Caveman Kellerbier

5 gallons/19 L, all-grain; OG = 1.056;  FG = 1.014; SRM = 15; IBU = 35; ABV = 5.4%

Ingredients:

• 8.0 lbs. (3.6 kg) Weyermann Bavarian Pils malt (2 °L)
• 3.75 lbs. (1.7 kg) Briess Munich malt (20 °L)
• 2 cups French oak chips (light toast)
• 8 AAU Hallertauer Mittelfrüh or Hersbrucker hops (bittering) (2 oz./55 g of 4% alpha acid) and1.5 oz. (42 g) Hallertauer Mittelfrüh or Hersbrucker hops (flavor/aroma)
• 1 pkg. Wyeast 2206 (Bavarian Lager), Wyeast 2308 (Munich Lager), White Labs WLP838 (Southern German Lager), or White Labs WLP920 (Old Bavarian Lager) yeast

Step by Step:

On the day before brew day, make an “oak chip tea” as follows: Mix about two cups of oak chips in hot but not boiling water (180 °F or 80 °C), in a tightly sealable jar. Seal the hot jar, let it cool off, and then keep it in the refrigerator overnight. Before steeping, toast the oak chips on a cookie sheet in a 250 °F (121 ºC) oven for about an hour. Use the tea at pitching time.

On brew day, start a traditional multi-step infusion mash with a conventional dough-in at 122 °F (50 °C). Let the mash rest for about half an hour before infusing it with hot water until the temperature reaches 148 °F (64 °C). Keep the mash at that temperature for 15 minutes; then raise the temperature to 156 °F (69 °C) for another 15-minute rest. Then sparge slowly with near-boiling water until the mash is at a temperature of 170 °F (77 °C).

Lower the sparge water temperature, to keep the mash at or slightly below 170 °F (77 °C) for the rest of the sparge. Stop the sparge at a kettle gravity of about 1.050 (12.5 °P), to allow for evaporation loss during the boil. Boil for about 90 minutes. Add the bittering hops, as usual, about 15 minutes into the boil. At the end of the boil, check the kettle gravity. Make adjustments, if needed, by adding water or lengthening the boil time.

Once the kettle is at the correct original gravity, add the flavor/aroma hops. Stir the wort gently with a spatula to create a whirlpool effect. Wait about half an hour to allow the trub to settle. Then heat-exchange the wort off the trub. Reduce the wort temperature as close to a fermentation temperature of 48 °F (9 °C) as your setup allows.

Strain the oak chips off the liquid and add this cool, sterile “tea” to the fermenter. Then pitch the yeast, aerate and place the brew in a cool place. Let it ferment to completion (in perhaps three weeks). Rack the brew into a clean carboy and let it warm up to room temperature for a two-day diacetyl rest. Rack the brew again, but do not prime it. Let it mature unpressurized for about two months at a typical cellar temperature of about 50–55 °F (10–13 °C). Do not rack again.

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Caveman Kellerbier

5 gallons/19 L, extract plus grain; OG = 1.056;  FG = 1.014; SRM = 15; IBU = 35; ABV = 5.4%

Ingredients:

• 6.5 lbs. (2.95 kg) Weyermann Bavarian Pils liquid malt extract
• 3.0 lbs. (1.4 kg) Briess Munich malt (20°L)
• 2 cups French oak chips (light toast)
• 8 AAU Hallertauer Mittelfrüh or Hersbrucker hops (bittering) (2 oz./55 g of 4% alpha acid)
• 1.5 oz. (42 g) Hallertauer Mittelfrüh or Hersbrucker hops (flavor/aroma)
• 1 pkg. Wyeast 2206 (Bavarian Lager), Wyeast 2308 (Munich Lager), White Labs WLP838 (Southern German Lager), or White Labs WLP920 (Old Bavarian Lager)

Step by Step

Make an “oak chip tea” as described for the all-grain batch. Then mill the specialty malt coarsely and divide it equally into two muslin bags. Place these in at least two gallons of cold water and raise the temperature slowly, for about half an hour, until it reaches 170–190 °F. At this point bubbles should start to pearl up in the liquid, but the pot must not boil.

Lift the bags out of the steeping liquid and rinse them with several cups of cold water. Do not squeeze them. Discard the spent grain. Turn off the heat and stir in the canned extract. Fill the kettle and bring the wort to a boil. Add the bittering hops and continue with the instructions for the all-grain recipe.

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Caveman Kellerbier

5 gallons/19 L, extract only; OG = 1.056;  FG = 1.014;  SRM = 15; IBU = 35;  ABV = 5.4%

Ingredients:

• 5.8 lbs. (2.63 kg) Weyermann Bavarian Pils liquid malt extract
• 2.7 lbs. (1.22 kg) Weyermann Bavarian Dark liquid malt extract
• 2 cups French oak chips (light toast)
• 8 AAU Hallertauer Mittelfrüh or Hersbrucker (bittering) (roughly 2 oz. or 55 g of 4% alpha acid)
• 1.5 oz. (42 g) Hallertauer Mittelfrüh or Hersbrucker (flavor/aroma)
• 1 pkg. Wyeast 2206 (Bavarian Lager), Wyeast 2308 (Munich Lager), White Labs WLP838 (Southern German Lager), or White Labs WLP920 (Old Bavarian Lager)

Step by Step:

Make an “oak chip tea” as described for the all-grain batch. Mix the two malts with your hot brewing liquor. Bring the wort to a boil and add all hops. Then follow the remaining instructions for the all-grain recipe.