Wrightsville Beach Brewery, Nc Recipe

Heat Strike Water

Heat 4.5 gallons (17 L) of brewing water to about 165°F (74°C). This will allow you to hit a target mash temperature near 152°F (67°C) when you dough in.

Mash In

Add the crushed pale malt, crystal malt, Munich, Vienna and flaked wheat to the mash tun. Pour the strike water in and stir thoroughly to eliminate dry pockets. Target mash temperature: 152°F (67°C). Hold for 60 minutes, stirring gently every 10–15 minutes.

Mash Out

Raise the mash temperature to about 168°F (76°C) for 10 minutes to stop enzymatic activity and improve runoff. Use direct heat or by adding hot water.

Lauter & Sparge

Recirculate the first runnings until they run clear (vorlauf). Begin lautering into your boil kettle. Sparge with enough water at 170°F (77°C) to collect approximately 6.5–7 gallons (24–26 L) of wort in the kettle (accounting for boil-off).

Bring Wort to a Rolling Boil

Bring the collected wort to a vigorous, rolling boil. Watch carefully to avoid boil-overs as proteins break the surface.

60-minute Hop Addition

At the start of the boil (60 minutes remaining), add 1.25 oz East Kent Goldings bittering hops. This addition provides about 25–32 IBUs depending on your wort gravity and utilization.

15-minute Additions

With 15 minutes left in the boil, add 1 tsp Irish moss (or 1 Whirlfloc tablet) to aid protein coagulation and clarity, and add 1.5 oz Cascade hops for flavor.

0-minute / Flameout

At flameout, turn off the heat and add 1 oz Cascade hops for aroma. Stir gently and let the wort sit for 10–15 minutes (a hop stand/steep) to extract volatile aromatics.

Cool Wort

Cool the wort as quickly as possible to yeast pitching temperature (around 68°F / 20°C). Use an immersion chiller, counterflow chiller, or an ice bath. Transfer cooled wort to a sanitized fermenter; leave behind the trub at the kettle bottom.

Oxygenate & Pitch Yeast

Aerate the cooled wort by shaking, splashing, or pure oxygen (target dissolved oxygen ~8–10 ppm). Pitch the liquid English ale yeast at 65–68°F (18–20°C).

Primary Fermentation

Ferment at 65–68°F (18–20°C) for 5–7 days, or until vigorous fermentation subsides. Expect a healthy krausen within 24–48 hours.

Diacetyl Rest & Finish

After active fermentation slows (usually day 4–6), raise temperature to 68–70°F (20–21°C) for 48 hours to allow the yeast to clean up any diacetyl.

Secondary (optional) & Cold Crash

If desired, rack to a secondary for clarifying for 3–7 days, then cold crash to near 35–40°F (2–4°C) to drop haze and encourage clearing.

Carbonation & Bottle/Keg

If bottling: dissolve 4 oz (113 g) corn sugar in 1 cup boiling water, cool, add to bottling bucket and gently rack beer onto it, then bottle. If kegging: force carbonate to 2.4–2.6 volumes CO2 or keg-priming sugar as preferred. Condition bottles at 65–70°F (18–21°C) for 10–14 days to carbonate.

Maturation

After carbonation, chill and allow beer to condition for another 1–2 weeks for flavors to integrate. Best enjoyed fresh but will keep well for several months when stored cool and dark.

Sanitize all equipment that will contact cooled wort or finished beer (fermenter, airlock, siphon, bottles, caps, keg). Maintain sanitary practices to avoid contamination. Make adjustments to hop amounts or water chemistry to match Wrightsville Beach Brewery flavor profile: moderate malt backbone, gentle English bitterness, bright American hop aromatics from Cascade.