Recipes |

My Personal Recipes:

These Recipe templates were prepared using Beersmith, the application I use to make and store all of my brewing recipes.

Beer:

123Hefeweizen.pdf – 6 gallon, partial mash, Solid Hefe, but not my fav
BartzWatermelonWheat – 6 gallon, partial mash, have yet to make this, but put it together to honor Bartz from Bay Area Mashtronauts, a TRUE wheat beer fan.
BriessBavarianHefeweizen – 6 gallon, partial mash, excellent recipe, but consider swapping hops for Hallertau.
CranberryCreamAle – 6 gallon, extract, experimental at the moment but I have a high level of confidence in this.
Merddyn’sSuperSimpleBriessBavarianHefeweizen – 6 gallon, extract, great hefe, light, smooth and crisp. Apricot aroma. Low banana and clove, very malty. Good fruit beer base. My favorite hefe.
OMGBraggot – 5 gallon, partial mash, good recipe.
PineConeHefeweizen – 6 gallon, partial mash, good recipe but the Ft Hood hops ruined this for me. Tastes like I dry hopped with pine cones.
TMBDunkelweizen – 6 gallon, partial mash, hands-down my favorite dunkel. My friends RAVE about it and just about everyone has said this is the best dunkel they’ve ever tasted.
WheatBarleywine – 5 gallon, partial mash, experimental. Haven’t tried this yet, but I have high hopes for it.

Wines & Meads:

Honey Mead

** 15 lbs of honey in 5 gallon batch makes good sweet but 20 lbs of honey is like cotton candy. I like to use the pasteurized processed clover honey from Sam’s Wholesale club or Wal-Mart. I’ve tried different honey with varying result. The honey makes a dramatic difference in the body and flavor of your mead. Pasteurized and processed honey negates the need for campden tablets as long as you’re not putting in anything else that may be contaminated with bacteria. Use good filtered water too. It really makes a difference. I use a Britta filter.

INGREDIENTS for each gallon of mead to be made:

2 1/2 to 3 lbs. (about 26 – 32 fl. oz.)unprocessed honey (dry to semi-sweet)
Water to one gallon (Specific Gravity – 1.085 – 1.105)
1 tsp. Super Ferment (or 2 tsp. regular “nutrient”)
2 tsp. acid blend (or 3/4 tsp. tartaric acid & 1 1/4 tsp. malic acid)
1 tsp grape tannin
1 campden tablet* (crushed- or substitute 1/8 tsp. sodium metabisulfite)
1-2 pkgs. wine (e.g. Premier Cuvee, Champagne, Cote des Blancs, Sherry) or mead yeast
PROCEDURE:

1. Mix all the ingredients EXCEPT the yeast and the campden tablet. Stir the must until the honey and additives are completely dissolved. Cover the pail to keep out dust and air with the large plastic sheet.

2. Crush and dissolve the campden tablet in 1 oz. of warm water. Add this to the must and stir well. Cover the pail again and tie down the plastic sheet. Let the must stand for one day, stirring several times.

*ALTERNATIVE: Heat honey with an equal volume of water to 180°F and let stand for 15 minutes to pasteurize. (DO NOT BOIL!) Cool and add remainder of water before proceeding to next step.

3. Rehydrate the dried yeast by sprinkling it into 1/2 cup lukewarm (95 – 100° F) water in a sanitized jar and cover for 20 minutes. (If using “Mead” yeast, prepare a starter 48 hours prior to using.) Add the yeast “slurry “/starter to mixture. Re-cover the primary fermenter and allow fermentation to proceed for 30-40 days or until foaming subsides.

4. Syphon the mead into a sterile glass jug. Avoid the transfer of sediment and aeration as much as possible. Be sure the mead completely fills the jug – into the neck. Attach a fermentation lock and allow the fermentation to go to completion (.995 – 1.020 S.G.).

5. One week after fermentation has ceased, syphon the mead into another sterile glass jug. Again, avoid the transfer of sediment and aeration. Crush, dissolve and add 1/2 campden tablet per gallon to the mead. Allow the mead to stand for one month in a cool dark place and repeat “racking” process. If at the end of three months, the mead is clear – bottle it. If it is not clear, repeat this step every month until it is clear and then bottle it. The mead may be sweetened to taste with additional honey, if desired, after stabilization (1/2 tsp. potassium sorbate & 1/2 campden tablet per gallon).

Note: All equipment should be well washed and sterilized with a solution of sodium metabisulphite. Fermentation temperatures should be no lower than 60 degrees F. or higher than 80 degrees F.

For an interesting variation, try adding a 6 oz. can frozen juice (e.g. orange, apple, cranberry) and cut back on the acid blend by 1 tsp.

Ratio for different meads – (parts by volume honey: parts by volume water)

DRY: 1:4 (2 1/2 lbs. honey per gallon)
SEMI-DRY: 1:3 (3 lbs. honey per gallon)
SWEET: 1:2.5 (4 lbs. honey per gallon)
EQUIPMENT REQUIRED FOR MAKING MEAD – See Advanced Wine Making Kit

Large Plastic pail or earthenware crock (primary fermenter)
One gallon glass jug (secondary fermenter)
Fermentation lock & drilled rubber stopper
Syphon tubing
5 ” Fifth” wine bottles and corks per gallon
Large plastic sheet
———————————

ELDERBERRY WINE

**great stuff. Tastes a bit like grape but smells like feet. I’ve been meaning to try it with honey instead of sugar. Very good stuff. I think the stuff made with dried berries tastes much better than the professionally prepared elderberry wine bases.

INGREDIENTS for each gallon to be made:

6 oz. Dried Elderberries or 3 lbs. fresh elderberries
1 gallon Warm Water
2 lbs. Sugar
1/2 – 1 lb. Chopped Raisins (optional)
1 tsp. grape tannin
1 1/2 tsp. acid blend
1/2 tsp. Super Ferment (or 2 tsp. regular “nutrient”)
1 campden tablet (crushed) or 1/8 tsp. Sodium Metabisulfite
Wine Yeast
PROCEDURE:

1. Mix all the ingredients EXCEPT the wine yeast in primary fermenter. Stir well to dissolve.

2. Allow to stand for 24 hours. Stir several times during this period.

3. Add wine yeast to a cup of lukewarm water. Cover and allow to stand 10 – 15 minutes. Now add to fermenter and cover with lid or plastic sheet and tie down.

4. Ferment for 30-40 days (until S.G. 1.030). Stir daily to break up pulp cap. Strain out the pulp and knead to extract the juice. Syphon into sterilized secondary fermenter and attach fermentation lock.

Note: A second run may be made from the discarded pulp. Add another gallon warm (not hot! ) water, more sugar, more acid blend (increase amount to 2 tsp.) and more yeast nutrient. Ferment 10 days on the pulp. Continue the original procedure. A lighter wine will result.

5. Rack into another sterilized jug at three weeks and attach fermentation lock. Always fill the jug as full as possible. Rack again in about 1 month.

6. When wine is clear and stable, it may be bottled. The addition of 1/2 tsp. potassium sorbate stabilizer is recommended. If a sweeter wine is desired, add simple syrup to taste (2 parts fructose or sugar to 1 part boiling water).

7. Bottle and cork and stand upright for 3 – 4 days then lay on its side and allow to age for 4-6 months in a dark, vibration free place.

NOTE: All equipment must be well washed and sterilized with a solution of sodium metabisulfite.

———————————

STRAWBERRY WINE

** I’ve made this as mead using honey instead of sugar and it was absolutley horrible for the first six months.

INGREDIENTS (for 1 gallon):

3 1/2 lbs. strawberries
2 1bs. sugar (or specific gravity of 1.090)
1 tablespoon Super Ferment (or 6 tsp. regular “nutrient”)
4 drops liquid pectic enzyme (1/2 tsp. pectic enzyme powder)
1 tsp. acid blend
1/4 tsp. grape tannin
1 gallon water
1 campden tablet (crushed and dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water)
Wine yeast (Red Star Cote des Blanc, Lalvin 71B-1122, champagne)
PROCEDURE:

Note- All equipment must be well washed and sterilized with a solution of sodium metabisulfite to prevent contamination.

1. The fruit should be picked when ripe. Wash well. Place the fruit in primary fermenter and crush. Pour 1 gallon hot water over fruit and sugar. Add the dissolved campden tablet. Stir well. Cover.

2. Allow to cool to room temperature (about 70° F). Add pectic enzyme and stir. Cover. Stir well every 8 to 10 hours.

3. On the next day, add the acid blend, tannin, yeast nutrient, and wine yeast. Cover securely with plastic sheet and allow to ferment 30-40 days. Stir once daily.

4. When the foaming has ceased, strain out the fruit pulp. Syphon into 1 gallon secondary fermenter and attach air lock. Be sure jug is filled to neck and lock is tight.

5. Allow to ferment to completion (specific gravity of 1.000 or less). Rack off sediment into another secondary or, if not available, rack into primary fermenter, clean out & sanitize secondary, then immediately rack back into secondary. Allow to age about 1 month or until perfectly clear. If clear and stable at this time, the wine may be bottled. If not, rack once more and allow to clear another month (add 1/2 campden tablet per gallon when racking).

6. Stablilize the wine with 1/2 tsp. potassium sorbate and 1/2 campden tablet per gallon. If a sweeter wine is desired, sweeten to taste with either fructose or with sugar syrup (1 cup sugar to 1/2 cup boiling water). Bottle and cork the wine, then stand upright for 2 – 3 days to allow corks to expand. Then lay wine on its side to age for 4-6 months. Drink and enjoy!!!!!!

———————————

BLACKBERRY OR DEWBERRY WINE

**I’ve made 2 or 3 six gallon batches of this stuff and it’s always been heavenly every time. You can’t go wrong with this stuff.

INGREDIENTS (for 1 gallon):

4 lbs. blackberries or dewberries
2 1/4 1bs. sugar (or specific gravity of 1.090)
1/2 tsp. Super Ferment (or 2 tsp. regular “nutrient”)
1 tsp pectic enzyme
1 gallon water
1 campden tablet (crushed and dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water)
Wine yeast
*** The addition of a teaspoon of acid blend may be necessary later, depending on the tartness of the fruit.

PROCEDURE:

Note- All equipment must be well washed and sterilized with a solution of sodium metabisulfite to prevent contamination.

1. The fruit should be picked when ripe. Wash well. Place the fruit in primary fermenter and crush. Pour 1 gallon hot water over fruit and add the dissolved campden tablet and sugar. Stir well. Cover.

2. Allow to cool to room temperature (about 70° F). Add pectic enzyme and stir. Cover. Stir well every 8 to 10 hours.

3. At the end of this first day, dissolve the yeast in a small quantity of lukewarm water for 10 minutes and pour this “starter” on to the must. Cover the fermenter. Cover securely with plastic sheet and allow to ferment 30-40 days. Stir twice daily.

