Pilot Brewing Lessons & Recipes
In order to think big, you need to start small. That is the prevalent thinking for many of today’s commercial brewers who frequently utilize pilot systems as the brewhouse starting point.
Pilot systems range in size from 10 gallons (38 L) to 8 barrels (1 barrel = 31 gallons/117 L) with numerous variations in between, and often commercial brewers are experimenting on systems that wouldn’t look out of place in a homebrewer’s garage. Depending on the complexity of the system, features can include grain mills, lauter tuns, wort chillers, heat exchangers, whirlpools, fermentation tanks, and more. There are numerous pilot system producers on the market.
Product development and experimentation are the leading reasons commercial brewers have adopted pilot brewing as the first step in recipe creation. Naturally, even with the depth of knowledge modern brewers bring to the drawing board, there are still some risks in developing a new beer; why take a 50- or 100-barrel risk when a 10-gallon (38-L) risk is more manageable from an economic standpoint? That’s to say, why brew a full batch of beer when a more moderately sized version can offer the brewer plenty of insight into the desired beer. Does it need different hops? Should the grain bill be altered? Perhaps different yeast can provide more flavor or head retention? All these questions can easily be answered — and then addressed as necessary — on a pilot system.
“In the past when we tried new beers at the production scale we’ve ended up dumping a lot of beer, so it’s saved us a lot of resources and time. It’s expensive. If it’s not what you want, you end up chucking it,” said Damian McConn of Summit Brewing Co. in St. Paul, Minnesota. “It really is a nice tool for product development. When you’re launching a year-round brand, I think it’s crucial to have a tool like this. It takes some of the risk out of it.”
McConn employs a custom-built Nerb System from Munich, Germany. The semi-automated unit included a grain mill, lauter tun, mash tun, kettle, whirlpool, two double-fill fermenters (3.83 barrels, or 12-gallons each), a two-headed bottle filler and, “a few other fancy bits and bobs.”
“We wanted something that was scalable that we could play around with,” McConn says. “It’s not a direct correlation to brew on a pilot system to brew on a commercial system, but it gives us a very good idea of what we can do before transferring to the larger system.”
McConn, who puts his pilot system though “a lot of raw material experimentation,” including hops and barleys, developed Summit’s Saga IPA this way. By brewing multiple batches to perfect the product, his detail has paid off, as Saga is now the brewery’s fastest growing beer.
“A lot of the work for that, the trials, were done on the pilot system. We played with different hop varieties to get the flavors we wanted. A lot of our beers were developed on the pilot system,” he said proudly.
Chad Kennedy, Owner and Brewmaster at Worthy Brewing Co. in Bend, Oregon utilizes two pilot systems. The larger is a 5-barrel system constructed by Marks Design out of Vancouver, Washington, while his Synergy 10-gallon (38-L) setup is, “basically a glorified homebrew system.” Kennedy began developing his beers on the smaller unit while his brewery was under construction.
“We were starting up a new brewery, so I didn’t want to walk in there blind. The initial thoughts on brewing were more approachable on that 10-gallon (38-L) system,” he said. “There are some beers you just jump in with both feet, but some, especially a wit with different combinations of spices, it’s best to start on the 10-gallon (38-L) system. If it’s successful, you scale it up.”
Now he primarily uses that system for research and development.
“We do trials with different hops and build recipes from that,” he says. “On a small system like that you can make a batch of wort, put it in carboys and have three or four different versions by dry hopping with different hops. I’ve tried hops I probably wouldn’t have considered, but it was like, ‘what the hell.’ I ended up using hops I might not have considered.”
And speaking of hops, Kennedy’s proximity to Oregon State University — and his relationships with scientists developing new hop strains — means Kennedy sometimes gets to brew with hops that are not yet commercially available, and are identified only by a number on the bag.
