Tag: recipe

I formulated this recipe to produce five gallons of beer for packaging. I assume a boil-off rate of 0.9 gallons per hour with a full-volume boil. I use bagged pellet hops for all hop additions. I assume a loss due to trub of a half-gallon in the boil kettle and another half-gallon in the fermenter.

Recipe: Brush Valley Brewing House Ale v1.4

BJCP Style: 14B — American IPA
Brewhouse Efficiency: 77%
Pre-Boil Volume: 7 gallons (26.5 L)
BG: 1.052 SG (12.7 °P)
Original Volume: 6.1 gallons (23.1 L)
OG: 1.059 SG (14.5 °P)
FG: 1.016 SG (4.1 °P)
ADF: 73%
Bitterness (Tinseth): 59 IBU
ABV: 5.9%
Color (Morey): 11 SRM (21 EBC) — Deep amber
Boil Duration: 60 minutes
BU:GU 0.99
Balance value: 1.98
Calories per 12-ounce Serving: 200 — 116 from Alcohol, 85 from Carbs

Grains	Quantity	Percent
Crisp Maris Otter Malt (3.5 °L)	11.0 lb. (4.990 kg)	88
Crisp Light Crystal Malt (45 °L)	1.5 lb. (0.680 kg)	12
Hops
Chinook, 10.9% AA, 60 min, 1.73 oz (49 g)	48.6 IBU	82
Chinook, 10.9% AA, 10 min, 0.63 oz (18 g)	6.5 IBU	11
Chinook, 10.9% AA, 5 min, 0.63 oz (18 g)	3.6 IBU	6
Chinook, 10.9% AA, dry, 2.0 oz (57 g)	0 IBU	0.33 oz/gal
Other Ingredients
Brewer’s Choice™ Wyeast Nutrient Blend
Irish Moss
Yeast
Wyeast 1768-PC English Special Bitter Yeast	227B Cells
Water Treatment	Mash	Boil
Gypsum (CaSO₄)	2.0 g	1.5 g
Calcium Chloride (CaCl₂)	2.0 g	1.5 g

Adjusted Mash Water Profile

Calcium (Ca):	107 ppm
Magnesium (Mg):	3 ppm
Sodium (Na):	1 ppm
Bicarbonate (HCO₃):	143.4 ppm
Carbonate (CO₃):	0.3 ppm
Sulfate (SO₄):	71 ppm
Chloride (Cl):	57 ppm
Total Alkalinity (CaCO₃):	119 ppm
Residual alkalinity:	41
pH:	7.6

Step by Step

This is a single step infusion mash at 1.54 quarts/pound with a batch sparge. It will require a total of 8.5 gallons (32.2 L) of water.

Heat 5 gallons (18.9 L) of strike water in the Hot Liquor Tank to 178 °F (81 °C). Drain the strike water into the mash tun. Mix in the crushed grain and the mash salts, making sure to break up any dough balls. Cover the mash tun and let it sit for about 10 minutes. The mash should stabilize at 156 °F (69 °C). Cover the mash tun and let it rest.

After 60 minutes vorlauf and lauter. Sparge with 3.5 gallons (13.2 L) of water to bring the collected volume to approximately 7 gallons (26.5 L) at 1.052 SG (12.7 °P).

Add the boil salts and boil for 60 minutes. While boiling, add the remaining ingredients according to the schedule in the ingredient list.

After the boil, cool the wort to 66 °F (18.9 °C). The volume should be approximately 6.1 gallons (23.1 L) at 1.059 SG (14.5 °P). Transfer approximately 5.5 gallons (20.8 L) to a sanitized fermenter. Aerate the wort and pitch the yeast.

Hold at 66 °F (18.9 °C) until fermentation is complete. The final gravity should be about 1.016 SG (4.1 °P).

When fermentation is complete, let the beer stand at room temperature for 24 hours. After 24 hours, add dry hops for five days. After five days, cold crash the beer to 38 °F. After three days, keg the beer. Store at 48 °F and force carbonate to 2.2 volumes of CO₂.

The beer should be at its peak in 12 to 19 days.

Tomorrow I am going to make the first revisions to my house ale recipe.

