World Series Stout

I started brewing in 1988. One of the first of my many formulations was "Championship Ale." I brewed it in honor of the 1987 San Francisco Giants, who were NL West Champions. I followed that same theme in 1990 with "Pennant Porter," which honored the 1989 National League Champions. I imagined a "World Series Stout" to honor, some day, the World Champion San Francisco Giants. That day came true! Finally! The 2010 Giants won the World Series! I've been waiting over 20 years to make this beer. I had a lot of fun with my new "first-runnings only" approach, and had some excellent results. I used 15 lbs. of malt, a mixture of 2-row (8 lbs.), Pilsner (5 lbs.), and Munich (2 lbs.). I made a thick mash (12 quarts of liquor) that settled in at 152-154 ºF and held it for 40 minutes. I then added 12 more quarts of liquor at about 170 ºF and recirculated 10 quarts. I then drained the mash tun into the kettle. No sparging! I also had 1-1/2 pounds of specialty malts (Black, Chocolate, and 120 ºL Caramel) that I steeped in a gallon and a half of hot liquor. That I added to the kettle with the wort. The whole process yielded about 4 gallons at 1.068 (17 ºPlato). I filled the kettle to 28 Liters and took another refractometer reading and got 1.040 (10 ºP). I boiled it for 70 minutes. I added 20 grams of 14%-alpha Belgian Admiral hops for an hour to get the medium bittering I was looking for. The yield was 20 L of clean, clear wort in the carboy at 1.050 (12.5 ºP). I left behind about 1.5 L in the kettle. It was thick with "break" proteins and other sludge. I pitched a pack of Safale-04. I think this one is a winner, just like the 2010 Giants!

a.d. XVIII Kal. Dec.