversion.
Collect about 5.5 gallons (21 l) of runoff. Bring to a full and vigorous boil. After 15 minutes of boiling, add your 75-minute hops.
You want to achieve a full rolling (radical) boil, and what we have found to help is putting on the Gogol Bordello song “Radical.” Believe it or not, it can get the temperature up to 214 degrees if it is loud enough! My theory is that the Russian sound makes the wort think it is colder than it really is, so it lets in a little more heat than normalâ¦
The total boil time will be 90 minutes. When 10 minutes remain, add the Irish moss.
Go ahead and let the Gogol Bordello play out while you are getting the spices ready.
After a total wort boil of 90 minutes, turn off the heat and add the crushed coriander and grains of paradise. Let steep for 10 minutes. Keep the cover on the brewing pot. After 10 minutes, place the pot (with cover on) in a running cold-water bath for 30 minutes. Continue to chill in the immersion or use other methods to chill your wort. Then strain and sparge the wort into a sanitized fermenter. Bring the total volume to 5 gallons (19 l) with additional cold water if necessary. Aerate the wort very well.
The yeast: This part is a little strange (not unlike a lot of Belgian beers). I did a lot of research on what yeast worked well with the style/flavor profile I wanted to achieve. I pitched about six different styles of Belgian “abbey” yeasts into their own fermenters, all with the same wort, and tasted the results. The yeast I chose was the abbey strain 500 from White Labs. With this yeast, I still thought that the phenolic character was a little over-the-
top, and wanted to mellow it out. That may be achievable with a cooler fermentation, but I was delighted with the balance struck when the same wort fermented with our house yeast was blended 1:1 with the beer from the Belgian yeast strain. This gives an assertive yeast flavor, but doesn't keep the hops and spices from showing through. So, to pitch this batch for fermentation, split it up into two equal-size batches. A few selections from a Hank Williams Sr. album will surely touch on the hardships of a split-up. Pitch one with the abbey and the other with the yeast you cultured out of a bottle of any of the Stone bottle-conditioned beers. Or ask the guys at White Labs what would be a similar strain to our house yeast.
Split the 5-gallon (19 l) batch evenly between two fermenters.
Pitch one culture of yeast into each fermenter when temperature of wort is about 70 degrees F (21 C). Ferment at about 70 degrees F (21 C) for about 1 week, or until fermentation shows signs of calm and stopping. Rack from each primary to two different secondary fermenters, add dry hop pellets and additional spices and let finish for another week.
When complete, blend the two batches into one. Prime with sugar and bottle or keg when complete.
Now the hard partâ¦wait for 10 years to see what happens. Or just enjoy it when you feel the time is right.
Malt Extract Recipe
for 5 gallons (19 l)
9.5 lbs.: (4.3 kg) light malt extract syrup or 7.6 lbs. (3.5 kg) light dried malt extract
1 lb.: (454 g) wheat malt extract syrup
6 oz.: (168 g) Belgian Special-B malt
4 oz.: (113 g) chocolate wheat malt
1.1 oz.: (30 g) Warrior hops 16% alpha (17.6 HBU/493 MBU)â75 minutes boiling
¼ oz.: (7 g) Centennial hop pelletsâdry hopping
½ oz.: (14 g) freshly crushed whole coriander seed
½ oz.: (14 g) freshly crushed grains of paradise (alligator pepper)
0.2 oz.: (6 g) freshly crushed whole coriander seedâadded with dry hops
0.2 oz.: (6 g) freshly crushed grains of paradise (alligator pepper)âadded with dry hops
¼ tsp.: (1 g) powdered Irish moss
White Labs Abbey Ale 500 yeast
Stone “house yeast” cultured from one of their bottle-conditioned ales
¾ cup: (175 ml measure) corn sugar (priming bottles) or 0.33 cups (80 ml) corn sugar for kegging
Place crushed grains in 2 gallons (7.6 l) of 150-degree F (68 C) water and let steep for 30 minutes. Then strain out (and rinse with 3 quarts [3 l] hot water) and discard the crushed grains, reserving the approximately 2.5 gallons (9.5 l) of liquid to which you will now add malt extract. Bring to a boil. After 15 minutes of boiling, add your 75-minute hops.
The total boil time will be 90 minutes. When 10 minutes remain, add the Irish moss. After a total wort boil of 90 minutes, turn off the heat and add the crushed coriander and grains of paradise. Let steep for 10 minutes. Keep the cover on the brewing pot. After 10 minutes, place the pot (with cover on) in a running cold-water bath for 30 minutes, or the time it takes to have a couple of homebrews. Then strain out and sparge hops and direct the hot wort into a sanitized fermenter to which 2.5 gallons (9.5 l) of cold water has been added. Bring the total volume to 5 gallons (19 l) with additional cold water if necessary. Aerate the wort very well.
