Old Yellow Dog Lager

5 gallons; OG = 1.036; FG = 1.008

Ingredients:

• 1 oz. chocolate malt (not crushed)
• 11 oz. Dutch light dry malt
• 1 can Alexander's malt extract
• 0.75 oz. Cluster hop pellets
• 0.5 oz. Hallertauer hop pellets
• European lager yeast
• 3/4 cup corn sugar
• 1/2 tsp. Irish moss flakes

Step by Step:

Heat five gallons of water and uncrushed chocolate malt. Remove the chocolate malt when the water reaches 170° F. When water boils, turn off heat and stir in malt extracts. Resume boil, add the Cluster pellets, and boil for 45 minutes. Add Irish moss and boil 15 more minutes. Turn off heat, stir in the Hallertauer pellets, and let sit for a few minutes.

Cool the wort to 70° F and siphon into a primary fermenter. Pitch yeast into the stream going into the primary. When you reach the bottom of the brewpot, carefully siphon the clear wort off and leave the trub and hop particles behind. Use a two-stage closed fermentation, siphoning into a secondary fermenter when the kraeusen has dropped from the beer in the primary. Bottle after fermentation is done and the beer has become clear in the secondary fermenter.