#25 Golden Winter Steam

Some months ago I bought ingredients in bulk to make a couple of batches of ale. But as is usual, I never get round to brewing it in time. Ale yeasts generally want warmer temperatures – but being I was going to be brewing in colder temperatures I was going to need to look at getting a lager yeast. So I compromised: Wyeast’s California Lager yeast variety is a lager yeast that can handle warmer temperatures (14-20°C), and is characteristic of the American West Coast Steam beers; alternatively, you could use it for ales brewing at a colder temperature, which is kind of what I have been going for here.

Ingredients

• 2.25kg Ale malt
• 500g Light Munich malt
• 100g Light crystal malt (55L)
• 50g Chocolate malt
• 1kg LDME
• 20g Northern Brewer (AA 9.5%) @ 60mins
• 1x Cascade plug (AA 6.84%) @ 15mins
• 1x Cascade plug (AA 6.84%) @ 10mins
• 77g Cascade whole fresh flowers (AA unknown) @ flame-out
• ½ tab Irish Moss @ 5mins
• Wyeast 2112 California Lager (1Lt starter) liquid yeast

• Est. OG            1.052
• Est. IBU           39.2
• Est. EBC          22.5
• Actual OG        1.051
• Actual FG        1.011

ALC/VOL. ~5.4%

Method

• Mash grains in 10Lt water (~65°C) for 1 hour.
• Add 270g LDME to wort and boil hops as per schedule above.
• Add Irish Moss 5 mins before end of boil.
• Add remainder of LDME.
• Add fresh hops flowers, and let sit for 20 mins.
• Top us with water to 20Lt.
• Add liquid yeast starter.

The colour is a rich golden hue, reminiscent of JS Golden Ale. Its really clear, and the hops aren’t too overpowering.

This batch only took four days to ferment, which I figured was due to the amount of yeast I pitched. It was late at night, and I accidentally pitched while the wort was about 28°C – I truly thought that I may have shocked the yeast, but it started to bubble away within a few hours, much quicker than usual.

I made 2lt of starter with this liquid yeast pack, using 1Lt for the batch, and splitting the rest into 6 stubbies, which I stored in the fridge for later use.

After only 7 days, I bulk-primed with 167g Dextrose in 2cups water and bottled.

Tags: Ale, homebrew, Lager, Partial Mash, Steam Beer