ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 67%
OG: 1.076
FG: 1.006
IBUs: ~95–100
ABV: 9.2%
MALT/GRAIN BILL
14 lb (6.4 kg) Rahr North Star Pils
5 oz (142 g) Weyermann Acidulated
HOPS & ADDITIONS SCHEDULE
2 oz (57 g) whole-cone Strata at mash hops
2.9 ml CTZ hop extract at 60 minutes [16 IBUs]
1.5 ml CTZ hop extract at 30 minutes [6 IBUs]
Yeast nutrient and Whirlfloc at 10 minutes
1.6 oz (45 g) Strata at 5 minutes [11 IBUs]
Whirlpool additions
15 oz (425 g) dextrose
2 oz (57 g) Mosaic Cryo [34 IBUs]
2 oz (57 g) Nelson Sauvin [18 IBUs]
1 oz (28 g) Mosaic [9 IBUs]
1.7 ml Simcoe hop extract [2.5 IBUs]
Dry-hop additions
4 oz (113 g) each Mosaic Cryo, Nelson Sauvin, and Strata; 2 oz (57 g) Mosaic, and 1 ml ALDC enzyme
YEAST
White Labs WLP001 California Ale
DIRECTIONS
Mill the grains and mash at 147°F (64°C) for 45 minutes. Recirculate until the runnings are clear, then run off into the kettle. Sparge and top up as necessary to get about 7 gallons (26.5 liters) of wort, depending on your evaporation rate. Boil for 90 minutes, adding hops, yeast nutrient, and finings according to the schedule. After the boil, add dextrose and mix in well, then do a whirlpool step: Stir or recirculate to create a vortex, chilling the wort to 180°F (82°C) or topping up with cold water to reach temperature. Add the whirlpool hops and allow 60 minutes to steep. Chill to 60°F (15.5°C), oxygenate thoroughly, and pitch plenty of healthy yeast. Ferment at 62°F (16.7°C) until the gravity has dropped to about 1.020, then allow free rise to 68°F (20°C). When fermentation is complete and the beer has been at terminal gravity for 3 days—usually by Day 8—add dry hops and ALDC (an enzyme that inhibits the production of diacetyl). Drop/remove hops 2 days after dry hopping. After 2 more days, drop hops again or rack and test for diacetyl (see “Hunting for Diacetyl,” beerandbrewing.com). Crash, package, and carbonate to about 2.65 volumes of CO2.
BREWER’S NOTES
Mash: You can easily hold the mash for an hour to help ensure full conversion. Don’t raise the temperature for a mash-out step, and sparge with 168°F (76°C) water, not higher.
Oxygenate: Use plenty of oxygen—I target 16 ppm of dissolved oxygen (DO). That takes about 3 liters per minute (LPM) on our system.
Efficiency: This beer is not designed to be a high yielder, and those hops will soak up some wort. If volume is your concern, try to get 6.5 gallons (25 liters) into your fermentor. Using a foam inhibitor such as Foam Blast, FermCap, or HopAid can help keep your yeast in the fermentor, to help ensure a healthy fermentation.
pH: I target a wort pH of 5.1 at knockout. So, depending on what the pre-boil pH is, I’ll adjust at whirlpool after adding hops.