Elixir of Life: An Olde Ale

David's picture

Recipe Type: 

All Grain

Style: 

Description: 

The elixir of life is a legendary potion, or drink, that grants the drinker eternal life and or eternal youth. Many practitioners of alchemy pursued it. I'd like this to be our pursuit, as well. After looking around at a lot of recipes, and doing a lot of research regarding what constitutes this classic style, I pieced together the recipe below:

Ingredients: 

16.00 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain
1.00 lb Treacle (100.0 SRM) (60 min)
0.75 lb Carastan Malt (30.0 SRM) Grain
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain
0.25 lb Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain
2.00 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (60 min) Hops 22.3 IBU
2.25 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (15 min) Hops 13.8 IBU
2.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (0 min)
Yeast: English Ale (White Labs #WLP002) or US-04 (dry)

Procedure: 

Starter: 2L starter. To make starter use 2L of water mixed with 1/2 pound (8oz) of Dry Extract 24 hours before your brew day. Boil extract and water, cool, pour into a sanitized growler, and shake vigorously for 1 minute. Next Add two packets of yeast. Cover with sanitized strip of foil. Allow to sit for 18-24 hours to propagate. If you are making the starter in advance store the starter in the fridge after the propagation period. The yeast will settle out and you may decant the liquid before pitching the yeast onto the wort. We are shooting for 385 billion yeast cells when pitching. Mash at 158 degrees for 60 minutes Note: Reduce first 2 gallons of run-off until a syrupy consistency is reached (about 2 qt.). You will have to eye it to see that its about 2 qts (half gallon). A good way to know when you are about there is to put your spoon into the reduction. lift it, it should pour off the spoon slowly and as a syrup. If that happens you are good to go.

Fermentation: 

ferment at 65-68. Must use starter and aerate well.