The changes in this recipe are:

1. Adding Irish Moss
2. Adding Brewer’s Choice™ Wyeast Nutrient Blend
3. Using Wyeast 1968 London ESB Ale™ yeast, rather than Wyeast 1056 American Ale™
4. Because I am changing the yeast, I will also be raising the fermentation temperature from 62 °F to 66 °F

These are also a couple of procedural changes:

1. Adding all of the mash water at once and stabilizing at the strike temperature
2. Fermenting in a refrigerator — I built a plywood stand for the fermentor to sit on and switched my controller from heating to cooling mode

Tonight I set up my brew stand. I measured out my mash and sparge water. I have my mash tun and fermenter standing by. I weighed and ground my grains and measured out my three hop additions as well as my mash and boil salts. I rounded up my Irish Moss and my yeast nutrient. I’m sure I’ll think of some things I have forgotten when I finally need them. For now, I think I have enough of a head start to call it an evening.

I am finally starting on my own house ale recipe. I plan to brew it this Friday.

I formulated this recipe to produce five gallons of beer for packaging. I assume a boil-off rate of about one gallon per hour with a full-volume boil. I use bagged pellet hops for all hop additions. I assume a loss due to trub of a half-gallon in the boil kettle and another half-gallon in the fermenter.

Recipe: Brush Valley Brewing House Ale v 1.0

BJCP Style: 14B — American IPA
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75%
Pre-Boil Volume: 7 gallons (26.5 L)
BG: 1.050 SG (12.4 °P)
Original Volume: 6.0 gallons (22.7 L)
OG: 1.059 SG (14.4 °P)
FG: 1.015 SG (3.7 °P)
ADF: 75%
Bitterness (Rager): 52 IBU
ABV: 6.0%
Color (Morey): 11 SRM (21 EBC) — Deep amber
Boil Duration: 60 minutes
BU:GU 0.89
Balance value: 1.84
Calories per 12-ounce Serving: 197 — 117 from Alcohol, 80 from Carbs

Grains	Quantity	Percent
Crisp Maris Otter Malt (3.5 °L)	11.0 lb. (4.990 kg)	88
Crisp Light Crystal Malt (45 °L)	1.5 lb. (0.680 kg)	12
Hops		IBU
Centennial 9.6% AA, 60 min.	1.0 oz (28 g)	36.9
Centennial 9.6% AA, 15 min.	1.5 oz (43 g)	14.8
Centennial 9.6% AA, flame out	1.5 oz (43 g)	0
Centennial 9.6% AA, dry	1.0 oz (28 g)	0
Yeast
Wyeast 1056 American Ale	225B Cells
Water Treatment	Mash	Boil
Gypsum (CaSO₄)	2.0 g	1.5 g
Calcium Chloride (CaCl₂)	2.0 g	1.5 g

Adjusted Mash Water Profile

Sodium (Na):	1 ppm
Calcium (Ca):	107 ppm
Magnesium (Mg):	3 ppm
Sulfate (SO₄):	71 ppm
Chloride (Cl):	57 ppm
Total Alkalinity (CaCO₃):	118 ppm
Residual alkalinity:	40
Chloride to sulfate ratio:	0.81 (Balanced)
pH:	5.42

Step by Step

This is a single step infusion mash at 1.5 quarts/pound with a batch sparge. It will require a total of 8.2 gallons (31 L) of water.

Preheat the mash tun by bringing the 3.5 gallons (13.2 L) of sparge water to 170 °F (77 °C) and place it in the closed mash tun while heating the strike water.

Heat 4.69 gallons (4.5g + 3c, 17.7 L) of strike water to 168.0 °F (75.6 °C) for a grain temperature of 69 °F. Drain the sparge water from the preheated mash tun back into the hot liquor tank. Add all but about a gallon of the heated strike water to the mash tun.

Mix in the crushed grain and the mash salts, making sure to break up any dough balls. Cover the mash tun and let it sit for about 10 minutes. The mash should stabilize at 156 °F (68.9 °C). Take a few readings and use the remaining strike water, boiling water, or ice water to adjust the final temperature and volume which should be about 5.7 gallons (21.5 L). Cover the mash tun and let it rest.

After 60 minutes vorlauf, and lauter. Sparge with 3.5 gallons (13.2 L) of water to bring the collected volume to approximately 7 gallons (26.5 L) at 1.050 SG (12.4 °P).

