Bell’s Brewery’s Song Of The Open Road Clone
All-Grain Recipe
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.084 FG = 1.020
IBU = 35 SRM = 24 ABV = 8.5%
Ingredients
12.17 lbs. (5.52 kg) Maris Otter pale ale malt
3.45 lbs. (1.57 kg) dark Munich malt (30 °L)
0.91 lb. (0.41 kg) dark crystal malt (120 °L)
0.56 lb. (0.25 kg) melanoidin malt
0.56 lb. (0.25 kg) roasted amber malt (43 °L)
7.8 AAU Crystal hops (42 min.) (2.4 oz./68 g at 3.25% alpha acids)
3.25 AAU Crystal hops (27 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 3.25% alpha acids)
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale), Wyeast 1056 (American Ale),
SafAle US-05, or equivalent yeast
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
In a medium-thick mash, achieve a mash temperature of 150 °F (66 °C). Mash for 40 minutes or until fully converted. Mash out at 170 °F (77 °C) then recirculate until clear. After collecting wort, boil for a total of 54 minutes, adding the hops at 42 and 27 minutes, respectively. If you care to, add yeast nutrient and a Whirlfloc tablet with 10 minutes to go in the boil for yeast health and beer clarity. Whirlpool and let the break and hops settle for 20 minutes at the end of boil for easy transfer.
Chill rapidly to 70 °F (21 °C). Pitch yeast and oxygenate thoroughly. Ferment at 72 °F (22 °C). Being a fairly large beer with a lot of sugars to ferment, give it no less than two weeks for primary and secondary fermentation. A few days longer will not hurt. Keg the beer and carbonate to 2.5 volumes or bottle condition.
Partial Mash Recipe
(5 gallons/19 L, partial mash)
OG = 1.084 FG = 1.020
IBU = 35 SRM = 24 ABV = 8.5%
Ingredients
6.6 lbs. (3 kg) Maris Otter liquid malt extract
2.5 lbs. (1.13 kg) Maris Otter pale ale malt
3.45 lbs. (1.57 kg) dark Munich malt (30 °L)
0.91 lb. (0.41 kg) dark crystal malt (120 °L)
0.56 lb. (0.25 kg) melanoidin malt
0.56 lb. (0.25 kg) roasted amber malt (43 °L)
7.8 AAU Crystal hops (42 min.) (2.4 oz./68 g at 3.25% alpha acids)
3.25 AAU Crystal hops (27 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 3.25% alpha acids)
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale), Wyeast 1056 (American Ale),
SafAle US-05, or equivalent yeast
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
This recipe has a combination of grains that can be steeped (crystal 120) and others that need to be mashed (amber, melanoidin, and Munich). Since the crystal 120 is the only steepable grain and imparts no roastiness that might contribute additional unwanted bitterness, you can include it when you mash the others. With grains in a large muslin bag, mash in 3 gallons (11.4 L) of water at 150 °F (66 °C). Mash for 40 minutes or until converted. Upon completion of the mash, remove grains, letting the wort drip.
Raise temperature to a boil and slowly add half of your malt extract. Boil for a total of 54 minutes, adding the hops at 42 and 27 minutes, respectively. If you care to, add yeast nutrient and a Whirlfloc tablet with 10 minutes to go in the boil for yeast health and beer clarity. With 5 minutes remaining, add the remaining LME. Separately, pre-boil and chill about 2.5 gallons (9.46 L) of water so you can top up your fermenter to 5 gallons (19 L) after the boil.
Chill rapidly to 70 °F (21 °C). Pitch yeast and oxygenate thoroughly. Ferment at 72 °F (22 °C). Being a fairly large beer with a lot of sugars to ferment, give it no less than two weeks for primary and secondary fermentation. A few days longer will not hurt. Keg the beer and carbonate to 2.5 volumes or bottle condition.
Tips For Success
The large quantity of specialty malts in the grain bill will inherently lead to a less fermentable wort. Bell’s mash profile is aggressive at this duration of time and at that temperature, yielding a well-attenuated beer with good drinkability. Feel free to mash longer to ensure full conversion.
While there are no oats in this recipe, Bell’s Innovation Manager Andy Farrell believes that an addition of flaked oats could potentially enhance the beer. “I would say you can add 5–15% oats if you wanted to soften it up and create your own character of the beer,” said Farrell. “The beer was silky to begin with, but oats would enhance that character even more.”