“I brew with hops that only exist in one place in the world. It’s pretty cool. It’s like discovering a planet for an astronomer,” he says. “We might only have a couple pounds to work with, so it’s good to brew on a smaller system and see what we’ve got. Some might be good, some might not work. A hop might smell great but when you brew with it, uh, no, it won’t work.”
Contrary to popular belief, Odell Brewing Co.’s popular 5 Barrel Pale Ale was not created on the brewery’s 5-barrel pilot system designed by Specific Mechanical Systems in British Columbia. “It wasn’t, it’s just named after it,” Brewery Owner Doug Odell explained from his Fort Collins, Colorado brewery. “We had Cutthroat Pale Ale to go with our Cutthroat Porter. It was a bad idea to have two beers with same name so we retired that one, modified the recipe and named it after the system.”
There are some beers you just jump in with both feet, but some, especially a wit with different combinations of spices, it’s best to start on the 10-gallon (38-L) system. If it’s successful, you scale it up.
— Chad Kennedy, Worthy Brewing Co.
Odell gets plenty of use out of his system. His brewery initially began with a 15-barrel set up, then switched to a 50-barrel system in the brewhouse. Adding the 5-barrel system has allowed him, like Kennedy and McConn, to use it for trouble-shooting, experimentation and the development of new recipes.
“We began to realize we were kind of limited in what we could do (with the 50-barrel set up),” he says. “It was so big we couldn’t do a lot of interesting things. We got a much smaller system so we could play around with recipe development.”
The company’s flagship IPA began as a pilot project. Odell says his team generated four test batches, adjusting hops and grains each time, before settling on the recipe they preferred. This saved money and effort.
“Eventually it was where we wanted it to be,” he said. “But instead of doing those variations on a much larger batch of beer, we were essentially ready to go” when it was time to scale it up for commercial applications.
Pilot Fun
While it may sound glorious enough to work as a commercial brewer, it’s not always fun brewing the same beers all the time. Pilot systems allow commercial brewers to channel their inner homebrewer. It’s a chance to blow off steam, experiment with new styles, and create some tap room delights.
“It sort of lets you take the clothes off a little bit and go after some more oddball styles,” Kennedy said. “Also, it’s a nice relief for our production brewers. They brew IPA all the time. It gives those guys a chance to come up with recipes. It keeps their heads in the game a little bit more.”
For example, Kennedy’s next “oddball” brew will be a banana pancake beer using sorghum and wheat, with maple syrup for fermentation.
“It’s not something I’m going to brew 30-barrels of,” he said with a laugh. “Five-barrels probably; 10-gallons (38 L) no doubt.”
Odell said that most of the beers created on his pilot systems are brewed by his production team and are usually created to add variety to the taproom (though occasionally a “hit” goes into full production). One of Odell’s craziest pilot brew attempts? A pepperoni pizza beer using smoked malt for a bacon/salami character, basil and oregano.
“It didn’t turn out very well,” Odell said, “but you never know.”
McConn made an oyster stout for a local French restaurant, and used both the oyster shells and meat in the boil.
“It was the first time we ventured down that road,” he recalled of the brewing experiment. “Having the pilot system was great because I couldn’t image doing 200 gallons of oyster stout at the production level.”
From Pilot to Nano
“We’re all about promoting the craft brew scene,” said Dave Burkle, Lead Brewer at Phoenix, Arizona’s O.H.S.O. nano brewery. With 43 taps, he’s not lying. Brews from Oregon, California, Colorado, Montana, Arizona, and points east flow regularly from the silver handles, but so do in-house creations developed on the brewery’s 3-barrel “double batch” Psycho Brew system. Considering it’s a small system, and that the brewery is always busy, between two to four batches of beer are brewed daily. Twenty-five fermenters fill the various fermentation rooms (including a cold room for lagering). It’s pretty much non-stop action for Burkle and his two co-brewers (he gets the “Lead” title for having been there the longest).
“Normally on production day I’ll do at least two batches of one kind of beer. It’s the most efficient for me,” he says. “On triple batch days I’ll do three barrels of one kind and then get creative with a couple smaller batches. The owner is all about creativity. I have tons of freedom. I have a dozen different lagers going right now.”