Split the 5-gallon (19 l) batch evenly between two fermenters.
Pitch one culture of yeast into each fermenter when temperature of wort is about 70 degrees F (21 C). Ferment at about 70 degrees F (21 C) for about 1 week, or until fermentation shows signs of calm and stopping. Rack from each primary to two different secondary fermenters, add dry hop pellets and additional spices and let finish for another week.
When complete, blend the two batches into one. Prime with sugar and bottle or keg when complete.
NEW WISCONSIN APPLE/RASPBERRY/CHERRY BEER
- TARGET ORIGINAL GRAVITY: 1.050 (12.5 B)
- APPROXIMATE FINAL GRAVITY: 1.014 (3.5 B)
- IBU: ABOUT
16 - APPROXIMATE COLOR: INDICATIVE OF FRUIT USED
- ALCOHOL: 4.8â5% BY VOLUME
All-Grain Recipe
for 5 gallons (19 l)âyou will need 6.5 gallon (25 l)âsize fermenters
7.5 lbs.: (3.4 kg) 2-row pale malt
1 lb.: (454 g) crystal malt (10-L)
8 oz.: (225 g) 2-row pale maltâfor the sour mash
10 lbs.: (4.54 kg) fresh or frozen raspberries or full-flavored cherries or 1 gallon (4 l) of fresh apple juice
¾ oz.: (21 g) Mt. Hood hops 6% alpha (4.5 HBU/126 MBU)â60 minutes boiling
¼ tsp.: (1 g) powdered Irish moss
English or American-type ale yeast
¾ cup: (175 ml measure) corn sugar (priming bottles) or 0.33 cups (80 ml) corn sugar for kegging
A step infusion mash is employed to mash the grains. Add 8.5 quarts (8.1 l) of 140-degree F (60 C) water to the crushed grains (except the sour-mash pale malt), stir, stabilize and hold the temperature at 132 degrees F (53 C) for 30 minutes. Add 4 quarts (3.8 l) of boiling water, add heat to bring temperature up to 155 degrees F (68 C) and hold for about 30 minutes.
To make the sour mash:
Transfer the full mash into an odorless, sanitized, food-grade, 5-gallon (19 l) bucket. Let the mash cool to 130â135 degrees F (54â57 C) and add the ½ pound of crushed malted barley. Stir to mix. Place a sheet of aluminum foil in contact with the surface to form a complete barrier from the air. Fit lid snugly on the pail. Insulate the pail on all sides with a sleeping bag and/or blankets to help maintain warm temperatures and promote lactic bacterial activity and souring. The lactobacillus will sour the mash and will be noticeable after about 15 hours. Fifteen to 24 hours should be ad
equate for your first experiment with this process. More time will produce more sourness.
After the souring process, open the container (it will smell quite foul), remove the aluminum foil and skim any scum from the surface and discard. Heat the mash to 160 degrees F (71 C) and then transfer the sour mash to a lauter-tun, drain and sparge with 4 gallons (15.2 l) of 170-degree F (77 C) water.
Collect about 5.5 gallons (21 l) of runoff. Add 60-minute hops and bring to a full and vigorous boil.
The total boil time will be 60 minutes. When 10 minutes remain, add the Irish moss. After a total wort boil of 60 minutes, turn off the heat and place the pot (with cover on) in a running cold-water bath for 30 minutes. Continue to chill in the immersion or use other methods to chill your wort. Then strain and sparge the wort into a sanitized fermenter. Bring the total volume to 5 gallons (19 l) with additional cold water if necessary. Aerate the wort very well.
Pitch the yeast when temperature of wort is about 70 degrees F (21 C). Ferment at about 70 degrees F (21 C) for about 1 week, or until fermentation shows signs of calm and stopping. Rack from your primary to a 6.5-gallon (25l) secondary fermenter and add crushed fresh fruit, thawed frozen fruit or 1 gallon of apple juice to the secondary fermenter. Continue fermenting for another 7 to 10 days at 70 degrees F (21 C). Rack a third time into a third fermenter, while separating and discarding the used fruit. When fermentation has stopped, rack a fourth time into a clean fermenter and if you have the capability, “cellar” the beer at about 55 degrees F (12.5 C) for 1 to 3 weeks.
Prime with sugar and bottle or keg when complete.
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ALTERNATE METHOD:
Instead of utilizing a sour mash, you may use the following grain formulation:
6.5 lbs.: (3.4 kg) 2-row pale malt
1 lb.: (454 g) crystal malt (10-L)
1 lb.: (454 g) German sauer malt
