From Bootlegging to Bootstrapping: Prairie Artisan Ales
The story of Prairie Artisan Ales can be described as one brewery with two unique personalities. The concept for Prairie Artisan Ales came about through a partnership between two brothers with big ideas, Chase and Colin Healey, and a brewery that once existed as a bootlegging operation. Together, these two entities created one of Oklahoma’s most exciting brewing stories and a brewery that now distributes beer across the world.
Before telling the story of Prairie Artisan Ales, we have to first tell the story of Krebs Brewing Company and a unique beer style few have heard of outside the region of its founding. Krebs Brewing Company is named after, and located in, the one-time dry, southeast Oklahoma town of the same name. Led by Brewery Owner Zach Prichard and Head Brewer/Jack-of-all-Trades Michael Lalli, Krebs Brewing, or KBC, was known mainly for brewing a local, indigenous brew called Choc beer.
Popular in the region, brewed by natives and non-natives alike, Choc beer is short for Choctaw, the Native American region of its founding. An indigenous brew, it had many variations, made with whatever ingredients could be found. As traditional brewing ingredients were difficult to source in this remote, dry area of Oklahoma, creativity was key. (A more in-depth description of Choc beer is provided in the sidebar later in this article.)
Choc Beer and a New Brewery
Eventually, as laws changed and brewing became legalized, Choc beer went public, no longer needing to be brewed and distributed behind closed doors. Zach’s father, Joe Prichard, owned and operated a local restaurant called Pete’s Place, originally founded by Zach’s great-grandfather, Pete.
Capitalizing on newfound opportunities, Pete’s Place started brewing on site — legally — including their own version of Choc beer on a modest seven-barrel brewing system. (Zach admits they had been brewing Choc beer on the “down low” long before that.) Incidentally, being the first to use the name in trade, Pete’s Place has the commercial rights to the name Choc Beer.
A young Zach Prichard never homebrewed a batch of beer in the traditional way, but his family had been brewing beer for at least 100 years so he was familiar with the process. At the time, Zach was working wherever his Dad needed him; often as a busser or a cook at Pete’s Place.
In 1995, with brewing now legal, Lalli took on the additional duties of Brewing Coordinator while still running the front of house operation in the restaurant. Lalli, and on occasion the younger Prichard, brewed beer for Pete’s Place specifically over the next decade or so.
“Literally, when my great-grandfather Pete started brewing Choc beer, he was doing this out of his home,” said Zach Prichard. “The person who helped my father open his brewpub, Michael Lalli, was an experienced homebrewer. Lalli worked as a Kitchen Manager for the restaurant and he evolved into the Brewmaster. He’s been here ever since.”
“My mother was a hairdresser and Zach’s grandma was a client for many years,” said Lalli. “When I turned 16, I got a job working at Pete’s Place washing dishes. It was July 1984. I moved up the chain to cook, then became a server. After college, I became the Kitchen Manager. I originally became interested in beer because craft was non-existent in Oklahoma and imports were few and far between. I started homebrewing with my older neighbor in 1990, and the rest is history.”
As popular as Choc beer may have been in the region, word began to travel in the early 1990s about the popularity of a newfound beer movement known as “microbrewing,” later called “craft brewing.” Now with the transformation of Pete’s Place from a traditional restaurant into a brewpub, Lalli wanted to experiment with new beer styles besides their single offering of Choc Beer. And the locals embraced it.
Enter Krebs Brewing Company
As the years went by and the popularity of the brews took off, the brewing entity eventually needed its own name; its own identity, as well as more space. Naming breweries after the towns they were located was common, and as such, Krebs Brewing Company was officially born in 2004. Using the same 7-bbl brewery originally used at Pete’s Place, KBC brewed Choc Beer as well as other styles, and also had a stream of revenue contract brewing for other businesses.
While the younger Prichard dabbled in the brewhouse, running the operation was never on his radar. He went to law school and graduated with a degree in 2009, fully expecting to go into law practice. A change of heart ensued, and he decided he’d rather take over the brewery arm of the family business. He believed at the time the brewery needed a new direction; a new vision, including a focus on these new-to-Oklahoma craft beer styles, especially sour beers.
Brewing Out of Necessity
Besides brewing Choc Beer, it was no coincidence that Krebs Brewing Company focused on sour beer styles. It was the still “behind-the-times” Oklahoma brewing laws that necessitated it.
“At the time, gas stations and grocery stores couldn’t sell alcohol over 3.2% alcohol by weight,” explained Prichard. “You had to go to a liquor store for higher alcohol products, but liquor stores couldn’t refrigerate the beer. That distribution model didn’t lend itself to things that needed refrigeration, like hoppy beers or delicate beers. So we made funky beers and, later, big stouts, so they’d keep.”
With Lalli as his right-hand man, new beer styles began entering the fray. And as the beer laws modernized, the brewery was able to venture into uncharted territory. Focusing on sour beers and higher ABV styles, KBC grew quickly and developed a following among craft beer drinkers in the region. This popularity resulted in the brewery upgrading to a 15-barrel brewery in 2007 to keep up with demand. Eventually, KBC created a line of beers known as the Choc Brewmasters Series, including a Belgian Dubbel that won a Great American Beer Festival (GABF) gold medal.
Lalli’s decision to harvest and grow the brewery’s own Lactobacillus for souring was a game changer (read more about the brewery’s Lacto process in the sidebar later in this article.) Having a brewery-specific strain of Lacto not only helped make Krebs’ Brewmaster Series of beers possible, it later became the cornerstone for the Prairie Artisan Ales sour program. The house Lacto produces a special character that make its beers pleasantly unique.
Setting the Stage
Little did Lalli and Prichard realize that some of their early decisions would greatly impact the direction the brewery would eventually take. It was KBC’s familiarity and adeptness with sour beer styles such as Gose, Grätzer/Grodziskie, and others that made it a natural fit to eventually contract brew the Prairie brands.
“This was one of the things that drew Chase to us,’’ said Lalli. “He knew we were willing to do things some people considered crazy. We were open to contract brewing using Brettanomyces. And we were already doing our Brewmaster Series of beers in 750-mL bottles with cork and cage, something that appealed to Chase.”
The change in approach, however, did not come without challenges and high stress for KBC. Trying to produce Choc Beer while making sours and having a whole line of cork and caged beers was becoming too much to manage with just a few workers and obstacles became difficult to overcome. By 2012, facing challenge after challenge, Prichard grew frustrated, even contemplating getting out of the business altogether.
“We struggled,” recalled Prichard. “I was at the point in 2012 where I felt like I failed.”
Just when the future looked bleak, a new opportunity presented itself. It was then that one brewery with two unique personalities was born.
