Earthy and Girthy

grain:
- 20 pounds Muntons Maris Otter Pale Ale malt
- 2 pounds 1 1/2 ounces Briess crystal 60
- 2 pounds 1/2 ounces Munich malt

hop:
- 1 1/2 ounces Amarillo (60 minutes)
- 1 1/4 ounce Amarillo (30 minutes)
- 1/2 ounce Fuggle (dry)

yeast:
- White Labs San Francisco Lager Yeast

comments:
Pale, clean lager with a caramel sweetness and earthy, floral hop flavor.

ambient outdoor temperature: 31 degrees Fahrenheit
ambient basement temperature: 56 degrees Fahrenheit

mash notes:
- (1:45 PM) mash start @ 148 degrees Fahrenheit
- (1:57 PM) @ 152 degrees Fahrenheit after hot water infusion
- (2:15 PM) @ 148 degrees Fahrenheit
- (2:50 PM) @ 144 degrees Fahrenheit
- (3:30 PM) first sparge @ 19 degrees Brix
- (4:00 PM) final sparge 13 1/4 Brix ... estimating about 6.5 abv

boil notes:
- (4:30 PM) boil start
- (5:45 PM) boil end

notes:
- vigorous boil
- delicious caramel aroma during the mash
- was planning to brew this batch last weekend but the outdoor spigot was frozen
- on the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me ... five brews conditioning. Merry Christmas from the cellar. From left to right: Earthy and Girthy #1 and #2 (primary fermentation), Nugget at Both Ends, Imperial Stout and Porter (all in secondary). Dry hops visible in secondaries. This is quite a rare sight with so many brews conditioning at the same time. The Commons are much lighter than the image indicates.

- half bottled on 2/21/2010
- 5/29/2010 update: as the warmer than usual Spring warmed the basement to 70 degrees, refrigerating these beers became necessary.  Surprisingly this beer tastes great at near freezing temperatures.  Hop flavors are somewhat subdued but the brew is much cleaner than it was in the 60 - 70 degree range.  A winner.

Michigan Real Ale

An experiment: naturally carbonate the Common in the keg. I expect an interesting carbonation. A touch of authenticity. Commons where krausened on packaging which resulted in a naturally carbonated and often highly carbonated "real ale". Though my technique does not involve drawing krausen from fermenting beer, it does provide the necessary sugars to naturally carbonate the beer.

equipment:
- small pot (I use a 3 quart pot)
- stove

Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 3/4 cups light dry malt extract

Process:
- draw 1 1/2 cups water into pot and place on stove and heat over medium to medium-high heat.
- as water heats, stir the water to wet the inside of the pot. this helps against burning the extract on the side of the pot later on.
- add the 3/4 cups dry malt extract and stir thoroughly. stop stirring when all the clumps of extract dissolve.
- boil for 8 minutes.
- sterilize the lid of the pot by placing it onto the pot and continue boiling for about 2 minutes. be sure it does not boil over. as foam increases, lifting the lid usually reduces it. heat lid enough to sterilize the surfaces.

Then prepare your keg as usual and add the solution to the keg prior to racking the beer into the keg. Purge oxygen as usual after filled and then pressurize to about 3 PSI. Monitor for high pressure for about a 2 week period and purge as necessary. Beware: pressure could reach dangerous levels during this period. Proceed at your own risk. (This is actually untrue ... I would not purge during conditioning ... or any time until enjoying. Conserving the note for nostalgia).

Notes:
In this case, I dry hopped 1/4 ounces of Nugget. Nugget has quite a earthy flavor for an American hop. I am interested to see if I can capture some of that in the aroma.

I estimate between 1 to 2 weeks aging period. Hoping to have it on tap for Christmas celebrations.

After notes:
By the way, the California Common or "Steam Beer" is amongst the most fitting beers to brew in Michigan. It has a long season, assuming you ferment in a basement. Basement temperature is between 55 and 65 from late November through March. Brave the cold. Beer some beer. Every Michigan brewer should brew Common.

Here is the first draw from under high pressure. Silky smooth topped with a frothy head. Very nice.