4. When the foaming has ceased, strain out the fruit pulp. Syphon into 1 gallon secondary fermenter and attach air lock. Be sure jug is filled to neck and lock is tight.

———————————

Blueberry Mead (1 gallon)

** tried it w/o the jasmine. Very good stuff!

Ingredients:

* 2 lb clover honey
* 2 12-oz bag blueberries (frozen)
* 1 used teabag jasmine tea
* 1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
* 1 tsp Super Ferment (or 2 tsp. regular “nutrient”)
* Red Star Champagne yeast
Procedure:

Mix honey into 3 qts water and bring to boil. Boil 20 minutes, skimming off any scum that forms. Meanwhile, place thawed blueberries in nylon straining bag and mash in primary. Pour boiling water over blueberries, used teabag, pectic enzyme, and yeast nutrient. When cooled to 70-75 degrees, sprinkle wine yeast over surface. Cover and squeeze nylon bag daily for 7 days. Drain blueberries, squeezing well to extract flavor. Discard teabag. Transfer liquid to secondary, fit airlock and ferment additional 30 days. Rack, top up and refit airlock. Stabilize when clear, wait 10 days, and rack into bottles. Age 1-2 years. [Adapted from a traditional recipe] Recipe fromhttp://winemaking.jackkeller.net/reques28.asp

———————————

Apple Pie Mead

INGREDIENTS six gallons:

10-15 lbs honey. (lighter honey would probably work best for this)
6-8 tsp. Super Ferment (or 12 tsp. regular “nutrient”)
6-8 tablespoons acid blend
6 tsp grape tannin
1 campden tablet* (not necessary if using pasturized honey and bottled apple juice)
6-12 tablespoons pre-mixed apple pie spice (usually available in the supermarket)
1-2 pkgs. wine (e.g. Premier Cuvee, Champagne, Cote des Blancs, Sherry) or mead yeast
Add apple juice (Oceanspray works great) to six gallons (Specific Gravity – 1.085 – 1.105)

Favorite BYO.com Recipes:

Ouaffer-theen Barleywine
http://byo.com/stories/recipes/article/indices/51-recipe-exchange/1224-ouaffer-theen-barleywine

Ouaffer-theen Barleywine
Author Scott Russell
Issue September 1997
The name comes from the restaurant scene from Monty Python’s “The Meaning of Life.”

5 gallons, partial mash

Approximate OG = 1.099

Ingredients:

1 lb. crushed pale malt
0.5 lb. dark crystal malt, 90° Lovibond or more
0.5 lb. crushed malted wheat
1 lb. crushed victory malt (or toasted amber or mild ale malt)
3 cans (3.3 lbs. each) Edme Maris Otter plain light malt extract
2 lbs. plain light dry malt extract
2 oz. Northern Brewer hop pellets (7.5% alpha acid), for 60 min.
1 oz. Target hop pellets (8% alpha acid), for 30 min.
1 oz. Challenger hop pellets (8% alpha acid), for 30 min.
0.5 oz. whole East Kent Goldings hops, for dry hopping
English ale yeast
10 g. dry champagne yeast
1 cup homemade spice tea (see note)
1/2 cup corn sugar for priming
Step by Step:

In 2 gals. of water at 167° F (will settle to 154° F or so when you mix in the crushed malt), mash malts and malted wheat. Hold for 90 minutes. Sparge with 2.5 gals. water at 168° F. Add extracts. Bring to a boil. After 30 minutes add Northern Brewer pellets. Boil 30 more minutes and add Target and Challenger pellets. Boil an additional 30 minutes. Remove from heat, throw in 0.5 oz. East Kent Goldings hops, and chill. Top off in fermenter with chilled, pre-boiled water to make 5.25 gals. When wort cools to 75° F, pitch at least 2 qts. of English ale yeast slurry (build up ahead of time in a hopped wort!). I prefer to use Wyeast 1098, but the new Pitch5 system English Ale yeast from YeasTech Laboratories would do nicely as well.

Ferment at 70° F or so for 10 days. Rack to secondary and add dry champagne yeast. Condition cool (50° F) and in the dark for four weeks or until gravity is under 1.026. Prime with corn sugar and add spice tea. Bottle and age (patiently!) for at least 12 weeks, more if you can wait. Save a few bottles for a long time to trace the patterns of the spices. The potential alcohol content is as high as 9.6 percent, depending on yeast performance.

Brewing Notes

Spices: Make a spice tea by soaking a pinch each of the following spices in a cup or so of boiled water: woodruff, black pepper, vanilla bean, yarrow, and rosemary. (Try it, you’ll like it!)

All-grain recipe: What, are you kidding? Can you comfortably mash 16.5 lbs. of malt? Can you afford to, both economically and time-wise? So be it: 14 lbs. Crisp Maris Otter pale malt; 1 lb. crystal malt, 90° Lovibond; 1 lb. victory malt; and 0.5 lb. malted wheat. Mash 75 minutes in 5 gals. water at 154° F and sparge with 6 gals. at 168° F. Boil to reduce to 5.25 gals., following the hop schedule as above. And good luck. Be sure to do an iodine starch-conversion test. Obviously, there are ways to compromise. Each can of extract in the first version of the recipe can be replaced with about 3.5 lbs. pale malt. I’ll let you do the calculations for your adaptation.

All-extract version: Steep the crystal, wheat, and 0.5 lb. of the victory malt in the brew kettle containing 3 gals. of water. Raise temperature to 170° F and remove the grains. Add extracts as above plus an additional 1 lb. light DME (or swap all the DME for 1/4 can of Maris Otter extract, if you want to make this a $55-plus brew).

Send YOUR favorite recipe to: Recipe Exchange, 5053 Main Street, Suite A, Manchester Center, Vermont 05255 OR e-mail it to: edit@byo.com, Subject: Recipe Submissions. If we publish it, we’ll send you a cool BYO gift.
Highland Holiday Ale
http://byo.com/stories/recipes/article/indices/51-recipe-exchange/763-highland-holiday-ale

Highland Holiday Ale
Author Scott Russell
Issue November 1997
5 gallons, partial mash

OG = 1.065

This is a partial-mash recipe mashed at a high temperature. It has a thick mash and a shorter saccharification rest to create a highly dextrinous wort, leaving a fuller, thicker, and sweeter beer.

Ingredients:

3.5 lbs. crushed two-row pale malt
3 oz. peated malt
8 oz. dark crystal malt, 90° to 120° Lovibond
4 oz. Munich malt
2 oz. roasted unmalted barley
2 lbs. plain amber dry malt extract
2 lbs. plain dark dry malt extract
4 oz. dark brown sugar
1 oz. Challenger hop pellets (8% alpha acid), for 90 min.
1/16 oz. freshly grated ginger
0.25 oz. dried rosemary leaves
Pinch fennel seeds
10-14 g. of a dry ale yeast, or 1 qt. of a liquid slurry (I prefer Wyeast 1728 Scottish ale)
2/3 cup corn sugar for priming
Step by Step:

Heat 1.5 gal. of water to 166° F, mash in crushed pale, peated, crystal, and Munich malts and roasted barley. Mash should settle to about 155° F. Hold 75 min., run off, and sparge with 2 gal. water at 170° F. To the kettle add 1 gal. of water, the dry malt, and the brown sugar. Bring to a boil, add Challenger pellets, and boil 90 min. Turn off the heat and steep (in a mesh bag for ease of straining) the ginger, rosemary, and fennel. Leave standing 30 min., remove herbs, and cool. Put into the fermenter and top off with chilled, pre-boiled water to make 5.25 gal. At 65° F pitch yeast. Ferment cool (60° F if possible) for 10 days, rack to secondary, and condition even cooler (55° F) for two to three weeks. Prime with corn sugar and bottle condition for three to four weeks.

Brewing Notes:

Non-mash version: Steep roasted barley, peated, dark crystal, and Munich malts as above in 2.5 gal. of water, heat gradually to 170° F, and remove grains. Add 4 lbs. of amber and 3 lbs. of dark dry malt extract and 4 oz. dark brown sugar.

All-grain: Mash 9 lbs. pale malt, 6 oz. peated malt, 1 lb. dark crystal, 2 oz. roasted barley, and 6 oz. Munich at 155° F for 75 minutes in 3.5 gal. Sparge with 4.5 gal. at 170° F. Boil to reduce to 5.25 gal., add hops and herbs as above.

Peated malt: Peated malt is becoming easier to find. It’s available at most homebrew supply shops. There is no substitute, but if you can’t find it you can just leave it out.

Herbs and variations: Substitute heather honey (if you can find it) for the brown sugar. Or use heather flowers and/or lavender (ask your homebrew shop to get them for you) in the herb mix. Be careful with the ginger. It is meant as an accent, not a featured flavor, and a little goes a long way.

Want to play with yeast? This would be really interesting with a recultured slurry of Belhaven or Traquair’s yeast. Or maybe a Belgian Trappist yeast…Hmmm.

Send YOUR favorite recipe to: Recipe Exchange, 5053 Main Street, Suite A, Manchester Center, Vermont
05255 OR e-mail it to: edit@byo.com, Subject: Recipe Submissions. If we publish it, we’ll send you a cool BYO gift.
Black Honey Cherry Lager
http://byo.com/stories/recipes/article/indices/51-recipe-exchange/232-black-honey-cherry-lager
Black Honey Cherry Lager
Issue February 1998

Sure I believe in first impressions, but I also know that looks can be deceiving. How many times have we all looked at a beer, homebrewed or commercial, and said, “Wow, what a nice looking beer,” only to taste it and be disappointed? How many times have we allowed an expectation to build up as to taste, aroma, richness, bitterness, based on appearance alone? But color and clarity can only tell you so much. You have to taste the beer.

This month’s recipe is a beer that promises one thing and delivers another. But in this case what it delivers is a pleasant surprise.

Take a look. The head is creamy, off-white, tiny bubbles, constantly replenished by more rising from the bottom of the glass. The beer itself is crystal clear, a ruby-red color, deep-hued with a hint toward blackness.

Now smell it. Hops, no doubt, noble-type: Saaz? Hallertauer? Yes to both. But something else. Two somethings, actually. A sweetness, not quite cloying, not exactly sugary. Honey, to be exact. And a tart, almost sour fruit aroma that could only be cherries. Now the color makes more sense.

Want to taste it? Sure. Go ahead. Crisp and slightly bitter, tart but fruity sweet at the same time. Yeah, there are hops in there, and honey and cherries. Well balanced; none of them are overwhelming. And somewhere back there, among all the other things, there’s malt. Dark malt, but not quite black or chocolate. More than just crystal, though. But how? I’ll let you in on a secret I’ve just discovered. It’s called kilncoffee. It’s a lightly roasted malt, about 170° Lovibond, recently introduced by Malteries Franco-belges, and it does wonders for brews that need to be dark but not really dark and that shouldn’t have a lot of burnt or roasted character. It’s the reason this beer seems darker than it really is. I also use the darkest honey I can find, and if it isn’t dark enough, I wouldn’t be averse to using a little dark candi sugar just for reinforcement.