Add the boil salts and boil for 60 minutes. While boiling, add the remaining ingredients according to the schedule in the ingredient list.

After the boil, whirlpool hot for 20 minutes, then cool the wort to 62 °F (16.7 °C). The volume should be approximately 6 gallons (22.7 L) at 1.059 SG (14.4 °P). Whirlpool for another 20 minutes, then transfer approximately 5.5 gallons (20.8 L) to a sanitized fermenter. Aerate the wort and pitch the yeast.

Hold at 62 °F (16.7 °C) until the end of high kräusen, then increase the fermentation temperature 1 °F per day until the beer temperature is 68 °F. After 9 days, add dry hops for five days. The final gravity should be about 1.015 SG (3.7 °P).

Keg and force carbonate to 2 volumes, or transfer approximately 5 gallons (18.9 L) to a priming bucket and prime using 2.80 oz (79.4 g) of sugar for approximately 2 volumes of carbonation, then package in 53 12-ounce bottles.

This is my own recipe.

I formulated this recipe to produce five gallons (19 L) of beer for packaging. I assume a loss due to trub of a half-gallon in the fermenter and another half-gallon in the boil kettle. That will leave six gallons (22.7 L) at the end of the boil. I assume a boil-off rate of about one gallon per hour, which means I need 7.5 gallons (28.4 L) at the start of a 90-minute full-volume boil. I use bagged pellet hops for all hop additions.

Recipe: Brush Valley Brewing’s Best Bitter (BVB³)

Brewhouse Efficiency: 70%
Pre-Boil Volume: 7.5 gallons (28.4 L)
BG: 1.033 (8.29 °P)
OG: 1.042 (10.47 °P)
FG: 1.012 (3.07 °P)
ADF: 70%
IBU (Rager): 40
ABV: 3.9%
Color (Morey): 12.6 SRM (32.1 EBC) – Light Copper
Boil: 90 minutes

Grains	Weight	Percent
Crisp Maris Otter (4 °L)	8 lb. (3.63 kg)	82.1
Simpson’s Medium Crystal (55 °L)	1 lb. (454 g)	10.3
Rahr White Wheat Malt (2.8 °L)	0.5 lb. (227 g)	5.1
Thomas Fawcett & Sons Pale Chocolate Malt (207 °L)	0.25 lb. (113 g)	2.6
Hops		IBU
Centennial 8.5% AA, 60 min.	1.0 oz (28 g)	32.7
Centennial 8.5% AA, 10 min.	1.0 oz (28 g)	7.1
Centennial 8.5% AA, 0 min.	1.0 oz (28 g)	0
Centennial 8.5% AA, dry hopped	1.0 oz (28 g)	0
Yeast
Wyeast 1999 Whitbread Ale

Step by Step

This is a single step infusion mash at 2 qt./lb. with a batch sparge. Mix the crushed grain with 5 gallons (19 L) of 165 °F (74 °C) water to stabilize at 156 °F (69 °C) for 60 minutes. Vorlauf and lauter to collect 3.75 gallons (14.2 L) of wort.

Sparge with 3.75 gallons (14.2 L) of 170 °F (77 °C) water to bring the collected volume to approximately 7.5 gallons (28.4 L). Boil for 90 minutes. While boiling, add the hops according to the hopping schedule. Cool the wort to 68 °F (20 °C). Transfer to a sanitized 6.5 gallon (24.6 L) glass carboy fermenter.

Pitch yeast and aerate the wort. Hold at 66 °F (19 °C) until fermentation is complete. Add dry hops. Let the beer condition for one week and then bottle. Carbonate to 1.0 volumes using 0.5 ounces (14 g) corn sugar. Bottle condition for two weeks.

I based this recipe on Mike “Tasty” McDole’s award-winning American IPA (a Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale clone).

As Jamil and John do in Brewing Classic Styles, I formulated this recipe to produce five gallons (19 L) of beer for packaging. I assume a loss due to trub of a half-gallon in the fermenter and another half-gallon in the boil kettle. That will leave six gallons (22.7 L) at the end of the boil. I assume a boil-off rate of about one gallon per hour, which means I need 7.5 gallons (28.4 L) at the start of the boil for a 90-minute full-volume boil. I use bagged pellet hops for all hop additions.

