Not-so-ca-common

Sitting around sampling beers with friends we noticed that Anchor is the only commercial 'steam' beer and I was told to make a batch.

Brewer:	L. Lindenmayer		Email:	louielouie@northwest.net
Beer:	Not-so-ca-common		Style:	California Common
Type:	Extract w/grain		Size:	5 gallons
Color:	9 HCU (~7 SRM)		Bitterness:	65 IBU
OG:	1.057		FG:	1.020
Alcohol:	4.7% v/v (3.7% w/w)
Water:	The artesian water I used is very low on minerals.
Grain:	1 lb. #20 Crystal
Steep:	The grain was added at 55 deg. F and slowly brought to 160 deg. and held for 10 minutes.
Boil:	minutes	SG 1.050	5.7 gallons
	4 lb. Light malt extract 3 lb. Light dry malt extract
	0.5 tsp of Irish moss added 45 min. into a 60 min boil.
Hops:	1.47 oz. Northern Brewer (10% AA, 60 min.) 0.49 oz. Northern Brewer (10% AA, 15 min.)
Yeast:	Yeast #2112 was propagated to a quart with 0.5 tsp Wyeast nutrient, a cup of DME and a few shots of Oxygen.
Log:	The fermentation was held to 67-68 deg by putting a t-shirt over the fermenter and placing in a shallow bucket with water. A fan blew over the wet t-shirt as the water wicked up. The wort was oxygenated for 3 min. and stirred prior to pitching yeast. Fermentation was done in a week but I still put in secondary @ 68 deg for two weeks.
Carbonation:	Put in keg @ 15psi for a week - good head.
Tasting:	While it has more IBU's than this style calls for, it is still well balanced and drinkable. I will lower the IBU's to get a maltier taste. I don't know why the FG was so high but this turned out really well.

Recipe posted 10/25/03.