Mill the grains and mash in at 115°F (46°C), mixing in amyloglucosidase. Raise to 122°F (50°C), rest 5 minutes; raise to 142°F (61°C), rest 70 minutes; raise to 162°F (72°C), rest 30 minutes; then raise to 169°F (76°C), rest 20 minutes, and mash out. Recirculate until the runnings are clear, then run off into the kettle. Sparge and top up as necessary to get about 6.5 gallons (25 liters) of wort, depending on your evaporation rate.
Boil for 75 minutes, adding hops, sugar, and nutrient according to the schedule. After the boil, do a whirlpool step: Stir or recirculate to create a vortex, cooling to 185°F (85°C) if possible, and add the whirpool hops. Allow 30 minutes to steep and settle.
Chill to about 68°F (20°C), aerate the wort, pitch the yeast, and add amyloglucosidase. After 24 hours, cool to 63°F (17°C) and ferment as long as needed to reach target gravity (1.000); add dry hops a few days before crashing. Cold crash for 1 week before racking into a white-wine barrel (or into a secondary fermentor with some French oak cubes soaked in white wine). Age on oak for 8 months, then rack, package, and carbonate to about 2.5 volumes of CO2.
BREWER’S NOTES
Malt: Proud uses the pale malt from Pilsner Urquell’s own malthouse on the brewery grounds in Plzeň. Use Czech malt if you can get it.
Hops: In recent batches, Proud has been using Unique, a limited-edition hop blend from Hopsteiner in Germany, featuring a mix of many experimental German aroma hop cultivars, as well as a varying blend of U.S. aroma hops. Feel free to sub in your favorite floral and fruit-forward hops; the goal here is an aroma that evokes and accentuates white wine (think floral with sweet fruits such as white grape, melon, and kiwi). Regardless which varieties you use, the aroma from the whirlpool and dry hops will round and meld with the wine and barrel character over time.
Yeast: Note that CBC-1 is a “killer” yeast; it secretes a toxin that kills most beer yeasts, which are “killer-sensitive.” For this beer, we co-pitch both strains. Nottingham is more active at the start of fermentation, then CBC-1—which has a higher alcohol tolerance—finishes the job. CBC-1 doesn’t ferment maltotriose, but it’s no problem to achieve 100 percent real fermentation thanks to the enzymes.
Enzyme: Amyloglucosidase, also known as glucoamylase, is an enzyme that breaks down starches into simpler sugars, increasing attenuation for a drier beer. Commercially available products include Amylo 300 and White Labs Ultra-Ferm. Follow the instructions because dosage varies by product.
Barrel: Proud has most recently aged this beer in pinot blanc–wine barrels. If using oak cubes, soak a few ounces of cubes in white wine for a week or two before using in the beer.