This is one of those beers that reminds me of an old-fashioned rickety wooden roller coaster. You go up, you come back down. You go around curves, sway side to side, speed up, and then slow way down again. And as you get out of the car, you run to get back in line to get on again. When you open a bottle of this beer, you get hops, then fruit, then hops again. You sip it and you taste sour fruit, then malty sweetness, then hop bitterness, then malt again, then honey, then hops, and then all of a sudden it’s gone and you have to open up another to confirm all those tastes and aromas you think you just went through.
Black Honey Cherry Lager
(5 gallons, extract, grain, and adjuncts)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. medium crystal malt, 60° Lovibond
• 0.5 lb. kilncoffee malt
• 0.5 lb. malted wheat
• 6 lbs. unhopped amber dry malt extract
• 2 lbs. dark honey
• 0.5 lb. dark candi sugar (optional)
• 1.5 oz. Saaz hop pellets (4% alpha acid), for 60 min.
• 1 oz. Hallertauer hop pellets (4% alpha acid), for 30 min.
• 1 oz. fresh whole Hallertauer hops (4% alpha acid), for 30 min. steeping
• 4 lbs. sour black cherries
• 10-14 g. of dry lager yeast or 1 pint (minimum)
liquid slurry (Wyeast 2278 or something similar)
• 3/4 cup corn sugar for priming

Step by Step:

Steep the crystal, kilncoffee, and wheat for 30 min. in 3 gal. of 150° F water. Remove the grains and add the extract and honey. Add candi sugar to darken, if desired. Bring to a boil, add the Saaz pellets. Boil 30 min., add Hallertauer pellets. Boil 30 min. Total boil is 60 min. Add the whole hops and the cherries, and steep 30 min. Remove hops and cherries, cool wort. Put steeped cherries in fermenter, add cooled wort along with enough pre-boiled cold water to make 5.25 gal. At 70° F, pitch yeast and gradually chill fermenter to 50° F over the next 24 hours. Ferment at 50° F for three weeks, then rack to secondary, removing cherries. Condition at 45° F for six weeks, prime with corn sugar, and bottle. Bottle age four to six weeks at refrigerator temperature.

Alternatives:

All-grain brewers can replace the amber dry malt with 8 lbs. lager malt and 1/2 lb. each brown and Munich malt in addition to the crystal, kilncoffee, and wheat. Mash in 3 gal. at 150° F for 90 min., sparge with 3.5 gal. at 169° F.

Can’t find kilncoffee? If your supplier cannot order some for you, you can, in a pinch, use 1/8 lb. chocolate malt instead, but only steep it for 15 min.

If you want to use cherry juice instead of cherries, add 16 oz. pure black cherry juice to wort with steeping hops. Obviously you won’t need to worry about getting it out.

Use a good, fresh yeast culture, and pitch as big as you can manage. Fermenting and conditioning temperatures are very important to this beer, if you want to taste any of the subtleties of the honey and dark malt.

Reader Recipes

Spontaneous Raspberry
(5 gallons, partial mash)

This is a lambic style that is the result of spontaneous fermentation. It might not work every time. Use yeast if fermentation does not occur within three days.
Peter A. Hearn – Home Brew Mart, San Diego, Calif.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. flaked wheat
• 1 lb. six-row barley malt
• 4 lbs. wheat malt extract
• 4 oz. two-year-old oxidized Hallertauer hops
(4.5% alpha acid), for 75 min.
• 8 lbs. frozen raspberries
• 1 cup corn sugar for priming

Step by Step:

Do a mini-mash using a steeping bag with 2 gal. 150° F water for 60 min. Remove bag. Add extract and boil 75 min. with Hallertauer hops. Add to 3 gal. cold water in bucket fermenter. Cover with cheesecloth to keep clean. Put outdoors in a shady place. When fermentation is active, put on lid and airlock. When fermentation is complete (usually two weeks), rack and age two months. Add raspberries and age three more months. Prime with corn sugar.

Far North Pale Ale
(5 gallons, extract with specialty grains)

This is a favorite of mine and my friends. Hope you like it.
Kevin McRee – Anchorage, Alaska

Ingredients:

• 6 lbs. Alexander’s pale malt extract syrup
• 1 lb. wheat malt extract
• 0.5 lb. cara-pils malt
• 1 lb. crystal malt, 40° Lovibond
• 1.5 oz. Northern Brewer hops (7% alpha acid), for 60 min.
• 2 oz. Cascade hops (4.1% alpha acid): 0.75 oz. for 15 min.,
0.75 oz. for 5 min., 0.5 oz. dry hopped in secondary
• 1 tsp. Irish moss
• Wyeast 1056 American Ale

Step by Step:

Steep grains in 3 gal. of 150° F water for 30 min. Sparge with 1 gal. of 170° F water. Add malt syrup and bring to a boil. Add 1.5 oz. Northern Brewer. Boil 45 min. Add Irish moss and 0.75 oz. of Cascade hops and boil 10 min. more. Add 0.75 oz. Cascade and boil 5 min. more. Total boil is 60 min. Top up to 5 gal. Cool to 70° F and pitch yeast.

After primary fermentation rack to secondary and add 0.5 oz. Cascade hops. Ferment to completion and bottle.

OG = 1.060 FG = 1.012
Haystack Wheat
http://byo.com/stories/recipes/article/indices/51-recipe-exchange/746-haystack-wheat

Haystack Wheat
Author Scott Russell
Issue October 1998
Relatively light but flavorful. Spicy but still a wheat beer, first and foremost.

(5 gallons, partial-mash and extract)

Ingredients:

1/8 tsp. winemaker’s acid blend
2 lbs. Belgian pilsner malt
2 lbs. Belgian wheat malt
0.5 lb. medium crystal malt, 55° to 60° Lovibond
0.5 lb. flaked wheat
4 lbs. unhopped wheat dry malt extract (+/- 50% wheat)
1 large pinch loose Saaz hop flowers or 1 Tbsp. or so of Saaz hop pellets (3.6% alpha acid) for15 min.
1 gram spice blend (equal parts coriander, cumin, ginger, wintergreen, and star anise, groundand mixed thoroughly)
1 qt. yeast slurry (see note)
7/8 cup corn sugar for priming
Step by Step:

Heat 7 qts. water to 162° F. Add acid blend. Crack pilsner and wheat malts. Add malts and flaked wheat to mash water. Hold at 153° F for 90 min. Run off to kettle; sparge with 2 gal. water at about 168° F. To the kettle add dry malt extract and bring to a boil. Total boil is 75 min. Boil 60 min., add hops (loose hops in a mesh bag, pellets as is). Boil 15 min. more, add spices and remove from heat.

Cool and pour into fermenter. Top off with enough pre-boiled, chilled water to make 5.25 gal. Aerate well! At 70° F or so, pitch yeast.

Ferment cool (60° F) for two weeks, rack to secondary, and condition for two weeks near 55° F. Prime with corn sugar and bottle. Age in bottles 10 days.

Notes and Variants:

All-grain version: Mash 5 lbs. each malted wheat and pilsner malt, plus the same amounts of crystal and flaked wheat, same temperature and time but increase mash water to 3.5 gal., sparge water to 4 gal. Time your boil to reduce to 5.25 gal. (add water to kettle if necessary).

All-extract version: Steep the crystal and flaked wheat in 3 gal. of water, heating gradually to 179° F, then remove grains. Increase dry malt extract to 8 lbs.

Wheat malt extract: Although there are a few all-wheat extracts on the market, you will get a better fermentation using the malt extracts that are a blend of wheat and barley — usually about 50/50, but similar proportions will work fine.

Malts: In this recipe I prefer to use Belgian malts (from DeWolf-Cosyns) as they give a fuller, richer malt profile than their German counterparts. But use what you can find; you won’t be far off.

Spices: The blend I suggest above is a balanced one, especially if used in moderation. It is very easy to overdo. If you really object to one of the spices, leave it out.

Yeast: Because this is more or less a Belgian recipe, I prefer to use a Belgian yeast. Wyeast has two strains of Belgian wheat beer yeast, 3944, which is better suited to a real “witbier” — which this is not — and 3942, softer, less acidic and, I think, perfect for this recipe. Avoid using the Bavarian or Weihenstephan wheat strains as they are too fruity and estery for this recipe.

Send YOUR favorite recipe to: Recipe Exchange, 5053 Main Street, Suite A, Manchester Center, Vermont 05255 OR e-mail it to: edit@byo.com, Subject: Recipe Submissions. If we publish it, we’ll send you a cool BYO gift.
Smoked Rasberry Porter
http://byo.com/stories/recipes/article/indices/51-recipe-exchange/1415-smoked-raspberry-porter

The darkness and slight bitterness of a porter, the tangy sweetness of fresh raspberries, and the haunting, fragrant smokiness of smoked malt. It reminds me of a toasted raspberry nut bread. Complex, yet not overloaded. This ale should be served warmer than most beers, 60° to 65° F or so, to allow all the complexity to come out, to blend, to swirl around in your mind. You should be able to pick out each individual aroma and taste, one after another, several times through.

(5 gallons, partial-mash)

Ingredients:

2 lbs. pale malt
4 oz. chocolate malt
4 oz.black patent malt
8 oz. dark crystal malt (90° Lovibond or darker)
8 oz. smoked malt (German rauchmalt, Scottish peated malt, or smoke your own on the grill)
5 lbs. unhopped dark dry malt extract
1 oz. Northern Brewer or Nugget hops (8% alpha acid) for 45 min.
1 qt. neutral ale yeast culture (Wyeast 1056, American Ale, works very well in this brew)
4 lbs. fresh raspberries
2/3 cup corn sugar for priming
Step by Step:

Wash and freeze raspberries. This will help to break them down in the secondary. Heat 1 gal. water to 164° F. Crack pale, crystal, chocolate, and black malts. Mix cracked grains into mash water, which should settle to around 152° F. Hold 75 min. at this temperature, then begin run-off. Sparge with 2 gal. at 169° F.

Steep smoked malt in the run-off for at least 20 min. Remove the smoked malt and begin heating kettle. Add dry malt extract and bring to a boil. Add bittering hops, boil 45 min., then turn off heat.

Chill and top off in fermenter with enough cold, preboiled water to make 5.25 gal. Cool to 70° F. and pitch yeast.

Ferment at 65° F for 10 days or until primary fermentation seems to have stopped. Thaw raspberries, place in secondary fermenter, and rack beer onto them. Age on fruit for 10 days near 65° F, then rack the beer off the fruit into another vessel. Allow to age and clarify for about two weeks at 58° to 60° F. Prime with corn sugar and bottle.

Bottle condition for at least two weeks. Plan to consume this beer relatively soon. Both smoke and raspberry flavors tend to fade within a couple of months.

Notes:

All-grain: Omit the dry malt. Increase the pale malt to 7 lbs., increase the black and chocolate malts to 8 oz. each. Mash in 2.5 gal. water for 90 min. Sparge with 3.5 gal. water.