Enter Prairie Artisan Ales
There were only a handful of breweries in Oklahoma in 2012. Chase Healey was a brewer at another Oklahoma brewery (Coop Brewing) at the time, with some big ideas and a vision to someday launch a brand of his own. His brother, Colin, was an artist with an impeccable style. With his big vision and modest experience working at Coop, Chase and Colin approached Prichard and his team at a local festival called Wildbrew. The Healeys pitched the idea of creating a new line of high-end beers called Prairie Artisan Ales that would be developed and contract brewed at KBC.
“The name ‘Prairie’ came about as we were looking for something that generally described the Midwest and Oklahoma,” said Prichard. “Chase grew up in Tulsa, which is about 90 miles away from Krebs.”
Fueled with excitement on both sides, Prichard, Lalli, and the Healeys worked out the details, collaborated on recipes, and Krebs Brewing produced and shipped the first Prairie Artisan Ales beers in August 2012. It had taken just five short months from that initial meeting to the first release of Prairie Ale to hit store shelves.
“We made the first couple batches of the Prairie stuff and it was clear that we were onto something special,” said Prichard. “The reaction from the beer-drinking community was amazing.”
KBC had always planned to be a local-focused brewery with no intention to distribute outside of its region. It wasn’t until the partnership with the Healeys that the plan changed. Chase Healey secured a distribution commitment from renowned beer distributor the Shelton Brothers, which called for distribution in nine states, making widespread distribution a necessity.
“As Krebs Brewing Company, we had no aspirations toward mass distribution,” said Prichard. “That changed as we developed a strategy with the Healeys because of the Shelton Brothers agreement.”
Working together designing Prairie Artisan beers, creativity began to skyrocket and the brewing team would try almost anything. Creating beers with flavors that would make Baskin-Robbins jealous, the brew team kept imagining new ways to put flavors of the day into the beer in the most non-traditional ways. One beer (Tiny Esses) is made with and designed to taste like Skittles — and it pulls it off perfectly.
Chase wanted to explore the “big beer” side of the business, especially brewing imperial stouts, and the team found ways to make those big beers work on their modest 15-bbl system. The imperial stouts commanded the attention of craft beer aficionados and began to raise the brewery’s profile almost quicker than the production team could brew.
The brewery once founded to brew local Choc Beer was now brewing a line of beers that were catching fire. Prairie Artisan Ales began to medal in competitions and excitement about the brand escalated, especially after the release of a new imperial stout named Bomb! in May of 2013, a beer that quickly exploded in popularity.
Before long, the demand for the Prairie brand exceeded Krebs’ own beers. Expansion was imminent. Lalli and his team did the best they could to keep up, but sheer volume necessitated a brewery upgrade, this time to a 50-bbl system. Purchased from Sweetwater Brewing Company, the new brewery went online in fall of 2014, coinciding with Bomb! becoming a year-round brand.
Changing of the Guard
While the partnership was creative, successful, and sometimes even magical, the winds of change began to blow for Chase Healey. What was once unique and special became unfulfilling, trying to keep up with a demand that exceeded anyone’s expectations. When the brand was launched, it was the uniqueness of creating small batch beers that appealed most to Healey, according to Lalli.
“We were brewing so much stuff, we couldn’t do it all ourselves anymore,” said Lalli. “We kept adding people and buying tanks. Before long, we had grown a bunch. Next thing you know, you’re growing rapidly. The small family feel turned into a big commercial business. Chase savored the small batch concept. I don’t think being involved with a large production brewery was where he wanted to be or what he wanted to be doing.”
In February 2016, Prichard acquired the Prairie Artisan Ales brand (and all its assets including trade name and recipes) from the Healeys. With the Healeys out as owners, Krebs Brewing Company continued to brew the Prairie beers, and still do, as full owners of the brand.
Today, KBC still produces Choc Beer and does other contract brewing, but Prairie Artisan Ales make up the majority of the barrelage produced by the brewery. Growing a few thousand barrels each year since the original partnership, KBC is currently producing more than 20,000 barrels of beer annually. That makes Krebs the largest brewery in Oklahoma, but by comparison they produce about one-third the amount of the 50th largest craft brewery in the United States.
While no longer an owner, Colin Healey continues to create the unique artwork for the Prairie brand. Chase Healey has gone back to his roots of small, craft brewing.
“Because we bought the brand from Chase, it allowed him to start American Solera Brewing in Tulsa,” said Lalli. “He’s the only one, and he’s doing it his way.”
Featured Beers
Prairie offerings have always been less about style guidelines and more about creating a “wow” factor. This concept is certainly on display with Prairie’s flagship, year-round imperial stout known as Bomb!
Bomb! (imperial stout)
Bomb! is the brewery’s adjunct-driven, 12% ABV imperial stout made with ancho chiles, cocoa nibs, vanilla, and coffee. It frequently appears near the top on beer rating sites’ rankings. The base of the beer is big on its own, but the adjuncts take it to an all new level and create the beer’s signature character. As the brewery’s website says, if you’re going to try just one Prairie Artisan Ale, it should be Bomb!
The beer is the result of three separate mashes due to the size of the grain bill. Each mash contains two unique specialty malts, for a total of six specialty malts in the finished batch. The flavors come together as the individual mashes are blended in the kettle. As the first mash goes to the kettle, it begins to boil and the second mash gets underway. By the time the third mash is complete, the original wort from the first mash has been boiling for hours, creating a rich, concentrated wort, filled with flavor from hours of Maillard reactions.
IBUs are high, but only meant to balance out the sweetness. Dark and specialty grains, as well as the coffee and cocoa nibs, add additional bitterness. The adjuncts are added post-fermentation, recirculated with an external tank. Bomb! is a nicely balanced beer despite the sweet base of ingredients. The brew team had an interesting goal when setting out to brew Bomb!
“Our goal was to make something more flavorful than a barrel-aged stout without barrel aging it,” said Prichard. “People are surprised when they find out it’s not barrel-aged.”
The first batch of Bomb! was brewed as a one-off in May 2013. It was the ninth or tenth Prairie beer brewed by KBC, but the reaction to it was overwhelming compared to its predecessors. Though meant as a one-off, Bomb! was re-brewed shortly thereafter due to its popularity. Before long, everyone realized the beer needed to be a core beer offered year-round. Led by the popularity of Bomb!, the brewery upgraded to its 50-bbl brewing system in fall of 2014 to meet the demand.
Bomb! is best served in a snifter at about 60 °F (16 °C), paired with a funky cheese with bold flavors.
Slush (strawberry & raspberry kettle sour)
Slush is a year-round offering, a 6.1% ABV kettle-soured beer. All of Prairie’s kettle sour beers are made with house-cultured Lactobacillus, propped up and pitched. Slush is made with dried sweet orange peel and dried lemon peel, which are added to the whirlpool once boiling is complete. After fermentation, concentrated strawberry and raspberry fruit purees are added. Some of the fruit ferments, pushing the beer’s ABV north of 6%. The beer is centrifuged to produce a nice brightness along with its red hue. Fruit aromas and flavors are present but not overpowering. The goal is a refreshing and crisp experience.
Prairie Ale (farmhouse ale)
Prairie Ale was the first-ever Prairie beer brewed, a Belgian-style farmhouse saison that checks in between 8–9% ABV.
“This was a Chase Healey recipe,” said Prichard. “It spoke to me in a lot of ways. My family’s history in brewing is frontier, with a roughness to it. Prairie Ale harkened back to that. We do not control temperature in this fermentation. We add a lot of priming sugar in the bottle to get that huge effervescence to it. It’s also special to me because I drank a bottle of this before I kissed my wife for the
first time.”
The now retired Prairie Ale undergoes a clean fermentation using Wyeast French Saison 3711 yeast. The beer ferments warm to finish very dry at just under 1.001. Brett brux is added at packaging where it sits for four weeks to achieve proper carbonation in heavy bottles that can handle the intense carbonation.
“The end-resulting beer is a little funky, a little chunky, highly carbonated, and crisp, leaving the palate clean,” said Prichard. “Other beers we make use multiple Brett strains, but this one solely uses Brett b.”
Okie (imperial brown ale, barrel aged)
A huge imperial brown ale weighing in a 12% ABV and 60 IBUs, Okie lives somewhere in the space between a brown ale and barleywine. The focus is on the barrel aging, which drives some of the final alcohol content. Compared with Bomb!, Okie is more caramelly, with some residual sweetness, but not as much body, making the whiskey barrel character lead. Some hop bitterness balances the sweetness. A dark fruit character reminiscent of Belgian candi sugar comes from oxidation in the barrels that produce plum and raisin notes.
Served at 50 °F (10 °C) in a snifter and paired with a fine cigar is a recipe for success. Okie has been retired by Prairie, which makes brewing it yourself the only way to taste this
unique brew.
Vinyl (barrel-aged imperial stout)
Vinyl was born as a small batch brewed exclusively for members of Prairie Artisan Ales’ former membership club, called the Prairie Dawg Club, which included the perk of access to rare, limited releases. The name Vinyl signifies the beer is a throwback to when imperial stouts weren’t laden with adjuncts. Vinyl records are both throwbacks and dark like the beer. Vinyl is a simple yet complex big, barrel-aged stout, checking in at 13.1% ABV.
The first Vinyl was brewed in 2019. Prairie had been brewing an imperial stout for years by then, but wanted a chewier, thicker version. Like Bomb!, Vinyl is created by combining three separate mashes, each with a different grain bill. The beginning and ending gravities are higher than Bomb!, helping it finish sweet with a hint of chewiness. Vinyl is aged in Four Roses Bourbon barrels that are filled immediately upon arrival.
Most Prairie barrel-aged beers are stored in barrels for 9–12 months, but Vinyl can be aged up to 18 months, depending on the strength of the liquor in the barrel.
“We taste it to determine when it comes out,” said Prichard. “Once we get around the 12-month mark, the barrel’s alcohol becomes more prominent. But because this one starts out thicker and chewier, it allows us to keep it in the barrels longer. The extra six months help to mellow out the beer and adds a pleasant oxidative character.”
Local Ingredients
Any story about beer and brewing always comes back to the basics: Malt, hops, yeast, and water.
Malt
Lalli prefers to employ Pilsner malt as the brewery’s main base malt and is partial to Canada Malting Superior Pilsen for its overall character.
“I’ve always been a fan of using Pilsner malt as a base instead of 2-row,” said Lalli. “I feel like it’s a cleaner base to build on without the graininess that you can sometimes get with other base malts.”
For specialty malts, the majority are sourced from European maltsters.
“There’s certainly nothing wrong with domestic malt,” said Lalli. “But I do feel like there is a certain intensity to the European specialty malts that matters for what we’re doing. For imperial stouts we solely use European specialty malts and prefer the products of maltsters Simpsons, Dingemans, and Weyermann.”
Caramel/crystal malts do not play a big role in any of the brewery’s beers. “I’m not a huge fan of beers with a high percentage of caramel malt,” said Lalli. “To me that usually gives the beer an odd sweetness, especially as the beer ages. I do, however, love Special B malt. Regardless of the beer style, I prefer it as the only caramel malt to capture the character I’m looking to achieve. It’s easy to overcomplicate the grain bill when designing recipes; avoiding that pitfall will always make the beer better.”
Hops
When the brewery transitioned from the 15-bbl brewhouse to the 50-bbl brewhouse in 2014, the decision was made to start using CO2 hop extract for 100% of the bittering additions. Some beers are brewed with only the brew kettle addition, so they only have hop extract, while other beers get hop extract in the kettle and pellets in the whirlpool.
“It really depends on what I’m trying to do and, of course, there are always exceptions,” said Lalli. “As for hop varieties, the extracts can either be generic or varietal specific, it doesn’t seem to matter. Pellet hops are sourced by project, whatever is the best choice for that particular brew.”
As you’ve likely noticed by now, Prairie has largely avoided the IPA and hop craze most breweries embrace, instead staying true to their model they have held since the beginning. “Most of our beers are hopped for bitterness but not hop character,” said Prichard. “We don’t want much hop aroma in our beers.”
Yeast
Yeast strains are chosen based on the brew, but if Prairie has a house yeast, it’s US-05, often known as the “Chico” strain, which it uses for most of its kettle sours and imperial stouts.
“For me this is a choice, much like using Pilsner as a base malt,” said Lalli. “It provides a clean, reliable platform to build from.”
Another house favorite tends to be the French Saison yeast (Wyeast 3711) used to ferment all of the farmhouse ales but also some of the kettle sour/mixed culture ales before they are dosed with Brettanomyces or other additions later in the process.
“The thing with 3711 is the fermentation temperature,” said Lalli. “I like to knock out at 80 °F (27 °C) and let it free-rise from there, otherwise the character will be lacking. I’ve seen it get pretty hot, my personal best is around 104 °F (40 °C). Reaching temperatures that high takes time to get comfortable with, but once you wrap your head around it, you’ll be rewarded with better results.”
Bohemian Pilsner yeast is the clear cut choice for any of Prairie’s lagers.
“The only lager yeast that’s ever worked for me is Wyeast 2278,” said Lalli. “It’s almost like having a lager cheat code.”
Of course, the house-cultured Lactobacillus is integral to the entire line of sour beers produced by Prairie Artisan Ales, giving these beers the “Prairie character.”
Water
Rural Oklahoma has fairly soft water and doesn’t require any alterations to it, except when trying to replicate a certain water profile from another area for a specific beer.
“When we moved brewing operations from Krebs to McAlester, Oklahoma, a few years ago our in-house lab guy and our R&D brewer worked on the water for months before the first brew,” said Lalli. “They discovered that unless it’s a heavily hopped beer or unless we were trying to replicate a water source, there’s really no reason to treat our water.”
The brewery’s hot liquor tank holds enough volume and is vented so that all the brewing water is hot enough for long enough to cook off the chlorine.
Big House on the Prairie
A few years ago, Prairie moved brewing operations to a new space affectionately known as “The Big House” in the neighboring town of McAlester, about 7 miles from the original Krebs location. The days of being overworked in cramped spaces trying to keep up with demand on a small system are now definitely in the rearview mirror. A new brewhouse was not the only growth the company undertook.
Prairie OKC is the brewery’s taproom that opened in 2017 in Oklahoma City. The taproom contains a 3.5-barrel brewhouse that does innovation brewing, providing 2–4 new beers every single week, often debuted on “New Beer Fridays.” This allows the brewery to experiment on a smaller level to see what becomes a hit with its fans before scaling up.
Today, Prairie Artisan Ales is distributed in 40 states, Europe, Asia, South America, and Australia. In less than a decade it has won numerous high-profile awards and has developed a devout following all over the world. And if you talk to fans of Prairie Artisan Ales, they might just say it’s “The Bomb!”
What is Choc Beer (sidebar)
While the 21st Amendment allowed states the right to appeal Prohibition, Oklahoma originally chose to stand pat, and Prohibition remained in effect with the sole exception of beer no higher than 3.2% ABW until 1957. In the Choctaw Nation, the Native American territory in which Krebs is located, it remained dry long after that.
With no alcohol legally allowed on this relatively undeveloped frontier, those who wanted alcoholic beverages of any kind had to be resourceful in making or acquiring these concoctions. An area rich in coal, European immigrants (including a high concentration of Italian immigrants) came to Krebs to work in the coalmines, and they brought their thirst and brewing expertise with them.
A local brew evolved that became known as “Choc” beer, short for the “Choctaw” region of its founding. The beer had many variations, made with whatever ingredients could be found. As traditional brewing ingredients were difficult to source in this remote, dry area, people made due with what they had.
Michael Lalli says Choc beer may be best thought of as a beer/seltzer hybrid. Instead of mashing, Choc makers would steep barley, getting very little extract. Table sugar would be added to the wort to increase the alcohol of the resulting beverage. Bread yeast was the most common fermenter until dry brewer’s yeast became popular in the 1970s, eventually becoming the norm. The resulting brew would typically be bottle conditioned, highly carbonated, and have very little body.
“Everybody’s Choc beer is different, depending on fermentation temps.,” said Lalli. “More modern versions often use Champagne bottles as the beer is often bottle conditioned. Carbonation can reach four volumes for a very effervescent brew. Even though it’s now legal, a lot of people still brew it at home.”
When it came to taking Choc beer commercial at KBC, Lalli had some new ideas.
“As a homebrewer, I didn’t want to brew with that much cane sugar. I was a huge fan of German wheat beers and white beers,” said Lalli. “When we created 10-gallon (38-L) trial batches for Krebs Brewing Company, I took the cane sugar out of Pete’s recipe and replaced it with wheat. The laws stated that the beer had to be 3.2% alcohol by weight or less. That is how our variant of Choc Beer got started.”
Brewery Cultured Lactobacillus (sidebar)
Krebs Brewing developed its sour beer program prior to the partnership with Prairie. Michael Lalli enlisted the help of longtime friend William Shawn Scott (or Scotty, as he’s known around the brewery). With a highly advanced knowledge of all things brewing-related and having done quite a bit of research on growing Lactobacillus, media type, incubation temperatures, and more, Scotty was the perfect person to help Lalli create the sour beer program.
Going to Leipzig
The pair decided that Gose would be the base style of the brewery’s sour program, and there was only one way to learn how to brew Gose properly — by going to Leipzig, Germany, and learning from the masters. Lalli, Scotty, and Pete’s Place Owner Joe Prichard met with Brewmaster Matthias Richter at the Bayerischer Bahnhof in Leipzig, who shared with them Old World brewing techniques.
“Besides being an awesome guy and a great brewer, Richter has no equal when it comes to crafting the Gose style,” said Lalli.
Grow your own
KBC brewed the Gose in 2011; the brewery’s first experience with kettle souring. After experimenting with commercial Lactobacillus, Lalli and his team wanted to try growing their own. Using brewery-grown Lacto, the resulting Gose exceeded expectations, medaling in competition. The process they discovered of producing their own Lacto is now the basis for all the sour beers Prairie produces. The current kettle sour base beer is a variant of the Gose first produced in 2011.
“As we got busy, we needed to turn the beers over faster,” said Lalli. “I need to get the pH drop overnight. I was told ‘no way can you do that.’ But you never tell a redneck there’s no way. We figured out we definitely can make that happen if you have the right Lacto and you pitch enough of it. Now it’s the bulk of our production.”
The process
Harvesting Lactobacillus from their own grain, Lalli and his team grow the Lacto then prop the starters up for a full-sized pitch. A certain amount of grain is added to a starter, allowing the Lacto to rinse from the grain. Then, the grain is removed and the remaining liquid is placed in a second starter to prop it up. The method remains the same today as it was back when the process started, just on a much larger scale.
“We have always used an unhopped 8 °P (1.032) wort made using 80% light DME (dried malt extract) and 20% dextrose,” said Lalli. “We’ve used/tried just about everything; different Pilsner malts, 2-row, specialty malts, red wheat, white wheat, you name it. Results will be different each time. Pilsner from vendor A will produce results different than Pilsner from vendor B. As a starting point, I would suggest making half of your grain starters with Pilsner malt and half with wheat malt. If growing your own is the path you choose you’ll eventually settle on the grains that give you the results you’re after.”
Lalli prefers harvesting from wheat and Pilsner malt because of the type of Lacto that comes from these malts.
“I almost always get more gravity points with Pilsner malt,” said Lalli. “Heterofermentative Lactobacillus brevis is super common on grain. I can tell without testing it how it acts on the first pitch. It has certain identifiable characteristics. While it can be a substitute for grain, I’m not crazy about using yogurt as it will produce homofermentative Lactobacillus yielding only lactic acid. Hetero will also produce acetic acid, which can be very good in small amounts.”
Just having the playbook for how Prairie Artisan Ales grows their Lacto doesn’t ensure success.
“It’s a feel with Lacto growing,” said Lalli. “The process is something that has taken years to perfect and scale to consistently produce the large amounts of Lactobacillus needed to support our kettle sour program. It is by no means the only way to get from point A to point B, but it’s what works best for the flavors/aromas we’re trying to achieve.”
Rather than relying on cell counts, Lalli’s team pitches on volume. The process starts over every week on Wednesday. Lalli puts the grain starters into a self-built incubator. On Fridays, the starters that make the cut are decanted off the grain. Pitches become available three days later on Monday. With sour beers being such a huge part of the lineup at Prairie, the team produces 14 grain starters that yield four liquid barrels of Lacto every week.
House character
Lalli believes the difference between harvesting his own Lacto and buying Lacto from a supplier is absolutely worth the additional time and cost.
“I would say the main difference between the Lacto we grow and Lacto either from a lab or one of the dried types is complexity. The dry/lab Lacto does the job and certainly makes great beer but, to me, in the finished beer it just comes through as acidity. The Lacto we grow lends some carryover flavor/aroma to the finished beer. Some of that is because our house Lacto is producing other acids besides just lactic acid.”
For the less adventurous, commercial sources for heterofermentative Lactobacillus abound, including: Lallemand Wildbrew Sourpitch, Fermentis SafSour LB-1, Wyeast 5223-PC (Lactobacillus brevis), and White Labs WLP672 (Lactobacillus brevis).
Souring with Lactobacillus
Once the Lactobacillus is ready, brewing Prairie’s base Gose looks like this: The brewer sparges into the kettle souring vessel, takes acidity readings, adds the Lacto, and lets it set overnight. Once the beer is soured to the proper pH at or near 3.5, it is then boiled, quickly chilled, and fermented with a clean yeast. Effectively, if the beer is mashed on a Monday, it is boiled on Tuesday.
Since a majority of the brewery’s sour beers use the same base, two 150-bbl fermenters are used for kettle souring. The inoculated wort remains there until needed, brought back 50 barrels at a time. “We once produced seventeen 50-bbl batches in one week,” said Lalli.
What started out as a glorified homebrew experiment has blossomed into the backbone of the majority of Prairie’s production, showing that taking chances in homebrewing can lead to amazing results.
PRAIRIE CLONE RECIPES
Prairie Artisan Ales’ Bomb! clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.120 FG = 1.034
IBU = 24 SRM = 110 ABV = 12%
Bomb! is the brewery’s adjunct-driven flagship, a 12% ABV imperial stout made with ancho chiles, cocoa nibs, vanilla, and coffee.
Ingredients
16 lbs. (7.3 kg) Canadian Superior Pilsen malt
14 oz. (400 g) Simpsons black malt
14 oz. (400 g) Simpsons roasted barley
14 oz. (400 g) Simpsons Golden Naked Oats® malt
14 oz. (400 g) Dingemans chocolate malt
14 oz. (400 g) Dingemans Special B malt
14 oz. (400 g) Weyermann melanoidin malt
1.25 lbs. (567 g) D2 liquid candi sugar
4 oz. (113 g) medium brown sugar
4 oz. (113 g) maltodextrin
4 oz. (113 g) lactose sugar
7.7 AAU Magnum hops (60 min.) (0.55 oz./16 g at 14% alpha acids)
0.67 oz. (19 g) vanilla beans, split and chopped
1.3 oz. (37 g) ancho chiles, chopped
2.8 oz. (81 g) cacao nibs
4.4 oz. (124 g) coffee beans
Servomyces (yeast nutrient)
SafAle US-05, LalBrew BRY-97 (American West Coast Ale), Wyeast 1056 (American Ale), or White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) yeast
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by step
Be sure to use two sachets if using a dry yeast or make a large starter if using a liquid yeast strain. You may consider re-pitching yeast from a previous batch as well.
This is a single infusion mash with a ratio of 2 qts./lb. (4.2 L/kg) of grain to provide a thin mash with high enzymatic activity. Target a mash temperature of 149 °F (65 °C) and mash for 60 minutes or until conversion is complete. Recirculate wort (vorlauf), then sparge with enough water at 170 °F (76.7 °C) to collect 7.5 gallons (28.4 L) of runoff to your boil kettle. Boil for 120 minutes or until target gravity is achieved, adding sugars at beginning of boil and hops after the first hour.
At flameout, rapidly chill the wort to 68 °F (20 °C) and transfer the wort to your fermenter. Pitch yeast, oxygenate well if using a liquid yeast strain, and set the fermenter in a cool, dark place to ferment at about 68 °F (20 °C).
After fermentation has completed, rack the beer onto adjuncts. Leave beer on adjuncts until flavor/aroma target has been achieved. Crash cool, keg, and force carbonate to 2.5 volumes, or prime and bottle condition.
Prairie Artisan Ales’ Bomb! clone
(5 gallons/19 L, partial mash)
OG = 1.120 FG = 1.034
IBU = 24 SRM = 110 ABV = 12%
Ingredients
8.7 lbs. (4 kg) Briess Pilsen light dried malt extract
1 lb. (0.45 kg) Canadian Superior Pilsen
14 oz. (400 g) Simpsons black malt
14 oz. (400 g) Simpsons roasted barley
14 oz. (400 g) Simpsons Golden Naked Oats® malt
14 oz. (400 g) Dingemans chocolate malt
14 oz. (400 g) Dingemans Special B malt
14 oz. (400 g) Weyermann melanoidin malt
1.25 lbs. (567 g) D2 liquid candi sugar
4 oz. (113 g) medium brown sugar
4 oz. (113 g) maltodextrin
4 oz. (113 g) lactose sugar
7.7 AAU Magnum hops (60 min.) (0.55 oz./16 g at 14% alpha acids)
0.67 oz. (19 g) vanilla beans, split and chopped
1.3 oz. (37 g) ancho chiles, chopped
2.8 oz. (81 g) cacao nibs
4.4 oz. (124 g) coffee beans
Servomyces (yeast nutrient)
SafAle US-05, LalBrew BRY-97 (American West Coast Ale), Wyeast 1056 (American Ale), or White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) yeast
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by step
Be sure to use two sachets if using a dry yeast or make a large starter if using liquid yeast strain. You may consider re-pitching yeast from a previous batch as well.
Using about 2 gallons (7.6 L) of water, mash the Pilsner and melanoidin grains at 149 °F (65 °C) in a mesh bag for 60 minutes or until converted. Remove the grain bag, allowing the liquid to drain back into the kettle. Next, steep the rest of your grains for 10 minutes in a separate mesh bag. Repeat steps for removal of bag. It’s best to mash first and steep second because the grist has so many dark grains that can lower pH levels too low as well as add unpleasant bitterness if soaked too long. Once the steeped bag is drained, add water to 3 gallons (11 L), then raise to near-boiling temperatures. Remove the pot from heat and slowly stir in half of the malt extract until thoroughly dissolved. Return to the heat and boil for 60 minutes.
Add hops and sugars at the beginning of the boil. With 10 minutes remaining, remove again from the boil and slowly stir in the rest of the DME.
Chill wort to 68 °F (20 °C) and transfer to your fermenter, topping up to a volume of 5.5 gallons (21 L). Follow the remainder of the all-grain recipe.
Prairie Artisan Ales’ Slush clone
5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.046 FG = 1.010
IBU = 11 SRM = 3 ABV = 6.1%
A bright red, kettle-soured ale made with strawberry and raspberry fruit puree complemented with dried sweet orange peel and dried lemon peel.
Ingredients
7.8 lbs. (3.5 kg) Canadian Superior Pilsen malt
6 oz. (170 g) Weyermann acidulated malt
12 oz. (340 g) white wheat malt
1.5 lbs. (680 g) Briess Pilsen light dried malt extract (added post kettle sour)
9 oz. (255 g) sea salt
3 AAU Cascade hops (60 min.) (0.55 oz./16 g at 5.5% alpha acids)
2.5 lbs. (1.13 kg) Oregon Fruit strawberry puree
2.5 lbs. (1.13 kg) Oregon Fruit raspberry puree
Servomyces (yeast nutrient)
SafAle US-05, LalBrew BRY-97 (American West Coast Ale), Wyeast 1056 (American Ale), or White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) yeast
Lactobacillus strain of your preference
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by step
Single-infusion mash with a ratio of 2 qts./lb. (4.2 L/kg) to provide a thin mash with high enzymatic activity. Target a mash temperature of 147 °F (64 °C) and mash for 60 minutes or until conversion is complete. Recirculate wort (vorlauf), then sparge with 5 gallons (19 L) of water at 170 °F (77 °C) and collect 6.5 gallons (24.6 L) of runoff to your boil kettle.
Reduce temperature to 110–114 °F (43–45 °C), add Lactobacillus, and try to maintain this temperature during the souring process. Ideally, pitch enough Lacto to get the pH to drop in 12 hours. Once pH has dropped to 3.5–3.0, proceed to boil for 60 minutes, adding sea salt, hops, and dried malt extract at the start of the boil. After the boil is complete, whirlpool for 10 minutes.
Chill the wort to 68 °F (20 °C) and transfer the wort to your fermenter. Pitch yeast, and set the fermenter in a cool, dark place to ferment at about 68 °F (20 °C).
After fermentation has mostly completed, add fruit to the fermenter. Once fermentation of the fruit has ended, crash cool, rack beer into a keg and force carbonate to 2.5 volumes, or prime and bottle condition.
Prairie Artisan Ales’ Slush clone
(5 gallons/19 L, extract only)
OG = 1.046 FG = 1.010
IBU = 11 SRM = 3 ABV = 6.1%
Ingredients
5.75 lbs. (2.6 kg) Briess Pilsen light DME
8 oz. (227 g) Briess Bavarian wheat DME
2 tsp. lactic acid, 88%
9 oz. (255 g) sea salt
3 AAU Cascade hops (60 min.) (0.55 oz./16 g at 5.5% alpha acids)
2.5 lbs. (1.13 kg) Oregon Fruit strawberry puree
2.5 lbs. (1.13 kg) Oregon Fruit raspberry puree
Servomyces (yeast nutrient)
SafAle US-05, LalBrew BRY-97 (American West Coast Ale), Wyeast 1056 (American Ale), or White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) yeast
Lactobacillus strain of your preference
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by step
Before starting your brew, separately pre-boil and chill about 3.5 gallons (13.25 L) of water so you can add that to top up your fermenter later.
Heat about 2 gallons (7.6 L) of water to near boiling. The exact temperature doesn’t matter since there is no mashing. You want it hot enough to dissolve the DME but not too hot that it boils over. Take pot off the heat source and stir in 3⁄4 of the total volume of malt extract in any combination and the lactic acid. Raise to boil only briefly enough to sterilize your wort, then cool to 110–114 °F (43–45 °C), add Lactobacillus, and try to maintain this temperature during the souring process. Ideally, pitch enough Lacto to get the pH to drop in 12 hours. Once pH has dropped to 3.5–3.0, proceed to boil for 60 minutes, adding sea salt, hops, and remaining malt extract at the start of the boil. Knockout and whirlpool.
At flameout, chill wort to 68 °F (20 °C) and transfer the wort to your fermenter, topping up with pre-boiled and chilled water to a volume of 5.5 gallons (21 L). Pitch yeast and set the fermenter in a cool, dark place to ferment at about 68 °F (20 °C).
After fermentation has mostly completed, add fruit to the fermenter (or rack to secondary fermenter containing the fruit). The fruit will ferment somewhat. Once fermentation of the fruit has ended, crash cool, rack beer into a keg and force carbonate to 2.5 volumes, or prime and bottle condition.
Tips for success:
Because of the low pH, a higher-than-normal yeast pitch rate is advised. If target acidity is low, add malic, lactic, or phosphoric acid to adjust.
According to Head brewer Michael Lalli, “Don’t worry about a ‘CO2 blanket’ if the pH drop can happen in 12 hours.”
If you do not have the means or ability to go through the Lactobacillus souring process, you can simply use lactic acid to achieve the desired pH. However, it will provide a much less authentic version of the beer than souring using Lactobacillus at the proper temperatures.
Prairie Artisan Ales’ Prairie Ale clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.068 FG = 1.001
IBU = 38 SRM = 3 ABV = 9%
The inaugural Prairie Artisan Ale, a dry, effervescent Belgian-style farmhouse saison that drinks smoothly for a beer of its size.
Ingredients
8.5 lbs. (3.9 kg) Weyermann Pilsner malt
6 oz. (170 g) Weyermann acidulated malt
12 oz. (340 g) red wheat malt
12 oz. (340 g) white wheat malt
12 oz. (340 g) flaked wheat
1.5 lbs. (680 g) cane sugar (60 min.)
8 AAU German Perle hops (60 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 8% alpha acids)
3.1 oz. (88 g) Czech Saaz hops (0 min.)
Wyeast 3711 (French Saison), White Labs WLP590 (French Ale), or LalBrew Belle Saison yeast
Wyeast 5112 (Brettanomyces bruxellensis), White Labs WLP650 (Brettanomyces bruxellensis), or equivalent (for bottle conditioning)
Lalvin EC-1118 or equivalent (for bottle conditioning)
½ cup corn sugar (if priming)
½ cup cane sugar (if priming)
Step by step
This is a single infusion mash with a ratio of 2 qts./lb. (4.2 L/kg) to provide a thin mash with high enzymatic activity. Target a mash temperature of 148 °F (64 °C) and mash 60 minutes or until conversion is complete. Recirculate wort (vorlauf), then sparge with 5 gallons (19 L) of water at 170 °F (77 °C) and collect 7 gallons (26.5 L) of runoff to your boil kettle. Boil for 60 minutes or until target gravity is achieved, adding bittering hops and sugar at start of boil. At flameout, whirlpool and add the Saaz hop addition.
Rapidly chill the wort to 80 °F (27 °C) and transfer the wort to your fermenter. Pitch yeast, oxygenate (if using a liquid yeast strain), and let temperature free rise during fermentation. After fermentation has completed, crash cool, prime and with bottles rated for 3+ volumes of CO2, use a 50/50 combination of dextrose/cane sugar. Add Brettanomyces brux and Champagne yeast with priming sugar.
Prairie Artisan Ales’ Prairie Ale clone
(5 gallons/19 L, extract only)
OG = 1.068 FG = 1.001
IBU = 38 SRM = 3 ABV = 9%
Ingredients
4.5 lbs. (2 kg) Briess Pilsen dried malt extract
1.5 lbs. (680 g) Briess Bavarian wheat dried malt extract
1 tsp. lactic acid, 88%
1.5 lbs. (680 g) cane sugar (60 min.)
8 AAU German Perle hops (60 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 8% alpha acids)
3.1 oz. (88 g) Czech Saaz hops (0 min.)
Wyeast 3711 (French Saison), White Labs WLP590 (French Ale), or LalBrew Belle Saison yeast
Wyeast 5112 (Brettanomyces bruxellensis), White Labs WLP650 (Brettanomyces bruxellensis), or equivalent (for bottle conditioning)
Lalvin EC-1118 or equivalent (for bottle conditioning)
½ cup corn sugar (if priming)
½ cup cane sugar (if priming)
Step by step
Before starting your brew, separately pre-boil and chill about 3.5 gallons (13.3 L) of water so you can add that to top up your fermenter later.
Heat about 2 gallons (7.6 L) of water to near boiling. The exact temperature doesn’t matter since there is no mashing. You want it hot enough to dissolve the malt extract but not too hot that it boils over. Take pot off the heat source and stir in half of the malt extract and lactic acid. Raise to boil, add the bittering hop addition and sugar then boil for 60 minutes, adding the remainder of the malt extract with about 10 minutes remaining. At flameout, whirlpool and add the Saaz hop addition.
Rapidly chill the wort to 80 °F (27 °C) and transfer the wort to your fermenter, topping up with pre-boiled and chilled water to a volume of 5.5 gallons (21 L). Pitch yeast, oxygenate (if using a liquid yeast strain), and let temperature free rise during fermentation. After fermentation has completed, crash cool, prime and with bottles rated for 3+ volumes of CO2, use a 50/50 combination of dextrose/cane sugar. Add Brettanomyces brux and Champagne yeast with priming sugar.
Tips for success:
Don’t worry about the beer getting too hot during fermentation. Michael Lalli’s personal best is 104 °F (40 °C). Experimenting with slightly underpitching the yeast will likely produce more interesting flavors and aromas.
Prairie Artisan Ales’ Okie clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.107 FG = 1.016
IBU = 52 SRM = 26 ABV = 12%
In a space between a brown ale and a barleywine, Okie packs a punch delivering flavors of sweet caramel and dark toast led by the nuanced character used in the barrel-aging process.
Ingredients
16 lbs. (7.3 kg) Canadian Superior Pilsen malt
1.3 lbs. (0.6 kg) Dingemans Cara 45 malt
5 oz. (142 g) Dingemans aromatic malt
2.5 oz. (71 g) Dingemans chocolate malt
10 oz. (284 g) Weyermann acidulated malt
5 oz. (142 g) Weyermann Carafa® II malt
1.25 lbs. (0.57 kg) white wheat malt
12 oz. (340 g) medium brown sugar
20 AAU Centennial hops (60 min.) (2 oz./56 g at 10% alpha acids)
1.2 oz. (34 g) Cascade hops (0 min.)
2 oz. (56 g) French oak cubes
Servomyces (yeast nutrient)
SafAle US-05, LalBrew BRY-97 (American West Coast Ale), Wyeast 1056 (American Ale), or White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) yeast
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by step
If you do not have a used Bourbon barrel for aging, then soak the oak cubes in the Bourbon of your choice at least two weeks before brew day to recreate the barrel aging essence of the beer. Also, use two sachets if using a dry yeast or make a large starter if using liquid yeast strain. You may consider re-pitching yeast from a previous batch as well.
This is a single infusion mash with a ratio of 2 qts./lb. (4.2 L/kg) of grain to provide a thin mash with high enzymatic activity. Target a mash temperature of 149 °F (65 °C) and mash for 60 minutes or until conversion is complete. Recirculate wort (vorlauf), then sparge with enough water at 170 °F (77 °C) to collect 7.5 gallons (28.4 L) of runoff to your boil kettle. Boil for 120 minutes or until target gravity is achieved, adding sugar at the beginning of the boil and bittering hops after the first hour.
At flameout, add the Cascade hops and whirlpool for 10 minutes. Then rapidly chill the wort to 68 °F (20 °C) and transfer the wort to your fermenter. Oxygenate the wort if using a liquid yeast strain or re-using yeast, then pitch the yeast. Set the fermenter in a cool, dark place to ferment at about 68 °F (20 °C). After fermentation is complete, add your soaked oak cubes, or rack to a secondary vessel containing the cubes. After achieving the desired flavor profile, crash cool, keg and force carbonate to 2.5 volumes, or prime and bottle condition.
Prairie Artisan Ales’ Okie clone
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.107 FG = 1.016
IBU = 52 SRM = 26 ABV = 12%
Ingredients
9 lbs. (4.1 kg) Briess Pilsen dried malt extract
1 lb. (0.45 kg) Briess wheat dried malt extract
1.3 lbs. (0.6 kg) Dingemans Cara 45 malt
5 oz. (142 g) Dingemans aromatic malt
2.5 oz. (71 g) Dingemans chocolate malt
10 oz. (284 g) Weyermann acidulated malt
5 oz. (142 g) Weyermann Carafa® II malt
1.25 lbs. (0.57 kg) white wheat malt
12 oz. (340 g) medium brown sugar
20 AAU Centennial hops (60 min.) (2 oz./56 g at 10% alpha acids)
1.2 oz. (34 g) Cascade hops (0 min.)
