Monster Media 1993 #2/Image.iso/health/beerrec.zip/SPICE.REC

Text File | 1993-07-10 | 6KB | 119 lines

YELLOW CAT HOT DAMN! or THE SPICE THAT WASN'T PALE ALE

   I hesitated whether to put this recipe in the library, because it frankly
didn't come out the way I had planned.  But it IS a good beer, even if it's a
little off-center from any of the AHA beer style categories, and good beer is
what it's all about, right?

   The short story behind this homebrew is that I tasted an Adler Brau
"Pumpkin Pie Spice" beer at the 1992 Great American Beer Festival in Denver,
admired its subtle display of traditional pie spices, and set out to duplicate
it.  Aiming on the low side so as to avoid overspicing, I underspiced instead,
with the result that the aromas of allspice, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg in
this light ale are so discreet as to be invisible; and because I deliberately
underhopped as well (counting on spices to fill the gap), what we have here is
a clean ale that's more malty than hoppy or spicy.  The ingredients were
largely based on what I had available around the house, and the odd yeast
combination was a last-minute decision made when I decided that the year-old
WYeast was firing up so slowly that it needed some help.

    Why do I call it "Hot damn!"? Simple. I failed to secure the outflow end
of my immersion wort chiller. When I turned on the pressure, the business end
rose up out of the sink like an angry cobra and squirted scalding water all
over my face, arm and chest.  Thus arose a new Safety TIP.

    Never mind. As Charlie says, let's cut the shuck and jive and get to the
recipe:

   INGREDIENTS

   STARTER:

   1 packet WYeast American Ale Yeast No. 1056
   1/8 cup Edme Ultralight dry-malt extract
   2.5 cups water
   2 pellets Perle hops

   WORT:

   1/2 pound crystal malt, lightly crushed
   1 can (4 lbs) Alexander's pale malt extract syrup
   2.5 lbs Edme Ultralight dry-malt extract
   7/8 oz Perles pellets, 6.8% alpha (60 minutes)
   1/2 ounce fresh ginger root (30 minutes)
   1/2 teaspoon Irish Moss (20 minutes)
   1/6 oz each Saaz, Tettnang, Hallertau pellets (end of boil)

   PRIMING SOLUTION:

   3/4 cup corn sugar
   1 1/2 cups water

   SPICES:

   20 allspice berries
   1 stick cinnamon bark
   1/8 teaspoon ground cloves (next time I'd use 10 whole cloves)
   1 whole nutmeg (small)


PROCEDURE

BEFORE BREWING: Make starter in advance. Whack WYeast packet. When swollen,
boil 1/8 cup DME in 2.5 cups water with 2 hops pellets; cool to 85 F and pitch
contents of yeast packet; keep in bottle with plenty of headroom (I used a 22-
ounce brown longneck), loosely capped with aluminum foil, until high krauesen.

   Bring five gallons cold water and DME to the boil in eight-gallon pot,
steeping crystal grains (in grain bag) until the temperature reaches about 170
F.  Remove and discard grains.  When it reaches the boil, remove from heat and
dissolve malt syrup, returning to heat and to the boil, stirring frequently,
after it's dissolved.  Keep at a full boil for 60 minutes, stirring
occasionally, adding boil hops, ginger, Irish moss and finishing hops
according to the schedule above.  Remove from heat, cool by forced wort
chilling, and siphon to your sanitized primary fermenter (I used a 6.5-gallon
glass carboy under airlock), leaving the sedimented hot break and cold break
material behind.  Stir or shake the carboy to aerate the wort, then pitch
yeast starter and place the carboy, covered to keep out the light, in a cool
place.  (NOTE:  I PITCHED ONE PACKET COOPERS DRY ALE YEAST IN ADDITION TO MY
STARTER, BECAUSE THE WYEAST WAS SO OLD. USE FRESH WYEAST AND YOU WON'T HAVE TO
DO THIS.)

SEVERAL DAYS LATER: After the initial active fermentation subsides, siphon to
secondary (I used a 5-gallon glass carboy under airlock), again leaving
sediment material behind.

SEVERAL DAYS AFTER THAT: When fermentation in the secondary appears complete
(double-check with hydrometer readings), siphon to a priming vessel (I used my
old, well-sanitized, food-grade plastic bucket) for bottling.

Prepare priming solution. Boil corn sugar in 1 1/2 cups water until it's
completely dissolved, then chill to roughly the same temperature as your wort.

Prepare spice solution.  Steep all spices in 2 1/2 cups boiling water for at
least 30 minutes, during which time the water should evaporate down to about 1
cup of a dark, aromatic "tea."  Strain the "tea" through a Melitta paper
coffee filter or equivalent, and chill to roughly the same temperature as your
wort.  (NOTE WELL:  IF YOU TRY THIS RECIPE AND WANT A GOOD SPICE FLAVOR,
DOUBLE OR TRIPLE THE INGREDIENTS LISTED ABOVE.)

Mix cooled priming and spice solutions with your wort. The best and easiest
way to do this is to pour them into your priming vessel and then siphon the
wort over them.  Bottle, and allow one to three weeks for conditioning.
(According to some reports, WYeast 1056 is sometimes very slow to condition.
If your beer seems "flat" after a week or even two, be patient. It will get
better, although the natural oils in the ginger and spices may somewhat reduce
head retention).

Original gravity:  1.054 @ 64 F
Final gravity:     1.013 @ 75 F

Tasting notes:  Clear light amber color, some chill haze.  Good foamy head
after conditioning, but only fair head retention.  Excellent malty aroma with
subtle "noble" hops and only the faintest hint of spices.  Good malt flavor
and texture with faint spiciness.  A very tasty beer, although it misses the
original mark because of underspicing.

If you try it, especially if you modify it, please let us know how it comes
out!