Draught Bass

Classification: pale ale, all-grain, Bass Ale

Source: Pete Young (pyoung%axion.bt.co.uk) Issue #596, 3/14/91

Gallons are British Imperial gallons, which equal 1.2 U.S. gallons. Quantities will need to be adjusted if you use U.S. gallons. The recipe comes from Dave Line's Brewing Beers Like Those You Buy. Water for bitter brewing means hard water. If you're on soft water (your kettle doesn't fur up) then add some water treatment salts or even a couple of spoonfulls of plaster of paris. Invert sugar is sugar that has been cooked for a couple of minutes over a low flame. I just use the sugar (normally a soft brown suger, not that 'orrible white granulated.) I use isinglass finings instead of Gelatine, it's less messy and does the same job (slightly more expensive though). Isinglass apparently comes from the sexual organs of certain fish. Makes you wonder what else the ancient brewers tried!

Ingredients: (6 gallons---5 Imperial gallons)

7 pounds, crushed pale malt
8 ounces, crushed crystal malt
3 imperial gallons, water for bitter brewing (hardened)
2 ounces, Fuggles
1 ounce, Goldings for 30 minutes
1/2 ounce, Goldings for 15 minutes
1/4 ounce, Goldings for 10 minutes
1 teaspoon, Irish moss
1 pound, invert sugar
2 ounces, yeast
1/2 ounce, gelatin
2 ounces, soft dark brown sugar

Procedure:

Raise the temperature of the water to 60C and stir in the crushed malts. Stirring continuously, raise the mash temperature up to 66C. Leave for 1 1/2 hours, occasionally returning the temperature back to this value. Contain the mashed wort in a large grain bag to retrieve the sweet wort. Using slightly hotter water than the mash, rinse the grains to collect 4 gallons (UK) (20 litres) of extract. Boil the extract with the fuggles hops and the first batch of goldings for 1 1/2 hours. Dissolve the main batch of sugar in a little hot water and add this during the boil. Also pitch in the Irish moss as directed on the instructions. Switch off the heat, stir in the second batch of goldings and allow them to soak for 20 mins. Strain off the clear wort into a fermenting bin and top up to the final quantity with cold water. When cool to room temperature add the yeast. Ferment 4-5 days until the specific gravity falls to 1012 and rack into gallon jars or a 25 litre polythene cube. Apportion gelatine finings and the rest of the dry hops before fitting airlocks. Leave for 7 days before racking the beer from the sediment into a primed pressure barrel or polythene cube. Allow 7 days before sampling.

Specifics:

O.G.: 1.045