For Whom the Bell’s Pours
For many homebrewers, it all started with a kit. For Larry Bell, the founder and President of Bell’s Brewery, one of the oldest craft breweries east of the Mississippi River, it was no different when he started homebrewing in early 1980. His first kit was comprised of a can of malt extract and a 5-pound (2.3-kg) bag of sugar. That may sound foreign to the modern day homebrewer, but at that time, resources on homebrewing were scarce. “At that time, there just weren’t a lot of homebrewers,” Larry mused when speaking of his early days in the hobby. “Those first few kits were basic bucket brews; I don’t even know if any hops were involved.”
As this recollection illustrates, Bell’s Brewery, like many other breweries who started in that era, came from very humble beginnings. Since then, it has transformed into the seventh largest craft brewery in the United States over its 35-year history, producing 464,000 barrels of beer in 2017. The spirit of homebrewing was a major influence on Bell’s in its earliest days of operations, and despite its now much larger scale, continues on in the present.
The Beginning
Eventually, Bell moved on from those first basic kits, and after seeking out where to find better homebrewing supplies, started brewing all-grain batches within his first year as a homebrewer. In the true homebrewing spirit, seeking to control variables with limited resources, Bell recalled a time shortly after he began making all-grain batches where his roommate (and landlord) approached him about why his bedroom window was open in February. “He had a wood stove to heat the house that kept the other rooms too hot, and the basement was too cold, so I needed to keep the window open so my stout wouldn’t ferment too hot,” Larry recalled.
As Bell’s hobby became more serious, he decided to open the Kalamazoo Brewing Company in 1983, which at that time was only a homebrew supply store that was open around 10 hours per week. Not only did this allow him to turn his hobby into a small business, it allowed him to buy his homebrewing ingredients wholesale. At this time, Bell’s personal homebrewing hobby began to resemble more of a business as well. After opening the shop he developed a relationship with the owner of the Kalamazoo Spice Extraction Company (now known as Kalsec). Kalsec was a big player in developing hop products, and began to pay Larry to do test batches with their hop extracts
and oils.
While running the shop and doing the experiments with Kalsec, Bell continued to brew up to 20 gallons (76 L) of homebrew per week, and to make ends meet and continue to fund his brewing, began selling his beer to friends for $10/case. Eventually though, it became obvious that this practice, which wasn’t exactly legal, wouldn’t be sustainable. However, the exact moment that inspired Bell to begin the process of taking his brewing operation commercial came late one Saturday night. “I heard a knock on the door, and I knew I’d been selling to people I don’t know, and thought that might be it.” That knock ended up being from friends who were in a band about to leave town, who wanted to buy some of his cream stout. That scare was enough to convince him to write to the federal government the next day to find out what he needed to do to obtain a commercial brewery license. The initial response, however, wasn’t what he had hoped to hear back. “The letter was very discouraging,” Bell stated. The letter went on to warn him that “this is a very capital intensive business and you need a lot of expertise to do this,” he recalled.
Despite the initially discouraging response, Bell was able to eventually get his brewery licensed, and Bell’s began selling beer commercially in the fall of 1985. The small operation produced 135 barrels in its first year, starting out on a brewhouse that was centered around a 15-gallon (57-L) soup kettle and a fermentation cellar using plastic drums. Bell was eventually able to find larger kettles but still operated on a 1-bbl, three-vessel system for Bell’s first five years of operation, the last year of which 1,000 barrels of beer were produced. “We were in many ways commercial homebrewers,” Bell recalled when discussing some of their techniques.
For those first few years, the small staff at Bell’s shared all responsibilities, whether that would be brewing, washing bottles, labeling, or whatever else needed to be done. Bell relied on self-distribution at first, and drove all over the state of Michigan to find new accounts to buy his beer. At the same time, money was tight and financing was hard to come by. To keep the doors open, Bell obtained a number of loans from friends, acquaintances, and investors to keep Bell’s operating. By the time the 1990s rolled around, Bell was still unable to obtain traditional bank financing, and instead took out additional personal loans (collectively amounting to nearly half a million dollars) to purchase the brewery’s first legitimate commercial brewhouse, a 15-barrel system, and later, a 30-barrel system to go with it.
With newfound capacity and capitalization, Bell’s continued to grow throughout the 1990s, and in 1993 became the first brewery in the state of Michigan to open its own on-site pub, the Eccentric Café, which allowed it to serve beer by the glass for the first time since Prohibition. The Café has grown over the years as well, and now includes a concert venue, outdoor beer garden, and full service restaurant.
The 2000s
By the early 2000s, continued growth was beginning to push Bell’s toward maximizing the capacity at its downtown Kalamazoo brewery, and further expansion at this landlocked property would be difficult. To support continued growth, plans were made to open a second brewery that would allow for growth not only in the near term, but long term as well. While this alone would represent a major step for Bell’s, it would also introduce them to John Mallett, Bell’s current Director of Operations, who would be a key piece in taking Bell’s from a small regional brewery producing around 30,000 barrels of beer per year, to a national player that would rank among the largest in the country.
For those who have been around the brewing industry for any appreciable amount of time, John Mallett needs no introduction. He’s one of the foremost brewing experts in the craft beer industry. Notably, he’s the author of Malt: A Practical Guide from Field to Brewhouse from Brewers Publications. He was also a founding member of the Hop Quality Group, has served on the technical committee of the Master Brewers Association of America for over a decade, and has been an extended faculty member of the Siebel Institute for nearly 25 years.
Like many though, Mallett got his start in the brewing industry at the very bottom, while living in Boston as a college student studying chemical engineering in 1986. An interest in the early East Coast craft beer scene got Mallett interested in the idea of working in the industry, and the first job he took was with Commonwealth Brewery in Boston, working in the kitchen at the brewpub. Not long after, a job opened up in the brewery and, despite it meaning a pay cut, he jumped at the chance to take it. Before long he rose to Head Brewer, but after three years, elected to leave to enroll in the brewing program at Siebel Institute. After graduating, he took a job as Brewmaster with Old Dominion Brewing Co. in Virginia.
