Celebration Beer

5 gallons, extract with grains; OG = 1.069;  FG = 1.019 to 1.020; SRM = 22; IBU = 35  ABV 6.3%

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. British crystal malt
• 8 oz. torrified wheat
• 1 oz. British black patent malt
• 7.5 lbs. Muntons extra-light DME
• 8 oz. malto-dextrin
• 9.2 AAUs Fuggles (2 oz. of 4.6% alpha acid) (bittering)
• 5 AAUs East Kent Goldings (1 oz. of 5% alpha acid) (flavor)
• 1 tsp. Irish moss
• 2.5 AAUs East Kent Goldings (0.50 oz. of 5% alpha acid) (aroma)
• 2.5 AAUs Styrian Goldings (0.50 oz. of 5% alpha acid) (aroma)
• Special London (Wyeast 1968) or
• English Ale (White Labs WLP002)
• 1-1/4 cup Muntons extra-light dried malt extract (DME) for priming

Step by Step:

Bring 1 gallon of water to 160° 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 dried malt extract, malto-dextrin 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 14 minutes, then add the roma hops. Boil for 1 minute, then remove the pot from the 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 yeast when wort has cooled to below 80° F.        

Ferment at 70° to 72° F for 7 days then rack into secondary. Ferment until target gravity has been reached and beer has cleared (3 weeks). Prime and bottle. Carbonate at 70° to 72° F for 3 to 4 weeks. Store at cellar temperature.

Partial-mash option: 

Acidify the mash water to below 7 pH. Mash 1.5 lbs. British two-row pale malt and the specialty grains in 1 gallon of water at 154° F for 60 minutes. Sparge with 1.5 gallons of water at 5.7 pH and 168° F. Then follow the extract recipe, omitting 1.75 lbs. of Muntons extra-light DME from the boil.

All-grain option:

Acidify the mash water to below 7 pH. Mash 11.5 lbs. British two-row pale malt and the specialty grains in 4.25 gallons of water at 154° F for 90 minutes. Sparge with 5 gallons of water at 5.7 pH and 168 F. The total boil time is approximately 90 minutes. Add 6.4 AAUs of bittering hops for the last 60 minutes of the boil. Add the flavor hops, Irish moss and aroma hops as indicated by the extract recipe above.

Helpful Hints:

If your water is soft (below 50 ppm hardness), add 1/4 tsp. non-iodized table salt, 1-1/2 tsp. calcium carbonate (chalk) and 1/4 tsp. Epsom salts. If your water is moderate (between 50 to 200 ppm hardness), add 1/4 tsp. non-iodized table salt and 1/2 tsp. calcium carbonate. If your water is hard (greater than 300 ppm hardness), add 1/4 tsp. non-iodized table salt. This ale is ready to drink 2 months after it is carbonated. It will peak between 2 and 6 months and will last for up to 9 months at cellar temperatures.