Recipe: Brush Valley Brewing Commemoration Ale

Brewhouse Efficiency: 70%
Pre-Boil Volume: 7.5 gallons (28.4 L)
BG: 1.054 (13.33 °P)
OG: 1.068 (16.59 °P)
FG: 1.016 (4.08 °P)
ADF: 75%
IBU (Rager): 84
ABV: 6.9%
Color (Morey): 13.7 SRM (35.2 EBC) – Light Copper
Boil: 90 minutes

Grains	Weight	Percent
Rahr 2-Row Malt (1.7 °L)	13.0 lb. (5.9 kg)	81.3
Briess Carapils (1.5 °L)	1.0 lb. (0.45 kg)	6.3
Briess Caramel (60 °L)	1.0 lb. (0.45 kg)	6.3
Briess Caramel (120 °L)	0.5 lb. (0.227 g)	3.1
German Munich Malt (8.3 °L)	0.5 lb. (0.227 g)	3.1
Hops		IBU
Chinook 11.4% AA, 60 min.	1.0 oz (28 g)	42.9
Centennial 9.9% AA, 15 min.	2.0 oz (57 g)	19.9
Cascade 7.8% AA, 5 min.	2.0 oz (57 g)	10.9
Cascade 7.8% AA, 1 min.	2.0 oz (57 g)	9.9
Cascade 7.8% AA, dry	1.0 oz (28 g)	0
Centennial 9.2% AA, dry	1.0 oz (28 g)	0
Chinook 11.4% AA, dry	1.0 oz (28 g)	0
Yeast
Wyeast 1056 American Ale

Step by Step

This is a single step infusion mash at 1.375 qt./lb. with a batch sparge. Preheat the mash tun. Mix the crushed grain with 5.5 gallons (21 L) of 164 °F (73 °C) water to stabilize at 151 °F (66 °C) for 60 minutes. Vorlauf and lauter to collect 3.75 gallons (14.2 L) of wort.

Sparge with 3.75 gallons (14.2 L) of 170 °F (77 °C) water to bring the collected volume to approximately 7.5 gallons (28.4 L). Boil for 90 minutes. While boiling, add the hops as per the hopping schedule. Cool the wort to 68 °F (20 °C). Transfer to a sanitized 6.5 gallon (24.6 L) glass carboy fermenter.

Pitch yeast and aerate the wort. Hold at 68 °F (20 °C) until fermentation is complete. Add dry hops. Let the beer condition for one week and then bottle. Carbonate to 2.0 volumes using 3.0 ounces (85 g) corn sugar. Bottle condition for an two additional weeks. Enjoy your Commemoration Ale.

Occasionally, I will try to document a recipe that appears to be popular amongst the Internet brewing community. As well as serving as a reminder of a potential future brew, it also gives me the opportunity to relate interesting points about contemporary brewers and their brewing practices.

Mike “Tasty” McDole recently chatted on The Brewing Network forums about his Tasty APA recipe and included a link to his recipe on Beer du jour. Apparently, through a combination of good luck, skill, friends, and some happy coincidences, Mike ended up taking a good bit of it to GABF ’08 and the crowd loved it.

I can only take credit for the recipe and to a lesser extent the brewing. The beer wouldn’t have been made without the good graces of the 21st Amendment Brewery and Shaun O’Sullivan. And I can’t fail to mention my friend and mentor Jamil Zainasheff who made it all possible by letting me take his ProAm spot at the 21A. I’m very lucky to know these guys.

Mike talked a little about where the recipe came from and what he was going for when he came up with it.

This beer [is] mostly about the malt bill so I recommend going to your stash of hops and coming up with a 33–38 IBU hop bill where one third of the IBUs are between 20 minutes and flameout. The hops I list are for what I call “Pliny Lite” but that’s just because the beer was conceived when I blended 3 oz of my Pliny The Elder clone with 9 oz of my Munich Helles… The goal of this recipe is a dry quaffable beer with IPA level hop flavor from an APA level (lower cost) hop bill. The goal is not a beer you can’t make because you can’t get the hops.