After a five-year stint there, which saw Old Dominion grow tremendously, Mallett decided to start his own company, SAAZ Brewing Equipment and Services in 1995. SAAZ would specialize in brewery capital projects, literally helping build breweries all over the country — some of which were large enough to make more than 1 million barrels of beer per year. This proved to be a successful business for him, and is what prompted a call from Larry Bell in 2001. It was through this initial engagement that Mallett was offered the opportunity to stay on as the new brewery’s Director of Operations, a title he has held ever since. This proved to perhaps be the most important hire Larry Bell would make, as Mallett is frequently credited as a major force that pushed Bell’s to the next level in terms of quality and process improvement.
The new Comstock brewery, seven miles from the original, opened in 2003 with the 50-barrel brewhouse that is still in use today, and enough cellar space to double capacity compared to what was possible at the Kalamazoo brewery alone. However, the new facility was built with growth in mind, and over the next several years, the facility saw multiple expansions, which included the addition of a brand new 200-barrel brewhouse in 2012 and a canning line in late 2013.
Further expansions to the Comstock brewery over the last few years will allow production of up to 1 million barrels per year, which will support Bell’s growing presence nationally, where they now reach 40 states, including adding new markets in New England and Colorado in 2018.
Despite the growth Bell’s was experiencing in their core business, Larry had for years debated opening a brewery in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. After finding the right property, Upper Hand Brewery, which is a division of Bell’s but its own entity and brand, began producing and selling beer in 2014 out of a brand new brewery in Escanaba. Upper Hand is unique in that it is only available in the Upper Peninsula, Northern Wisconsin, and Minnesota, and its portfolio — including beers such as Upper Peninsula Ale, Escanaba Black Beer, and Yooper Ale — have been designed and branded specifically for this market.
Bell’s Lineup
You don’t grow like Bell’s has over its 35-year history without developing a strong set of core brands. In general, Bell’s has thrived by producing a portfolio of well-balanced, high-quality beers that appeal to a wide range of drinkers, though innovation has remained a hallmark of the brewery’s philosophy ever since its founding. Bell’s first flagship brand was its Amber Ale, a beer that is still sold year-round today. In the 1990s, IPA had not yet become the phenomenon that it is today, and Amber Ale offered a malty, flavorful alternative to the mass-marketed adjunct lagers that made up the majority of the options for the average beer drinker. “There’s no doubt Amber Ale carried the brewery in the late 80s and early 90s,” Bell recalled. While Amber Ale is not the brewery’s flagship beer any longer, it has remained popular, and is still Bell’s third best-selling brand.
Another popular beer, Solsun, an American wheat ale, appeared for the first time in 1991. This spring and summer seasonal featuring Saaz hops and a slightly fruity aroma and flavor quickly became another one of Bell’s most popular offerings. However, a trademark dispute with Cerveceria Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma, makers of the Mexican lager Sol, led Bell’s to rename the beer Oberon in 1997, a name that has remained for the past 20 years. Oberon has remained another standout brand for Bell’s, and remains a staple on store shelves during the spring and summer, especially in its home state of Michigan where its arrival each spring is met with midnight release parties and reminds craft beer drinkers that spring has arrived. Despite availability in most markets only stretching from March through September, only one beer in the Bell’s portfolio sells more than Oberon.
As many know, the introduction of Bell’s current flagship and best-selling beer, Two Hearted Ale, is really what helped make Bell’s the national player it is today. This iconic American IPA first appeared in 1997 and featured the little known (at the time) Centennial hop. As American beer drinker’s love affair with IPAs grew in the 2000s, Two Hearted Ale’s popularity grew along with it, enough so that it presently comprises roughly half of the total production at Bell’s. More on the history of Two Hearted Ale is included in the sidebar later in this story.
It is not just these core brands that have defined the brewery however, as Bell’s boasts numerous other seasonal or specialty beers that have in some cases achieved cult status amongst craft beer drinkers. Debuting in 2004, Hopslam — a massive 10% ABV double IPA made with honey — uses seven different hop varieties but features a heavy handed dry hopping of Simcoe®. This beer is released once per year in January, which per Mallett, is to ensure that it gets to consumers as fresh as possible.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Bell’s is no stranger to brewing dark beers. Its two year-round offerings include Kalamazoo Stout, an American-style stout that utilizes the historic ingredient brewer’s licorice, and Porter, which was first brewed in 1987. Perhaps a fan favorite of Bell’s dark beers, however, is Expedition Stout, a 10.5% ABV imperial stout that has not only medaled two times at the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) when fresh, but has also taken home three medals in the aged beer category at GABF (the 1995 vintage took home a silver medal in the “Strong Ale” category that year, and a gold in the “Aged Beer” category 16 years later!). While a Bourbon barrel aged version of Expedition Stout was released for the first time in 2016, Bell’s most popular Bourbon barrel aged beer remains Black Note. This 11.2% ABV stout, which is a blend of Expedition Stout and Bell’s Special Double Cream Stout, does not have a set release schedule, and is only produced in small quantities.
While Bell’s portfolio is vast, it does illustrate the range at which the brewery can produce world-class beers. Its Octoberfest Beer is considered by many to be one of the best domestic-made examples of the Märzen style, and its Quinannan Falls lager, which like Hopslam is generously dry-hopped with Simcoe®, was one of the earliest examples of a brewery aggressively hopping a pale lager with hops more typically found in an IPA. On the sour and wild side of things, Oarsman is a year-round tart wheat ale that is Bell’s spin on the Berliner weisse style, while the small-batch Wild One, a mixed culture sour brown ale featuring Brettanomyces, is a local favorite aged in oak foeders.
Brewing the Bell’s Way
When discussing Bell’s brewing philosophy with Mallett, he talked about the importance of being transparent as a brewery, though not necessarily in the traditional sense of the word. “Ideally somebody should pick up a pint of beer and see all the way back to the farms. We put an emphasis on high-quality raw materials, and simple, natural processing.”
Consistency was another hallmark that Mallett hit on, and how the drive to create a consistent product drives process improvement at the brewery. The interplay between process and ingredients illustrates much of the philosophy of how beer is made at Bell’s. “There are components that come from ingredients, and those that come from process,” Mallett told me. “I could give you the recipe for Two Hearted and tell you to use these hops and this amount of them, and you will not get the same result.” Innovation has also long been a hallmark at Bell’s, which isn’t just about creating the next big style. “Innovation involves everything from raw materials to designing recipes, to also designing the process by which we will make new beers,” said Mallett.