What’s intriguing about brewing on this scale — for Burkle and regulars at the pub — is that many of the beers are one-offs. O.H.S.O. holds six taps behind the long wooden bar for in-house creations, and when they’re gone, they may not be back.
“Experimentation allows us to do a lot of cool things,” Burkle says of the many one-hit wonders he’s created over the last two years. (He’s brewed more than 300 batches.) He does admit, however, there’s a downside to producing on such a small scale, particularly when it comes to the brewery’s two flagship beers: Grovey Ale and the aptly named Hoppy IPA.
“(Regular breweries) can produce 200 barrels in the same time I produce a barrel and a half, so I try and maximize as many batches as I can in one day,” he says. “It’s definitely a challenge. It’s not built for production (level brewing). A good beer will last a day and a half. When I’m getting a little less than three full half barrels out of a batch, a triple batch will only keep me going for three weeks.”
Burkle says the Psycho Brew system is “pretty straightforward,” and particularly likes that the mash tuns are direct fired and, “we can re-circulate the mash with a RIMS-type system and step up mash temperatures.”
The kettle is also direct fired and equipped with a recalculating pump.
For the heat exchanger, Burkle improvises with a 200-foot (61 m) copper pipe that sits in a barrel of ice water. It’s not a counterflow setup, and beer is pumped through on the way to the fermentation tanks. Like many a homebrewer, Burkle skips racking to a secondary fermentation.
“Nope, no secondary. We just roll the primary fermenters into a cold room for three to four days of conditioning,” he says. The process is all very streamlined and efficient. Customers can see the many fermenters tucked behind glass doors and watch the brewers who put them there in action. Burkle says the team is active in the homebrew community as well, inviting brewers to come in, develop a recipe, and eventually have it on tap for the world to critique.
“This place started as a place for homebrewers to gather and make beer, talk about beer, drink beer,” Burkle says. “We’ve grown up, but we’ll always be all about beer.”
One small batch at a time.
Pilots at Home
For the homebrewer, brewing on a setup with some of the bells and whistles of a commercial pilot system offers many advantages, beginning with consistency and repeatability. Commercial brewers with their larger setups can replicate beer after beer to perfect the recipes. Homebrewers working on 5-gallon (19-L) batches know it’s often too hard to control all the variables all of the time, from the mineral content of the water to hop utilization to variances in fermentation heat. Many pilot systems used by commercial brewers reduce, if not eliminate, the guesswork and variability in the homebrewing process. Kennedy thinks serious homebrewers wanting to overcome the limitations of homebrewing should make the jump to a larger system — and not just because one can brew more beer, but one can brew better beer.
“When I went to start my own (brewery) and I went back to homebrewing, I realized how hard homebrewing is. You don’t have as much temperature control. Heat exchangers are hard to come by. Oxygenation is a big deal in homebrewing and I never quite got that right,” he says. With our system, racking is easier and temperature control is much better for boiling and for fermentation. “Getting away from the carboy, (that’s) a big deal too,” he adds.
Homebrewers who don’t mind the usual variations, however, can always simply emulate the spirit of the pilot system by brewing experimental batches of beer that are smaller than what they normally brew. Interested in trying out a new malt or hop? Try brewing a 1- or 3- gallon (3.8- or 11-L) batch if you’re currently brewing 5-gallon (19-L) batches. If you like how your small batch turns out, you can always scale it up to your normal batch size (or larger).
Pilot Breweries Profiled
Brewery: Summit Brewing Co.
Location: St. Paul, Minnesota
Head Brewer: Damian McConn
Pilot system: Custom built 1.7- barrel (52.7-gal./200-L) Nerb System (Munich, Germany)
Use: Two to three times a month
Brewery: Worthy Brewing Co.
