Asheville Pizza & Brewing’s Norwegian Forest Cat clone

(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.070 FG = 1.012
IBU = 10 SRM = 9 ABV = 7.6%

Ingredients
9 lbs. (4.1 kg) pale malt
3 lbs. (1.36 kg) Simpsons Golden Naked Oats™ malt
1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) Munich malt
1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) flaked wheat
7.5 AAU Vic Secret hops (10 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 15% alpha acids)
22.5 AAU Vic Secret hops (hopstand) (1.5 oz./42 g at 15% alpha acids)
11.25 AAU Motueka hops (hopstand) (1.5 oz./42 g at 7.5% alpha acids)
0.75 oz. (21 g) Vic Secret hops (dry hop)
0.75 oz. (21 g) Motueka (dry hop)
White Labs WLP521 (Hornindal Kveik Ale), or Imperial Yeast A46 (Bartleby), or Omega Yeast OYL-091 (Hornindal Kveik) yeast
2⁄3 cup corn sugar (if priming)

Step by Step
Mill the grains, then mix with 4.7 gallons (17.7 L) of 167 °F (75 °C) strike water to achieve a single infusion rest temperature of 152 °F (67 °C). Hold the mash at this temperature for 60 minutes. Adjust mash pH to 5.2 to 5.4 using phosphoric or lactic acid if your pH is too high. Mashout to 170 °F (77 °C) if desired.

Vorlauf until your runnings are clear before directing them to your boil kettle. Batch- or fly-sparge the mash to obtain 6.5 gallons (25 L) of wort. Boil the wort for 60 minutes. At 10 minutes left in the boil, add the Vic Secret hops along with Whirlfloc or Irish moss.

After the boil, cool the wort to approximately 190 °F (88 °C), and add the hopstand hops. Whirlpool for 15 minutes before further chilling the wort to 76 °F (24 °C). Pitch yeast. Allow the fermentation to free rise even up to 94 °F (34 °C) by the end of primary for this beer.

Once primary fermentation is complete, you have a decision to make centered around the barrel-aging character of this beer. See ‘Tips for Success’ for more information. Eventually, carbonate the aged beer to approximately 2.3–2.4 volumes.

Asheville Pizza & Brewing’s Norwegian Forest Cat clone

(5 gallons/19 L, partial mash)
OG = 1.070 FG = 1.012
IBU = 10 SRM = 9 ABV = 7.6%

Ingredients
5.25 lbs. (2.42 kg) extra light dried malt extract
2 lbs. (0.91 kg) Simpsons Golden Naked Oats™ malt
1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) Munich malt
1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) flaked wheat
7.5 AAU Vic Secret hops (10 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 15% alpha acids)
22.5 AAU Vic Secret hops (hopstand) (1.5 oz./42 g at 15% alpha acids)
11.25 AAU Motueka hops (hopstand) (1.5 oz./42 g at 7.5% alpha acids)
0.75 oz. (21 g) Vic Secret hops (dry hop)
0.75 oz. (21 g) Motueka (dry hop)
White Labs WLP521 (Hornindal Kveik Ale), or Imperial Yeast A46 (Bartleby), or Omega Yeast OYL-091 (Hornindal Kveik) yeast
2⁄3 cup corn sugar (if priming)

Step by Step
Bring 6.5 qts. (5.9 L) of water to roughly 167 °F (75 °C). Place the crushed grains in a muslin bag and steep the three grains for 45 minutes before removing and rinsing with 1 gallon (4 L) of hot water. Add water to make 5.5 gallons (21 L) of wort, then mix in the dried malt extract, with stirring, before heating to a boil. Boil for 30 minutes. At 10 minutes left in the boil, add the Vic Secret hops along with Whirlfloc or Irish moss.

After the boil, cool the wort to approximately 190 °F (88 °C), and add the hopstand hops. Whirlpool for 15 minutes before further chilling the wort to 76 °F (24 °C). Pitch yeast. Allow the fermentation to free rise even up to 94 °F (34 °C) by the end of primary fermentation for this beer.

Once primary fermentation is complete, you have a decision to make centered around the barrel aging character of this beer. See “Tips for Success” for more information. Eventually, carbonate the aged beer to approximately 2.3–2.4 volumes.

Tips for Success:
These tips are in chronological order regarding your batch of brew. First off, unless you have a low amount of residual alkalinity in your brewing liquor, you’ll probably have to adjust your mash pH downward. For this beer, I’d recommend using phosphoric acid or lactic acid to achieve a mash pH between 5.2 and 5.4. Next, as mentioned in the recipes, you’ll have to decide how you want to achieve the barrel-aged character in the beer. If you happen to have a clean Sauvignon Blanc barrel laying around your place or access to one, now is the time to use it. For the 99.99% of us that don’t (hint: Sauvignon Blanc is almost never barrel-aged so good luck trying to find one if you go trying to track one down), you can mimic the effect by soaking a few medium-toasted French oak cubes in your favorite bottle of Sauvignon Blanc for several days before adding to the beer. Be careful though as a Sauvignon Blanc would be aged in a fairly neutral barrel, so don’t go overboard with the duration of the beer on the cubes.