Holiday Ale

5 gallons, extract with grains; OG = 1.062; FG = 1.015; IBU = 32

Ingredients:

• 12 oz. British crystal malt (55° Lovibond)
• 1 oz. British black malt
• 7 lbs. Muntons extra light dry malt extract (DME)
• 8 AAUs Fuggles (2 oz. at 4% alpha acid) (bittering)
• 5 AAUs East Kent Goldings (1 oz. at 5% alpha acid) (flavor)
• 2 AAUs Fuggles (0.5 oz. at 4% alpha acid) (aroma)
• 1 tsp. Irish moss
• Thames Valley (Wyeast 1275) or English Ale (White Labs WLP002)
• 1-1/4  cup Muntons extra light dry malt extract for priming

Step by Step:   

Bring one gallon of water to 155° F, add crushed grain and hold for 30 minutes at 150° F. Strain the grain into the brewpot and sparge with one gallon of 168° F water. Add the dry malt and bittering hops.
Bring the total volume in the brewpot to 2.5 gallons. Boil for 45 minutes, then add the flavor hops and Irish moss. Boil for 13 minutes, then add the aroma hops. Boil for 2 minutes, then remove the pot from stove. Cool wort for 15 minutes in an ice bath or chill with wort chiller. Strain into the primary fermenter and add water to obtain 5-1/8 gallons.

Add the yeast when the wort has cooled to below 80° F, then oxygenate-aerate well. Ferment at 68° F for 7 days, then rack into secondary (glass carboy). Ferment until target gravity has been reached and beer has cleared (approximately 3 weeks). Prime and bottle. Carbonate at 70° to 72° F for 2 to 3 weeks. Store at cellar temperature.

Partial-mash option:

Mash 2.25 lbs. British two-row pale malt and the specialty grains in 1 gallon of water at 150° F for 90 minutes. Sparge with 2 gallons of water at 168° F. Then follow the extract recipe, omitting 1.75 lbs. of Muntons extra light dry malt extract from the boil.

All-grain option:

Mash 11 lbs. British two-row pale malt and the specialty grains in 3 gallons of water at 151° F for 90 minutes. Sparge with 5 gallons of water at 168° F. The total boil time is approximately 90 min. Add 5.9 AAU of Fuggles for the last 60 min. of the boil. Then add the flavor hops, Irish moss and aroma hops as indicated by the extract recipe.