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.