All-extract: Omit the pale malt and increase the dry malt extract to 6 lbs. Steep the black, chocolate, crystal, and smoked malts in 2.5 gal. of water, heating gradually to 170° F and then removing grains. Add extracts, hops, and boil as above.

Smoked malt: Most complete homebrew suppliers offer some type of smoked malts these days, but if you should find yourself unable to procure the appropriate malt, try smoking your own. Build a small wood fire in your barbecue, and put on green/wet branches (maple, beech, apple, or other fruit tree) to make a smoldering smoky fire. Place pale malt on a metal screen and allow it to sit in the smoke (high enough to not be touched by the flames, however!) for about 15 minutes. Voilà, smoked malt.

Fruit: Fresh is the key. Plan your brewing around the availability of fresh fruit. I prefer regular red raspberries, but black raspberries, blackberries, boysenberries, or any other related fruit would be okay, too. Freeze them for a least a week to break down the skins and enable easier extraction of flavor and aroma during secondary fermentation.

Send YOUR favorite recipe to: Recipe Exchange, 5053 Main Street, Suite A, Manchester Center, Vermont 05255 OR e-mail it to: edit@byo.com, Subject: Recipe Submissions. If we publish it, we’ll send you a cool BYO gift.
Absolute Apricot
http://byo.com/stories/recipes/article/indices/51-recipe-exchange/86-absolute-apricot

Absolute Apricot
Author Gary Lee
Issue March 1999
(5 gallons, extract)

This is a light and refreshing fruit wheat beer. You can use any type of natural fruit flavoring.

Ingredients:

8 lbs. Alexander’s wheat malt extract
2 oz. Hallertauer whole leaf hops (3% alpha acid) for 60 min.
8 oz. maltodextrin
Wyeast 1056 (American ale)
4 oz. apricot natural flavoring
3/4 cup corn sugar for priming (or 11/4 cups dry malt extract)
Step by Step:

Boil extract, hops, and maltodextrin for 60 min. in 5.5 gal. of water. Cool to 70° F and pitch yeast. Ferment 10 to 12 days. Prime with corn sugar or dry malt extract and add apricot extract to the bottling bucket. Bottle, age, and enjoy.

OG = 1.055
FG = 1.015
21 IBUs
Vanilla Cream Ale
http://byo.com/stories/recipes/article/indices/25-cloning/1121-market-streets-vanilla-creme-ale-the-replicator

Market Street’s Vanilla Creme Ale: The Replicator
Issue Jul/Aug 2002
Vanilla Creme Ale
(5 gallons, extract with grains)
OG = 1.040 FG = 1.012 IBUs = 14–16 ABV = 3.5%

Ingredients
3.3 lbs. Muntons light malt extract syrup
1.0 lb. Muntons light dry malt powder
0.5 lb. wheat malt
1.0 lb. crystal malt (10° L)
3.25 AAU Nugget hops (bittering) (0.25 oz. of 13.0% alpha acid)
2.0 AAU Mt. Hood hops (aroma) (0.5 oz. of 4.0% alpha acid)
2 vanilla beans
1 tsp. Irish moss
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) yeast or Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) yeast
O.75 cup corn sugar (for priming)

Step by step
Steep the crushed malts in three gallons of water at 150º F for 30 minutes. Remove the grains from the wort, add malt extracts and bring to a boil. Add Nugget (bittering) hops, Irish moss and boil for 60 minutes. Add chopped vanilla beans for the last 15 minutes of the boil. Add Mt. Hood (aroma) hops for the last two minutes of the boil.
When you are done boiling the wort, strain out the hops and add the wort to two gallons of cool water in a sanitary fermenter. Top off with cool water to 5.5 gallons. Cool the wort to 80º F, aerate the beer and pitch your yeast. Allow the beer to cool over the next few hours to 68–70º F and ferment for 10–14 days. Bottle your beer, age for two to three weeks and enjoy!

All-grain option
Replace the light syrup and powder with 5.5 lbs. Great Western two-row pale malt. Mash all your grains at 155º F for 45 minutes. Collect enough wort to boil for
90 minutes and still have a 5.5-gallon yield.
Since the IBUs are low, it is difficult to decrease the quantity of hops to account for increased hop extraction efficiency in a full boil. Instead, use the same amount of bittering hops, but simply reduce the total boiling time of the bittering hops from 60 minutes to 50 minutes. The remainder of the recipe is the same as the extract.
10 Wild Recipes

http://byo.com/stories/recipes/article/indices/51-recipe-exchange/1493-the-10-wildest-recipes

The 10 Wildest Recipes
Issue Mar/Apr 2005
Continuing in our series of articles celebrating BYO’s 10th anniversary, here are 10 recipes “from the wild side.” At BYO, we devote a lot of space to classic beer styles. (Our Style Profile column, for example, covers a classic beer style every issue.) However, we’ve also been known to push the envelope a bit, trying new and interesting ingredients, techniques and even — as you will see — brewing aids.

For this collection of recipes, we’ve chosen one interesting recipe from each year of BYO’s existence. Some have been tweaked based on the author’s recommendations, feedback from readers or our own experience brewing the beer. (All have been updated, where needed, to conform to BYO’s recipe assumptions and modern standards of brewing quality homebrew.) So, if you’re looking to brew something new, give one of these beers a try. Or, let the recipes spark your imagaination to create your own wild and wacky experimental brew.

Black Pearl Oyster Stout

(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain with bivalve mollusks)

OG = 1.052 FG = 1.013 IBU = 37 SRM = 60 ABV = 5.0%

Despite names like Fat Spider Ale, Turkey Stout and Black Kitty Brown, only one BYO recipe has ever featured animals as an ingredient — Black Pearl Oyster Stout. We’ve been lucky enough to taste this beer, brewed by Joe Walton and Jim Michalk, and it’s delicious. The beer has a complex dark grain character and a slightly silky mouthfeel. There’s no strong oyster flavor, but you may detect a slight salty/briney character. For best results, use hard water with a moderate to high level of carbonates.

Ingredients

9.0 lbs. (4.1 kg) 2-row pale malt
0.5 lb. (0.22 kg) flaked oats
1.0 lb. (0.45 kg) roasted barley
0.5 lb. (0.22 kg) chocolate malt
0.25 lb. (0.11 kg) black patent malt
10 oz. can raw oysters (and brine)
1 tsp. Irish moss
8.6 AAU Fuggles hops (60 mins)
(1.5 oz./43 g of 5.7% alpha acids)
4.3 AAU Fuggles hops (20 mins)
(0.75 oz./21 g of 5.7% alpha acids)
Wyeast 1084 (Irish Ale) or White Labs
WLP004 (Irish Ale) yeast
0.75 cups corn sugar (for priming)
Step by Step

Mash grains for 45 minutes at 152 °F (67 °C). Boil wort for 120 minutes. Add hops at times indicated. Add oysters and Irish moss with 15 minutes left. Cool wort. Transfer to fermenter, leaving oyster bits behind. (Don’t eat the oysters, Joe and Jim say they taste terrible.) Aerate, pitch yeast and ferment at 68 °F (20 °C).

Extract with grains option:

Replace 2-row pale malt with 14 oz. (0.40 kg) Briess Light dried malt extract, 3 lbs. 14 oz. (1.8 kg) Muntons Light liquid malt extract and 2.0 lbs. (0.91 kg) 2-row pale malt. In a 3 gallon (11 L) or larger stock pot, heat 1.6 gallons (6 L) of water to 163 °F (73 °C). Placed crushed grains and flaked oats in a large steeping bag and submerge bag in this hot water. Maintain temperature at 148–153 °F (64–67 °C) for 45 minutes. While grains mash, heat one gallon (3.8 L) of water to 170 °F (77 °C). Remove grain bag from steeping pot and place in colander over stock pot. Rinse grains with 0.75 gallons (2.8 L) of water from brewpot. Combine “grain tea” and dried malt extract with remaining hot water in brewpot and heat to a boil. Boil 60 minutes, adding hops at times remaining indicated in recipe. With 15 minutes left in the boil, add liquid malt extract, oysters and Irish moss. Stir thoroughly to dissolve extract. (Keep the clock running even though it will take a few minutes for the wort to resume boiling.) Cool wort and transfer to fermenter, leaving oyster bits behind. Add water to make 5 gallons (19 L). Aerate, pitch yeast and ferment at 68 °F (20 °C).

(All-grain recipe from “Oyster Stout: A seaworthy stout experiment” by Joe Walton, January-February 2004, p. 64.)

Jolly Rancher Apple Lambic
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain with hard candy)

OG = 1.065 FG = 1.006 IBU = 11 SRM = 4 (green) ABV = 6.3%

We couldn’t resist throwing in one of Chris Colby’s recipes. Jolly Rancher Apple lambic is a dry, sour beer with the flavor and aroma of Granny Smith apples coming from Jolly Rancher hard candies. This latest version of the recipe is based on the results of three brewings. For best results, let the beer age warm for at least three months.

Ingredients

5.0 lbs. (2.3 kg) 2-row pale malt
3.0 lbs. (1.4 kg) wheat malt
4.0 lbs. (1.8 kg) Jolly Rancher Apple hard candies
3 AAU Saaz hops (aged) (60 mins)
(3.0 oz./85 g of 1% alpha acids)
1/4 tsp yeast nutrients
Wyeast 3278 (Lambic Blend) yeast and bacteria
1.25 cups corn sugar (for priming)
Step by step

Mash grains at 150 °F (66 °C) for 60 minutes. Collect 4 gallons (15 L) of wort, add 1.5 gallons (5.7 L) of water and boil for 90 minutes. Boil hops for 60 minutes. (If you don’t have aged hops, just add 3 AAU of any noble German hop.) At the end of the boil, you should have 4 gallons (15 L) of wort at SG 1.049. Cool wort, transfer to fermenter, aerate and pitch yeast/bacteria blend. Ferment at 70 °F (21 °C). After one week, boil yeast nutrients in 1 gallon (3.8 L) of water and dissolve candies into this liquid. (It takes at least 20 minutes for the candies to fully dissolve.) Cool “candy water” to 70 °F (21 °C) and rack to secondary fermenter. Rack beer from primary into candy water, making 5 gallons (19 L). (Don’t splash or otherwise aerate wort at this stage.) Condition beer in secondary, at 70–75 °F (21–24 °C), for at least 3 months before bottling. You may want to add a small amount
(~1 tsp) of dried ale yeast to the bottling bucket when bottling.

Extract option:

Replace 2-row and wheat malt with 2.0 lbs. (0.91 kg) Briess dried wheat malt extract and 3.0 lbs. (1.4 kg) Coopers liquid wheat malt extract. Bring 2.5 gallons (9.4 L) of water to a boil. Dissolve dried malt extract and boil for 60 minutes, adding hops at beginning of boil. With 15 minutes remaining in boil, stir in liquid malt extract. Cool wort, transfer to fermenter and add water to make 4 gallons (15 L). Aerate and pitch yeast/bacteria blend. Follow all-grain instructions for details of fermentation and how to add candies.

(Adapted from Reader Recipe by Chris Colby, found in Homebrew Nation, May-June 2003, p. 7.)

Mountain Brew
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with soda pop)

OG = 1.046 FG = 1.006 IBU = 19 SRM = 4 ABV = 5.2%

Jason Pavento wanted to combine his two favorite beverages, homebrew and Mountain Dew. His creation — Mountain Brew — does just that. We’ve fiddled with his procedures a bit, based on our own experimentation, but the ingredients are the same as his original recipe. The beer turns out light and crisp, with some aroma, but not much flavor from the Mountain Dew. And, in case you’re wondering, neither the preservatives or the caffeine seem to bother the yeast. Mountain Brew is also a very easy to make. So, to mangle a phrase from their ads — just brew it!

Ingredients

4.0 lbs. (1.8 kg) Muntons Extra Light dried malt extract
2.3 gallons (8.7 L) Mountain Dew
(24 12-oz. cans of the soda)
4.5 AAU Northern Brewer hops (45 mins)
(0.5 oz./14 g of 9% alpha acids)
2.25 AAU Northern Brewer hops (15 mins)
(0.25 oz./7 g of 9% alpha acids)
1/2 tsp Irish moss
1/4 tsp yeast nutrients
Danstar Manchester yeast
1.0 cup corn sugar (for priming)
Step by step

Pour Mountain Dew into a clean, sanitized brew bucket. (The soda should not have anything growing in it, so there’s no need to boil. You may want to wipe the lips of the cans with a paper towel soaked in sanitizing solution, though. Let it sit in the bucket (covered) as you boil the wort so the level of carbonation will decrease.) Bring 2.5 gallons (9.5 L) of water to a boil and stir in malt extract. Boil for 60 minutes, adding hops at the times indicated in the recipe. Add Irish moss with 15 minutes left in the boil. Cool wort and pour into Mountain Brew. (Watch for excessive foaming.) Top up to 5 gallons (19 L) with water. Aerate (again, watching for excessive foaming) and pitch yeast. Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C) for 1 week. Rack to secondary and age for 2 weeks, Bottle with corn sugar.

All-grain option:

Next time you make a light all-grain beer, such as a Kölsch, cream ale or light pale ale, make an extra 2.5 gallons (9.5 L) of wort. Combine 2.5 gallons (9.5 L) cooled wort with Mt. Dew and water to make 5 gallons (19 L).

(Adapted from Reader Recipe by Jason Pavento, found in Homebrew Nation, March-April 2002, p. 8.)

Stonehenge Stein Beer
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain with metamorphic rocks)

OG = 1.051 FG = 1.013 IBU = 22 SRM = 15 ABV = 5.0%

When you wish for new brewing gear, do you ever wish for metamorphic rocks? You might after seeing this recipe. Here’s a recipe for steinbier — a beer whose wort is heated by hot stones. Heat from the rocks boils the wort and caramelizes sugars they directly contact. To brew this beer, you will need at least a 10 gallon pot, a stainless steel basket and heat resistant tongs to handle the rocks. For safety purposes, it would be best to get a friend to help you. When moving the rock-filled basket into the wort, suspend it by the basket handle from the middle of a pole, held on each end by one brewer. So here’s the recipe — do you have the stones to try it?

Ingredients

5.0 lbs. (2.3 kg) 2-row pale malt
5.5 lbs. (2.5 kg) Munich malt
0.5 lbs. (0.23 kg) crystal malt (40 °L)
6 AAU Hallertau hops (60 mins)
(1.5 oz./43 g of 4% alpha acids)
10-15 fist-sized chunks of granite
1 tsp. Irish moss
White Labs WLP002 (English Ale) yeast (1 qt/1 L starter)
0.75 cups corn sugar (for priming)
Step by Step

Start a hardwood fire in a large grill. Let fire burn down to coals and place rocks in coals. Mash grains in 2.5 gallons (9.5 L) of water. Hold mash temperature at 150 °F (66 °C) for
60 minutes. Run off wort, then sparge with 170 °F (77 °C) water to yield 6 gallons (23 L) of wort. With heat-resistant tongs, remove 3 to 5 rocks from coals and place in a stainless steel basket. Whisk away any ash or embers from rocks with barbecue brush. Submerge basket with stones in wort. Boil for 90 minutes. Rotate rocks in kettle with those on the coals during entire boil period to maintain boil. Add hops with 60 minutes left in boil, Irish moss with 15 minutes left in boil. Cool wort, siphon to fermenter, aerate and pitch yeast. Place stones on a clean surface and allow them to cool. Store stones — wrapped in plastic wrap or in clean Tupperware-type containers — in refrigerator. After one week of primary fermentation, add rocks to sanitized bucket and rack beer on top of stones (which will be surrounded in a layer of caramelized sugar). Let condition for 2 weeks. Bottle or keg.

Extract with grains option:

Replace 2-row and Munich malt with 3.5 lbs. (1.6 kg) Weyermann Bavarian Pils liquid malt extract and 4.0 lbs. (1.8 kg) Weyermann Munich amber liquid malt extract. Heat 6 gallons (23 L) of water to 160 °F (71 °C) and stir in malt extracts until they are completely dissolved. Place crushed crystal malt in a steeping bag and steep in wort for 45 minutes. Keep temperature between 148–162 °F (64–72 °C) while steeping. Remove bag and begin heating with heating with rocks as described in the all-grain instructions.

(All-grain recipe from “Hot Rocks!” by Thomas J. Miller, Feb. 2001, p. 38.)

Eye in the Pyramid Wild Rice Helles Bock
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with rice adjunct)

OG = 1.059 FG = 1.015 IBU = 29 SRM = 10 ABV = 5.7%

A light-colored beer made with rice? How is that wild? Well, for starters, this recipe uses wild rice, which adds its characteristic flavor to the beer rather than just contributing fermentable sugars. And, although golden in color, this is a fairly strong beer. Brewing this beer requires a cereal mash, but it’s well worth it for the interesting — but not overpowering — flavor notes from the wild rice. Wild rice can be found at many organic food stores. For best results, stir the rice constantly as you cook it to prevent scorching.

Ingredients

4.0 lbs. (1.8 kg) Laaglander Dutch Light lager kit
2.7 lbs. (1.1 kg) Northwestern Gold malt extract
1.0 lbs. (0.45 kg) 2-row pale malt
0.75 lbs. (0.34 kg) Munich malt
0.66 lbs. (0.30 kg) crystal malt (20 °L)
0.5 lbs. (0.23 kg) CaraPils malt
1.0 lb. (0.45 kg) wild rice
8 AAU Hallertau Hersbrücker hops (60 mins)
(2.0 oz./57 g of 4% alpha acids)
1 tsp. Irish moss
Wyeast 2206 (Bavarian) or White Labs WLP820 (Octoberfest) yeast
0.75 cups corn sugar (for priming)
Step by Step

Boil wild rice and a handful of crushed pale malt for 30 minutes. Stir constantly. Heat 1 gallon (3.8 L) of water to 142 °F (61 °C). When 15 minutes are left in rice boil, place crushed grains in steeping bag and submerge in this water. Hold temperature at 126–131 °F (52–55 °C) for duration of rice boil. Open steeping bag, dump in rice and stir into grains. Add heat, if needed, to bring temperature to 155 °F (68 °C) and hold for 45 minutes. Remove grain bag, place in colander and rinse with 0.5 gallons (1.9 L) of water at 170 °F (77 °C). Combine “grain tea,” 2.0 lbs. (0.91 kg) of malt extract and water to make 2.5 gallons (9.5 L) of wort. Bring this to a boil, adding hops once boil begins. Boil for 60 minutes. Add Irish moss and remaining malt extract with 15 minutes left in the boil. Cool wort to at least 65 °F (18 °C) and transfer to fermenter. Aerate and pitch yeast. Ferment at 55 °F (13 °C) for two weeks, then let temperature raise to 60 °F (16 °C) for two days. Rack to secondary and lager for 4 weeks at 32–40 °F (0–4.4 °C).

All-grain option:

Replace first four ingredients with 9.75 lbs. (4.4 kg) 2-row Pilsner malt and 0.75 lbs. (0.34 kg) Munich malt. Boil wild rice and a handful of crushed pale malt for 30 minutes. Stir constantly. In your kettle, heat 3.6 gallons (14 L) of water to 142 °F (61 °C). When 15 minutes are left in rice boil, mash in grains and hold at 131 °F (55 °C) for duration of rice boil. Stir rice into grains and add heat to bring temperature to 158 °F (70 °C) and hold for 45 minutes. Add boiling water to mash out to 168 °F (76 °C). Boil wort for 90 minutes, adding hops for final 60 minutes. Add Irish moss with 15 minutes left in the boil. Cool wort to at least 65 °F (18 °C) and transfer to fermenter. Aerate and pitch yeast. Ferment at 55 °F (13 °C) for two weeks, then let temperature raise to 60 °F (16 °C) for two days. Rack to secondary and lager for 4 weeks at 32–40 °F (0–4.4 °C).

(Adapted from “Wild Wild Rice” by Joe and Dennis Fisher, Oct. 2000, p. 24.)

Original Hempen Ale
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain with hemp seeds)

OG = 1.054 FG = 1.014 IBU = 36 SRM = over 30 ABV = 5.2%
Steve Nordahl, former head brewer at Frederick Brewing Company and the originator of (commercial) Hempen Ale told the story of how his hemp beer came to be in a 1999 story in BYO. Hempen Ale was originally meant to be a dark beer, with the flavor of roasted hemp seeds playing a large role in the flavor profile of the beer. However, roasting hemp seeds wasn’t viable on a commercial scale. (Coffee roasters had the wrong equipment and malting companies feared cross-contamination.) So, the commercial beer was pale in color. Here, however, is the original recipe for Hempen Ale. [Note: In the US, it is legal to possess (and brew with) sterilized hemp seeds. (An internet search will reveal multiple sources for the seeds.) These seeds contain only a trace of THC (the active ingredient in marijuana) and have no psychoactive effects. However, it is possible that consuming hemp beer may cause you to test positive on some modern drug tests. Use your best judgement of your situation when brewing this beer.]

