We brewed a Cali Common about 10 years ago and it was one of the fastest disappearing beer we’ve ever brewed.  Why did it take this long to rebrew???  I have no idea!!! We decided to brew on Big Brew Day with the Kuhnhenn Brewing Guild Homebrew Club.  What a great day and we had amazing fun!!!  Along with the group, we brewed a total of 62 gallons of beer.  Here’s our recipe and our process:

OG:  1.062

FG:  1.018 (target)

Extract:

7.3 pounds of Light LME

1.3 pounds of Munich LME

Seeping Grains:

1 pound of Crystal 40

0.5 pound of Victory

2 ounces of Pale Chocolate (200 L)

Hops:

0.7 ounces of Northern Brewer 8.1% AA for 60 mins.

1.3 ounces of Northern Brewer 10.6% AA for 15 mins.

2 ounces of Northern Brewer 10.6% AA for 1 min.

Started my smack-pack of Wyeast 2112 California Lager yeast too late (6:30 a.m. that morning), then purchased two vials of White Labs WLB810 San Francisco Lager yeast from Kuhnhenn’s Homebrew Shop.

Steeped grains at 154 for 30 minutes and added extract.  Stirred till dissolved.  Then followed with a 60 minute boil starting hopping regime as listed above.  Cooled to 60 degrees, oxygenated for one minute, then added yeast.

As you’ll notice in the picture to the left, it made the short trip home in the back of Jerry’s Jimmy!  Safe & sound.  Placed in my beer fridge with my temperature controller set at 62 degrees.  Nice fermentation evident after 12 hours.

The beer fridge is keeping this beer at a nice steady 62 degrees.  Notice the nice foamy head forming on top of the wort as it’s showing a nice fermentation at work.  This beer has a beautiful smell with all those Northern Brewer hops added to the recipe.

We wanted to step up the hop-presence a bit which is why we went beyond what Jamil’s recipe calls for.  (Plus:  As we were brewing, Wayne Burns, Kuhnhenn’s brewer, suggested we add the extra hops.  Who are we to challenge what a professional brewer suggest???)

Racked the beer into a freshly sanitized five-gallon glass carboy.  Measured gravity and was surprised to see it at 1.018 already.  The fridge has maintained it at a constant 62 degrees through full fermentation.  Tasted a sample off the hydrometer tube:  YUMMY!

After the 5/18 racking, I cranked the temperature down to 34 degrees for a nice lagering.  I bottled today and am very impressed over the hoppiness.  Thanks Wayne!!!

Popped the cap on our first bottle.  NICE!!!  I look forward to having this beer judged.  It’s a keeper!