Malt
Most of Bell’s beers start with a domestic base malt, though the brewery frequently blends base malts to arrive at the profile they are looking for in specific beers. Base malts are sourced from a number of maltsters, including Briess and Rahr. Certain beers also require sourcing European malts, notably their Octoberfest Beer, which has a malt bill made entirely from Durst Malz in Germany. Specialty malts are popular with the Bell’s brewing staff, as a number of beers utilize them to deliver their signature profiles. Briess Caramel malts are used in many of the core brands, but notably, numerous staff members I spoke to went out of their way to espouse their love for Simpsons crystal malt, specifically, their “50/60” variety, now marketed as Medium Crystal malt.
Mallett has noted that one of the most important factors when it comes to their malt is the relationships they’ve developed with their maltsters, which lends to the philosophy of being involved in the entire supply chain cycle for their raw materials. “We are having conversations with our maltsters about variety, process, and expectations,” he noted. “If they understand what’s important to us, they can drive their malt to what we’re looking for.” Going further, Bell’s even evaluates the varieties of barley that eventually turn into the malt that it uses in its beers. “The flavors and attributes that malt expresses are absolutely linked to the barley variety that is grown. If you don’t have control over those varieties, malts may get pushed in a direction that we don’t want to go.” Bell’s takes the technical evaluation of their barley seriously, and as Mallett noted, “attributes such as low total protein and soluble protein, low alpha amylase and moderate beta glucan may be more important to us than color.”
Hops
When it comes to hops, it all starts with Centennial at Bell’s, being the sole hop in Two Hearted Ale. As the biggest brewery buyer of Centennial hops in the world, Bell’s sources Centennial from numerous sources, including large brokers, but also from specific growers. All of the Centennial that Bell’s purchases come as baled whole flower hops. “We go out to the growers to rub and assess the hops, and have a multi-point scale that we use to assess what Centennial at Bell’s should taste like,” Mallet described. The bales of hops that Bell’s eventually buys are then aggregated to a single pelletizing facility, where Bell’s creates a blend of the various bales of Centennial they have selected from the different growers and brokers, which then get pelletized. This ensures that the Centennial going into Two Hearted Ale is the exact Centennial that Bell’s chooses during their hop evaluation each year, and provides consistency over the hundreds of thousands of pounds of Centennial Bell’s will use annually.
Beyond Centennial, Bell’s utilizes a number of New World hops in many of its brands, including its newest year-round offering, Official, a Wheat IPA that is double dry hopped with Mosaic®, Citra®, Azacca®, Amarillo®, and El Dorado® hops. Beyond American varietals, Bell’s is also a heavy user of many traditional European-grown varieties, with Mallett specifically noting that Oberon owes part of its profile to a spicy bouquet attributed to these hops.
Bell’s also likes to play with newer varieties, including hops from emerging growing markets such as its home state of Michigan. Bell’s is an active supporter of public hop breeding programs, which develop varieties that any grower can plant. “I do think brewers overall have a vested interest in having public varieties,” Mallett noted when discussed these breeding programs. “There has been a resurgence of brewer interest through efforts of organizations like the Hop Research Council, the Hop Quality Group, the Brewers Association, and the USDA.”
Yeast
Bell’s house ale yeast strain is a proprietary strain that has been used since the 1980s, and is used to ferment the vast majority of the brewery’s lineup. While not available commercially, it has characteristics similar to many American ale strains, but remains distinctive enough to have a character that makes it unique. Mallett noted its ease of use, ability to flocculate well, and ability to express hops as some of the strain’s strongest attributes. Mallett specifically credits their house yeast as a contributor to the great aroma from Two Hearted. “(Two Hearted has) this great rose and fruit character that likely can be credited to yeast activity.”
One key part of Bell’s process for most brands is to allow some live yeast to remain in the can or bottle after packaging. “Having viable yeast in some of our beers adds a positive flavor contribution, and aids in scavenging oxygen and shelf stability,” Mallett outlined.
Another benefit to homebrewers is that because viable yeast can be found in cans and bottles, if done correctly, it can be cultured and brewed with on a homebrew scale. I’ve found fresh cans or bottles of Oberon work very well for this purpose. And the neatest part for homebrewers is that not only is it possible to culture Bell’s yeast, they actually encourage and help homebrewers do it by including instructions of how to do it on its website at https://www.bellsbeer.com/news/how-culture-bell-s-house-yeast-bottle-bell-s-beer. If you aren’t able to culture out of a can or bottle, a clean American ale strain with good attenuation is a reasonable substitute if trying to clone one of their beers.
The same house lager yeast is used for lager-style beers, while a number of other yeasts are used for specialty beers, including a Belgian ale strain in the seasonal Winter White Ale. Bell’s does employ Lactobacillus to sour some of its tart beers, including the year-round Oarsman as well as newer offerings such as Larry’s Latest Sour Ale — a dry hopped, kettle soured beer. While each of these beers employs Lactobacillus for souring, the techniques do vary. Bell’s employs a Lacto reactor, where wort is held in a tank housed near the brewhouse with Lactobacillus, then blended in with clean wort until each beer’s target acidity is met. This results in a beer with a lower pH and noticeable lactic sourness. This technique was inspired by the traditional German technique for creating sauergut (i.e. sour wort), though Bell’s does it for different reasons and on a much larger scale.
Water
Bell’s brewing water is drawn from the Kalamazoo County municipal water system, which is sourced from a collection of deep groundwater wells. Bell’s does sand and carbon filtration to its water as it comes into the brewery. Mallett describes the water as having good calcium but some alkalinity, so the brewery adjusts as needed with water salts to hit the desired profile for each of their beers.
Bell’s Today
Quality control has always been a core principle for Bell’s, and continues to be to this day. The brewery employs a full-time microbiologist and team of chemists who operate an on-site lab, running each beer through a variety of tests to ensure that it is fit for sale. A robust sensory panel tastes each batch multiple times to check for off-flavors or other inconsistencies. Brewery packaging technology ensures steady shelf life, as I myself observed a real-time dissolved oxygen sensor on a canning run with parts per billion readings in the low single digits. It is readily apparent Bell’s takes QC very seriously and has invested significantly to do it at a world class level.
In another nod to continue driving its core principle of innovation, one of the newest additions to Bell’s brewing operations is a dedicated pilot brewing program, led by longtime brewer and current Brewing Innovation Manager Andy Farrell. This new addition to the Comstock brewery is centered around a new 12.8-barrel pilot brewhouse, which was specifically designed to be a smaller version of the brewery’s larger 50- and 200-barrel brewhouses. This ensures that new beers brewed on the pilot system will be scalable to larger production volumes. The new pilot program also has its own dedicated brewery cellar, with fermenters also designed as scaled down versions of the larger tanks in the Comstock brewery. Several oak foeders are also in place for fermenting and aging mixed culture and sour ales. The pilot brewery also has its own bottling line, capable of filling standard 12-oz. (350-mL) bottles as well as 25-oz. (750-mL) bottles. Both Mallett and Bell noted excitement with this new venture, with Larry mentioning that some really interesting new beers would be coming out of this new extension of the brewery in late 2018.
While Bell’s has come a long way since its very humble beginnings, the homebrewing spirit that existed at the beginning still shows today. Since 2010 Bell’s has hosted its own homebrewing competition, with the winning homebrewer getting to both scale their recipe up and brew it at the original downtown Kalamazoo brewery, as well as participate in the GABF Pro-Am competition (more details about the competition are included in the sidebar later in this story). The Bell’s General Store, located in the same building as the downtown brewery and Eccentric Café, remains the premier homebrew supply stop for Kalamazoo and surrounding southwest Michigan. Bell himself even was a keynote speaker at the 1990 AHA National Homebrew Conference, where he shared advice and lessons learned for aspiring homebrewers looking to open their own brewery, just a few years after doing so himself. Even in the present day, Bell still speaks fondly of the place homebrewers have in craft beer culture. “Homebrewers are really the minor leagues of craft beer,” he stated. Bell also noted that he enjoys what the presence of homebrewers brings to the Eccentric Café before or after they stop in the General Store to grab equipment or ingredients. “I think having homebrewers around lends to some of the culture of the bar, it brings that extra added focus to the beer,” he noted.
With new breweries opening at a more rapid pace than ever before, many of which are the product of homebrewers going pro, I asked Bell what his one piece of advice would be for new entrants into the commercial market. “The thing that’s going to separate the men from the boys is quality,” he stated, an unsurprising answer from a brewery that preaches it in everything it does.
At its core, though, while Bell’s has continued to support the homebrew community, the spirit of homebrewing has in many ways influenced the company through its journey from tiny startup to a nationally recognized brand. John Mallett may have put it best when crediting much of the brewing culture at Bell’s to the example Larry Bell set when he founded the company 35 years ago. “He exemplifies the creative and free spirit of homebrewing, and that’s what Bell’s has been all along, and will continue to be.”
Two Hearted Ale (sidebar)
Two Hearted Ale is undoubtedly one of the most popular craft beers in America. Voted the best beer in America by members of the American Homebrewers Association in 2017 and 2018, it is one of the quintessential examples of a Midwestern IPA, and perhaps the most attempted clone recipe ever by homebrewers. While IPAs have gone through what seems like an endless and ongoing evolution over the past 20 years, Two Hearted Ale has remained true to its original formulation, yet still stands the test of time. However the history of Two Hearted Ale dates back nearly 30 years, and at first, it wasn’t an IPA at all.
The beer’s name references the Two Hearted River located in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, a popular recreational fishing destination, as the beer’s label featuring a trout pays homage to. The first rendition of Two Hearted Ale came after Larry Bell met a hop grower hailing from Wisconsin in the late 1980s. They eventually decided to do business, and Bell’s Brewery contracted for a few hundred pounds of Wisconsin-grown hops. Now, while the hop growing industry has seen resurgence over the past few years outside the Pacific Northwest, including in Wisconsin, this was virtually unheard of in the 1980s. Nonetheless, Two Hearted Ale was born. Bell described the first version as a pale ale with the “two hearts” of the beer being English malt and Wisconsin-grown hops. Two Hearted Ale v1.0 hung around for a little while, but was eventually discontinued, as the brewery focused on other brands.
Fast forward about a decade and Two Hearted Ale v2.0 was born in 1997, when brewer Rob Skalla developed a recipe for an IPA single-hopped with Centennial hops. While Centennial is one of the most popular hops on the market now, at that time it was virtually unknown, and wouldn’t be widely grown for several years. The beer initially didn’t have a name, but Two Hearted was already a registered brand, and the brewery decided to revive it for the new IPA.
While IPA now dominates the craft beer marketplace, and beers with new hop varieties are common, this wasn’t always the case. At the turn of the 21st century, IPA was still a niche style and hadn’t yet taken the craft beer industry by storm. Two Hearted Ale’s makeup of a virtually unheard of new hop and use of aggressive dry hopping made it uncommon among beers across the country at the time, and was definitely not typical of what most Midwestern breweries were doing. There’s no doubt Bell’s was taking a risk bringing Two Hearted Ale back to market.
While the beer grew slowly before becoming a phenomenon, it was an instant hit with the hopheads of that era. In 1999, the first year it was brewed, an unofficial competition to crown the best IPA in America dubbed the Alpha King challenge was formed as a companion to the Great American Beer Festival. That first year there were 10 entries, 9 from breweries on the West Coast, and Two Hearted Ale from Bell’s. As you can probably guess, Two Hearted took the crown that first year, and the rest is history for America’s best-selling IPA nearly twenty years later.
Sales of the flagship beer have grown every year, and it now comprises roughly half of the annual production for Bell’s. In an era where craft beer consumers are constantly seeking out beers with new flavors, Two Hearted Ale was ahead of the curve and one of the first IPAs to gain wide popularity. That Two Hearted continues to be one of the most popular beers in America despite the various shifts in IPA over the past two decades reinforces its place as one of the most iconic craft beers ever made.
Bell’s Homebrew Competition
In 2010, Bell’s Brewery held its first homebrewing competition. Each year since, the competition kicks off in early fall with a daylong expo, where lucky homebrewers can win prizes and talk to a variety of homebrew vendors who attend the event. The expo also is where competition entrants, who begin to line up early in the morning, sign up to pick up 5 gallons (19 L) of free wort made on the 15-bbl brewhouse at the original Bell’s brewery in downtown Kalamazoo. The only stipulation in the competition is that homebrewers create a beer using that wort, though additional ingredients can be added during the brew day.
Past winners have come from a number of styles including saisons and farmhouse ales, IPAs, and beers featuring ingredients such as coffee, habanero peppers, and various fruits. The judging is conducted by a diverse collection of Bell’s staff members from all over the company, including brewing and cellar staff to those working in the corporate office and retail areas. Each year, the winner is announced at All Stout’s Day, an annual event held on All Saints Sunday in early November, where Bell’s fills their taps at the Eccentric Café with nothing but stouts, some of which may not be available at any other time of the year.
I spent time with the Bell’s staff this fall and chronicled a day in the life of this competition, which starts in the wee hours of the morning.
12:00 a.m. – Brewers Zeke Bogan, Pat Tkacz, and Chris Walsh arrive at the brewery to begin brewing two 15-barrel batches of wort for homebrewers who will arrive later that day. The 30 barrels of wort they produce will be distributed to homebrewers starting in just 13 hours.
12:41 a.m. – The first batch begins to be mashed in with 1,200 pounds (544 kg) of Michigan-grown barley, malted into a pale ale style malt for Bell’s by Briess Malting. This grain bill is one of the largest done on this brewhouse each year.
2:20 a.m. – The mash and vorlauf for Batch 1 is complete, and the first runnings begin to be transferred to the boil kettle.
3:49 a.m. – The sparge on Batch 1 begins.
5:53 a.m. – Following sparging, the wort begins its 20-minute boil. While no hops, finings, or nutrients are added, this does sterilize the wort and prepare it for storage until homebrewers begin brewing with it once they get home.
5:59 a.m. – More than an hour before sunrise — and five hours before the event officially kicks off — homebrewer Brian Stevens is the first person in line to sign up for the competition.
6:25 a.m. – Batch 2 begins to mash in with another 1,200 pounds (544 kg) of Michigan pale malt.
7:15 a.m. – The sun begins to rise over downtown Kalamazoo. By now the line has gotten a bit longer, but is still at less than 10 people.
7:47 a.m. – After boiling, being transferred to the whirlpool and then run through the brewery’s heat exchanger, all of Batch 1 is now resting in the fermenter, where it will begin to be distributed to homebrewers in just over five hours.
8:51 a.m. – Sparging begins on Batch 2.
9:30 a.m. – Jess Caudill, Technical Support Manager at Imperial Organic Yeast, is the first vendor to arrive for the Homebrew Expo. Jess traveled all the way from Portland, Oregon to talk to homebrewers about Imperial and to hand nearly 200 free samples of their yeast strains to homebrewers who sign up for the competition.
10:42 a.m. – Batch 2 begins its 20-minute boil.
11:00 a.m. – A line of more than 100 homebrewers begins to enter the Eccentric Café to sign up for the annual competition. While they wait to pick up their wort, they will have the opportunity to talk to a number of homebrew vendors including Coldbreak Brewing Equipment, StirStarters, Imperial Organic Yeast, the American Homebrewers Association, and several local homebrew clubs. They will also have a chance to check out a full table of raffle prizes ranging from hops and malt to various equipment including a Blichmann HellFire burner. They can also sample from the Eccentric Café’s full tap list, including last year’s winning competition beer, Damson Plum Crisp Saison, from homebrewer Steve Vroegop.
12:30 p.m. – Bell’s General Store Operations Manager David Curtis begins to announce the rules to the competition participants. The raffle also commences, as several dozen homebrewers head home with a prize when their ticket is called.
12:34 p.m. – After a boil, whirlpool rest, and transfer to the fermenter, Batch 2 is ready to go with 26 minutes to spare. The original gravity of both batches came in at 1.065, a few points higher than expected.
1:00 p.m. – After 7 hours of waiting, the very first homebrewers in line file back to the brewery floor to fill their carboys, kegs, and buckets with 5 gallons (19 L) of free wort that will be turned into countless different recipes for the homebrew competition. Groups of homebrewers will head down to the brewery every 10 minutes until each has picked up their wort.
2:28 p.m. – The last of 172 homebrewers to sign up for the competition receives their wort, and the Bell’s brewing staff begins to wrap up what will end up being nearly a 15-hour shift. Homebrewers now have seven weeks to brew, ferment, and package their beer to ready it for judging, which takes place the last week of October.
Recipes
Bell’s Brewery’s Two Hearted Ale clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.065 FG = 1.011
IBU = ~60 SRM = 7 ABV = 7%
Two Hearted Ale is one of the defining American-style India pale ales. This beer is bursting with aromas ranging from pine resins to grapefruit notes from the use of 100% Centennial hops.
Ingredients
11 lbs. (5 kg) 2-row pale malt
3.25 lbs. (1.5 kg) pale ale malt
0.5 lb. (0.23 kg) caramel malt (40 °L)
12.5 AAU Centennial hops (45 min.) (1.25 oz./35 g of 10% alpha acids)
12.5 AAU Centennial hops (30 min.) (1.25 oz./35 g of 10% alpha acids)
3.5 oz. Centennial hops (dry hop)
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) or Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) or Safale US-05 yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Heat 19.6 qts. (18.6 L) of strike water to 163 °F (73 °C). Mix with grains, the mash should stabilize at about 150 °F (66 °C). Hold at this temperature for 60 minutes, then raise temperature to mash out at about 168 °F (76 °C) either by infusion of boiling water, decoction, or other means. Vorlauf until wort runs clear then begin the sparge process. Collect approximately 7 gallons (25.6 L) and bring to a boil. Total boil time is 75 minutes, adding hops as indicated.
After boil is complete, turn off the heat and chill the wort to 68–74 °F (20–23 °C). There should be about 5.5 gallons (21 L) of wort in your fermenter. Top fermenter up with cold water if you are short. Aerate wort and add yeast. Place your fermenter in a temperature-stable place that is in the 68–74 °F (20–23 °C) range. On day five of fermentation, add the dry hops addition. Bottle or keg after 3 days on dry hops.
Bell’s Brewery’s Two Hearted Ale clone
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.066 FG = 1.012
IBU = ~60 SRM = 7 ABV = 7%
Ingredients
6.6 lbs. (3 kg) light liquid malt extract
2.5.lbs. (1.13 kg) light dried malt extract
0.5 lb. (0.23 kg) caramel malt (40 °L)
12.5 AAU Centennial hops (45 min.) (1.25 oz./35 g of 10% alpha acids)
12.5 AAU Centennial hops (30 min.) (1.25 oz./35 g of 10% alpha acids)
3.5 oz. Centennial hops (dry hop)
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) or Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) or Safale US-05 yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Place crushed grains in a muslin bag and steep in 1 gallon (4 L) of water at 160 °F (71 °C) for 20 minutes in your brew pot. Remove the grains and fill up your kettle to 3.5 gallons (13 L) of water. Bring to a boil and then remove kettle from heat and add malt extracts. Stir until dissolved and return kettle to heat and boil for 45 minutes. Add hops as indicated in the instructions.
When the boil is complete, chill the wort to 68–74 °F (20–23 °C). Fill your sanitized fermenter with 2 gallons (8 L) of cold water and transfer chilled wort to fermenter. Top fermenter up to 5.5 gallons (21 L) with cold water. Aerate wort and add yeast. Place your fermenter in a temperature-stable place that is in the 68–74 °F (20–23 °C) range. On day five of fermentation, add the dry hop addition either directly into the fermenter or by transferring beer on top of dry hops in a secondary fermenter. Bottle or keg after fermentation after 3 days on dry hops.
Bell’s Brewery’s Oberon clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.056 FG = 1.012
IBU = 30 SRM = 5 ABV = 5.8%
Oberon is a wheat ale fermented with Bell’s Brewery’s signature house ale yeast, mixing a spicy hop character with mildly fruity aromas, often causing many to assume there is an addition of fruit or spices. The addition of wheat malt lends a smooth mouthfeel, making it a classic summer beer. Oberon is one of Bell’s best-selling beers, even though it’s only available from March-August each year.
Ingredients
6 lbs. (2.7 kg) 2-row malt
6 lbs. (2.7 kg) white wheat malt
8 oz. (0.23 kg) Munich malt
8 oz. (0.23 kg) Carapils® malt
3.5 AAU Hersbrucker hops (60 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 3.4% alpha acids)
3.5 AAU Hersbrucker hops (30 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 3.4% alpha acids)
2 oz. (56 g) Saaz hops (0 min.)
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) or Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) or Safale US-05 yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Heat 17.3 qts. (16.4 L) of strike water to 165 °F (74 °C). Mix with grains, the mash should stabilize at about 152 °F (67 °C). Hold at this temperature for 60 minutes, then raise temperature to mash out at about 168 °F (76 °C) either by infusion of boiling water, decoction, or other means. Vorlauf until wort runs clear then begin the sparge process. Collect approximately 6.5 gallons (24.6 L) and bring to a boil. Total boil time is 60 minutes, adding hops as indicated.
After boil is complete, turn off the heat, add the final hop addition, then give a long stir to create a whirlpool. Let wort settle for 20 minutes, then chill the wort to 68–74 °F (20–23 °C). There should be about 5.5 gallons (21 L) of wort in your fermenter. Top fermenter up with cold water if you are short. Aerate wort and add yeast. Place your fermenter in a temperature-stable place that is in the 68–74 °F (20–23 °C) range. Bottle or keg after fermentation is complete.
Bell’s Brewery’s Oberon clone
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.056 FG = 1.012
IBU = 30 SRM = 5 ABV = 5.8%
Ingredients
6.6 lbs. (3 kg) wheat liquid malt extract
1 lbs. (0.45 kg) wheat dried malt extract
0.5 lb. (0.23 kg) Munich malt
0.5 lb. (0.23 kg) Carapils® malt
3.5 AAU Hersbrucker hops (60 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 3.4% alpha acids)
3.5 AAU Hersbrucker hops (30 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 3.4% alpha acids)
2 oz. (56 g) Saaz hops (0 min.)
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) or Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) or Safale US-05 yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Place crushed grains in a muslin bag and steep them in 1 gallon (4 L) of water at 160 °F (71 °C) for 20 minutes in your brew pot. Remove the grains and fill up your kettle to 3.5 gallons (13 L) of water. Bring to a boil and then remove kettle from heat and add malt extracts. Stir until dissolved and return kettle to heat and boil for 60 minutes. Add hops as indicated.
When the boil is complete, chill the wort to 68–74 °F (20–23 °C). Fill your sanitized fermenter with 2 gallons (8 L) of cold water and transfer chilled wort to fermenter. Top fermenter up to 5.5 gallons (21 L) with cold water. Aerate wort and add yeast. Place your fermenter in a temperature-stable place that is in the 68–74 °F (20–23 °C) range. Bottle or keg after fermentation is complete.
Tips for success:
The recommended yeast strains in this recipe will get homebrewers close to the taste of Oberon, but because Bell’s house yeast is proprietary, the only way to use the same strain is to culture it from a fresh Bell’s beer. On their website, Bell’s offers these directions for culturing yeast:
• Refrigerate your bottle or can of beer for one week. Make sure you have a nice slurry on the bottom. Two to three bottles or cans will yield better results.
• Open bottle or can and sanitize the lip with a flame. NOTE: You may also want to spray sanitizer on and around the cap before opening.
• Gently pour the beer into a glass, leaving the sediment (yeast) in the bottle or can.
• Swirl the sediment/yeast in the bottle and re-flame the lip.
• Pour sediment into a sanitized container.
• Grow your yeast using a stepped starter – start with 75ML (about 1⁄3 of a cup) of wort, then let ferment for two to three days. Then add an additional 750ML of wort and let ferment an additional two to three days.
Bell’s Brewery’s Amber Ale clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.056 FG = 1.012
IBU = 30 SRM = 13 ABV = 5.8%
The beer that helped build Bell’s, Amber Ale features both toasted and sweet caramel notes, balanced with herbal and citrus hop aromas. Capped by a clean bitterness, it’s incredibly versatile with food, but very tasty on its own.
Ingredients
9.5 lbs. (4.3 kg) North American 2-row pale malt
2 lbs. (0.91 kg) Munich malt (10 °L)
8 oz. (0.23 kg) caramel malt (40 °L)
8 oz. (0.23 kg) caramel malt (120 °L)
8 oz. (0.23 kg) Victory® malt
5 AAU Cascade hops (45 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 5% alpha acids)
4.5 AAU Fuggle hops (30 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 4.5% alpha acids)
4.5 AAU Fuggle hops (15 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 4.5% alpha acids)
1 oz. (28 g) Cascade hops (0 min.)
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) or Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) or Safale US-05 yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Heat 17.3 qts. (16.4 L) of strike water to 165 °F (74 °C). Mix with grains, the mash should stabilize at about 152 °F (67 °C). Hold at this temperature for 60 minutes, then raise temperature to mash out at about 168 °F (76 °C), either by infusion of boiling water, decoction, or other means. Vorlauf until wort runs clear then begin the sparge process. Collect approximately 6.5 gallons (24.6 L) and bring to a boil. Total boil time is 60 minutes, adding hops as indicated. After boil is complete, turn off the heat, add the final hop addition, then give a long stir to create a whirlpool. Let wort settle for 5 minutes.
Chill the wort to 68–74 °F (20–23 °C). There should be about 5.5 gallons (21 L) of wort in your fermenter. Top fermenter up with cold water if you are short. Aerate wort and add yeast. Place your fermenter in a temperature-stable place that is in the 68–74 °F (20–23 °C) range. Bottle or keg after fermentation is complete.
Bell’s Brewery’s Amber Ale clone
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.056 FG = 1.012
IBU = 30 SRM = 13 ABV = 5.8%
Ingredients
3.3 lbs. (1.5 kg) light liquid malt extract
3.3 lbs. (1.5 kg) Munich liquid malt extract
1 lbs. (0.45 kg) light dried malt extract
8 oz. (0.23 kg) caramel malt (40 °L)
8 oz. (0.23 kg) caramel malt (120 °L)
8 oz. (0.23 kg) Victory® malt
5 AAU Cascade hops (45 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 5% alpha acids)
4.5 AAU Fuggle hops (30 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 4.5% alpha acids)
4.5 AAU Fuggle hops (15 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 4.5% alpha acids)
1 oz. (28 g) Cascade hops (0 min.)
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) or Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) or Safale US-05 yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Place crushed grains in a muslin bag and steep them in 1 gallon (4 L) of water at 160 °F (71 °C) for 20 minutes in your brew pot. Remove the grains and fill up your kettle to 3.5 gallons (13 L) of water. Bring to a boil and then remove kettle from heat and add malt extracts. Stir until dissolved and return kettle to heat and boil for 45 minutes. Add hops as indicated. After boil is complete, turn off the heat, add the final hop addition, then give a long stir to create a whirlpool. Let wort settle for 5 minutes.
Chill the wort to 68–74 °F (20–23 °C). Fill your sanitized fermenter with 2 gallons (8 L) of cold water and transfer chilled wort to fermenter. Top fermenter up to 5.5 gallons (21 L) with cold water. Aerate wort and add yeast. Place your fermenter in a temperature-stable place that is in the 68–74 °F (20–23 °C) range. Bottle or keg after fermentation is complete.
Bell’s Brewery’s Hopslam Ale clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.086 FG = 1.010
IBU = 65+ SRM = 7 ABV = 10%
Starting with six different hop varieties added to the brew kettle and culminating with a massive dry hop addition of Simcoe® hops, Bell’s Hopslam Ale possesses the most complex hopping schedule in the Bell’s repertoire.
Ingredients
11 lbs. (5 kg) 2-row malt
5.5 lbs. (2.5 kg) pale ale malt
0.5 lb. (0.23 kg) caramel malt (40 °L)
12 oz. (0.34 kg) honey (0 min.)
10 oz. (285 g) corn sugar (0 min.)
2.3 AAU Crystal or Mt. Hood hops (45 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 4.5% alpha acids)
6 AAU Mosaic® hops (20 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 12% alpha acids)
2.3 AAU AAU Glacier or Fuggle hops (20 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 4.5% alpha acids)
10 AAU Centennial hops (15 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 10% alpha acids)
6 AAU Mosaic® hops (5 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 12% alpha acids)
2.3 AAU AAU Glacier or Fuggle hops (5 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 4.5% alpha acids)
2 oz. (56 g) Amarillo® hops (0 min.)
0.5 oz. (14 g) Crystal or Mt. Hood hops (0 min.)
4 oz. Simcoe® hops (dry hop)
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) or Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) or Safale US-05 yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Heat 22 qts. (21 L) of strike water to 163 °F (73 °C). Mix with grains, the mash should stabilize at about 149 °F (65 °C). Hold at this temperature for 70 minutes, then raise temperature to mash out at about 168 °F (76 °C) either by infusion of boiling water, decoction, or other means. Vorlauf until wort runs clear then begin the sparge process. Collect approximately 7 gallons (24.6 L) and bring to a boil. The gravity of the wort at this point should be 1.068. Supplement with more corn sugar or less if your gravity is off.
Total boil time is 75 minutes, adding hops as indicated. After boil is complete, turn off the heat, add the corn sugar, honey, and final hop addition, then give a long stir to create a whirlpool. Let wort settle for 15 minutes.
Chill wort to 68–74 °F (20–23 °C). There should be about 5.5 gallons (21 L) of wort in your fermenter. Top fermenter up with cold water if you are short. Aerate wort and add yeast. Place your fermenter in a temperature-stable place that is in the 68–74 °F (20–23 °C) range. On day five of fermentation, add the dry hops addition. Bottle or keg after 3 days on dry hops complete.