Ingredients

10 lbs. (4.5 kg) 2-row pale malt
1.0 lb. (0.45 kg) Munich malt
1.0 oz. (28 g) black patent malt
1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) mild hemp seed (roasted)
4.5 AAU Cascade hops (90 mins)
(0.75 oz./21 g of 6% alpha acids)
4.5 AAU Cascade hops (45 mins)
(0.75 oz./21 g of 6% alpha acids)
3 AAU Cascade hops (10 mins)
(0.5 oz./14 g of 6% alpha acids)
4.5 AAU Cascade hops (0 mins)
(0.75 oz./21 g of 6% alpha acids)
1 tsp. Irish moss
Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) or White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) yeast
0.66 cups corn sugar (for priming)
Step by Step

Place hemp seeds on a cookie sheet and roast in a 450 °F (232 °C) oven for 30 minutes. Mash grains and hemp seeds with 3.5 gallons (13 L) of water; hold mash at 156 °F (69 °C) for 60 minutes. Sparge with 170 °F (77 °C) water to collect 5.75 gallons (22 L) of wort. Boil for 90 minutes, adding hops at times indicated. Add Irish moss with 15 minutes left. Cool wort, transfer to fermenter, aerate and pitch yeast. Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C) for 10 days. Bottle or keg.
Extract with grains option:

Replace 2-row and Munich malt with 2.25 lbs. (1.0 kg) Muntons Light dried malt extract, 4.0 lbs. (1.8 kg) Alexanders Pale liquid malt extract, 0.5 lbs. (0.23 kg) 2-row pale malt and 1.0 lb. (0.45 kg) Munich malt. Place hemp seeds on a cookie sheet and roast in a 450 °F (232 °C) oven for 30 minutes. Heat 1 1/8 gallons (4.3 L) of water to 167 °F (75 °C). Place crushed grains and hemp seeds in a steeping bag and submerge bag in this water. Steep for 45 minutes, holding temperature around 156 °F (69 °C). Remove bag and let drip dry. Combine “grain tea,” dried malt extract and water in brewpot to make 2.5 gallons (9.5 L) of wort. Boil wort for 90 minutes, adding hops at times indicated. Add Irish moss and liquid malt extract with 15 minutes left. Cool wort, transfer to fermenter. Top up with water to 5 gallons (19 L). Aerate wort and pitch yeast. Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C).
(From “Brewing Hempen Ale” by Steve Nordahl, July 1999, p. 34.)

Smoked Maple Amber Ale
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with tree sap)

OG = 1.077 FG = 1.015 IBU = 21 SRM = over 25 ABV = 7.9%
Maple sap is the clear liquid that maple syrup is made from. In this recipe, maple sap replaces your brewing liquor. Maple sap contains 2.5% sugar on average. (In contrast, maple syrup contains around 66% sugar.) If you don’t have access to maple sap, use water and add an extra 1.66 pints of maple syrup during the boil. The amount of German smoked malt called for will only yield the faintest whiff of smoke. For a stronger smoked flavor, try replacing it with some home-smoked malt (we’d try hickory smoke).

Ingredients

8 gallons (30 L) of maple sap
6 lbs. (2.7 kg) Muntons Amber dried malt extract
1.0 lb. (0.45 kg) crystal malt (60 °L)
0.25 lb (0.11 kg) German rauchmalz (smoked malt)
1 pint Vermont maple syrup
4 AAU Cascade hops (60 mins)
(0.8 oz./23 g of 5% alpha acids)
8 AAU Northern Brewer hops (0 mins)
(0.88 oz./25 g of 9% alpha acids)
Dried ale yeast
0.33 cup corn sugar (for priming)
0.66 cup maple syrup (for priming)
Step by Step

Boil maple sap down to 6 gallons. Place crushed specialty malts in a steeping bag. In a large saucepan, combine 1 qt. (~1 L) of hot maple sap from kettle with enough tap water to bring temperature down to 160 °F (71 °C). Steep grains in this liquid for 45 minutes, holding temperature between 150–155 °F (66–68 °C). Add malt extract and “grain tea” to kettle and boil for 60 minutes, adding hops at times indicated. Add maple syrup with 15 minutes left in boil. After the boil, let wort stand (covered) for 30 minutes before cooling. Cool wort, siphon to fermenter, aerate and pitch yeast. Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C) for two weeks. Rack to secondary and let condition for 3 to 4 weeks. Bottle with corn sugar and maple syrup. Let bottle condition for 4 weeks before you try it.
All-grain option:

Replace amber malt extract with 8.0 lbs. (3.6 kg) 2-row pale malt and 3.33 lbs. (1.5 kg) Munich malt. Heat maple sap to 163 °F (73 °C). Use 4 gallons of sap water to mash grains. Mash at 152 °F (67 °C) for 60 minutes. Sparge with 170 °F (77 °C) sap water. Boil wort for 60 minutes, adding hops at times indicated. Add maple syrup with 15 minutes left in boil. After the boil, let wort stand (covered) for 30 minutes before cooling. Cool wort, siphon to fermenter, aerate and pitch yeast. Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C) for two weeks. Rack to secondary and let condition for 3 to 4 weeks. Bottle with corn sugar and maple syrup. Let bottle condition for 4 weeks.
(Adapted from “Brewing with Sugar” by Scott R. Russell, February 1998, p. 44.)

Spruce Bock
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains and spruce tips)

OG = 1.081 FG = 1.020 IBU = 19 SRM = 46 ABV = 7.9%
Here’s a hearty holiday beer with an unusual spice — evergreen needles. Spruce tips, the new-growth of spruce trees, give a unique, characteristic flavor to beer. This flavor is not “piney,” as many people suppose. Spruce tips can be found through an internet search. For best results, age your beer several months before sampling it.

Ingredients

1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) Muntons Amber dried malt extract
2.0 lbs. (0.91 kg) Muntons Dark dried malt extract
6 lbs. 2 oz. (2.8 kg) Muntons Amber liquid malt extract (late addition)
1.0 lb. crystal malt (40 °L)
8.0 oz. (0.23 kg) wheat malt
4.0 oz. (0.11 g) chocolate malt
4.0 oz. (0.11 g) lager malt (toasted)
1 cup (loosely packed) spruce tips
5.25 AAU Hallertauer hops (75 mins)
(1.5 oz./43 g of 3.5% alpha acids)
3 AAU Spalt hops (15 mins)
(1.0 oz./28 g of 3% alpha acid)
Lager yeast
0.75 cups corn sugar (for priming)
Step by Step

Steep crushed malts in 0.75 gallons (2.8 L) of water at 152–157 °F (67–69 °C) for 45 minutes. Combine “grain tea,” dried malt extracts and water to make 2.5 gallons (9.5 L) of wort. Boil for 75 minutes, adding hops at times specified in the recipe. Add spruce tips and liquid malt extract with 15 minutes remaining in the boil. Cool wort and transfer to fermenter. Top up to 5 gallons (19 L) with water. Aerate and pitch yeast. Ferment at 55 °F (13 °C).
All-grain option:

Replace malt bill with 9.75 lbs. (4.4 kg) 2-row pale malt, 5.0 lbs. (2.3 kg) Munich malt, 1.0 lb. crystal malt (40 °L), 8.0 oz. (0.23 kg) wheat malt, 8.0 oz. (0.23 kg) chocolate malt, 4.0 oz. (0.11 kg) lager malt (toasted) and 4.0 oz. (0.11 kg) Carafa III malt (dehusked). Mash at 154 °F (68 °C). Boil 90 minutes. Add spruce tips with 15 minutes left in boil. Ferment at 54 °F (12 °C).
(From “Homebrew Holidays” by Scott R. Russell, December 1997, p. 42.)

Lemonweizen
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains, citrus peel and acid)

OG = 1.044 FG = 1.011 IBU = 9 SRM = 5 ABV = 4.3%
Berlinner Weisse is a light, tart wheat beer fermented with brewers yeast and lactic acid bacteria. Lemonweizen is similar to a Berlinner Weisse, but without the bacteria. The lightly-tart twang comes from an addition of lactic acid. A bit of lemon zest accentuates this flavor.

Ingredients

2.5 lbs. (1.1 kg) Coopers wheat liquid malt extract
2.0 lbs. (0.91 kg) Briess wheat dried malt extract
0.5 lb. (0.23 kg) lager malt
0.5 lb. (0.23 kg) malted wheat
0.5 lb. (0.23 kg) CaraPils malt
0.5 lb. (0.23 kg) raw wheat
1 oz. (30 mL) lactic acid (88%)
1 oz. (28 g) lemon zest
2 AAU Tettnanger hops (60 mins)
(0.5 oz/14 g of 4% alpha acids)
1.5 AAU Saaz hops (15 mins)
(0.5 oz/14 g of 3% alpha acids)
Wyeast 1007 (German Ale) yeast
7/8 cups corn sugar (for priming)
Step by Step

Steep crushed malts in 0.75 gallons (2.8 L) of water at 148–153 °F (64–67 °C) for 45 minutes. Combine “grain tea,” dried malt extract and water to make 2.5 gallons (9.5 L) of wort. Boil for 60 minutes, adding hops at times indicated. At 15 minutes left in the boil, stir in liquid malt extract and lactic acid. Add lemon zest when the boil is over and let steep for 15 minutes before cooling the wort. Cool wort, transfer to fermenter and top up with water to 5 gallons (19 L). Pitch yeast and ferment at 70 °F (21 °C).

All-grain option:

Replace first four ingredients with 4.0 lbs. (1.8 kg) 2-row Pilsner malt and 4.0 lbs. (1.8 kg) malted wheat. Mash at 148 °F (64 °C). Boil for 90 minutes. Add lactic acid for final 15 minutes of boil. Steep lemon zest 15 minutes post boil. Ferment at 70 °F (21 °C).

(Adapted from “Lawnmower Bier” by Scott R. Russell, June 1996, p. 11.)

Pumpkin Beer
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains and pumpkin)

OG = 1.048 FG = 1.012 IBU = 19 SRM = 6 ABV = 4.6%

By modern standards, a pumpkin ale would hardly be considered that wild. But, it was the wildest recipe of 1995 (BYO’s first year). The biggest key to brewing this beer is getting the spice blend right. If you use “supermarket spices,” these amounts should yield a subtly spicy beer. Decrease the amount if you grind your own whole spices.

Ingredients

1.25 lbs. (0.57 kg) Muntons Extra Light dried malt extract
3.5 lbs. (1.6 kg) Northwestern Gold liquid
alt extract
10 lb. (0.45 kg) 2-row pale malt
1.0 lb. (0.45 kg) CaraPils malt
5–6 lbs. (2.3–2.7 kg) pumpkin (cubed)
5 AAU Cascade hops (60 mins)
(1.0 oz./28 g of 5% alpha acids)
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
Dried ale yeast
0.75 cup corn sugar (for priming)
Step by Step

Boil pumpkin cubes in water for 15 minutes. Heat 0.75 gallons (2.8 L) of water to 163 °F (73 °C). Place crushed grains in steeping bag and steep grains at 152 °F (67 °C) for 45 minutes. When pumpkin is ready, add chunks to grain bag and add cool water (to maintain 152 °F (67 °C) temperature). Combine grain and pumpkin “tea,” dried malt extract and water to make 2.5 gallons (9.5 L) of wort. Boil for 60 minutes, adding hops at the start of the boil. Add liquid malt extract and spices with 15 minutes left in the boil. Cool wort and transfer to fermenter. Top up to 5 gallons (19 L) with water. Aerate and pitch yeast. Ferment at 69 °F (21 °C).

