Steep the following in 4 gallons of 154 F water for 1 hour:
1 lbs Simpson Golden Promise
1 lbs 45 L British Crystal
2/3 lbs Black malt
Separate water from grain, and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, add 2 cans Mountmellick amber malt, bring to a boil and add 35 IBU Northdown hops. Reduce to 3.5 gallons, cool and add to 2.0 gallons of preboiled distilled water already in primary. Add Sfale-04 package and ferment for 7 days. Secondary fermentaion is optional here. Some might like to add a strong fennel "tea" with blackstrap molasses at bottling for that robust flavor.