Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Make A ProEm-1 Imperial Stout

Imperial stouts are full-bodied monsters of a beer! They are black, thick, have a huge hop kick, and are usually well above 9% alcohol. These bad boys are best aged for 6 months or longer. If you can get your hands on a used bourbon barrel, age it in that to get some other incredible flavors....or add a little whiskey after the fermentation is finished!

There are several Imperial Stouts on the market. Old Rasputin is a classic. Lagunitas makes a great one as well. And, Stone Brewing from Escondido, California makes one from time to time. I found a clone recipe of Stone Brewery Imperial Stout Clone that you can try. Like our other beers, you add the Pro EM-1 about 7 days after the primary fermentation has completed and then let it ferment for a minimum of 7 more days.

Stone Imperial Russian Stout clone


(5 gallons/19 L, partial mash)
OG = 1.096 FG = 1.020
IBU = 65 SRM = 63 ABV = 10.7%

Ingredients
7.5 lbs. (3.4 kg) light dried malt extract
2 lbs. (0.91 kg) 2-row pale malt
2 lbs. (0.91 kg) amber malt
1.25 lbs. (0.57 kg) roast barley (500 °L)
1.25 lbs. (0.57 kg) black malt
20.8 AAU Warrior® hops (60 min.) (1.3 oz/37 g at 16% alpha acids)
White Labs WLP002 (English Ale) yeast (3 qt./3 L yeast starter)
3/4 cup corn sugar (for priming)

Step by Step
Place the grains in a large nylon bag. Partial mash the crushed grains in 2 gallons (7.7 L) of water at 150 ºF (66 ºC) for 45 minutes. 


Remove the grains and place in a large colander. Wash with 2 gallons hot wash. 

Add water to make 6 gallons (23 L) of wort, add dried malt extract and bring to a boil. Boil for 60 minutes, adding hops at the times indicated in the recipe list. 

Cool the wort and transfer to fermenter. 

Aerate and pitch yeast. Ferment at 68 ºF (20 ºC) for 7-10 days.

Pitch Pro EM-1 and ferment at 68ºF (20º C) for 7-10 days.

Add priming sugar to 1 cup fermented beer in sauce pan, mix until all sugar is dissolved. Add this mixture to fermenter. 

Transfer liquid to sterilized bottles and caps or to sterilized keg.

Allow to prime for 3-4 weeks. (or gas up in keg and shake keg for 5-10 minutes and enjoy that same day if you forego the priming sugar!)

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Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Make Your Own ProEm-1 Oktoberfest

It is October, that time of year (at least in Germany) where Oktoberfest is here! You don't need to be in Germany to enjoy a great fall beer, where the body of the beer gets fuller, with extra body. For you history buffs, click this link for the history of Oktoberfest.

For the next couple weeks, we are going t share some tested brewing recipes that incorporate EM Technology®. There are only a couple breweries that actually EM-1 or Pro EM-1 to make their beer. There are several wineries and breweries that use EM-1 to grow their crops and may use EM-X ceramics in their water filtration systems. We go full on into use the fermentation power of EM to make our beer recipes! Try this batch and let us know what you think of it!

I found the recipe below on the Craft Beer & Brewing website. As with any beer recipe, you can just add an equal amount of Pro EM-1 as the yeast. Getting a liquid yeast in a vile makes measuring easy!

Echtes Festbier

Batch size: 5 gallons (18.9 liters) 5.25 gallons/19.9 liters before packaging)
Original Gravity: 1.058
Final Gravity: 1.012
IBUs: 31
ABV: 6.0%

MALT/GRAIN BILL

  • 11 lb (5 kg) Pilsner malt
  • 4 oz (11 g) Acidulated malt

HOPS SCHEDULE

  • 1 oz (28 g) Perle [8% AA] at 60 minutes
  • 1 oz (28 g) Hallertauer Mittelfrüh [4% AA] at 10 minutes

MASH

  • Beta amylase 149°F (65°C) 30 minutes
  • Alpha amylase 162°F (72°C) 30 minutes

YEAST

Wyeast 2308 Munich Lager
Pro EM-1: Equal amount to the yeast.

BREWING NOTES

Pitch 425 billion healthy yeast cells into 46°F (8°C) wort, allow temperature to free rise to 50°F (10°C), and ferment for 10 days. Raise temperature to 60°F (16°C) for a diacetyl rest and hold until final gravity is achieved. Pitch Pro EM-1 and ferment for 7-10 days. Rack to secondary and lager at 35°F (2°C) for at least 6 weeks before kegging or bottling.

You can also use an ale yeast and ferment at warmer temperatures if you do not have access to a chiller.

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