Screwy's California Steamin' Common Ale

[ScrewyBrewer]

We took a sample of the California Steamin' Common last night, it finished at 1.016 and 4.8% alcohol, had a nice even balance of grain and hops. We ended up racking 6 gallons into the fermentor so the extra volume of beer will go a long way in keeping the pipeline flowing, even so we're brewing a Cascadian Dark Ale later today.



The color calculated out to 12 SRM all I could tell from the sample before cold crashing is that it definitely looked darker than the SRM 4 batch we brewed the week before. The real taste test will be next weekend when we keg and bottle it but so far it's turned out to be a tasty beer.

[FedoraDave]

How do you calculate SRM? Are you going by a sample of the batch, or by a software program?

I find this a frustrating (albeit minor) thing to work with, since most of the time I'm just eyeballing it and saying, "Okay, it looks good; probably around 3 or 5".

[ScrewyBrewer]

How do you calculate SRM? Are you going by a sample of the batch, or by a software program?

I find this a frustrating (albeit minor) thing to work with, since most of the time I'm just eyeballing it and saying, "Okay, it looks good; probably around 3 or 5".

I'm still using qBrew for all my calculations Dave and the SRM color chart on my website as a basic visual guide. But mostly the brew before this one was lighter by a few shades, qBrew calculated a SRM 4 for that one.

[ScrewyBrewer]

This weekend the fermentor will be a week in the fridge, it'll be my California Steamin' sampling time soon and I can't wait.

[ScrewyBrewer]

Last night we took another sample after cold crashing for a week. It tastes pretty darn good too. I look for a nice bready finish in all of my beers now, no matter how hoppy they are.

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[ScrewyBrewer]

I was able to fill up two 2.5 gallon corny kegs and eight 12 ounce bottles from this batch. The malt flavor is intense and the hop character distinct, I attribute these qualities to the modified water profile I used. The kegs are being force carbonated at 12 psi and we'll get to sample them on Thursday, the bottles are naturally carbonating and should be ready for sampling in about three weeks.

We have a brew club competition on April 29th where about 30 members vote on the best tasting beers. I plan on submitting a bottle of Clock Strukker IPA and a bottle of California Steamin' for the competition and to a few beer distributors to get their feedback.

[Brewbirds]

Can't wait to hear the feed back you get on this Screwy I think your water work is going to wow them.

[ScrewyBrewer]

It's been four weeks since we brewed this beer and we've started drinking it already. I'm pretty sure we nailed the color, the bitterness and the alcohol level too. The beer is crisp and well balanced. The combination of Northern Brewer and Cascade hops blend well with the malt flavor of the base grain and caramel malt leaving a nice bready finish on the nose after each sip. At just around 5% alcohol this beer can be enjoyed before, during and after a leisurely afternoon of watching your favorite games.

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Screwy's California Steamin' Common Ale

For every batch of beer I brew these days only about ten 12 ounce bottles get squirreled away to be naturally carbonated and conditioned. My brew crew tends to drink the kegged beer almost as soon as its carbonated. Being the patient brewer that I am I know the beer will taste nice after being allowed to mellow in the bottle for several weeks, but I can't argue the point because the beer tastes good already. For the water profile I added 4 grams of gypsum, 5 grams of Epsom salt, 4 grams of calcium chloride and 2 milliliters of lactic acid to ten gallons of distilled water.

Once again I pitched 11 grams of rehydrated Nottingham yeast into oxygenated wort and let it ferment at 65F for two weeks. I'm very anxious to brew this exact same recipe using White Labs WLP810 San Francisco lager yeast next time just to see what the yeast will do to modify the flavor of the finished beer. I'm not quite ready to begin making yeast starters yet but I will make it a point to do so when attempting to ferment this recipe using the WLP810 yeast. Anyhow in the pipeline now I have a Yakima Glory Clone and a Screwer In The Rye batch cold crashing and dry hopping now, both brewed with modified water profiles. I feel like I'm in the perfect storm of brewing right now having a good brewing process, great yeast management process and an accurate way to modify the perfect brewing water profile to match each style of beer.

