All-Grain - HBT BJCP comp winning California Common

Tonedef131 · 10-11-2009, 07:12 PM

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: California Lager
Yeast Starter: 2L
Batch Size (Gallons): 11
Original Gravity: 1.055
Final Gravity: 1.013
IBU: 32
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Color: 11.5
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 14 days @ 60F
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): don't you dare
Tasting Notes: Carmelly and toasty with a big Northern brewer presence

This recipe tied the points for Amber Hybrid first place in the 2009 HBT BJCP competition, but YooperBrew beat me out by intangibles and won the category (argh this happened to me twice in the comp

). This is MK II of my steam beer recipe and it is the same for the most part but I made some tweaks on the recommendations of scoresheets I got from the first recipe and personal preference. The first time I made it I think it had to much caramel malt and that muted the dry breadiness that is so great about Anchor Steam. I was not trying to clone Anchor exactly, but all California Common beers are somewhat of an Anchor clone. If you get too much out of the Anchor archetype you are just making an American Amber/pale with Northern Brewers. Anyway, this time I reduced the caramel a bit and added some Victory to increase the toastiness. I am quite happy with the results, however next time I might bump the fermentation back up to the 63 range to add a bit more yeast character.

Steam Beer
California Common Beer

Type: All Grain
Date: 7/16/2009
Batch Size: 11.00 gal
Brewer: Kyle Alberda
Boil Time: 60 min

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
16.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 76.19 %
2.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 9.52 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 4.76 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 4.76 %
1.00 lb Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 4.76 %
1.50 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] (Dry Hop 3 days) Hops -
2.00 oz Northern Brewer [7.00 %] (60 min) Hops 22.9 IBU
1.00 oz Northern Brewer [7.00 %] (20 min) Hops 6.9 IBU
1.00 oz Northern Brewer [7.00 %] (5 min) Hops 2.3 IBU
0.50 oz Northern Brewer [7.00 %] (0 min) Hops -
3 Pkgs California Lager (Wyeast Labs #2112) [Starter 2000 ml] Yeast-Lager

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.052 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.055 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.015 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.013 SG
Actual Alcohol by Vol: 5.48 %
Bitterness: 32.1 IBU
Calories: 245 cal/pint
Est Color: 11.5 SRM

60 min Mash at 154.0 F

**mrk305** · 10-11-2009, 07:24 PM

Wow! Congratulations !!

paint_it_black · 02-11-2010, 06:07 AM

Tonedef --

Looking at brewing this up this weekend. couple questions for ya.

I'm looking to so a 5.5 gal batch. I cut your recipe in half but that put me at a project OG fo 1.047 (assuming 70% efficiency, which is what I tend to get). To hit 1.052 I can just add 1.5 lb of 2-row. Would you recommend that, or should I proportionally increase all/some of the malts?
Secondly, why do you say "don't you dare" to racking to a secondary? What adverse effects will be had by doing that?
On the same matter, if we're dry hopping, and not doing a secondary, are you saying to just pop open the primary after fermentation is complete and add my hops?
And lastly, I'm a bottler, not a kegger, and I've never made a California Common before... Do I bottle and condition at room temp like I would an ale, or do I need to lager it somehow?
Thanks in advance for the help!

Cascadegan · 02-15-2011, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tonedef131

This recipe tied the points for Amber Hybrid first place in the 2009 HBT BJCP competition, but YooperBrew beat me out by intangibles and won the category (argh this happened to me twice in the comp ). This is MK II of my steam beer recipe and it is the same for the most part but I made some tweaks on the recommendations of scoresheets I got from the first recipe and personal preference. The first time I made it I think it had to much caramel malt and that muted the dry breadiness that is so great about Anchor Steam. I was not trying to clone Anchor exactly, but all California Common beers are somewhat of an Anchor clone. If you get too much out of the Anchor archetype you are just making an American Amber/pale with Northern Brewers. Anyway, this time I reduced the caramel a bit and added some Victory to increase the toastiness. I am quite happy with the results, however next time I might bump the fermentation back up to the 63 range to add a bit more yeast character.

Steam Beer
California Common Beer

Type: All Grain
Date: 7/16/2009
Batch Size: 11.00 gal
Brewer: Kyle Alberda
Boil Time: 60 min

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
16.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 76.19 %
2.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 9.52 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 4.76 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 4.76 %
1.00 lb Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 4.76 %
1.50 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] (Dry Hop 3 days) Hops -
2.00 oz Northern Brewer [7.00 %] (60 min) Hops 22.9 IBU
1.00 oz Northern Brewer [7.00 %] (20 min) Hops 6.9 IBU
1.00 oz Northern Brewer [7.00 %] (5 min) Hops 2.3 IBU
0.50 oz Northern Brewer [7.00 %] (0 min) Hops -
3 Pkgs California Lager (Wyeast Labs #2112) [Starter 2000 ml] Yeast-Lager

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.052 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.055 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.015 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.013 SG
Actual Alcohol by Vol: 5.48 %
Bitterness: 32.1 IBU
Calories: 245 cal/pint
Est Color: 11.5 SRM

60 min Mash at 154.0 F

That image would make a great label for this beer!

**runningweird** · 03-10-2011, 06:19 PM

remember

**b-boy** · 12-24-2011, 05:34 PM

I did a 5 gallon batch of this. I dry hopped with 1 oz of cascade. Did primary for 1 month, cold crashed for 3 days, primed, then kegged. Just tried it. Fantastic! Clear as can be. I think this is my best batch to date. Great recipe.