Just Wingin’ It English CDA

Well this one is coming into being sort of completely by accident.  I had bought a supply of ingredients to last a couple months, mainly to save shipping.  During that time I was using DME out of one of the bags to make yeast starters.  Turns out I didn’t calculate correctly and I’ve actually been using DME from a recipe I originally intended to be an English style mild.

Yeah, I wasn’t that sure about that one in the first place, and now I’m definitely totally unsure.  Plus I’ve been experimenting with making a bit less wort in order to facilitate a complete (or near complete) boil.

Anyway, I used quite a bit of the DME I had intended for the original recipe making starters, and now I’ve got to improvise in order to use it up.  These rather strange circumstances have led me to…
Just Wingin’ It English CDA

Yeah I think there are multiple contradictions just in the title, which may be an oxymoron of sorts in and of itself.

What I’ve decided on is to make an English IPA of sorts.  However, the specialty grains (partial mash) I’ve chosen will make the SRM pretty dark.  So it’s sort of an English IPA mixed with a Black IPA, or Cascadian Dark Ale.  Or an English CDA.  Or something.  But that’s what I’m naming it, and this is what it will contain…

**NOTE: 4 gallon batch**

• Briess Pilsen (Extra) Light Dry Extract  2 lbs, 8 oz
  Crisp Pale Ale  3 lbs, 8 oz
  Crisp Crystal Malt 77L  0 lbs, 8 oz
  Crisp Pale Chocolate Malt  0 lbs, 3 oz
  Crisp Black Malt  0 lbs, 2 oz
  Chinook Pellets  0.5 oz @ 60 mins
  Northern Brewer Pellets  1 oz @ 15 mins
  Chinook Pellets 0.5 oz @ 10 mins
  Northern Brewer Pellets  1 oz @ 5 mins
  Bramling Cross Pellets     1 oz @ 0 mins
  Northern Brewer Pellets  2 oz @ Dry
  Wyeast Labs London Ale III

Now I have made one English-ish IPA in the past, and it came out really good.  So this recipe is hereby morphed into something somewhat English-IPA like, but with some dark specialty malts.

This will be a partial mash brew.  I haven’t quite decided on the exact mash technique, but it will be stovetop and batch sparged.

UPDATE: I wound up doing a mini-mash in a pot on the stove.  I kept the temperature at 155F by carefully monitoring and adding a little heat when needed, keeping in mind thermal inertia and adding it VERY CAREFULLY.  I only had to add heat twice, and not very much.  I was able to keep it within about 3 degrees of my target temp for one hour.  Then I used a strainer to remove the grains, just poured it all into a big strainer basically.  Then I “sparged” with 170F water by carefully rinsing the grains a couple times.  Probably not optimal technique, but it worked, as the beer came out good!

Targets:

OG: 1.058     FG:  1.016     IBU: 59.2     SRM: 19.40     ABV: 5.50

Procedure:

1. prepare checklist
2. lay out ingredients and equipment
3. bring 1.5 gallon spring water to 165 F
4. add grains
5. mash for 60 minutes at 155F
6. Sparge and strain**
7. In separate pot, pre-boil 2.5 gallons spring water
8. when grains are finished mashing, combine wort into boiling pot with pre-heated spring water and bring to boil
9. add bittering hops, 0.5 oz chinook at 60 minute mark
10. add the wort chiller at 30 minutes.  make sure wort chiller is pre-filled with hot water
11. add the DME incrementally during the last 30 minutes of the boil
12. add 1 oz northern brewer at 15 minute mark
13. add 1/4 tsp Irish moss powder at 15 minute mark
14. begin sanitation procedures on spoon, thermometer, bucket, wine thief
15. add 0.5 oz chinook at 10 minute mark
16. add 1 oz northern brewer at 5 minute mark
17. add 1 oz bramling cross at FO
18. hop rest 20 minutes
19. begin cooling with wort chiller
20. stir occasionally with sanitized stainless spoon during hop rest and during cooling
21. ensure bucket, wine thief, thermometer, spoon are sanitized
22. when wort gets to about 75F, add to fermentation bucket
    
23. top to 4 gallons with chilled spring water (if necessary)
24. take OG reading with sanitized wine thief
25. thoroughly aerate wort with sanitized stainless steel spoon
26. ensure wort is 75F or a little less before pitching yeast
27. pitch yeast
28. gently stir using sanitized stainless steel spoon
29. install sanitized bucket lid and airlock
30. ferment in closet for 7-9 days at 67F ambient air temp.
31. after 7-9 days, add 2 oz northern brewer for dry hopping
32. take FG sample and bottle (after a minimum of 14 days)
33. use 4 oz corn sugar at bottling

Actual OG: 1.052

FG: 1.012

Notes: