Unaufrichtig Alt

Crap German for "disingenuous alt", or "false alt". The recipe takes Jamil's "Cowboy Alt" as a starting point, but a) I'm throwing in rye because rye and b) I'm unable to lager it.

Recipe

Batch size: 5 gallons

Grain bill:

• 5 lb pale malt
• 2 lb 3 oz Munich malt
• 1 lb 5 oz Gambrinus ESB
• 8 oz rye malt
• 5.5 oz Crystal 120

Hops:

• 0.5 oz Magnum (14.1%) @ 60
• 2 oz Celeia (3.1%) @ 15

Calculated IBUs: 30

Target gravity: 1.050 - 1.055

Yeast: Wyeast 1007 - German Ale

Brew Day

December 30, 2013: Last brew of the year, and the first one with my new refractometer -- an Xmas gift from my parents. Man, that thing's handy!

The Munich was ground twice -- once at the LHBS, and once through my Victoria mill with everything else. Hit my target temp for the mash of 70C / 158F. Mashed for an hour. Got 6.5 gallons at 1.055, which puts my efficiency somewhere north of 80%. (It had been 1.050 before squeezing the bag; good to know how much that adds.)

I was down to the last couple pounds of propane, so I kept the burn low; as a result, it took about an hour for the boil to start. Also, I found propane coming from the regulator -- just a small leak, but no good. I've no idea how easy that'll be to replace.

Finished the boil, chilled and got 5 gallons at 1.061. Higher than my goal, but I think if I'd left out the squeezins I'd have been right there. Oh well, it's not something I'm real concerned about.

Pitched the yeast (though forgot to smack it) with the kids. Took a sample and set aside in a covered jar; I heard about this on a Basic Brewing episode, and I've been meaning to try it. The idea is to see how long it takes for a wort sample with no yeast to become infected. It's meant to show you how good your sanitation has been during chilling and transfer. As I recall, one day == bad; three or four days == fine; five or six days == excellent.

Bottling

Date:

Tasting

Date: