Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Wanna brew a Stone beer?  Here is the recipe:

Stone Pale Ale
Yield: 5 Gallons (about 54 12-ounce bottles or 30 22-ounce bottles)
10 pounds plus 7 ounces crushed North American two-row pale malt
1 pound plus 4.2 ounces crushed 60L crystal malt
4.8 ounces crushed 75L crystal malt
About 9 gallons water
0.44 ounce Columbus hops (12.9% alpha acid)
½ tsp Irish moss
0.77 ounce Ahtanum hops (6.0% alpha acid)
1.19 ounces Ahtanum hops (6.0% alpha acid)
1 (35ml) package White Labs WLP007 Dry English Ale Yeast or WLP002 English Ale Yeast
1 cup plus 3 Tbsp light dried malt extract
Clean and sanitize all of your equipment.

Mashing
In a 10-galloln insulated cooler, combine the crushed malts with 3 gallons plus 12 cups of 172°F water. The water should cool slightly when mixed with the grain. Hold the mash at 156°F for 20 minutes.
Add 2 gallons plus 2 cups of 184°F water. The mixture should come up to 165°F.
Lautering & Sparging
Lauter the mash. Once the liquid is lower than the level of the grain, begin to slowly sprinkle 3 gallons plus 1 cup of 168°F water over the grains to start the sparge. Continue sparging.

The Boil
Set the brew kettle of wort on top of a propane burner and add water to bring the wort level up to about 6 gallons plus 12 cups, if needed. Bring the wort to a rapid, rolling boil. As it begins to come to a boil, a layer of foam and scum may develop at the surface. Skim it off and discard. Once the wort is at a full boil, put a hops bag containing the Columbus hops in the kettle and set a timer for 90 minutes. Stir the wort frequently during the boil and be watchful to avoid boil-overs.
At 15 minutes before the end of the boil, stir in the Irish moss. At 10 minutes before the end of the boil, put a hops bag containing the 0.77 ounce of Ahtanum hops in the kettle. When the boiling time is over, turn off the heat and put a hops bag containing the remaining Ahtanum hops in the kettle. Cover the kettle and immediately begin cooling the wort as quickly as possible.

Pitching Yeast and Fermentation
Once the wort has cooled to 72°F, discard the spent hops and check the specific gravity of the wort with a hydrometer. The target starting gravity is 1.057 (14 Plato).
Transfer the wort to the primary fermentation bucket. Pitch the yeast (or prepare a yeast starter).
Allow the wort to ferment through primary and secondary fermentation at 72°F until it reaches a specific gravity of 1.014 (3.5 Plato).

Bottling
When you’re ready to bottle, clean and sanitize the bottles, caps and bottling equipment. Put the dried malt extract in a medium saucepan and stir in just enough water to dissolve it. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Remove from the heat, cover and let cool slightly. Proceed with bottling.

blog.stonebrewing.com

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Brewing setup

I have been using this setup for 3 years now, there is just enough elevation left to fill a 6.5 gal carboy.  No pumps and no lifting needed!   Note the water filter on the back wall.