El Camino (Un)Real Black Ale clone

El Camino (Un)Real Black Ale clone
Collaboration among 21st Amendment, Firestone Walker and Stone Brewing Co.

(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG =  1.096 (23 °P) FG =  1.021 (5.2 °P)
IBU = 49  ABV = 7.1%

Ingredients
15 lb. 8 oz. (7.0 kg) North American 2-row pale malt
13 oz. (0.38 kg) Caramunich® malt
12 oz. (0.34 kg) Special B malt
10.5 oz. (0.30 kg) Carafa® III malt
9.5 oz. (0.27 kg) roasted barley
6.1 oz. (0.17 kg) flaked oats
5.3 oz. (0.15 kg) chocolate malt
15 oz. (0.41 kg) Belgian dark candi sugar (90 min.)
14 AAU Challenger hops (90 min.) (2.1 oz./60 g of 6.5% alpha acids)
1.3 oz. East Kent Goldings hops (10 min.) (1.3 oz./37 g of 4.5% alpha acids)
1.5 oz.  (43 g) Styrian Goldings hops (0 min.)
0.46 oz. (13 g) fennel seeds (0 min.)
0.46 oz. (13 g) chia seeds (0 min.)
0.25 oz. (7.1 g) pink peppercorns (0 min.)
1.7 oz.  (48 g) Styrian Golding hops (dry hop)
0.9 oz. (26 g) dried black mission figs (steep 7 days) (chopped, soaked in bourbon)
8.0 oz. (230 g) oak chips (steep 3 days)
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) yeast (6 qt./6 L yeast starter)

Step by Step
For mashing in, you will need 6.0 gallons (23 L) of strike water. Mash at 149 °F (65 °C) for 60 minutes. Mash out to 165 °F (74 °C). Recirculate and collect wort. Collect enough to be able to boil wort for 90 minutes. (Fully sparged, you would get at least 10 gallons/38 L out of the grain bed, but then you would have to boil your wort longer to concentrate it. If you boil less than you can get from the grain bed, you may have to supplement the wort with a little malt extract to reach your target OG.) Boil wort to reduce volume to 5 gallons (19 L), adding hops and other spices at times indicated. Chill and transfer to fermenter. Aerate and pitch yeast sediment from yeast starter. Ferment at 68–70 °F (20–21 °C). Transfer to secondary and add dry hops and figs, then 4 days later add the oak chips; 3 days after that, package the beer.

El Camino (Un)Real Black Ale

(5 gallons/19 L, partial mash)
OG =  1.096 (23 °P)  FG =  1.021 (5.2 °P)
IBU = 49  ABV = 7.1%

Ingredients
4.0 lbs. (1.8 kg) North American 2-row pale malt
13 oz. (0.38 kg) Caramunich® malt
12 oz. (0.34 kg) Special B malt
10.5 oz. (0.30 kg) Carafa® III malt
9.5 oz. (0.27 kg) roasted barley
6.1 oz. (0.17 kg) flaked oats
5.3 oz. (0.15 kg) chocolate malt
15 oz. (0.41 kg) Belgian dark candi sugar (90 min.)
2.0 lbs. (0.91 kg) light dried malt extract
5 lb. 10 oz. (2.6 kg) light liquid malt extract
14 AAU Challenger hops (90 min.) (2.1 oz./60 g of 6.5% alpha acids)
1.3 oz. East Kent Goldings hops (10 min.) (1.3 oz./37 g of 4.5% alpha acids)
1.5 oz.  (43 g) Styrian Goldings hops (0 min.)
0.46 oz. (13 g) fennel seeds (0 min.)
0.46 oz. (13 g) chia seeds (0 min.)
0.25 oz. (7.1 g) pink peppercorns (0 min.)
1.7 oz.  (48 g) Styrian Golding hops (dry hop)
0.9 oz. (26 g) dried black mission figs (steep 7 days) (chopped, soaked in bourbon)
8.0 oz. (230 g) oak chips (steep 3 days)
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) yeast

Step by Step
For this partial mash recipe, you’ll need two large grain steeping bags and a 2-gallon (7.6-L) beverage cooler. Place the 4.0 lbs. (1.8 kg) of 2-row pale malt in one steeping bag and the remaining specialty grains in the other. In the cooler, mash the pale malt grains at 149 °F (65 °C) for 60 minutes. This will take 5.5 quarts (5.2 L) of water. In your brewpot, steep the specialty grains at 149 °F (65 °C) in 4.5 qqts. (4.2 L) of water while you are mashing. Collect wort from the cooler in the following manner. Collect one cup of wort from the spigot, then add one cup of hot sparge water to the top of the cooler and repeat until you collect around 2.0 gallons (7.6 L) of wort. Use ~190 °F (88 °C) water for sparging, but don’t let the temperature of the grain bed rise above 170 °F (77 °C). As you collect the wort, add it to your brewpot, where the specialty grains are steeping (and still being held at 149 °F/65 °C). Once all the wort is collected from the cooler, add water to brewpot to make at least 3.5 gallons (13 L) of wort, stir in dried malt extract and bring to a boil. Boil wort for 90 minutes, adding hops and other spices at times indicated. Stir in liquid malt extract during the final 15 minutes of the boil. (Stir well to avoid scorching malt extract.) Cool wort and transfer to fermenter. Top up to 5.0 gallons (19 L) with cool water, aerate well and pitch yeast. Ferment at 68–70 °F (20–21 °C). Transfer to secondary and add dry hops and figs, then 4 days later add the oak chips; 3 days after that, package the beer.

Extract with grains option:
Omit 2-row pale malt from partial mash recipe and increase liquid malt extract to a total of 8.5 lbs. (3.9 kg) Place specialty grains in a steeping bag. In a large (at least 6 qt./6 L) kitchen pot, steep grains at 149 °F (65 °C) for 60 minutes in 1.1 gallons (4.2 L) of water. Begin heating at least 2.0 gallons (7.6 L) of water in your brewpot as the grains steep. Rinse grains with 2.0 qts. (1.9 L) of 170 °F (77 °C) water and add “grain tea” to water in brewpot. Stir in dried malt extract and bring wort to a boil. Boil for 90 minutes, adding hops and spices at times indicated. Stir in liquid malt extract during the final 15 minutes of the boil. (Stir well to avoid scorching malt extract.) Cool wort and transfer to fermenter. Top up to 5.0 gallons (19 L) with cool water, aerate well and pitch yeast. Ferment at 68–70 °F (20–21 °C). Transfer to secondary and add dry hops and figs, then 4 days later add the oak chips; 3 days after that, package the beer.

Tips for Success:
This is a big beer, be sure to make a yeast starter with enough volume to grow a sufficient number of cells to ferment the wort efficiently — a minimum of roughly 3 qts. (3 L), but optimally twice that. Barring that, 17 g of Fermentis US-05 dried yeast would also work. Aerate the wort well and consider adding yeast nutrients in the final 15 minutes of the boil.

Getting the right amount of spice in a beer can be tricky. Consider adding half of the amount of each of the spices listed here, and soaking the remaining spices in vodka. If, when it comes time to bottle or keg the beer, the beer seems underspiced, add some or all of the vodka.

When adding the figs, put these in a dry hopping bag and do not add the bourbon used for soaking to the beer.