EdWort said:
Grain Bill
8 lbs. 2-Row
2 lbs. Vienna
0.5 lb. Crystal 10L
Use 7lb Light or Extra Light DME in place of the 8lbs 2-row AND 2lbs Vienna (I found out that Vienna is for mashing only, you can't steep it in an extract kit). Get the 0.5lb Crystal 10L for steeping. I also added 0.25lb Carapils for steeping just for some added complexity that the Vienna would have provided. Someone with more experience than I might have a better replacement, or they might even leave it out altogether since we're already using DME for it anyway. I figured .25lb couldn't hurt, and it will be interesting. So your total grain bill is:
7lb DME
0.5lb Crystal 10L
0.25lb Carapils
EdWort said:
Mash
Single Infusion mash for 60 minutes at 152 degrees.
I batch sparge in a 10 gallon water cooler with a stainless braid manifold. Click here for great info on Batch Sparging.
Dough-in with 3.5 gallons of water. After 60 minutes, add 5 quarts of 175 degree water and begin vorlauf. My system only takes about 2 quarts before it clears up, then it's wide open to drain in the kettle. Have another 3.25 gallons of 175 degree water ready for the next batch sparge. You should then get 6.5 gallons to your kettle for the boil.
Steep your Carapils and Crystal in a grain steeping bag in 160F water on the stove for 25 minutes. I used 2.75 gallons. Stir it around initially and periodically to get all of the sugars into the water, but never squeeze the grain bag (this will extract harsh tannins from the grains). After 25 minutes, take your grain bag out, turn your burner on high and bring it to a boil. Add only 25% of your DME (1.75lb), and you will add the other 75% later. This is the late extract method, and it will make your beer lighter in color and will allow you to use FAR fewer hops - I calculated that I would have to use nearly 3 times as much hops without late extract method. After you've brought to a boil and added 25% of your DME, bring it back to a boil and continue with your hop schedule:
EdWort said:
Boil & Hops
1.0 oz Cascade 6.6% at 60 min.
0.5 oz. Cascade 6.6% at 30 min.
0.25 oz. Cascade 6.6% at 15 min.
0.25 oz. Cascade 6.6% at 5 min.
Here's where things get a little hairy - you will need to adjust your hop amounts based on the AA%. EdWort's Cascades were 6.6%, luckily mine were pretty close at 6.3%. Biermuncher's blonde recipe uses Cascade at 7.8% (stronger or fresher, or something).
.83oz Cascade 6.3% at 60min
.42oz Cascade 6.3% at 30min
.21oz Cascade 6.3% at 15min
.21oz Cascade 6.3% at 5min
75% (5.25lb) DME at 1min and take your wort off the burner.
Remember that these calculations are based on what the gravity of the boil is with the steeped grains and 25% of the DME in 2.5gal water.
I also added a heaping teaspoon of Irish Moss at 20min.
EdWort said:
Chill to 70 to 75 degrees
I poured 2.5gal of nearly freezing water into my fermenter, and then poured all the wort on top of that. I estimate that brought it to about 82 degrees or so. I cooled it the rest of the way in a cold water bath in the bath tub, which took about an hour or two I guess to get to 68 degrees (whoops!), I should have paid closer attention and pitched above 70 degrees, but I believe you can pitch Nottingham as low as 60 degrees and be fine. Mine is fermenting away just fine right now.
EdWort said:
Pitch with Nottingham Dry Yeast. No starter or hydration.
I just dumped all the yeast on top after thoroughly shaking my fermenter to aerate it.
Enjoy! It will look dark at first, but will get extremely light during fermentation. Mine is looking awesome right now!
If you need help with your hop AA%, I can help you out with what I've learned. It involves estimating the gravity of your boil based on how much DME you use. For instance - if I had added 1/3 of my DME at the start instead of just 1/4, the gravity of my boil would be higher, so I would have needed more hops. Probably would have been right at 1oz, .5oz, .25oz, .25oz, but you get better hop utilization with a lower gravity boil, so my calculations came out to less than what EdWort used.