Location: Bend, Oregon
Brewmaster: Chad Kennedy
Pilot Systems: 10-gallon (38-L) Synergy (Eugene, Oregon) and 5-barrel (155-L) Marks Design and Metalworks (Vancouver, Washington)
Use: 10-gallon (38-L): random intervals; 5-barrel: Once a week
Brewery: Odell Brewing Co.
Location: Fort Collins, Colorado
Brewmaster: Doug Odell
Pilot Systems: 5-barrel (155-L) and 8-barrel (248-L) Specific Mechanical Systems (Victoria, British Columbia)
Use: Two to three times a week
Nanobrewery: O.H.S.O.: Outrageous Homebrewers Social Outpost
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Lead Brewer: Dave Burkle
Pilot System: 3-barrel Psycho Brew
Use: Two to four times a day
Pilot Clone Recipes
Odell Brewing Company Peach IPA clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.069 FG = 1.013
IBU = 60 SRM = 6 ABV = 7.2%
Ingredients
11.7 lbs. (5.3 kg) pale ale malt (3 °L)
1.7 lbs. (0.77 kg) Vienna malt (3.5 °L)
0.7 lb. (0.32 kg) melanoidin malt (25 °L)
2 tsp. gypsum
4 lbs. (1.8 kg) peach puree or crushed peaches (pits removed)
7.8 AAU Warrior® hops (60 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 15.5% alpha acids)
7.8 AAU Warrior® hops (30 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 15.5% alpha acids)
8.8 AAU Simcoe® hops (0 min.) (0.8 oz./22 g at 11% alpha acids)
4.8 AAU Australian Summer hops (0 min.) (0.8 oz./22 g at 6% alpha acids)
3.2 AAU Crystal hops (0 min.) (0.8 oz./22 g at 4% alpha acids)
1.2 oz. (33 g) Simcoe® hops (20 min. into hop stand)
1.2 oz. (33 g) Australian Summer hops (20 min. into hop stand)
1.2 oz. (33 g) Crystal hops (20 min. into hop stand)
1.2 oz. (33 g) Simcoe® hops (dry hop)
1.2 oz. (33 g) Australian Summer hops (dry hop)
1.2 oz. (33 g) Crystal hops (dry hop)
0.5 tsp. yeast nutrients (10 mins.)
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) or Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) or Fermentis Safale US-05 yeast
Priming sugar (if bottling)
Step by Step
Adjust brewing water by adding 1 tsp. gypsum per 5 gallons (19 L) water. Mash in with 1.5 qts. (1.4 L) strike water per pound (0.45 kg) of grist to achieve a mash temperature of 152 °F (67 °C) and hold for 60 minutes. Sparge with 172 °F (78 °C) water and collect ~6 gallons (23 L) in the kettle. Boil for 60 minutes, adding hops and yeast nutrients at times indicated. At the end of the boil add “0 min.” hops and stir to wort to create a whirlpool. Stir for at least a minute and then let wort settle for a total of 20 minutes. Chill the wort to 170 °F (77 °C) before adding the second addition of “hop stand” hops. Stir for at least a minute, then let settle for another 15 minutes. Chill the wort to 68 °F (20 °C) and aerate thoroughly. Hold at 68 °F (20 °C) for three days or until primary fermentation slows down. Add the peach puree after kräusen has fallen then wait until fermentation calms back down before adding dry hops. After five days on the dry hops, rack the beer to a keg and carbonate or rack to bottling bucket, add priming sugar and bottle. Carbonate to 2.4 volumes CO2.
