Defiance Brewing Company’s Fuzzy Knuckles clone

Defiance Brewing Company: Fuzzy Knuckles clone

(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.100   FG = 1.028
IBU = 55   SRM = 43   ABV = 10%

Ingredients
16.5 lbs. (7.5 kg) 2-row pale malt
1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) Munich malt (10 °L)
1.3 lbs. (0.6 kg) flaked oats
15 oz. (0.43 kg) chocolate malt
12 oz. (0.34 kg) roasted barley
3 oz. (85 g) caramel malt (120 °L)
3 oz. (85 g) Carafa® Special III malt
12.5 AAU Columbus pellet hops (90 min.) (0.82 oz./23 g at 15.5% alpha acids)
4.5 AAU Willamette pellet hops (20 min.) (0.82 oz./23 g at 5.5% alpha acids)
8 AAU Willamette pellet hops (0 min.) (1.33 oz./37 g at 5.5% alpha acids)
1⁄2 tsp. yeast nutrient (15 min.)
1⁄2 Whirfloc® tablet (15 min.)
1.1 oz. (31 g) ground Sumatra coffee (0 min.)
1.2 oz. (34 g) cacao nibs (0 min.)
White Labs WLP007 (Dry English Ale Yeast), Wyeast 1098 (British Ale), or Lallemand Nottingham yeast
2⁄3 cup (66 g) dextrose (if priming)

Step by Step
Mill the grains (flaked oats don’t need to be milled) and mix with 6 gallons (22.7 L) of 169 °F (76 °C) strike water to reach a mash temperature of 154 °F (68 °C). Hold this temperature for 60 minutes. Vorlauf until your runnings are clear. Now sparge the grains with 3.5 gallons (13.25 L) of 169 °F (76 °C) water until 7 gallons (26.5 L) of 1.068 specific gravity wort is collected in your boil kettle. Boil for 90 minutes adding hops, yeast nutrient, and kettle finings according to the ingredients list. After the boil, turn off the heat and add the 0 min. hop additions, coffee, and cacao nibs. Whirlpool the kettle by gently stirring with a mash paddle for 2 minutes and then let rest for an addition 28 minutes to achieve a 30-minute flame out steep. Next, chill the wort to 64 °F (18 °C) and transfer into a clean and sanitized fermenter. Aerate the wort with pure oxygen for 90 seconds and pitch yeast. Allow fermentation to free rise up to 68 °F (20 °C) and hold it at that temperature until the beer reaches 60% apparent attenuation (1.035) then ramp fermentation temperature up to 72 °F (22 °C) and hold at this temperature for an additional 14 days. Begin to slowly crash cool the fermenter down at the rate of 5 °F (2.8 °C) per day for 8 days until the beer reaches 32 °F (0 °C) and then bottle or keg the beer. Carbonate to between 2.2 and 2.3 volumes of CO2.

Extract with grains option:
Substitute the 2-row pale malt, Munich malt, and flaked oats in the all-grain recipe with 6 oz. (170 g) Carafoam® malt, 2 lbs. (0.9 kg) Munich dried malt extract, and 10 lbs. (4.5 kg) golden light liquid malt extract. Place the crushed grains in a grain bag, then add to 2 gallons (7.6 L) of 150 °F (66 °C) water. Allow grains to steep for 20–30 minutes while you continue to heat the water up to no hotter than 170 °F (77 °C) in order to avoid extracting tannins. Next, remove the grain bag, top your kettle up with enough pre-heated water to reach a total pre-boil volume of 7 gallons (26.5L), and turn your heat source back on. Once you reach a boil, add your malt extract, hops, yeast nutrient, and kettle finings, according to the ingredients list. The remainder of this recipe is the same as the all-grain recipe.

Tips for Success:
This is a high-gravity beer that will require lots (about 334 billion total cells) of yeast for a healthy fermentation. If you have 1 White Labs vial or 1 Wyeast Activator pack you will need to either make a 1.75-L stir plate starter or a 5-L non-stir plate starter in advance. If you are unable to make a starter, be prepared to pitch at least 3.5 vials/packs of fresh yeast. Oxygenating your wort with pure oxygen for 90 seconds prior to pitching your yeast and (optionally) for an additional 30 seconds 12–18 hours after you initially pitch your yeast is recommended to ensure optimal yeast growth. Due to the high gravity and use of ground coffee in this beer, the extended fermentation and cold conditioning period outlined above is beneficial. It will allow the yeast ample time to ferment the beer completely, reabsorb diacetyl properly, and allow the ground coffee to completely settle before packaging which helps to avoid creating nucleation points that could lead to “gushers” if bottling.