All-grain option:

Replace malt extract and 1 lb. (0.45 kg) 2-row malt with 8.0 lbs. (3.6 kg) 2-row pale malt. Boil pumpkin cubes in water for 15 minutes. Mah grains and pumpkin chunks at 153 °F (67 °C) for 60 minutes, stirring occasionally. Boil for 90 minutes, adding hops with 60 minutes left. Add spices with 15 minutes left in boil. Ferment at 69 °F (21 °C).

(Adapted from “In Search of the Great Pumpkin” by John Naleszkiewicz, November 1995, p. 32.)
Bacon Beer
http://byo.com/stories/recipes/article/indices/38-ingredients/2060-breakfast-beers-bacon-beer

Breakfast Beers: Bacon Beer
Issue May/Jun 2010

Bacon Beer
by Brad Ring

Oren Combs, former brewer and general manager at San Juan Brewing Co. in Friday Harbor, Washington, is not a man to back down from a challenge. When talk at his brewpub turned to food a few years ago, the conversation found its way naturally to all things pork. “Someone suggested I could make a bacon beer and people laughed at the idea, but it got me thinking,” Oren remembers. So he set out to create a bacon beer that is the stuff of Homer Simpson’s ultimate dream. Beer good. Bacon good. Bacon beer better.

In 2008, he first put his bacon beer on tap at the brewpub located on scenic San Juan Island and put up a pig-shaped sign in the window to announce it. “We did it as a complete novelty, I had no idea what the reaction would be to something like a bacon beer,” he says. It turned out people loved the idea of bacon in their beer. People even lined up to take photos of the pig sign. “During the peak tourist season we sometimes had 100 people a day taking photos of the bacon beer sign.”

So how exactly do you put some boar in your next pour? “One of the biggest challenges is getting rid of the bacon fat which you don’t want in your beer,” Oren says. He decided to oven bake the bacon to a super crisp first to cook off the fat and then essentially dry hop a beer in the tanks with the oven-dried bacon.

Baking in the oven should work better than cooking in a pan to remove the most bacon fat. Cook the bacon strips on parchment paper on a cookie sheet in an oven preheated to 350 °F (177 °C). Cook for at least 15 minutes until crispy, but make sure the bacon does not get burned. Remember you want that tasty bacon goodness in your beer, not burnt flavors. Drain the cooked bacon on paper towels and pat or squeeze off the excess fat with some additional paper towels.

For a 5.0-gallon (19-L) batch, cook enough bacon to end up with about 5.0 ounces (142 g) of crispy cooked bacon. Put the cooked bacon in a mesh bag and dry hop as you normally would in the secondary fermenter. By all means, start tasting your beer daily to get the right level of bacon flavor. As tough as it is to imagine, you don’t want to over-bacon your beer.

San Juan Brewing went with a lower-alcohol, 3.1% ABV pale ale as the base beer when the bacon beer was first released. “I think a darker beer might go with the bacon flavors even better than the pale ale. I would want to try a porter or stout with bacon,” Oren says looking back at his original choice of base beer.

While San Juan Brewing chose to dry hop (or is it dry hog?) their bacon beer, another technique you can experiment with at home is to take your crispy, cooked bacon and create a bacon extract. Add a few ounces of a neutral spirit like vodka to some crumbled bacon and let it soak for at least two days. Then strain out the bacon, taste the pork extract and experiment by adding increasing amounts of the bacon-infused vodka into your secondary fermenter until you get the taste you want.

A January flood has closed San Juan Brewing since the start of the year, and brewer Oren Combs is moving on to new ventures, but he leaves his legacy of bacon beer behind forever. Now, you can brew your own bacon beer at home. The recipe accompanying this article uses a porter as the base beer, but feel free to experiment with different beer styles as the base — after all you are adding bacon to beer!

Charlotte’s Some Pig Porter
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains and pork)
OG = 1.056 FG = 1.014
IBU = 35 SRM = 50 ABV = 5.4%

Ingredients
6.6 lbs. (3.0 kg) Muntons Light liquid malt extract
0.75 lb. (0.34 kg) Muntons Light dried malt extract
8.0 oz. (0.23 kg) crystal malt (80 °L)
8.0 oz. (0.23 kg) chocolate malt
4.0 oz. (0.11 kg) black patent malt
8.5 AAU English Fuggles hops (60 mins)
(1.7 oz./48 g of 5% alpha acid)
2.5 AAU English Fuggles hops (15 mins)
(0.5 oz./14 g of 5% alpha acid)
Wyeast 1098 (British Ale) yeast or White Labs WLP002) (English Ale) yeast
5.0 oz. (142 g) crispy cooked bacon (dry hog)
6.0 oz. (170 g) corn sugar (for priming)

Step by Step
Steep specialty grains in 2.0 qts. (~2 L) water at 154 °F (68 °C) for 30 minutes. Add water to make 3.0 gallons (11 L) in your brewpot, add roughly half of the malt extract and bring to a boil. Boil one hour, adding hops at times indicated. Stir in remaining malt extract during the final 15 minutes of the boil. Cool wort, transfer to fermeter and top up with cool water to 5.0 gallons (19 L). Aerate and pitch yeast. Ferment at 70 °F (21 °C). Follow the directions in the article for preparing and “dry hogging” with bacon.

All-grain option:
Replace malt extracts with 10.5 lbs. (4.8 kg) two-row pale malt. Mash at 154 °F (68 °C).

Brad Ring is Publisher of Brew Your Own magazine.
Cherry Witbeer
http://byo.com/stories/recipes/article/indices/51-recipe-exchange/453-cherry-witbier

Cherry Witbier
Author Scott Russell
Issue May 1997
5 gallons, extract and specialty grain

OG = 1.043

Ingredients:

1/3 lb. flaked wheat
1/3 lb. flaked barley
1/3 lb. flaked oats
0.5 lb. cara-pils
3 lbs. unhopped weizen extract syrup (about half wheat, half barley)
2 lbs. unhopped extra-light dry malt extract
1 oz. Saaz hop pellets (4% alpha acid), 0.5 oz. for 45 min., 0.5 oz. for 15 min.)
Belgian witbier yeast culture (such as Wyeast 3944)
2 lbs. sweet cherries
7/8 cup corn sugar for priming
Step by Step

In 3 gals. cold water, steep wheat, barley, oats, and cara-pils. Raise gradually to about 170° F and remove grains. Add extracts to kettle. Bring to a boil, add 0.5 oz. hops. Boil 30 minutes, add 0.5 oz.hops, boil 15 more minutes. Remove from heat and cool. Top off in primary fermenter to 5.25 gals. and, when cooled to 70° F or so, pitch yeast. Ferment at 65° F for seven to 10 days, then rack onto cherries in your secondary fermenter. Condition on fruit 10 to 14 days, rack to another fermenter to clarify a little (three or four days), then bottle, priming with corn sugar. Age four to six weeks in a cool corner (50° to 55° F).

Alternatives and Notes:

All-grain brewers should mash 3.5 lbs. pale malt, 3.5 lbs. wheat malt, 0.5 lb. cara-pils, and 4 oz. each flaked wheat and flaked oats, in 11 qts. of water at 151° to 153° F for 90 minutes. Sparge with 17 qts. at 169° F. Follow the recipe, except boil long enough to reduce to 5.25 gals.

Yeast: This is a brew that requires a special yeast. The Wyeast culture 3944 is ideal, and I also like to try to use recultured “classic” yeasts, such as Hoegaarden and Blanche de Bruges, whenever possible. I don’t recommend using dry yeast.

Fruit: Naturally, the whole idea here is that you can tailor any recipe to your own tastes, so please don’t feel limited to cherries. Raspberries, strawberries, mangos, peaches, anything you like might work well. The method I’ve outlined here and elsewhere for using fresh fruit is the best for my brewing system. Other possibilities include steeping the fruit in the cooling wort for 15 minutes or so and then putting the fruit (in a mesh bag) into the primary; adding fruit juice or flavoring essence to the secondary; and adding fruit essence with priming sugar, or a fruit-flavored liqueur instead of priming sugar, when you bottle.

Spices: The “original” witbiers have a combination of fruit (bitter orange) and spices, usually coriander. My recipe above does not call for spices, but it could. What spices go well with cherries? They’d probably need to be of the pungent/peppery variety, such as cardamom, black pepper, or grains of paradise. Try what you like.

Send YOUR favorite recipe to: Recipe Exchange, 5053 Main Street, Suite A, Manchester Center, Vermont 05255 OR e-mail it to:edit@byo.com, Subject: Recipe Submissions. If we publish it, we’ll send you a cool BYO gift!
Pumpkin Pie Ale
http://byo.com/stories/recipes/article/indices/51-recipe-exchange/1290-pumpkin-pie-ale

Pumpkin Pie Ale
Author Scott Russell
Issue October 1996
Reddish orange in color, creamy tan head, sweet and spicy, rich and unique. Like a New England fall afternoon.

(5 gallons, grain and extract)

Ingredients:

2 to 3 lbs. pumpkin
0.5 lb. two-row pale malt
0.5 lb. malted wheat
0.5 lb. medium crystal malt, 40° Lovibond
5 lbs. unhopped amber malt extract (or 4 lbs. unhopped amber dry malt)
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup unsulphered molasses
1 oz. Mt. Hood hop pellets (4% alpha acid), for 57 min.
0.5 oz. of pie spices: nutmeg, cinnamon, clove, allspice, cardamom, ginger in cheesecloth bag
Ale yeast (such as Wyeast 1056, American Ale)
1 cup light dry malt for priming
Step by Step:

Cut in half, clean out, and bake one pumpkin at 300° F for one hour or until flesh becomes mushy. Crush two-row and crystal malts and malted wheat. Mash the malt and the pumpkin together in 5 qts. of water at 152° F for 55 minutes, then raise the temperature to 165° F for five minutes. Run off and sparge with 5 qts. of water at 170° F, gathering (hopefully) about 2 gals. of sweet wort.

To the kettle add malt extract (or dry malt), brown sugar, and molasses. Bring to a boil, then add Mt. Hood pellets. Boil 55 minutes. Add pie spices in a bag and boil just long enough to mix them in (two to three minutes). Remove the bag.

Remove the kettle from the heat, chill, and top off to 5.25 gals. in your primary fermenter. Ferment with a clean ale yeast, prime with light dry malt, and bottle condition cool (50° to 55° F) for a month. Serve at cellar temperature to allow the blend of flavors to truly express themselves.

Notes:

Pumpkin: Avoid using canned pumpkin pie filling. It is already spiced, often, and is laden with preservatives and artificial products (although if you can find organic, all-natural, no-preservative, unspiced canned pumpkin, by all means use it). It is important to use a partial mash with this recipe; I can’t figure out any other good, efficient way to use the pumpkin and get anything out of it (I’m open to suggestions!).

