Fairgate Gingerbread Stout

All-Grain Recipe

(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.088  FG = 1.021
IBU = 51  SRM = 50  ABV = 9%

Ingredients

8.8 lbs. (4 kg) North American 2-row malt
2.1 lbs. (0.95 kg) Munich malt
13 oz. (370 g) flaked oats
13 oz. (370 g) Carapils® (dextrin) malt 
1.1 lbs. (0.5 kg) black barley (500 °L)
11 oz. (310 g) crystal malt (60 °L)
8.5 oz. (240 g) Special B malt
8 oz. (230 g) crystal malt (40 °L)
5.5 oz. (155 g) crystal malt (120 °L)
2 lbs. (0.9 kg) molasses (60 min.)
18.2 AAU Magnum hops (60 min.) (1.3 oz./37 g at 14% alpha acids)
1 Whirlfloc tablet (15 min.)
1 tsp. yeast nutrient (15 min.)
spice tincture #1 (10 min.)
spice tincture #2 (secondary)
Wyeast 1318 (London Ale III), White Labs WLP066 (London Fog), or LalBrew Verdant IPA yeast
2⁄3 cup corn sugar (if priming)

Spice tincture ingredients
6 g vanilla beans, Grade B (split scraped, sectioned)
60 g ginger root (coarse grind with skin in food processor)
8 whole allspice berries (coarse grind)
2 tsp. cinnamon stick (coarse grind)
2 whole cloves (coarse grind)
1 tsp. whole nutmeg (coarse grind)
Vodka to cover

Step by Step

Create spice tincture five days prior to brewing. To do this, add spices to a glass jar, cover with vodka, screw on lid, shake to mix thoroughly. This tincture will be divided into two equal amounts and account for both tincture additions (or split the ingredients into two jars from the start and make two separate tinctures).

On brew day, starting with reverse osmosis water, add salts toward a dark brown beer profile — sulfate:chloride ratio of about 0.7. Mash in pale, Munich, flaked oats, and Carapils® via underlet to stabilize temperature at 150 °F (66 °C), then wait 30 minutes. Add remaining grains to top of mash after 30 minutes, shallow mix these grains into the mash. Vorlauf for 30 minutes then transfer wort to boil kettle and boil. Add molasses, hops, kettle fining, and yeast nutrient per ingredients list. For the first spice tincture — add the spices to a strainer bag, place it into boil at 10 minutes remaining. Do not discard the vodka. Pour in vodka at flameout. Whirlpool for 15 minutes.

Chill the wort and transfer to fermenter. Pitch yeast at 68 °F (20 °C) and hold temperature for the duration of active fermentation. After one week drop yeast cone (or rack to secondary) and add second tincture (both the spices and vodka) into fermenter. Let stand for at least one week. Force carbonate to 2.3 v/v or bottle and prime with corn sugar.

Partial Mash Recipe

Replace the pale malt with 6.6 lbs. (3 kg) of light liquid malt extract and reduce the Munich malt to 1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg). The steps will nearly parallel the all-grain instructions. Place the Munich malt, flaked oats, and Carapils® in a muslin bag and steep in 2 gallons (7.6 L) of water at 150 °F (66 °C) for 30 minutes. Place the remaining grains in a separate bag and add these grains for the remaining 30 minutes of the mash. Place both bags in a large colander and wash with 1.5 gallons (5.7 L) of hot water. While heat is turned off, stir the liquid malt extract and molasses into the wort. Stir until fully dissolved then top up to 6 gallons (23 L) and bring the wort up to a boil. 

Follow the remainder of the all-grain recipe instructions.