Odell Brewing Co. Peach IPA clone
(5 gallons/19 L, partial mash)
OG = 1.069 FG = 1.013
IBU = 60 SRM = 6 ABV = 7.2%
Ingredients
8 lbs. (3.6 kg) pale ale liquid malt extract (LME) (7 °L)
1.7 lbs. (0.77 kg) Vienna malt (3.5 °L)
0.7 lb. (0.32 kg) melanoidin malt (25 °L)
2 tsp. gypsum
4 lbs. (1.8 kg) peach puree or crushed peaches (pits removed)
7.8 AAU Warrior® hops (60 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 15.5% alpha acids)
7.8 AAU Warrior® hops (30 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 15.5% alpha acids)
8.8 AAU Simcoe® hops (0 min.) (0.8 oz./22 g at 11% alpha acids)
4.8 AAU Australian Summer hops (0 min.) (0.8 oz./22 g at 6% alpha acids)
3.2 AAU Crystal hops (0 min.) (0.8 oz./22 g at 4% alpha acids)
1.2 oz. (33 g) Simcoe® hops (20 min. into hop stand)
1.2 oz. (33 g) Australian Summer hops (20 min. into hop stand)
1.2 oz. (33 g) Crystal hops (20 min. into hop stand)
1.2 oz. (33 g) Simcoe® hops (dry hop)
1.2 oz. (33 g) Australian Summer hops (dry hop)
1.2 oz. (33 g) Crystal hops (dry hop)
0.5 tsp. yeast nutrients (10 mins.)
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) or Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) or Fermentis Safale US-05 yeast
Priming sugar (if bottling)
Step by Step
Place crushed grains in a muslin bag and mash in with 1 gallon (~4 L) water to achieve a mash temperature of 152 °F (67 °C) and hold for 60 minutes. Wash grain bag with 1 gallon (~4 L) hot water. Top kettle to ~6 gallons (23 L) water and boil. Once at a boil, remove the kettle from heat and add the LME and gypsum. Stir until all the malt extract is dissolved, then return the wort to a boil.
Boil for 60 minutes, adding hops and yeast nutrients at time indicated. At the end of the boil add hops and stir to wort to create a whirlpool. Stir for at least a minute and then let wort settle for a total of 20 minutes. Chill the wort to 170 °F (77 °C) before adding the second addition of hop stand hops. Stir for at least a minute, then let settle for another 15 minutes. Chill the wort to 68 °F (20 °C) and aerate thoroughly. Hold at 68 °F (20 °C) for 3 days or until primary fermentation slows down. Add the peach puree after krausen has fallen then wait until fermentation calms back down before adding dry hops. After 5 days on dry hops, rack to the beer to a keg and carbonate or rack to bottling bucket, add priming sugar and bottle. Carbonate to 2.4 volumes CO2.
Worthy Brewing Company Gary’s No Quit Wit clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.048 FG = 1.010
IBU = 12 SRM = 3.5 ABV = 5%
Ingredients
6 lbs. (2.7 kg) North American 2-row pale malt
1.8 lbs. (0.82 kg) flaked wheat
1.8 lbs. (0.82 kg) wheat malt
5.6 oz. (0.16 kg) acidulated malt
6 oz. (0.17 kg) rice hulls
1.8 AAU SterlingTM hops (90 min.) (0.2 oz./6 g at 9% alpha acid)
1.4 AAU SterlingTM hops (15 min.) (0.15 oz./4 g at 9% alpha acid)
1 oz. (28 g) sweet orange peel (0 min.)
0.5 oz. (14 g) ground coriander (0 min.)
0.15 oz. (4 g) lemon peel (0 min.)
Wyeast 3944 (Belgian Witbier) or White Labs WLP400 (Belgian Wit Ale) yeast
Priming sugar (if bottling)
Step by Step
Mash the grains and rice hulls at 150 °F (66 °C) and hold at this temperature until conversion is complete. Raise the temperature of the grain bed to 170 °F (77 °C) and begin the sparge. Sparge slowly to avoid a stuck sparge with 172 °F (78 °C) water in order to collect 6.5 gallons (25 L) in your brew kettle. Total boil time is 90 minutes, adding hops at the beginning of the boil and with 15 minutes remaining. At 0 minutes, add the coriander, orange peel and lemon peel, then give the wort a stir and let it settle for 20 minutes.
