Red Star Ale

This is my first "I Did This" recipe. I'll cheerfully admit that I've used and abused the Cat's Meow for the past 10 batches. This is the first one that I've tried on my own. The Torrified Wheat was a suggestion from my local home-brew shop (Old West in C. Springs, CO) to aid in head retention. According to sources, adding a half to a full pound of this stuff will provide foam you have to cut with a chisel. I'm for that, personally, as my last batch literally fell flat. Then again, perhaps a bottle-conditioned sweet stout isn't supposed to have lots of foam. Go fig...

Brewer:	Keith W. Fogle		Email:	kfogle@earthlink.net
URL:	http://www.earthlink.net/~kfogle/
Beer:	Red Star Ale		Style:	Red Ale
Type:	Extract w/grain		Size:	5.0 gallons
Color:	71 HCU (~28 SRM)		Bitterness:	20 IBU
OG:	1.053		FG:	1.015
Alcohol:	4.9% v/v (3.9% w/w)
Water:	Water here in the Springs is darned near perfect (at least at my place), so no treatment was done.
Grain:	1 lb. 0 oz. Torrified Wheat 1 lb. 0 oz. Breiss Crystal 20L 8 oz. Roasted Barley
Steep:	I saturated the grains in 2.5 gallons of cold water and slowly upped the heat. I reached 155F after about an hour and a half, and put the whole brewpot in a 150F oven to sit for an hour. Being a tidy sort, I put the grains in two muslin bags. When the hour was up, I removed them to a colander and poured a half-gallon of 170F water over each. I don't really have room (or a big enoug pot) to do an all-grain, so this is as close to lautering as I can legally get.
Boil:	60 minutes	SG 1.106	2.5 gallons
	6 lb. 0 oz. Bulk Amber Malt Extract
	After grains were steeped, I brought the runoff to a boil. Removed from heat, added the Amber Malt Extract syrup, stirred a bit, and returned to the stove. Once boiling again, I added 1.5 oz. of Cascades (6.0 AA) for 60 minutes, and .25 oz. at 10 minutes left. I removed the whole lot at 60 minutes and added .25 oz and left it to sit for 6 more minutes.
Hops:	1.5 oz. Cascade (6.0% AA, 60 min.) .25 oz. Cascade (6.0% AA, 15 min.) .25 oz. Cascade (aroma)
Yeast:	I experimented with a new yeast this time. Yeast Labs has a "Just Shake and Pour" product out now, so I took a flyer on it. Added 1 pkg. of English Ale Yeast. Took off like a rocket -- my airlock sounded like a pair of castanets.
Log:	Temperature kept at the 73-75 range for the most part. Brewed on 5/25/97, bottled on 5/31/97 and I expect the first one to be tasty around 6/30/97.
Carbonation:	Bottle conditioned using 3/4 cup corn sugar to prime.
Tasting:	We'll have to see how it comes out. :o)

Recipe posted 05/27/97.