[Brewbirds]

WOW Screwy it is beautiful!!

I'm trying to put a straw on my screen.

Well done and congrats.

[ScrewyBrewer]

I can hardly believe it's taken me so long to finally get around to updating this post and getting to brew this recipe again. Today I've been reading a lot about two very special types of yeast White Labs WLP810 - San Francisco Lager™ and Wyeast 2112 - California Lager™. The White Labs WLP810 - San Francisco Lager™ strain was categorized by Chris White as being a true Lager strain that happens to tolerate 58°-65° F fermentation temperatures very well. Anyone familiar with Anchor Steam knows that it relies heavily on the clean Lager fermentation and malt character produced by WLP810 when fermented at near Ale temperatures. They know how well the Northern Brewer hops work with the flavors produced by the yeast and the malts in the recipe.

This time around I plan to brew a 10 gallon batch using 2 pounds of Crystal 80 and 20 pounds of Pale Ale malt with an 8 ounce mix of Northern Brewer and Cascade hops. It's very similar to the recipe I brewed this Spring but this time I plan to pitch a yeast strain that's more suitable for this style of beer. According to Jamil Zainasheff's yeast calculator and what other home brewers have posted the pitching rate for the WLP-810 is a 'hybrid' somewhere between an Ale yeast and a Lager yeast.

The California Common style is a 5% ABV session beer and since it's a hybrid it'll need 500 billion cells to hit the correct pitching rate, it's interesting to know that if it were a Lager yeast fermenting at 50° F the pitching rate would need nearly 800 billion cells. I plan to buy 2 packs of WLP-810 and add each of them to two liter starters, according to the chart in the book 'Yeast' a package of 100 billion cells will grow to 240 billion cells when spun on a stirplate. It feels pretty good to be getting back into the game again.

[Kealia]

Good luck with the brew. When I brew a Cali Common I always use WLP810 and have been very happy with it's performance and ability to floc out and leave a very clean and clear beer.

[ScrewyBrewer]

I was able to pick up two fresh vials of WLP810 from the The Brewers Apprentice, it's my new LHBS since moving to a this area, and some Northern Brewer hops. The first sales person couldn't find the yeast I wanted in the store refrigerator but then after looking in the back came out with a dozen vials saving my brewday in the process. The yeast cost $6.50 a vial and both were packed in a bag with a freezer pack even though the store is only about a 5 minute drive from where I live. The grains will be milled and ready for me to pickup this Saturday morning at 9:00am and there's no additional charge for milling them!

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Monday after work I made a gallon of 1.040 starter wort using extra light DME and used it to fill two 2 liter flasks and poured a vial of WLP810 into each of them. By the next morning both starters were active enough to begin lifting the foil caps up about an inch and by dinner time the same day the krausen on both looked like they had peaked. This morning they were both spinning away and the krausen had fallen back into the wort almost completely. I'll give the yeast another day to soak up some nutrients as they go dormant then put the flasks in the refrigerator to cold crash until Saturday morning.

I have to admit I loved the smell of the WLP810 and can't wait to ferment this next batch using it with the Northern Brewer hops.

[Beer-lord]

That's a ton of yeast. How much are you using for brewday and how much are you saving?
You have quit a laboratory.

[ScrewyBrewer]

That's a ton of yeast. How much are you using for brewday and how much are you saving?
You have quit a laboratory.

Thank you. I'm brewing a 10 gallon batch that calls for a pretty good sized pitch, I will probably wash some for later once fermentation's done though.

[mashani]

Northern Brewer and WLP810 are friends. You will make excellent beer with that mix.

Just FWIW: I don't know if you are using lager pitch rates or no, but if so you really don't need quite as much yeast as you would for a lager since your fermenting more at ale temps (I hope) if you are making steam beer. I at least like to ferment with WLP810 in the low 60s for steam beer and pitch it at ale rates and it's always been good for me.