To Better Times (Farmhouse Table Beer)

To Better Times (Farmhouse Table Beer)

(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.035  FG = 1.007
IBU = 10  SRM = 3   ABV = 3.7%

This recipe was created with one purpose in mind — to make a refreshing, tasty beer out of very little. The hops used are an illustration, but really any will do — the first time I made it, I just used a handful of wild hops.

Ingredients
2.5 lbs. (1.13 kg) 2-row pale ale malt
2.5 lbs. (1.13 kg) Pilsner malt
1.9 lbs. (860 g) rolled oats/oatmeal
10 oz. (283 g) dried bread (made from about 1 lb./0.45 kg fresh bread)
3.3 AAU East Kent Golding hops (30 min.) (0.6 oz./17 g at 5.7% alpha acids)
25–30 bay leaves (30 min.)
Omega Yeast Labs OYL-033 (Jovaru Lithuanian Farmhouse), Lallemand Belle Saison, or bread yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)

Step by step
Before brewing, dry the bread in the oven at 195 °F (90 °C), turning occasionally, for an hour or until completely dry, then break into small chunks. Mash all the grains and bread at around 149 °F (65 °C) for one hour. Collect 5.5 gallons (21 L) of wort in the kettle and boil for 30 minutes, adding the hops and bay leaves as soon as the boil begins. 

At the end of the boil, remove the hops and bay leaves, then chill the wort to around 86 °F (30 °C) and aerate well before pitching the yeast. Ferment at 86 °F (30 °C) for five days, then chill to around 39 °F (4 °C), if possible, for two days. Rack to keg or bottles and either prime with the sugar or keg and force carbonate to around 2.0–2.5 volumes.