Radical Brewing: Recipes, Tales and World-Altering Meditations in a Glass

What will bring the effervescence,

Who will add the needed factor,

That the beer may foam and sparkle,

May ferment and be delightful?”

RECIPE “A Perfect Ten” Wheaten Honeywine

Yield: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Gravity: 1.100 (24 °P)
Alcohol/vol: 10 to 11% (depending on yeast)
Color: Medium gold
Bitterness: 36 IBU
Yeast: German weizen
Maturation: 6 to 10 months
This will be a good vehicle to show off the honey, so pick a variety with a pleasing and delicate aroma and a pale color. The honey will add a nice aroma and cut the thickness of the wheat.
All-Malt (& Honey) Recipe:
11.5 lb (5.2 kg)
70%
wheat malt
2.0 lb (0.90 kg)
12%
six-row lager malt
3.0 lb (1.4 kg)
18%
honey, added at end of boil
For an extract recipe, substitute 9.5 lb (4.3 kg) of liquid wheat extract for the malts.
Hops:
2.0 oz (57 g)
60 min
Tettnang (4% AA)
1.5 oz (42 g)
30 min
Tettnang (4% AA)
1.0 oz (28 g)
end of boil
Tettnang (4% AA)
0.1 oz (3 g)
end of boil
lemon zest

RECIPE Dick’s Elixir Wheat Porter

Yield: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Gravity: 1.073 (17.5 °P)
Alcohol/vol: 5.5 to 6.4%
Color: Ruby brown
Bitterness: 23 IBU
Yeast: English or Scottish ale
Maturation: 8 to 12 weeks
This was concocted by my original brewing partner, Ray Spangler, and me. Wheat softens this burly brew, giving it a chocolate milkshake flavor and texture.
As with all wheat-based beers, it does not bear long aging. Use caution when drinking; this is one seductive beer.
All-Grain Recipe:
5.0 lb (2.3 kg)
35%
wheat malt
4.0 lb (1.8 kg)
28%
Munich malt
3.0 lb (1.4 kg)
21%
six-row lager malt
1.5 lb (0.7 kg)
10%
medium crystal malt
0.5 lb (227 g)
3.5%
flaked oats, toasted @ 300°F/I50°C until a light golden brown, and smelling like cookies
6.0 oz (170 g)
3.5%
black patent malt
1.0 lb (0.45 kg)
—
rice hulls
No Equivalent Extract Recipe
Hops:
0.5 oz (14 g)
90 min
Northern Brewer (7% AA)
0.5 oz (14 g)
10 min
Northern Brewer (7% AA)
0.35 oz (10 g)
10 min
Santiam (6.5% AA)
A standard infusion mash (one hour at 152° F or 66.5° C) will work, but you may get more creaminess if you do a protein rest at 122 to 131° F (50 to 55° C) for twenty to thirty minutes. A ninety-minute boil is recommended. For the smoothest taste, use debittered black malt if you can find it.
Use your favorite yeast, but avoid anything too wacky so the simple flavors can shine through the darkness. I like the Fuller’s strain of ale yeast for its malt-accentuating qualities. Lager yeast would also do nicely with this one.

RECIPE Amazing Daze American Wheat Ale

This is a cool refresher, with a little more crispness and bite than its German counterpart.
Yield: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Gravity: 1.049 (12 °P)
Alcohol/vol: 4.1 to 4.7%
Color: Pale gold
Bitterness: 23 IBU
Yeast: American ale
Maturation: 4 to 6 weeks
All-Grain Recipe
4.0 lb (1.8 kg)
44.5%
Pilsener malt
4.0 lb (1.8 kg)
44.5%
wheat malt
1.0 lb (0.45 kg)
11%
Munich malt
1.0 lb (0.45 kg)
—
rice hulls
Extract Plus Steeped Grain Recipe:
4.0 lb (1.8 kg)
92%
liquid wheat extract
0.5 lb (227g)
8%
Munich malt
Hops:
0.75 oz (21 g)
60 min
Cascade (6% AA)
1.0 oz (28 g)
15 min
US Tettnang (4.5% AA)

The Pilsener mash is the most complex decoction of all, a grueling challenge involving twenty-two individual steps over nearly six hours. And, of course, it works properly only with very soft water. The dilution is quite loose, at 2.1 quarts per pound. The main saccharification rest happens at only 144.5° F (62.5° C), very low. All three decoctions are one-third of the mash each, and are thick.

You can get some of the benefits of this flavor-enhancing technique without losing your mind by doing streamlined decoctions. The simplest way is to just do a single decoction. You can dough-in at 95° F (35° C) and then raise to 131° F (55° C). The decoction can be taken off after the mash has had a fifteen-minute protein rest. Raise the decoction to 155° F and let it stand for twenty minutes before raising it up to boiling. This will saccharify the decocted portion before its few remaining enzymes are destroyed by boiling. Heating the decoction will probably require constant stirring, but try to do it as gently as possible as air has some undesirable effects on the mash include oxidative darkening and possible increases in viscosity.

Coffee—Cold Extraction

This is a way of getting very smooth coffee flavor to add to your beer. Add 0.5 lb (0.45 kg) ground coffee to 24 ounces of cold filtered water in a sanitized container. Allow this to sit in the refrigerator for 24 hours, then run the mixture through a coffee filter. All or part of this extract (see below) may be added to your stout.

flavor profile. Whole hops seem to have a cleaner flavor than pellets, as the pelletizing process smashes the plant’s cells, spilling some green, chlorophyll-like flavors into the beers.

2. Water is a key element, not just marketing fodder Plzen’s water is the softest in the brewing world, with few minerals of any kind. The lack of alkalinity (carbonates) means the hop bitterness is superbly clean and crisp, without the raspy aftertaste that accompanies bitter beers made with hard carbonate water. To be authentic you need to use distilled water. For those of you scientifically treating your water, the PPM levels of all the common water minerals in Plzen’s water is in the mid-to high single digits.

coffee makes a nice change of pace in a stout. The best way to use it is with a cold extraction (see above). Four to 8 ounces (113 to 227 g) of coffee will season a batch.

RECIPE Modern British Mild or Brown Porter

Yield: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Gravity: 1.038 (9 °P)
Alcohol/vol: 3.5 to 4%
Color: Chestnut brown
Bitterness: 25 IBU
Yeast: English stout
Maturation: 3 to 5 weeks
All-Grain Recipe:
5.5 lb (2.5 kg)
81%
British pale ale malt
1.0 lb (0.45 kg)
13.5%
very dark (140°L) crystal malt
0.25 lb (113 g)
4%
wheat/wheat malt
2.5 oz (71 g)
2%
black patent malt
Extract+ Mini-Mash Recipe:
3.5 lb (1.6 kg)
72%
amber dry extract
1.0 lb (0.45 kg)
20%
very dark (140°L) crystal malt
0.25 lb (113 g)
5%
wheat/wheat malt
2.5 oz (71 g)
3%
black patent malt
Hops:
0.25 oz (7 g)
90 min
Northdown (6.5% AA)
0.5 oz (14 g)
5 min
Fuggles (5% AA)
Wagner, 1877 (Handbuch der Bierbrauerei), Porter Formulas

Pale
Amber
Brown
Black
—
95%
—
5%
48%
24%
24%
4%
57%
15%
25%
3%
58%
10%

Yield: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Gravity: 1.067 (16 °P)
Alcohol/vol: 5 to 5.8%
Color: Brownish amber
Bitterness: 26 IBU
Yeast: English ale
Maturation: 8 to 12 weeks
For a wacky twist, add a cup of lightly toasted walnuts or pecans, finely ground, to the mash. Be sure to protect the beer from marauding squirrels.
All-Grain Recipe:
8.5 lb (3.9 kg)
65%
mild ale malt
4.0 lb (1.8 g)
12%
biscuit/amber malt
0.5 lb (227 g)
4%
brown ale malt
Extract+ Mini-Mash Recipe:
6.0 lb (2.7 kg)
67%
amber dry extract
2.0 lb (0.90 kg)
22%
biscuit/amber malt
1.0 lb (0.45 kg)
11%
medium crystal
Hops:
0.75 oz (21 g)
90 min
Northern Brewer (7% AA)
0.5 oz (14 g)
20 min
Northdown (6.5% AA)