Black Steam

5 gallons, partial mash

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. pale malt
• 0.5 lb. dark crystal malt, 90° Lovibond
• 0.25 lb. black patent malt
• 0.25 lb. dark Munich malt
• 5 lbs. unhopped light dry malt extract
• 3 oz. Northern Brewer hops (plus or minus 8% alpha acid): 1 oz. for 50 min., 1 oz. for 20 min., 1 oz. for 5 min.
• Wyeast 2112 (California lager) yeast culture, built up to 1 qt. starter or more
• 7/8 cup corn sugar (for priming)

Step by Step:

Heat 1 gal. of water to 165° F. Crack grains and mash in. Hold mash at 154° F for 75 min., run off, and sparge with 2 gal. at 168° F. Add dry malt extract to kettle and bring to a boil. Total boil is 50 min. Add 1 oz. hops and boil 30 min. Add 1 oz. hops, boil 15 min. more. Add the rest of the hops, boil 5 min. more, and remove from heat. Add to your primary fermenter along with enough cooled pre-boiled water to make up 5.25 gal. Cool to 70° F, aerate well, and pitch yeast culture. Ferment between 65° F and 70° F for five to eight days, rack to secondary, and chill to 55° F to 60° F. Lager for two weeks, prime, and bottle. Bottle condition three weeks near 50° F.

All-grain brewers:

Increase pale malt to 9 lbs., mash water to 4 gal. and sparge water to 5 gal. Follow the same mash schedule and temperatures as above, but plan your boil and hop schedule to reduce kettle contents to 5.25 gal.

All-extract brewers:

Steep crystal, Munich and black malts in 2.5 gal. of water, raising heat in kettle to 170° F. Remove grains and stir in 6 lbs. light unhopped dry malt. Boil and hop as above.

Yeast:

Although the California lager strain (Wyeast 2112 in particular) is a very warm-tolerant lager strain, it is still best not to ferment too warm. Some ale-like fruitiness is desirable, but it’s easy to overdo. Begin fermentation warm and gradually cool the fermenter down. A short lagering stage will finish off the beer without drying it out excessively, and will help clarify it.

A note on packaging: I may be a heretic, but I prefer bottled homebrew to kegged. Some brews, including this one, just seem more balanced, more alive from the bottle than from a keg. The live yeast continues to contribute flavor compounds in the bottle and keeps the beer fresher tasting for a longer time. Also, the natural carbonation from bottle conditioning adds a smoothness that can’t be matched by force carbonation (unless you want to get into a nitro mix setup!). This style of beer needs to be relatively highly carbonated, so if you are going to keg it, adjust your pressure accordingly.

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