Also, although the beer definitely benefits from dry hopping, you don’t necessarily have to. The late additions should carry over enough and those hops could better be used for another batch.

So mix it up and change the name. Choose your favorite hops and make it your beer.

Mike has an advanced setup and normally uses a hopback for the final boil kettle additions. Here is what he had to say for folks that do not have a hopback available.

Frankly I have no real idea what the hop aroma contribution of the hopback is. On the rare occasion I don’t use it, I don’t notice a particular difference which is probably because I use plenty of dryhop. I use it when making lagers like Helles where I don’t dryhop and I (or judges) can’t perceive any hop nose. I think the prevailing wisdom is that the aroma probably gets scrubbed out during primary fermentation. I’m really just using the hopback as a trub filter and if I want more hop aroma I increase the dry hop.

So to answer the question, the reason I say half as much flameout hops as hopback hops is because I feel that would be the equivalent [amount] of hop aroma due to the better utilization in the kettle versus the hopback. Just my opinion, no science, and I’m certainly open to other ideas.

This beer doesn’t lack for hop flavor so I could also see dropping the hopback/flameout hops altogether.

Since I will not be using a hopback, I have already adjusted the hop schedule in this recipe to move the hopback addition to flameout at half the amount, as Mike suggested. Look at Mike’s original recipe for his version. You might also want to listen to the dry hopping episode of Brew Strong for some tips from Mike on how he gets so much hop character into his beers.

I have formulated this recipe to produce five gallons (19 L) of beer for packaging. I assume a loss due to trub of a half-gallon in the fermenter and another half-gallon in the boil kettle. That leaves six gallons (22.7 L) at the end of the boil. I assume a boil-off rate of about one gallon per hour, which means I need seven gallons (26.5 L) at the start of the boil for a 60-minute full-volume boil. I have adjusted the ingredient amounts accordingly to achieve the desired gravities, bitterness, and pitching rates. I assume the use of bagged pellet hops for all hop additions with the contribution of first wort hops at 35% of normal. I use the Rager formula for calculating bitterness and the Morey model for calculating beer color. I created the extract version of this recipe using Ken Schwartz’s method to convert from all-grain.

Recipe: Mike McDole’s Tasty APA

OG: 1.056 (13.8 °P)
FG: 1.013 (3.3 °P)
ADF: 77%
IBU: 37.9
Color: 6.1 SRM (15.1 EBC)
Boil: 60 minutes
Pre-Boil Volume: 7 gallons (26.5 L)
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.005 (1.3 °P)

Extract	Weight	Percent
Light DME	5.5 lbs. (2.50 kg)	57.9
Pilsen DME	2 lbs. (0.91 kg)	21.1
Wheat DME	0.5 lbs. (0.23 kg)	5.3
Steeping Grains
Carapils Malt (2 °L)	1 lbs. (0.45 kg)	10.5
Crystal (40 °L)	0.5 lbs. (0.23 kg)	5.3
Hops		IBU
Chinook 13% AA, First Wort Hopped	0.25 oz. (7 g)	4.5
Warrior 15.6% AA, 60 min.	0.25 oz. (7 g)	18.1
Simcoe 12% AA, 20 min.	0.25 oz. (7 g)	4.7
Columbus 15% AA, 10 min.	0.25 oz. (7 g)	3.8
Northern Brewer 9% AA, 10 min.	0.25 oz. (7 g)	2.3
Centennial 10.5% AA, 1 min.	0.25 oz. (7 g)	2.1
Simcoe 12% AA, 1 min.	0.25 oz. (7 g)	2.4
Cascade 5.8% AA, 0 min.	1 oz. (28 g)	0.0
Columbus 15% AA, Dry Hop	1 oz. (28 g)	0.0
Centennial 10.5% AA, Dry Hop	0.5 oz. (14 g)	0.0
Simcoe 12% AA, Dry Hop	0.5 oz. (14 g)	0.0
Yeast
White Labs California Ale WLP001, Wyeast American Ale 1056, or Fermentis Safale US-05

Fermentation and Conditioning

Use 11 grams of properly rehydrated dry yeast, 2 liquid yeast packages, or make an appropriate starter. Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C). When finished, carbonate the beer to approximately 2.5 volumes.

