21st Amendment Brewery and Ninkasi Brewing Company: Allies Win the War clone

21st Amendment Brewery and Ninkasi Brewing Company: Allies Win the War clone

(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.072 FG = 1.018
IBU = 49 SRM = 23 ABV = 7.1%

This collaboration English strong ale came to be thanks to 21^st Amendment’s Shaun O’Sullivan and Ninkasi’s Jamie Floyd, who had been friends since brewing together in the 1990s at Steelhead Brewery. Both brewers had won GABF medals for their versions of this style, and decided to brew one together using local ingredients.

Ingredients
11 lb. 12 oz. (5.3 kg) 2-row pale malt
12 oz. (0.34 kg) English crystal malt (15 °L)
12 oz. (0.34 kg) English crystal malt (45 °L)
12 oz. (0.34 kg) English crystal malt (120 °L)
8 oz. (0.23 kg) English crystal malt (155/165 °L)
12 oz. (0.34 kg) light Munich malt (6 °L)
1.6 oz. (45 g) chocolate malt
6 oz. (170 g) dates (macerated, in the secondary)
8.4 AAU Warrior hops (90 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g of 16.8% alpha acids)
7.0 AAU Willamette hops (30 min.) (0.9 oz./26 g of 7.8% alpha acids)
0.6 oz. (17 g) East Kent Golding hops (0 min.)
Wyeast 1968 (London ESB) or White Labs WLP002 (English Ale) yeast (3.3 qt./3.3 L yeast starter)
2/3 cup (133 g) dextrose (if priming

Step by Step
For the mash, you will need 4.5 gallons (17 L) of strike water. Mash at 155 °F (68 °C) for 50 minutes. Mash out to 168 °F (76 °C) and hold for 5 minutes. Recirculate and then collect enough wort that you can boil it down to 5 gallon (19 L) in 90 minutes. Boil wort for 90 minutes, adding hops at times indicated in ingredient list. Chill wort and transfer to fermenter. Aerate well and pitch sediment from yeast starter. Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C). Rack to secondary and add dates. Bottle or keg after 5 days in secondary.

Extract with grains option:
Substitute the 2-row pale malt in the all-grain recipe with 2.5 lbs. (1.1 kg) light dried malt extract and 5 lbs. (2.3 kg) light liquid malt extract. Place grains in a large steeping bag. In a large (at least 6 qts./6 L) kitchen pot, steep grains at 155 °F (68 °C) for 50 minutes in 3.9 qts. (3.7 L) of water. Begin heating at least 3 gallons (11 L) of water in your brewpot as the grains steep. Rinse grains with 2 qts. (1.9 L) of 170 °F (77 °C) water and add “grain tea” to water in brewpot. Stir in dried malt extract and bring wort to a boil. Boil for 60 minutes, adding hops at times indicated. Stir in liquid malt extract during the final 15 minutes of the boil. Follow the remaining portion of the all-grain recipe.

Tips for Success:
This recipe contains a lot of specialty grains, including a high percentage of dark crystal malts and some chocolate malt. Darkly roasted grains are, of course, very flavorful, but they are also more likely to give up an excessive amount of tannins if handled improperly. Be careful not to oversparge when collecting wort. If you have a pH meter, monitoring the final runnings and ensuring they don’t climb above 5.8 would be a good idea. Also, be sure to make a yeast starter. This yeast strain has a tendency to flocculate early if the pitching rate is too low.