Chill the wort rapidly to 70 °F (21 °C), let the cold break settle, pitch the yeast and aerate. Ferment at 73 °F (23 °C) for seven days. Rack the beer to a keg and force carbonate or rack to a bottling bucket, add priming sugar, and bottle.
Worthy Brewing Company Gary’s No Quit Wit clone
(5 gallons/19 L, partial mash)
OG = 1.048 FG = 1.010
IBU = 12 SRM = 3.5 ABV = 5%
Ingredients
3 lbs. (1.4 kg) dried wheat malt extract
2.2 lbs. (1 kg) North American 2-row pale malt
1.8 lbs. (0.82 kg) flaked wheat
5.6 oz. (0.16 kg) acidulated malt
1.8 AAU SterlingTM hops (90 min.) (0.2 oz./6 g at 9% alpha acid)
1.4 AAU SterlingTM hops (15 min.) (0.15 oz./4 g at 9% alpha acid)
1 oz. (28 g) sweet orange peel (0 min.)
0.5 oz. (14 g) ground coriander (0 min.)
0.15 oz. (4 g) lemon peel (0 min.)
Wyeast 3944 (Belgian Witbier) or White Labs WLP400 (Belgian Wit Ale) yeast
Priming sugar (if bottling)
Step by Step
Place the crushed grains in a muslin brewing bag and mash in with 1.5 gallons (5.7 L) water to achieve a mash temperature of 150 °F (66 °C) and hold for 40 minutes. Rinse the grain bag with 1 gallon (~4 L) of hot water. Top off the kettle to about 6.5 gallons (25 L) with water and bring to a boil. Once at a boil, remove the kettle from the heat and add the dried malt extract. Stir the wort until all of the malt extract is dissolved, then return the wort to a boil. Total boil time is 90 minutes, adding hops at the beginning of the boil and with 15 minutes remaining. At 0 minutes, add the coriander, orange peel and lemon peel, then give the wort a stir and let it settle for 20 minutes.
Chill the wort rapidly to 70 °F (21 °C), let the cold break settle, pitch the yeast and aerate. Ferment at 73 °F (23 °C) for seven days. Rack to a keg and force carbonate or to a bottling bucket, add priming sugar, and bottle.
Tips for Success:
BYO’s Jamil Zainasheff’s advice for working with wit spices: “Coriander is probably the trickiest of the witbier spices to balance properly. Not only does the spice intensity vary considerably among suppliers and sources, but how you add it makes a big difference, too. I gently crush the coriander with the back of a heavy spoon to expose the inside of the seeds, which gives it a fairly strong, spicy character versus whole seeds. If you have fairly fresh coriander, start with 0.4 oz (11 g) per 5-gallon (19-L) batch.
Summit Brewing Co. Foreign Extra Stout clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.076 FG = 1.014
IBU = 65 SRM = 52 ABV = 8.5%
Ingredients
13.7 lbs. (6.2 kg) Irish stout malt (2 °L)
1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) Simpson black malt (550 °L)
1 lb. (0.45 kg) Crisp amber mal (27 °L)
7 AAU German Select hops (60 min.) (1.4 oz./40 g at 5% alpha acids)
7 AAU German Select hops (25 min.) (1.4 oz./40 g at 5% alpha acids)
3.5 AAU German Select hops (10 min.) (0.7 oz./20 g at 5% alpha acids)
3.4 AAU UK Phoenix hops (10 min.) (0.7 oz./20 g at 4.8% alpha acids)
8.4 AAU UK Progress hops (0 min.) (1.4 oz./40 g at 6% alpha acids)
0.7 oz. (20 g) Brewer’s Gold hops (dry hops)
½ Whirlfloc tablet
Wyeast 1084 (Irish Ale) yeast or White Labs WLP004 (Irish Ale) yeast
Priming sugar (if bottling)
Step by Step
Add calcium chloride (CaCl2) to the brewing water for a minimum 100 ppm of calcium (Ca)2+. Mash the grains at 144 °F (62 °C) and hold at this temperature for 30 minutes. Raise grain bed to 151 °F (66 °C) and hold at this temperature for 30 minutes. Raise grain bed to mash out at 172 °F (78 °C) then begin the sparge. Sparge until you collect 6 gallons (23 L) in your kettle or until pre-boil gravity in the kettle reaches about 1.063 SG.
