--

Doughboy Draught

5 gallons/19 L, all-grain; OG = 1.032; FG = 1.006; IBU = 20; SRM = 4; ABV = 3.4%

American Pilsners were bigger and  hoppier in the past, right? Well, not always. In 1917 — near the end of World War I — Congress passed the Food and Fuel Control Act (also known as the Lever Act), which gave President Wilson the power to set prices on and direct the distribution of food and coal. Wilson shut distilleries, limited the amount of coal breweries could use and capped the alcohol percentage in beer to 2.75% by weight (about 3.4% by volume). Here is a classic American Pilsner an American infantryman (or doughboy) might have drank during training, before being shipped off to the trenches in Europe.

Ingredients:

• 3.0 lbs. (1.4 kg) 6-row pale malt
• 2 lb. 2 oz. (0.96 kg) 2-row pale malt
• 1 lb. 12 oz. (0.79 kg) flaked maize
• 5.0 AAU Cluster hops (60 mins) (0.71 oz./20 g of 7% alpha acids)
• 0.25 oz. (7.1 g) Saaz hops (10 mins)
• 1/2 tsp calcium chloride (75 mins)
• 1 tsp Irish moss (15 mins)
• Wyeast 2007 (Pilsen Lager) or White Labs WLP 840 (North American Lager) yeast (2 qt./~2 L yeast starter)
• 5.5 oz. (142 g) corn sugar (for priming)

Step by Step:

Use 3.0 gallons (11 L) of mash water. Step mash grains and flaked maize with a 10-minute rest at 122 °F (50 °C), a 10-minute rest at 144 °F (62 °C) and a 40-minute rest at 156 °F (69 °C). Heat mash to 168 °F (76  °C) for mashout. Recircu-late and runoff wort. Sparge with 170 °F (77 °C) water and collect about 3.5 gallons (13 L) of wort. Add 2.75 gallons (10 L) of water and bring to a boil. Add calcium chloride and boil for 75 minutes, adding hops and Irish moss at times indicated in recipe list. Cool wort, aerate and pitch yeast sediment from starter.

Ferment beer at 56 °F (13 °C). Lager  for 4 weeks at 40 °F (4.4 °C). Bottle with corn sugar or keg and force carbonate to 2.8 volumes of CO2.

 --

Doughboy Draught

5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains; OG = 1.032; FG = 1.006; IBU = 20; SRM = 4; ABV = 3.4%

Ingredients:

• 13 oz. (0.37 kg) 2-row pale malt
• 1.25 lbs. (0.57 kg) 6-row pale malt
• 14 oz. (0.40 kg) corn sugar
• 1.0 lb. (0.45 kg) Briess light dried malt extract
• 1.0 lb. (0.45 kg) Briess light liquid malt extract
• 5.0 AAU Cluster hops (60 mins) (0.71 oz./20 g of 7% alpha acids) )
• 0.25 oz. (7.1 g) Saaz hops (10 mins)
• Wyeast 2007 (Pilsen Lager) or White Labs WLP 840 (North American Lager) yeast (2 qt./~2 L yeast starter)
• 5.5 oz. (142 g) corn sugar (for priming)

Step by Step:

Steep grains at 150 °F (66 °C). Add dried extract and sugar and boil for 60 minutes, adding hops at times indicated. Add liquid extract at end of boil and let steep for 15 minutes. Follow remaining instructions from recipe above.