All-Grain Option

Replace the extracts with 8 lbs. (3.63 kg) American two-row, 3 lbs. (1.36 kg) Pilsen, and 0.5 lbs. (0.23 kg) Wheat. Use a single-temperature infusion mash of 60 minutes duration at 154 °F (68 °C). A mashout step is optional. Mash efficiency is assumed to be 70%. Mike uses Mosher’s “Ideal Pale Ale” water profile. Note that there is a typo in the online version of the recipe. The Mg level should be 18 and not 118.

Occasionally, I will try to document a recipe that appears to be popular amongst the Internet brewing community. As well as serving as a reminder of a potential future brew, it also gives me the opportunity to relate interesting points about contemporary brewers and their brewing practices.

This is, of course, the recipe that Mike McDole’s winning entry in the 2007 Samuel Adams® American Homebrew Contest is based on.

Vinnie Cilurzo is credited with developing the first commercial Imperial IPA at Blind Pig Brewery in Temecula, CA. In 1997 he became head brewer at Korbel Champagne Cellars’ Russian River Brewery in Santa Rosa, CA. He worked there for seven years before purchasing the brewery. At the American Homebrewers Association 2004 National Homebrew Competition in Las Vegas, NV, and again at the 2005 National Homebrew Competition in Baltimore, MD, Vinnie passed out a handout containing a homebrew scale recipe of Pliny the Elder which, in turn, got posted at ratebeer.com. Later, he worked with Brew Your Own magazine, to publish the recipe. The differences in the grain bill between the two may be due to different volume assumptions.

The small amount of caramel malt and the moderate dextrine malt are consistent with Vinnie’s tips on making better hoppy beers. Supposedly, Vinnie started introducing Dextrose due to mash tun volume limitations at Blind Pig. He found that his customers preferred the dry finish it provided. Also, they apparently no longer use mash hopping. The cows that eat their spent grains supposedly do not like it. Some say that they have switched to hop extract.

At 1:44:30 into the 06-26-05 episode of The Sunday Session, there is a lecture that Vinnie gave at the 2005 NHC called “Dry Hopping: Quantity, Time, Temperature, and Mixing,” including a discussion of this beer and how it came about and the dry hopping schedule at Russian River.

This is from the product page at Russian River Brewing:

Pliny the Elder was a Roman naturalist, scholar, historian, traveler, officer, and writer. Although not considered his most important work, Pliny and his contemporaries created the botanical name for hops, Lupus salictarius, meaning wolf among scrubs. Hops at that time grew wild among willows, much like a wolf in the forest. Later the current botanical name, Humulus lupulus, was adopted. Pliny died in 79 AD while observing the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. He was immortalized by his nephew, Pliny the Younger, who continued his uncle’s legacy by documenting much of what he observed during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

8.0% ABV, 1.071 OG

• Gold Medal, 2006 World Beer Cup (Double IPA Category)
• Gold Medal, 2005 GABF (Double IPA Category)
• Bronze Medal, 2004 GABF (Double IPA Category)

I have formulated this recipe to produce 5 gallons (19 L) of beer for packaging. I assume a loss due to trub of 0.5 gallons in the fermenter and another 0.5 gallons in the boil kettle. That leaves six gallons (22.7 L) at the end of the boil. I assume a boil-off rate of about 1 gallon per hour, which means I need 7.5 gallons (28.4 L) at the start of the boil for a 90-minute full-volume boil. I have adjusted the ingredient amounts accordingly to achieve the desired gravities, bitterness, and pitching rates. I assume the use of bagged pellet hops for all hop additions. I use the Rager formula for calculating bitterness and the Morey model for calculating beer color.

Recipe: Vinnie Cilurzo’s Pliny the Elder

OG: 1.075 (18.2 °P)

FG: 1.013 (3.3 °P)

ADF: 81.8%

IBU: 261.3

Color: 5.9 SRM (14.3 EBC)

Alcohol: 8.4% ABV (6.6% ABW)

Boil: 90 minutes

Pre-Boil Volume: 7.5 gallons (28.4 L)

Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.054 (13.3 °P)

Extracts	Weight	Percent
Light DME (2.2 °L)	10.0 lbs. (4.5 kg)	80.9
Dextrose (0 °L)	1.1 lbs. (500 g)	8.9
Steeping Grains
Carapils Malt (2 °L)	0.94 lbs. (425 g)	7.6
Crystal (40 °L)	0.32 lb. (145 g)	2.6
Hops		IBU
Warrior 15.6% AA, 90 min.	2.75 oz. (78 g)	167.9
Chinook 12.2% AA, 90 min.	0.5 oz. (14 g)	23.9
Simcoe 12% AA, 45 min.	1.0 oz. (28 g)	39.6
Columbus 14.3% AA, 30 min.	1.0 oz. (28 g)	30.0
Centennial 9.1% AA, 0 min.	2.25 oz. (64 g)	0.0
Simcoe 12% AA, 0 min.	1.0 oz. (28 g)	0.0
Columbus 14.3% AA, dry hop.	3.25 oz. (92 g)	0.0
Centennial 9.1% AA, dry hop.	1.75 oz. (50 g)	0.0
Simcoe 12% AA, dry hop.	1.75 oz. (50 g)	0.0
Yeast
White Labs California Ale WLP001, Wyeast American Ale 1056, or Fermentis Safale US-05

Fermentation and Conditioning

Use 16 grams of properly rehydrated dry yeast, 3 liquid yeast packages, or make an appropriate starter. Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C). When finished, carbonate the beer to approximately 2 to 2.5 volumes.

All-Grain Option

Replace the light extract with 13.3 lbs. (6.0 kg) American two-row malt. Mash at 150–152 °F (66–67 °C). Add 1.5 ounces of 13% AA Chinook hops during the mash.¹

---

1. To quote Denny Conn, “The difference, to me, is that [first wort hopping] adds hops flavor and smooth bitterness and mash hopping basically does nothing but waste hops.” ↩

Gretchen and I really like Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. We stock up on it every winter. To celebrate July 4th this year, I decided to make a bigger version of it. I looked at a few clone recipes and what Sierra Nevada had to say, then I converted it to extract and cranked it up a bit. Here is my recipe:

Makes four 22-ounce bottles

OG: 1.082 SG
FG: 1.020 SG
ABV: 8.4%
IBU: 79.4
SRM: 8.6 (Amber)

Ingredients

• 1.4 pounds Alexander’s Pale Malt Kicker (end of boil)
• 0.5 pounds Simpson’s Caramalt (steeped)
• 0.1 ounce Chinook pellets (60 minutes)
• 0.1 ounce Centennial pellets (60 minutes)
• 0.1 ounce Centennial pellets (15 minutes)
• 0.1 ounce Cascade pellets (5 minutes)
• 0.15 ounce Chinook pellets (in primary)
• 0.15 ounce Centennial pellets (in primary)
• 0.15 ounce Cascade pellets (in primary)
• Wyeast American Ale propagator pack (1056)

Directions

1. Make a 1-quart starter several days in advance.
2. Crush the CaraMalt and place it in a disposable grain bag. Bring 1 quart of water to 165°F in a 12-quart pot. Place the grain bag into the pot and allow to steep for 30 minutes.
3. Bring another quart of water to 165°F and use it to rinse the grain bag. Dispose of the steeped grain.
4. Add sufficient water to make 5 quarts in the 12 quart pot. Bring to a boil.
5. Add 0.1 ounces Chinook pellets and 0.1 ounces Centennial pellets. Continue boil for 45 minutes.
6. Add 0.1 ounces Chinook pellets. Continue boil for 10 minutes.
7. Add 0.1 ounces Cascade pellets. Remove from heat and add 1.4 pounds of malt extract. Stir to dissolve. Return to heat. Boil for 5 minutes.
8. Turn off heat. Cover. Place pot in a sink of cold water. Stir wort with a sanitized spoon. Be careful to not aerate the wort while hot. Change the water occasionally as it warms up. Continue until wort reaches 70°F.
9. Pour wort into a sanitized 1-gallon jug through a sanitized funnel with a screen to remove the sediment.
10. Swirl the starter to suspend the yeast. Measure out 0.5 cups into a sanitized measuring cup. Pitch. Cap the jug with a sanitized stopper and shake to aerate. Affix a sanitized 3-piece airlock and drilled stopper. Place in a 65–75°F dark place for 1 week.
11. Place 0.15 ounces Cascade pellets, 0.15 ounces Chinook pellets, and 0.15 ounces Centennial pellets in enough warm (less than 167°F) water to just cover. Steep covered for 20 minutes. Add the hop tea and hops to a sanitized 1-gallon jug.
12. Using a sanitized siphon, racking cane, and siphon hose, transfer the beer from the primary fermenter to the secondary onto the hop tea. Affix a sanitized 1-piece airlock and drilled stopper. Place in a 65–75°F dark place for 1 week.
13. Combine 0.7 ounces DME with 12 fluid ounces of water. Bring to a boil for several minutes. Cool to 70°F. Add to a sanitized bottling bucket.
14. Using a sanitized racking cane and siphon hose, transfer the beer from the secondary to the bottling bucket.
15. Using a sanitized siphon hose and bottling wand, fill four 22-ounce bottles. Cap and store in a 65–75°F dark place for 2 weeks before sampling.