2 oz. (56 g) French oak cubes
Servomyces (yeast nutrient)
SafAle US-05, LalBrew BRY-97 (American West Coast Ale), Wyeast 1056 (American Ale), or White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) yeast
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by step
If you do not have a used Bourbon barrel for aging, then soak the oak cubes in the Bourbon or whiskey of your choice at least two weeks before brew day to recreate the barrel aging essence of the beer. Also, be sure to use two sachets if using a dry yeast or make a large starter if using liquid yeast strain. You may consider re-pitching yeast from a previous batch as well.
Before starting your brew, separately pre-boil and chill about 3.5 gallons (13.25 L) of water so you can add that to top up the wort later.
Heat about 2 gallons (7.6 L) of water to somewhere in the ballpark of 149 °F (65 °C). The exact temperature doesn’t matter since there is no mashing, just steeping. When at temperature, put all your character grains (everything except the malt extract) in a mesh bag and steep for 10 minutes. Remove bag, letting the liquid drip back into the kettle without squeezing the bag. When complete, dispose of your used grains and stir in half of the total volume of malt extract and lactic acid. Raise to a boil, add the bittering hop addition and sugar then boil for 60 minutes, adding the remainder of the DME with about 10 minutes remaining. At flameout, add the Cascade hops.
Rapidly chill the wort to 68 °F (20 °C) and transfer the wort to your fermenter, topping up with pre-boiled and chilled water to a volume of 5.5 gallons (21 L).
Follow the remainder of the all-grain recipe.
Tips for success:
The better the source of the Bourbon or whiskey, the better the barrel-aged character will be in the finished product. Also, be sure to keep extra malt extract on hand to add in case the starting gravity comes in low.
Prairie Artisan Ales’ Vinyl clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.120 FG = 1.034
IBU = 56 SRM = 92 ABV = 13%
A thick and chewy barrel-aged imperial stout with a high OG and FG, and tons of flavor.
Ingredients
16 lbs. (7.3 kg) Canadian Superior Pilsen malt
13 oz. (366 g) Simpsons DRC® malt
5.4 oz. (153 g) Simpsons roasted barley
13 oz. (366 g) Dingemans Special B malt
8 oz. (227 g) Dingemans chocolate malt
13 oz. (366 g) Weyermann Carafa® III malt
8 oz. (227 g) Weyermann chocolate rye malt
5.4 oz. (153 g) Weyermann melanoidin malt
113 oz. (366 g) Crisp pale chocolate malt
2 lbs. (910 g) flaked oats
1.2 lbs. (540 g) D2 liquid candi sugar
4 oz. (113 g) dark brown sugar
4 oz. (113 g) turbinado sugar
4 oz. (113 g) maltodextrin
21 AAU Magnum hops (60 min.) (1.5 oz./43 g at 14% alpha acids)
2 oz. (56 g) French oak cubes
Servomyces (yeast nutrient)
SafAle US-05, LalBrew BRY-97 (American West Coast Ale), Wyeast 1056 (American Ale), or White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) yeast
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by step
If you do not have a used Bourbon barrel for aging, then soak the oak cubes in the Bourbon of your choice at least two weeks before brew day to recreate the barrel aging essence of the beer. Also, use two sachets if using a dry yeast or make a large starter if using liquid yeast strain. You may consider re-pitching yeast from a previous batch as well.
This is a single infusion mash with a ratio of 2 qts./lb. (4.2 L/kg) of grain to provide a thin mash with high enzymatic activity. Target a mash temperature of 149 °F (65 °C) and mash for 60 minutes or until conversion is complete. Recirculate to set the grain bed, then sparge with enough of water at 170 °F (76.7 °C) to collect 7.5 gallons (28.4 L) of runoff to your boil kettle. Boil for 120 minutes or until target gravity is achieved, adding sugars at start of boil and hops with 60 minutes remaining.
At flameout, whirlpool, then rapidly chill the wort to 68 °F (20 °C) and transfer the wort to your fermenter. Oxygenate the wort if using a liquid yeast strain or re-using yeast, then pitch the yeast. Set the fermenter in a cool, dark place to ferment at about 68 °F (20 °C).
After fermentation is complete, add your soaked oak cubes, or rack to a secondary vessel containing the cubes. After achieving the desired flavor profile, crash cool, keg and force carbonate to 2.5 volumes, or prime and bottle condition.
Prairie Artisan Ales’ Vinyl clone
(5 gallons/19 L, partial mash)
OG = 1.120 FG = 1.034
IBU = 56 SRM = 92 ABV = 13%
Ingredients
7.7 lbs. (3.5 kg) Briess Pilsen dried malt extract
2 lbs. (910 kg) Canadian Superior Pilsen malt
13 oz. (366 g) Dingemans Special B malt
8 oz. (227 g) Dingemans chocolate malt
13 oz. (366 g) Weyermann Carafa® III malt
8 oz. (227 g) Weyermann chocolate rye malt
5.4 oz. (153 g) Weyermann melanoidin malt
113 oz. (366 g) Crisp pale chocolate malt
2 lbs. (910 g) flaked oats
1.2 lbs. (540 g) D2 liquid candi sugar
4 oz. (113 g) dark brown sugar
4 oz. (113 g) turbinado sugar
4 oz. (113 g) maltodextrin
21 AAU Magnum hops (60 min.) (1.5 oz./43 g at 14% alpha acids)
2 oz. (56 g) French oak cubes
Servomyces (yeast nutrient)
SafAle US-05, LalBrew BRY-97 (American West Coast Ale), Wyeast 1056 (American Ale), or White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) yeast
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by step
If you do not have a used Bourbon barrel for aging, then soak the oak cubes in the Bourbon of your choice at least two weeks before brew day to recreate the barrel aging essence. Also, use two sachets if using a dry yeast or make a large starter if using liquid yeast. You may consider re-pitching yeast from a previous batch as well.
In a mesh bag, mash Pilsen and melanoidin malts and flaked oats in 2 gallons (7.6 L) of water at 149 °F (65 °C) for 60 minutes. Steep the rest of your grains for 10 minutes in a separate mesh bag. Drain bags and add water to make 3 gallons (11 L) of wort. Raise to near boiling, then remove pot from heat and slowly stir in half of your malt extract until dissolved. Return to the heat source and boil for 60 minutes.
Add bittering hops and sugars at the beginning of boil. With 10 minutes remaining, remove again from boil and stir in the rest of the malt extract.
Follow the remainder of the all-grain recipe, topping up to 5.5 gallons (21 L) in the fermenter.