Bell’s Brewery’s Hopslam Ale clone
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.086 FG = 1.010
IBU = 65+ SRM = 7 ABV = 10%
Ingredients
6.6 lbs. (3 kg) light liquid malt extract
4 lbs. (1.8 kg) light dried malt extract
0.5 lb. (0.23 kg) caramel malt (40 °L)
12 oz. (0.34 kg) honey (0 min.)
10 oz. (285 g) corn sugar (0 min.)
2.3 AAU Crystal or Mt. Hood hops (45 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 4.5% alpha acids)
6 AAU Mosaic® hops (20 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 12% alpha acids)
2.3 AAU AAU Glacier or Fuggle hops (20 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 4.5% alpha acids)
10 AAU Centennial hops (15 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 10% alpha acids)
6 AAU Mosaic® hops (5 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 12% alpha acids)
2.3 AAU AAU Glacier or Fuggle hops (5 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 4.5% alpha acids)
2 oz. (56 g) Amarillo® hops (0 min.)
0.5 oz. (14 g) Crystal or Mt. Hood hops (0 min.)
4 oz. Simcoe® hops (dry hop)
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) or Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) or Safale US-05 yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Place crushed grains in a muslin bag and steep in 1 gallon (4 L) of water at 160 °F (71 °C) for 20 minutes in your brew pot. Remove the grains and fill up your kettle to 3.5 gallons (13 L) of water. Bring to a boil and then remove kettle from heat and add malt extracts. Stir until dissolved and return kettle to heat and boil for 45 minutes. Add hops as indicated.
When the boil is complete, add the honey, corn sugar, and final hop addition, then give the wort a long stir to create a whirlpool. Let wort settle for 10 minutes. Chill the wort to 68–74 °F (20–23 °C). Fill your sanitized fermenter with 2 gallons (8 L) of cold water and transfer chilled wort to fermenter. Top fermenter up to 5.5 gallons (21 L) with cold water. Aerate wort and add yeast. Place your fermenter in a temperature-stable place that is in the 68–74 °F (20–23 °C) range. On day five of fermentation, add the dry hop addition either directly into the fermenter or by transferring beer on top of dry hops in a secondary fermenter. Bottle or keg after fermentation is complete.
Bell’s Brewery’s Quinannan Falls clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.057 FG = 1.009
IBU = 45 SRM = 4 ABV = 6.3%
Quinannan Falls is a dry-hopped India pale lager that possesses a crisp, dry bitterness you would expect from a German Pilsner, but the use of highly aromatic Simcoe® hops from the Pacific Northwest evoke the fragrant pine forests that inspired this summer seasonal beer from Bell’s.
Ingredients
12 lbs. (5.4 kg) Pilsner malt
1 lb. (0.45 kg) Carapils® malt
13 AAU Simcoe® hops (45 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 13% alpha acids)
6.5 AAU Simcoe® hops (15 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 13% alpha acids)
1.5 oz. (43 g) Simcoe® hops (dry hop)
0.5 oz. (14 g) Saaz hops (dry hop)
Imperial Yeast L13 (Global) or Wyeast 2124 (Bohemian Lager) or White Labs WLP830 (German Lager) or Saflager 34/70 yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Heat 17.3 qts. (16.4 L) of strike water to 163 °F (73 °C). Mix with grains, the mash should stabilize at about 150 °F (66 °C). Hold at this temperature for 75 minutes, then raise temperature to mash out at about 168 °F (76 °C) either by infusion of boiling water, decoction, or other means. Vorlauf until wort runs clear then begin the sparge process. Collect approximately 7 gallons (26.5 L) and bring to a boil. Total boil time is 90 minutes, adding hops as indicated.
After boil is complete, turn off the heat then give a long stir to create a whirlpool. Let wort settle for 10 minutes, then chill the wort to 48–58 °F (9–14 °C). There should be about 5.5 gallons (21 L) of wort in your fermenter. Top fermenter up with cold water if you are short. Aerate wort and add yeast. Place your fermenter in a temperature-stable place that is in the 48–58 °F (9–14 °C) range. On day five of fermentation add the dry hop addition. Conduct a diacetyl rest when fermentation subsides by raising the fermentation temperature to around 70 °F (21 °C) for a couple of days.
Once terminal gravity has been reached, transfer to a secondary fermenter for lagering to get it off the yeast. Place the beer in a refrigerator or cold fermentation chamber to get the beer as cold as possible without freezing. Allow at least two weeks for the lagering period. Bottle or keg after fermentation is complete.
Bell’s Brewery’s Quinannan Falls clone
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.057 FG = 1.009
IBU = 45 SRM = 4 ABV = 6.3%
Ingredients
6.6 lbs. (3 kg) Pilsen liquid malt extract
1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) Pilsen dried malt extract
0.5 lb. (0.23 kg) Carapils® malt
13 AAU Simcoe® hops (45 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 13% alpha acids)
6.5 AAU Simcoe® hops (15 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 13% alpha acids)
1.5 oz. (43 g) Simcoe® hops (dry hop)
0.5 oz. (14 g) Saaz hops (dry hop)
Imperial Yeast L13 (Global) or Wyeast 2124 (Bohemian Lager) or White Labs WLP830 (German Lager) or Saflager 34/70 yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Place crushed grains in a muslin bag and steep in 1 gallon (4 L) of water at 160 °F (71 °C) for 20 minutes in your brew pot. Remove the grains and fill your kettle to 3.5 gallons (13 L) of water. Bring to a boil and then remove kettle from heat and add malt extracts. Stir until dissolved and return kettle to heat. Boil for 45 minutes, adding hops as indicated.
Chill wort to 48–58 °F (9–14 °C). Aerate wort and add yeast. Place your fermenter in a temperature-stable place that is in the 48–58 °F (9–14 °C) range. On day five of fermentation add the dry hop addition. Conduct a diacetyl rest when fermentation subsides by raising the fermentation temperature to around 70 °F (21 °C) for a couple of days.
Once terminal gravity has been reached, transfer to a secondary fermenter for lagering to get it off the yeast. Place the beer in a refrigerator or cold fermentation chamber to get the beer as cold as possible without freezing. Allow at least two weeks for the lagering period. Bottle or keg after fermentation is complete.