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p>Notes

This was kind of fun. Though based on other clone recipes of a well known beer, I enjoyed trying to crank up the gravity and hops to make an imperial version that I could make with standard sized available ingredients. We enjoyed the beer. It was a bit sweet for me, but the two batches we made disappeared soon enough.

I brewed this beer back in April after seeing the “Six-pack IPA” episode of the Basic Brewing Video podcast.

Makes four 22-ounce bottles

OG: 1.060 SG
FG: 1.018 SG
ABV: 5.6%
IBU: 66
SRM: 4.7 (Dark Straw)

Ingredients

• 1 pound Briess Golden Light DME (end of boil)
• 0.3 ounces Cascade pellets (60 minutes)
• 0.1 ounces Cascade pellets (15 minutes)
• 0.1 ounces Cascade pellets (5 minutes)
• 0.25 ounces Cascade whole (in primary)
• Wyeast Northwest Ale yeast propagator pack (1332)

Directions

1. Make a 1-quart starter several days in advance.
2. Put 5 quarts of water into a 12 quart pot. Cover. Bring to a boil. Remove cover.
3. Add 0.3 ounces Cascade pellets. Continue boil for 45 minutes.
4. Add 0.1 ounces Cascade pellets. Continue boil for 10 minutes.
5. Add 0.1 ounces Cascade pellets. Remove from heat and add 1 pound of dry malt extract. Stir to dissolve. Return to heat. Boil for 5 minutes.
6. Turn off heat. Cover. Place pot in a sink of cold water. Stir wort with a sanitized spoon. Be careful to not aerate the wort while hot. Change the water occasionally as it warms up. Continue until wort reaches 70°F.
7. Pour wort into a sanitized 1-gallon jug through a sanitized funnel with a screen to remove the sediment.
8. Swirl the starter to suspend the yeast. Measure out 0.5 cups into a sanitized measuring cup. Pitch. Cap the jug with a sanitized stopper and shake to aerate. Affix a sanitized 3-piece airlock and drilled stopper. Place in a 65–75°F dark place for 1 week.
9. Place 0.25 ounces whole Cascade hops in enough warm (less than 167°F) water to just cover. Steep covered for 20 minutes. Add the hop tea and hops to a sanitized 1-gallon jug.
10. Using a sanitized siphon, racking cane, and siphon hose, transfer the beer from the primary fermenter to the secondary onto the hop tea. Affix a sanitized 1-piece airlock and drilled stopper. Place in a 65–75°F dark place for 1 week.
11. Combine 0.7 ounces DME with 12 fluid ounces of water. Bring to a boil for several minutes. Cool to 70°F. Add to a sanitized bottling bucket.
12. Using a sanitized racking cane and siphon hose, transfer the beer from the secondary to the bottling bucket.
13. Using a sanitized siphon hose and bottling wand, fill four 22-ounce bottles. Cap and store in a 65–75°F dark place for 2 weeks before sampling.

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p>Notes

Good clarity. Color of dark straw — not quite amber. Well carbonated. Good citrus aroma. Slightly “green” taste — could age longer. Served a bit too cold. Citrus flavor. Good bitterness. Not thin. Success! This was my first brew after a 14 year break. While it is not terribly complex, it was quite good and a good confidence builder.