Total boil time is 60 minutes, adding hops at the times indicated and Whirlfloc tablet with 10 minutes left in the boil. At 0 minutes, add the last addition of hops then give the wort a stir for at least a minute and let settle for 20 minutes. If your wort pH needs adjusting, add lactic acid to be sure your wort is at 5.2 at this point. Chill the wort to 68 °F (20 °C), let the cold break settle, pitch the yeast and aerate.
Ferment at 70 °F (21 °C) for five days or until signs of fermentation have subsided. Add dry hops and let the beer sit on the dry hops for five days. Drop the temperature to 54 °F (12 °C) and condition the beer for three weeks at this temperature. Rack to a keg and force carbonate or rack to a bottling bucket, add priming sugar, and bottle. Target carbonation levels around 2.4 volumes CO2.
Summit Brewing Co. Foreign Extra Stout clone
(5 gallons/19 L, partial mash)
OG = 1.076 FG = 1.014
IBU = 65 SRM = 52 ABV = 8.5%
Ingredients
7 lbs. (3.2 kg) extra light dried malt extract (2 °L)
1 lbs. (0.45 kg) Irish stout malt (2 °L)
1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) Simpson black malt (550 °L)
1 lb. (0.45 kg) Crisp amber malt (27 °L)
7 AAU German Select hops (60 min.) (1.4 oz./40 g at 5% alpha acids)
7 AAU German Select hops (25 min.) (1.4 oz./40 g at 5% alpha acids)
3.5 AAU German Select hops (10 min.) (0.7 oz./20 g at 5% alpha acids)
3.4 AAU UK Phoenix hops (10 min.) (0.7 oz./20 g at 4.8% alpha acids)
8.4 AAU UK Progress hops (0 min.) (1.4 oz./40 g at 6% alpha acids)
0.7 oz. (20 g) Brewer’s Gold hops (dry hops)
½ Whirlfloc tablet
Wyeast 1084 (Irish Ale) yeast or White Labs WLP004 (Irish Ale) yeast
Priming sugar (if bottling)
Step by Step
Place the crushed stout malt and amber malt into a muslin bag for mashing in 1 gallon (~4 L) of water. Mash the grains at 144 °F (62 °C). Hold at 144 °F (62 °C) for 30 minutes. Raise the mash to 151 °F (66 °C) and hold at this temperature for 30 minutes. Add the black malt, then raise grains to mash out at 172 °F (78 °C) and hold for 5 minutes. Raise the grains out of the mash water and rinse the grain bag with 1 gallon (~4 L) of hot water. Top off kettle to 6 gallons (23 L) water and bring to a boil. Once at a boil, remove the kettle from heat and add the dried malt extract. Stir until all the malt extract is dissolved, then return to a boil.
Total boil time is 60 minutes, adding hops at the times indicated and whirfloc tablet with 10 minutes left in the boil. At 0 minutes, add the last addition of hops then give the wort a stir for at least a minute and let settle for 20 minutes. If you wort pH needs adjusting, add lactic acid to be sure your wort is at 5.2 at this point. Chill the wort to 68 °F (20 °C) and aerate. Ferment at 70 °F (21 °C) for 5 days or until signs of fermentation has subsided. Add dry hops and let the beer sit on the dry hops for 5 days. Drop temperature to 54 °F (21 °C) and condition the beer for 3 weeks at this temperature. Rack to a keg and force carbonate or rack to a bottling bucket, add priming sugar, and bottle.
