DeFalco's St. Almost Amber Ale Recipe

A miraculously quenching malty amber ale with lots of hop flavor, yet modest in bite!
O.G. - 1.053       F.G. - 1.013
 
INGREDIENTS:
 
  • 6 1/2 lbs. light malt extract
  • 1 1/2 lb. pale malt
  • 1 1/2 lb. Cara-Vienne malt
  • 1 oz. Cascades hops or 2/3 oz. Columbus hops (bittering)
  • 1/2 oz. Mt. Hood or Liberty hops (flavoring)
  • 1/2 oz. Mt. Hood or Liberty hops (finishing)
  • 1 pkg. Calcium Chloride water salts
  • Yeast:  Dried -1 pkg. Safale S-04 or Windsor ale yeast
  • Liquid - Wyeast #1968, #1272 or White Labs English or California V Ale Yeast
  • 1 pkg. Bru-Vigor (yeast food - for tap water) 3/4 cup corn sugar (priming)
 
PROCEDURE:
Note: If you are using Wyeast liquid yeast, prepare the yeast 24 hours prior to brewing! Activate the yeast by “smacking” it to rupture the internal pouch, thereby mixing its contents with the other contents in the pouch. Allow the yeast to remain at room temperature to swell. Check the packaging date on the pouch. If it has been over two months since it was packaged, allow an extra day for the pouch to swell up. If you are using White Labs Pitchable Yeast, simply remove from refrigerator and allow to warm up to room temperature during the brew session.
  1. In a small saucepan, bring a gallon of water to 160°-170° and turn off the heat. Add the bag of grains and water salts (if used) and steep 30 minutes. Now, gently sparge (rinse) the grains with hot tap water (ideal temperature 168°) and bring the total volume up to two or more gallons in a stainless steel or enameled kettle (avoid aluminum). As a rule, boiling as much of the full five gallons as possible is best. Bring to boil and resume step #2.
  2. Turn off heat and add malt extract. Return to boil, taking care not to allow wort to overflow onto your stovetop. Start timing now, continuing the boil for 5 minutes. Add the bittering hops (1 1/3 oz. Cascades) and boil 40 minutes. Now add the flavoring hops (1/2 oz. Mt. Hood or Liberty) and boil 10 minutes. For aroma, add the finishing hops (1/2 oz. Mt. Hood or Liberty) and immediately turn off heat.
  3. To facilitate cooling, we suggest placing your brewing kettle in the sink with 5 or 6 inches of cold water (A tray or two of ice cubes in the cooling bath wouldn't hurt). Allow to stand for 20 - 30 minutes in the cooling bath.
  4. For best results, we recommend using Wyeast or White Labs liquid yeast. If using dried yeast, while the wort is cooling, rehydrate the dried yeast. To do this, sprinkle the yeast into a cup of lukewarm (90°- 100°F) water and cover with saran wrap or tin foil. Let stand for 10 - 20 minutes.
  5. Pour the cooled wort into the fermenter. Bring the total volume up to five gallons. Check and record the temperature and specific gravity at this time. Make the necessary gravity corrections for temperatures above 60‚° (Add .001 for every 7° above 60°F).
  6. If the temperature is less than 80°, pour the yeast "slurry" and the packet of Bru-Vigor (if using tap water) into the wort and place the lid and airlock over the fermenter. Although ideal fermentation temperatures are lower, it is very important to get the fermentation started as soon as possible to avoid contamination of the beer. In any case, be aware that temperatures over 110° will most likely kill your beer yeast.
  7. For best results, ferment at 60° - 75°F.
  8. FERMENTATION: Double Stage - The beer will be ready to rack (syphon) when the rocky head subsides (2 - 4 days) and the gravity drops to approximately 1.016 or less. Syphon the beer into the secondary fermenter. As soon as the foaming allows, top up the secondary with water to within 2 - 3 inches of the fermentation lock if your volume is short. Allow to ferment and settle until action has virtually ceased and the beer has clarified.
    FERMENTATION: Single Stage - Allow wort to ferment for 7 days. Assuming your fermentation lock has stopped bubbling proceed to step #9, bottling preparations.
  9. Check the specific gravity. This final gravity (F.G.) should read about 1.013 (or less). If it is more than 1.018, do not bottle until you call us!
  10. Prepare the priming sugar by making a simple syrup on the stove. Pour the sugar into a small saucepan containing a cup of boiling water. Stir to dissolve. Pour this mixture into the finished beer as you are syphoning it into a sanitized priming container. Stir well, but avoid excess splashing. Immediately syphon the beer into sanitized bottles, leaving about an inch of head space. Use a bottle filler for ease in filling.
  11. Allow beer to age at room temperature for at least two weeks before chilling. Peak flavor should be reached about six weeks and lasts several months.
  12. Chill and serve! Pour carefully so as not to disturb the small amount of sediment on the bottom of the bottles. Enjoy your homemade beer!
ALL-GRAIN RECIPE
 
  • 10 1/2 lb. domestic two row pale malt
  • 1 1/2 lb. Cara-Vienne malt
  • 1 1/3 oz. Cascades hops or 2/3 oz. Columbus hops (bittering)
  • 1/2 oz. Mt. Hood or Liberty hops (flavoring)
  • 1/2 oz. Mt. Hood or Liberty hops (finishing)
  • 1 pkg. Calcium Chloride water salts
  • Yeast:  Dried -1 pkg. Safale S-04 or Windsor ale yeast
  • Liquid - Wyeast #1968, #1272 or White Labs English or California V Ale Yeast
  • 3/4 cup corn sugar (priming)
 
Mashing Procedure: Heat 3 1/2 gallons of water to 168°, mix in water salts and stir thoroughly, now dough your crushed grain in, making sure to stir constantly to avoid dry pockets of grain. Once grain is thoroughly mixed in, cover. Check temperature after approximately five minutes, it should be about 153°, plus or minus 4°. If it is noticeably colder or hotter, add boiling water or ice cubes and stir to mix in to adjust temperature. Stir mash every 10 - 15 minutes. After an hour of mashing, recirculate wort back through grain bed until it begin to flow relatively clear, not a lot of cloudiness. Now you may run this clear wort off into your kettle while you slowly sparge the grain with hot water at about 168°. Try to collect a total of at least 6 1/2 - 7 gallons. Bring to a boil for about 10 minutes, then begin adding hops as outlined above. Please note that when using all grain recipes, your original and final gravities may vary considerably from our predicted readings.