Beer Recipe

1. Heat strike water and mash in

Heat 3.5 gallons of brew water to approximately 165°F (74°C). Place crushed grains in a mesh mash tun or insulated cooler. Pour the hot water over the grains to reach a mash temperature of approximately 152°F (67°C). Stir thoroughly to eliminate dry pockets and ensure even hydration.

2. Rest

Hold the mash at 152°F (67°C) for 60 minutes. Maintain temperature by insulating the mash tun or applying gentle heat if necessary. If you want a drier beer, mash at 156°F (69°C) for 60 minutes.

3. Mash out

Raise the mash temperature to about 168°F (76°C) for 10 minutes by adding a small amount of boiling water or gently heating. This halts enzymatic activity and makes lautering easier.

4. Drain the wort from the mash tun into your boil kettle until gravity runs low or you have collected about 5.5–6.0 gallons of wort (target pre-boil volume ~6.0–6.5 gallons depending on system losses). Sparge the grains with the additional 2.5 gallons of 170°F (77°C) water, gently rinsing to collect more sugars until you reach the desired pre-boil volume.

5. Bring to a boil

Bring the collected wort to a vigorous boil. Watch for boilovers the first few minutes.

6. Bittering addition

When the boil is vigorous, add the bittering hops (0.5 oz Magnum). Boil for 60 minutes total.

7. Mid-boil additions

With 15 minutes remaining in the boil, add Irish moss or whirlfloc (1 tsp) and wort nutrient (0.5 tsp) if using. Also add the flavor hops (0.5 oz Cascade) if you want hop flavor at this stage.

8. Late aroma additions

With 5 minutes remaining, add the aroma hops (0.5 oz) to preserve volatile hop oils for aroma.

9. At the end of the boil, chill the wort quickly to yeast-pitching temperature (around 65–68°F / 18–20°C for ale yeast) using a wort chiller (immersion, plate, or counterflow) or ice bath. Transfer cooled wort to a sanitized fermenter, leaving as much trub behind in the kettle as practical.

10. Top up with sanitized water to reach 5.0 gallons final volume in the fermenter if needed, taking into account boil-off and losses.

11. Aerate and pitch yeast

Aerate the wort by shaking the fermenter, splashing while transferring, or using sterile oxygen for 60–90 seconds. Rehydrate or prepare your yeast according to the manufacturer's directions (if liquid, make a starter if desired). Pitch the yeast into the cooled, aerated wort.

12. Primary fermentation

Ferment at 65–68°F (18–20°C) for an ale. Active fermentation should begin within 12–48 hours. Allow primary fermentation to proceed for 5–7 days until activity slows and gravity has dropped substantially.

13. Conditioning / Secondary (optional)

Optional: Rack to a secondary fermenter for 5–10 days for clarification and cold conditioning. If skipping secondary, extend primary to 10–14 days total before packaging.

14. Sanitize and prepare priming sugar

Sanitize bottles and caps or prepare a keg. Dissolve 3.5 oz (100 g) priming sugar in 2 cups (about 475 ml) of boiling water, cool, then add to a sanitized bottling bucket.

15. Bottle or keg

Transfer fermented beer gently to the bottling bucket on top of the priming solution to mix without aeration. Fill and cap bottles or transfer to a CO2 keg. Expect natural carbonation in bottles at room temperature in 10–14 days.

16. Carbonation and conditioning

Condition bottled beer at 65–70°F (18–21°C) for 10–14 days, then cold-condition in refrigerator for 24–48 hours before drinking. Kegged beer can be force-carbonated or allowed to carbonate naturally under CO2 head pressure.

17. Sanitize all equipment that will contact wort or beer after the boil (fermenter, siphons, airlock, bottles, caps, etc.) with no-rinse sanitizer according to the product instructions. Good sanitation is critical to avoid contamination.