O.H.S.O. Brewery Morning Brew clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.050 FG = 1.011
IBU = 16 SRM = 5 ABV = 5.1%
Ingredients
8 lbs. (3.6 kg) North American 2-row pale malt
1 lb. (0.45 kg) flaked oats
10 oz. (0.27 kg) caramel Vienna malt (20 °L)
10 oz. (0.27 kg) lactose sugar (10 min.)
4.2 AAU Magnum hops (60 min.) (0.3 oz./9 g at 14% alpha acids)
0.5 oz. (14 g) Crystal hops (0 min.)
4 oz. (113 g) light roasted whole bean coffee (dry-beaned*)
8 oz. (0.23 kg) medium-dark roasted ground coffee (cold pressed)
Fermentis US-05 or White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) or Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) yeast
Priming sugar (if bottling)
Step by Step
Mash the grains at 149 °F (65 °C) and hold at this temperature until conversion is complete. Raise the temperature of the grain bed to 170 °F (77 °C) and begin the sparge. Sparge slowly with 172 °F (78 °C) water in order to collect 6 gallons (23 L) in your brew kettle. Total boil time is 60 minutes, adding hops at the beginning of the boil and lactose sugar with 10 minutes remaining. At 0 minutes, add the last addition of hops, then chill the wort to 66 °F (19 °C), pitch the yeast and aerate. Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C) for seven days. Add the dry coffee beans directly to the fermenter in a grain bag and let the beer sit on the beans for three to five days. The day before packaging the beer, grind the cold press coffee beans and add a cup of water. Let the coffee cold press overnight in the refrigerator. Guatemalan or Brazilian medium-dark roast is recommended for the ground coffee beans. Press off the liquid and gently add it to the beer just before bottling or kegging. Rack the beer to a keg and force carbonate or rack to a bottling bucket, add priming sugar, and bottle.
O.H.S.O. Brewery Morning Brew clone
(5 gallons/19 L, partial mash)
OG = 1.050 FG = 1.011
IBU = 16 SRM = 5 ABV = 5.1%
Ingredients
3.7 lbs. (1.68 kg) extra light dried malt extract
1 lb. (0.45 kg) North American 2-row pale malt
1 lb. (0.45 kg) flaked oats
10 oz. (0.27 kg) caramel Vienna malt (20 °L)
10 oz. (0.27 kg) lactose sugar (10 min.)
4.2 AAU Magnum hops (60 min.) (0.3 oz./9 g at 14% alpha acids)
0.5 oz. (14 g) Crystal hops (0 min.)
4 oz. (113 g) light roasted whole bean coffee (dry-beaned*)
8 oz. (0.23 kg) medium-dark roasted ground coffee (cold pressed)
Fermentis US-05 or White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) or Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) yeast
Priming sugar (if bottling)
Step by Step
Place crushed grains in a muslin bag and mash in with 1 gallons (~4 L) water to achieve a mash temperature of 149 °F (65 °C) and hold for 40 minutes. Rinse the grain bag with 1 gallon (~4 L) hot water. Top off the kettle to about 6 gallons (23 L) water and bring to a boil. Once at a boil, remove the kettle from heat and add the dried malt extract. Stir until all the malt extract is dissolved, then return the wort to a boil. Total boil time is 60 minutes, adding hops at the beginning of the boil and lactose sugar with 10 minutes remaining. At 0 minutes, add the last addition of hops, then chill the wort to 66 °F (19 °C), pitch the yeast and aerate. Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C) for seven days. Add the dry coffee beans directly to the fermenter in a grain bag and let the beer sit on the beans for three to five days. The day before packaging the beer, grind the cold press coffee beans and add a cup of water. Let the coffee cold press overnight in the refrigerator. Guatemalan or Brazilian medium-dark roast is recommended for the ground coffee beans. Press off the liquid and gently add it to the beer just before bottling or kegging. Rack the beer to a keg and force carbonate or rack to a bottling bucket, add priming sugar, and bottle.
* “Dry beaning” is the process of adding whole (or lightly crushed) coffee beans to your beer as you would when dry hopping.
