Experimental Golden Ale

Ingredients

• 5 oz. carapils malt
• 5 oz. 20 degree crystal malt
• 6 lbs. BrewMaster golden light dried malt extract
• 1.5 oz. whole Saaz hops (bittering)
• 0.5 oz. whole Saaz hops (aroma)
• 1 packet Windsor Ale dry yeast
  

I steeped the grains for 25 minutes in 2.5 gallons of tap water at 158 degrees and sparged them with half a gallon of water. Then, I heated the mixture up to boiling, adding the malt extract and bittering hops. These boiled for 55 minutes, and then I added the aroma hops. After five more minutes of boiling, I removed the wort from the stove and chilled it down to about 75 degrees. I put the wort in the bucket, and topped it up with distilled water to around 4.5 gallons. Finally, I sprinkled the yeast on top before sealing it up. The brew is fermenting at around 65-68 degrees (ambient air temperature in my apartment these days).

Starting gravity was 1.050, or 6 percent potential alcohol. The Windsor yeast strain is supposed to ferment to a lower alcohol content, so maybe I'll get around 4-4.5 percent in the end. The wort is a nice golden color right now, and the beer should be quite pretty by the time it's finished. I put the brew in the primary fermenter on Saturday, February 6, and by the next day it had already started bubbling along. Can't wait!