Stone Brewing Co. 10.10.10 Vertical Epic Ale clone

Stone Brewing Co. 10.10.10 Vertical Epic Ale clone

(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.069 FG = 1.003
IBU = 45 SRM = 12 ABV = 9.3%

Make sure to compensate for the extra volume of grapes or grape juice you will be adding to the primary fermenter. This recipe was designed so that at the end of brew day your fermenter only contains 4.5 gallons (17 L) of wort. The original gravity is calculated without the grape juice while the ABV is calculated with grape juice.

Ingredients
10 lbs. (4.5 kg) 2-row pale malt
1.4 lbs. (0.64 kg) flaked triticale (can substitute flaked rye and/or flaked wheat)
1.15 lbs. (0.52 kg) liquid amber candi sugar (90 min.)
0.8 oz. (22 g) dried whole chamomile flowers (0 min.)
2 qts. (1.9 L) white wine grape juice OR 6–7 lbs. (2.7–3.2 kg) crushed white wine grapes (primary fermentation)
11 AAU Perle hops (90 min.) (1.1 oz./31 g at 10% alpha acid)
Wyeast 3522 (Belgian Ardennes) or White Labs WLP550 (Belgian Ale) yeast
Priming sugar (if bottling)

Step by Step
This is a single infusion mash, with a conversion rest at 148 °F (64 °C) for 105 minutes. This helps provide a fermentable wort. Raise the mash temperature to 165 °F (74 °C) after conversion rest to stop the enzymatic conversion of starches to sugars before lautering. Recirculate your wort gently for 5-15 minutes, depending on your system, before diverting wort flow to your kettle/boiling vessel. If you have a refractometer, check your “first wort” (unsparged wort) gravity, it should be about 1.088–1.092 SG. Sparge water should be between 165 and 170 °F (74 and 77 °C) to maximize extraction, but avoid going over 170 °F (77 °C) or you’ll extract harsh compounds from the malt husks. Sparge until you hit your target boil volume or until your wort gravity being drawn-off reaches 1.012 SG, whichever comes first. Don’t lauter past this gravity, because when the sparged wort coming off the lauter is that low in sugar content, you risk extracting tannins and other harsh character from the malt husks.

Add all the hops at the start of boil. Stone typically boils their wort for 90 minutes to get about 8–10% evaporation. Depending on your boil parameters, you may want or need to add some portion of the hops before the boil actually starts (first wort hopping) to keep the foaming under control. Add the amber candi sugar after the boil starts so the sugar can’t settle on the bottom of the kettle and scorch as the heat increases.
After the wort boil is complete, add the chamomile flowers (in a muslin brew bag) to maximize flavor extraction. Chill the wort using an immersion chiller or a heat exchanger to about 65–70 °F (18–21 °C). Pitch enough yeast to get 20-25 million cells per milliliter (requires a starter). Stone uses the Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardennes strain, because it doesn’t produce a lot of phenolic clove flavors and ferments strongly to dryness. Stone used a fairly high pitching rate here, because they wanted to ferment at a lower temperature but still ensure the beer fermented out completely.

Ferment at 72 °F (22 °C) to maximize fruity ester formation and reduce the clove/spicy flavor formations, which form at higher levels with warmer Belgian yeast fermentation temperatures, above ~75 °F (24 °C). At 1.040 SG (about halfway through primary fermentation) add the grape juice. Use unsulfited juice to ensure fermentation will proceed, and add the juice at the height of the beer fermentation. Stone reports that their juice was approximately 35% Gewürztraminer, 30% Muscat Canelli, 20% Sauvignon Blanc and 15% Riesling, but any Muscat variety or blend would work. After fermentation is complete, chill the beer down to about 35 °F (2 °C) or so, and let it sit until the beer clarifies, at least one week. Bottle or keg the beer as normal. The 10.10.10 Vertical Epic Ale clone will be wonderful fresh, but the wine flavors should develop further over time.

Stone Brewing Co. 10.10.10 Vertical Epic Ale clone

(5 gallons/19 L, partial mash)
OG = 1.069 FG = 1.003
IBU = 45 SRM = 4 ABV = 9.3%

Ingredients
3.3 lbs. (1.5 kg) pale unhopped liquid malt extract
1.8 lbs. (0.82 kg) light dried malt extract
1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) 2-row pale malt
1.4 lbs. (0.64 kg) flaked triticale (can substitute flaked rye and/or flaked wheat)
1.15 lbs. (0.52 kg) liquid amber candi sugar (90 min.)
0.8 oz. (22 g) dried whole chamomile flowers (0 min.)
2 qts. (1.9 L) white wine grape juice OR 6–7 lbs (2.7–3.2 kg) crushed white wine grapes (primary fermentation)
11 AAU Perle hops (90 min.) (1.1 oz./31 g at 10% alpha acid)
Wyeast 3522 (Belgian Ardennes) or White Labs WLP550 (Belgian Ale) yeast
Priming sugar (if bottling)

Step by Step
Heat 6 qts. (5.7 L) strike water to achieve a mash temperature of 148 °F (64 °C). Add the crushed pale malt and flaked triticale to a muslin bag. Let the grains rest in the strike water for 45–60 minutes. Remove the grain bag and wash with 4 qts. (3.8 L) hot water. Top off your kettle to at least 3 gallons. Bring to a boil and follow the directions per the all-grain recipe.