Pizza Ale

(5 gallons/19 L, partial mash)
OG = 1.056  FG = 1.0.13 IBU = 17  SRM = 14  ABV = 5.8%

Ingredients:

2 lbs. (0.91 kg) two-row pale malt
1 lb. (0.45 kg) amber malt (or brown malt)
1 lb. (0.45 kg) medium crystal malt (40 to 60° L)
4.5 lbs. (2 kg) amber dried malt extract
5 AAU Willamette hops (60 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 5% alpha acid)
2 small cloves fresh minced garlic
1 small dried chili pepper (ancho, habañero, tabasco)
20 or 30 fresh whole fennel seeds
A pinch each of dried (not ground) oregano, basil, thyme. Other favorite pizza spices may be added. Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) or White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) or Safale US-05 3/4 cup corn sugar (if priming)

Step by Step:

In 1.5 gal. (5.7 L) of water heated to 164 °F (73 °C), mix crushed pale, amber, and crystal malts. The mash should stabilize near 151 °F (66 °C). Hold 90 min., wash with 2 gal. (7.6 L) of water at 168 °F (76 °C), and collect the runoff in your boiling kettle. Add the dried malt to the kettle and bring to a boil. Add the Willamette hop pellets, boil 60 min., remove from the heat, and add the garlic and spices. Let sit for 30 min. covered. Chill, aerate, and top off in your fermenter to 5.25 gal. (20 L) with water. Pitch yeast when wort cools to 70 °F (21 °C), seal, and ferment at 65 to 70 °F (18 to 21 °C) for 10 days. Rack to secondary and condition at 60 °F (16 °C) for two weeks or more. Prime and bottle or keg as usual.

All-Grain Option: Increase the pale malt to 10.25 lbs. (4.7 kg) total and mash in 4 gal. (15 L) of mash water and 15 quarts (14 L) of sparge water. In either case the rest of the recipe would remain the same. If you use a different combination of spices in your pizza sauce, by all means try it. I can’t see how to do it, but somewhere in here there’s room for sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, maybe bacon or pineapple.