Malts: All-grain brewers can adapt this recipe to a standard “amber ale” grain bill, but be sure to include a little malted wheat for better head retention. Extract brewers may have trouble using the pumpkin unless they do a partial mash as described above.

Spices: The biggest problem with this brew is the proper ratio of spice to beer. It is very easy to overdo, especially with strong-flavored spices such as ginger and clove. I have arrived at a dose of only 0.5 oz. total, which will not seem like enough as you brew but will be noticeable in the mature beer.

My personal blend is “heavy” on nutmeg and cinnamon and very light on ginger and clove, just enough to indicate their presence. IÕve found that leaving the spices in the fermenting beer tends to become overwhelming, hence the use of a bag or some other device to steep the spices in the boiling wort but then remove them.

The commercial “Pumpkin Pie Spice” mixtures available on the grocery store shelf seem to me a little too gingery/clovey, so I make my own blend. Also, I have better luck with larger pieces: crushed or shaved whole cinnamon stick, allspice berries and nutmegs, whole cloves, and small pieces of fresh ginger. rather than any finely ground forms.

Send YOUR favorite recipe to: Recipe Exchange, 5053 Main Street, Suite A, Manchester Center, Vermont 05255 OR e-mail it to: byo@byo.com, Subject: Recipe Submissions. If we publish it, we’ll send you a cool BYO gift.
Blueberry Porter
http://byo.com/stories/recipes/article/indices/51-recipe-exchange/242-blueberry-porter

Blueberry Porter
Author Scott Russell
Issue July 1997
5 gallons, extract and grain

Ingredients:

0.25 lb. chocolate malt
0.25 lb. black patent malt
0.5 lb. crystal malt, 60° Lovibond
5 lbs. unhopped dark dry malt extract
0.5 oz. Challenger hop plugs (4% alpha acid), for 60 min.
0.5 oz. Fuggle hop plugs (2.5% alpha acid), for 30 min.
0.5 oz. Mt. Hood hop plugs (2% alpha acid), for 10 min.
10 to 14 g. dry ale yeast or Wyeast 1742 (Swedish ale yeast)
4 lbs. whole fresh or frozen blueberries
2/3 cup dark dry malt for priming
Step by Step:

In 2.5 gals. cold water, steep chocolate, black patent, and crystal malts. Heat water slowly, remove grains near 160° F, and sparge with a quart of hot tap water. Add to kettle the unhopped dark dry malt extract. Stir carefully and bring to a boil. Add Challenger hops and boil 30 minutes. Add Fuggle hops and boil 20 minutes more. Add Mt. Hood hops and boil 10 minutes more. Cool and top off to 5.25 gals. with pre-boiled, chilled water. At 70° F, pitch yeast. Ferment six to 10 days at about 65° F. Rack into secondary on blueberries. Condition at about 55° to 60° F for six to 10 days, then rerack into a third vessel to clarify for four to six days. Prime with dark dry malt, bottle, and age three weeks at 50° F.

All-grain brewers:

Mash 6 lbs. two-row pale malt, 0.5 lb. wheat malt, 0.5 lb. Munich malt, and 0.5 lb. brown malt in 12 qts.water at 149° F for two hours. Steep specialty grains from the regular recipe in runnings and sparge with an additional 15 qts. at 168° F. Continue with boil as above.

Yeast:

I really like this new Wyeast strain, 1742, for porters. It’s clean and neutral, yet it seems to reinforce the dark malts without making them seem harsh. There’s virtually no diacetyl and no other noticeable esters are produced. If you can’t find it, the old standbys such as Wyeast 1968 or 1028 will do; if you can’t use a liquid yeast culture, try using Coopers dry yeast.

Fruit:

Obviously, this brew is a seasonal one for me. Those of you not within fresh blueberry territory will have to make do with frozen or (shudder) canned blueberries. Four pounds of our local berries (the size of chick peas, roughly) give a noticeable blueberry flavor and aroma, even in a porter. I know of a Maine brewer who has used my recipe and only needed three pounds of the famous wild Maine berries (smaller than elderberries but oh so sweet and flavorful) to achieve the same degree of “blue.” If you do get fresh berries, my advice is to freeze them in bags for the length of the primary fermentation and then microwave them to thaw and partially sanitize them. The skins will break open and the juice will flow. Blueberry aroma will dissipate quickly if the berries are in the active fermentation, so you will always get a more aromatic brew by putting them into the secondary fermenter. Blueberry essences and blueberry juice concentrate could be used in a pinch, but they’re not the same.

Send YOUR favorite recipe to: Recipe Exchange, 5053 Main Street, Suite A, Manchester Center, Vermont
05255 OR e-mail it to: edit@byo.com, Subject: Recipe Submissions. If we publish it, we’ll send you a cool BYO gift.
Real Rootbeer
http://byo.com/stories/recipes/article/indices/51-recipe-exchange/1329-real-root-beer

Real Root Beer
Author Scott Russell
Issue October 1997
5 gallons, partial mash

Ingredients:

2 lbs. crushed mild ale malt
1 lb. dark crystal malt, 120° Lovibond
0.25 lb. black malt
0.25 lb. chocolate malt
3 lbs. unhopped dark dry malt extract
0.5 lb. dark unsulphured molasses
4 oz. maltodextrin powder
1 oz. Cluster hop pellets (7% alpha acid), for 60 min.
0.5 oz. sassafras bark
0.5 oz. sarsaparilla bark
1 oz. dried wintergreen leaves
0.5 oz. shredded licorice root
pinch sweet gale (optional)
pinch star anise (optional)
pinch mace (optional)
pinch coriander (optional)
dash black cherry juice (optional)
10 to 14 g. dry ale yeast
2 oz. lactose powder
7/8 cup corn sugar
0.5 cup spice tea (pinch wintergreen, sarsaparilla, licorice root)
corn sugar for priming
Step by Step:

In 1 gal. water mash crystal, black, chocolate, and mild ale malts at 155° F for 60 minutes. Sparge with 1.5 gals. at 170° F. Add 1 gal. water to kettle and bring to a boil. Add dark dry malt, maltodextrin, and molasses. Stir well to avoid scorching. Add Cluster hops and boil 60 minutes. At kettle knockout steep your spice combination (in a mesh bag) as wort cools. Pour into fermenter and top up to 5.25 gals. Cool to 75° F and pitch ale yeast. Ferment seven to 10 days at about 70° F, rack to secondary, and condition at 60° F for two weeks. Prime with corn sugar, add strained spice tea (1/2 cup boiling water over spices for at least a half hour), and bottle. Age two to three weeks cool (55° F).

Alternatives and Options:

Non-alcoholic creamy version: Instead of fermenting the wort, cool to 75° F, substitute 5 to 7 g. dry champagne yeast for the ale yeast, and bottle immediately. Store at 70° F for two or three days, then refrigerate. Follow these instructions exactly, otherwise you risk exploding bottles. You may also use ale yeast, which is somewhat safer because it will not continue to ferment in cold temperatures. However, the bubbles will not have that fine champagne quality. A safer way to carbonate: Get a CO2 system and either put your root beer in 5-gal. soda kegs (force carbonated) or get Carbonater-brand couplings and bottle in 2-liter PET bottles (force carbonated at 25 to 28 psi, chilled and shaken well).

Send YOUR favorite recipe to: Recipe Exchange, 5053 Main Street, Suite A, Manchester Center, Vermont
05255 OR e-mail it to: edit@byo.com, Subject: Recipe Submissions. If we publish it, we’ll send you a cool BYO gift.
Cranberry Cream Ale
http://byo.com/stories/recipes/article/indices/51-recipe-exchange/514-cranberry-cream-ale

Cranberry Cream Ale
Author Scott Russell
Issue November 1996
(5 gallons, extract with specialty grains and fruit)

Ingredients:

0.5 lb. cara-pils (dextrin malt)
0.5 lb. light crystal malt, about 20° Lovibond
5 lbs. extra light dry malt extract
1 lb. rice syrup (or 0.75 lb. rice syrup solids)
1 oz. Liberty hop pellets, for 45 min.
1 oz. Cascade pellets, for 15 min.
7 g. dry ale yeast
7 g. dry lager yeast
4 lbs. fresh, whole cranberries
7/8 cup dextrose for priming
Step by Step:

In 2 gals. of cold water, steep cara-pils and light crystal malt. Raise temperature slowly to 170° F, then remove grains. Add to kettle dry malt extract and rice syrup (or rice syrup solids). Bring to a boil. Add Liberty hops and boil 30 minutes. Add Cascade hops and boil 15 minutes. Remove from heat, chill, and add to primary fermenter with enough pre-boiled cold water to make up 5.25 gals.

At 75° F, pitch a slurry of neutral ale yeast and lager yeast. (Alternatively, pitch a 7-gram packet of dry ale yeast and a 7-gram packet of dry lager yeast. If you have two three-gallon fermenters, you may ferment this as two separate batches, one as an ale, one as a lager, recombining them in the secondary.) Ferment on the cooler side of ale temperatures (60° to 65° F).

After initial fermentation has slowed down, rack into a secondary onto fresh whole cranberries (freeze them for a week, microwave them for three minutes to thaw and, if necessary, bruise them to break skins before placing them in the fermenter). Some new fermentation will probably begin, so you may find you need to use a blow-off setup for a day or so. Condition at fermentation temperature for about two weeks, then rack into a third vessel to allow better clearing for a week or so. Bottle, priming with dextrose. Bottle condition three weeks and serve chilled.

Notes and Alternatives:

All-grain brewers: This is a standard light, golden ale recipe, somewhere in the neighborhood of 7 or 8 lbs. 6-row brewers’ malt with the addition as above of 0.5 lb. cara-pils and 0.5 lb. light crystal. Keep it light.

Cranberries: If you really get stuck and can’t find cranberries, do not use a bottled cranberry juice cocktail or similar juice as a substitute. Most of them are blends of cranberry, apple, and white grape juice and will not produce the desired tartness. Pure (preferably organic) cranberry juice may be used in a pinch, but it is almost as hard to find sometimes as the berries themselves. Some of the wine-making trade suppliers sell a cranberry flavoring essence. Ask your homebrew supply store if it carries an essence or can find one. I have used one of them and was pleased with the results, although the fresh fruit will always be a better choice, to my mind.

Yeast: As noted above, there are really three possibilities. I prefer to ferment this as two separate small batches, and generally I use Wyeast 1056 in one and Wyeast 2035 in the other. I have also done this with Edme (dry) ale yeast and Yeast Labs European Lager (dry) yeast with good results. If you cannot do it as two batches, combine the yeasts in one fermenter, or use one or the other. Especially if you are going to add a strong-flavored fruit, the yeast profile is less important than it would be for the beer on its own.

Fining: If you decide that the fruit treatment described above is not sanitary enough for you and you decide to pasteurize the fruit, be careful not to boil it because cranberries contain pectin and will turn your beer hazy given the opportunity. But if this happens, you can certainly use whatever finings you would normally use in the secondary.

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