What the heck is a California Common? You might better know it as Steam Beer. Unfortunately for the rest of us, those clever folks at Anchor Steam have trademarked the term Steam Beer, so its also been given this more general name describing its origins. Common, however, it is not. One of the few truly original styles, it was developed when German immigrants who came to the San Francisco area of California wanted to brew the Lagers from their homeland. In those days they had neither ice caves nor mechanical refrigeration which was necessary to ferment their Lager yeasts at the proper temperatures, usually in the 45-50 range. Instead, they adapted to the environment of the area and fermented their Lagers in shallow open vessels where the ambient temperatures of the region kept the fermentation in the 60-65 range.
This recipe is not designed to be a clone of Anchor Steam, but simply a good example of the style. The key to this style is the proper yeast strain. Without that, its not really a California Common. You must use either the Wyeast 2112 or White Labs WLP810. While you can ferment them at near ale temperatures, the best results will really come from keeping them in the 60-62 range.
If you want something a little closer to an Anchor clone, then you might want to substitute 1-2lbs each Munich and Vienna malts in place of some of the base malt for the All grain and Partial mash. Unfortunately for the extract brewers, Vienna and Munich are base malts which must be mashed to convert. You cant steep them like your crystal malts, but you could take this opportunity to learn how to do a partial mash.
California Common All Grain
Brew Type: All Grain Date: 11/10/2007
Style: California Common Beer
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Volume: 7.00 gal Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 % Equipment: Brew Pot (7.5 gal) and Igloo Cooler (10 Gal)
Actual Efficiency: 75.13 %
Taste Rating (50 possible points): 35.0
Amount Item Type % or IBU
9.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (1.8 SRM) Grain 90.05 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 9.48 %
0.05 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 0.47 %
1.00 oz Northern Brewer [7.40 %] (60 min) Hops 30.1 IBU
1.00 oz Northern Brewer [7.40 %] (15 min) Hops 8.0 IBU
1.00 oz Northern Brewer [7.40 %] (1 min) Hops 5.0 IBU
1 Pkgs California Lager (Wyeast Labs #2112) [Starter 2000 ml] Yeast-Lager
Estimated Original Gravity: 1.048 SG (1.048-1.054 SG) Measured Original Gravity: 1.052 SG
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.015 SG (1.011-1.014 SG) Measured Final Gravity: 1.016 SG
Estimated Color: 10.5 SRM (10.0-14.0 SRM) Color [Color]
Bitterness: 43.2 IBU (30.0-45.0 IBU) Alpha Acid Units: 14.8 AAU
Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 4.42 % (4.50-5.50 %) Actual Alcohol by Volume: 4.69 %
Actual Calories: 233 cal/pint
Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge Mash Tun Weight: 9.00 lb
Mash Grain Weight: 10.55 lb Mash PH: 5.4 PH
Grain Temperature: 72.0 F Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F
Sparge Water: 5.22 gal Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE
Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Mash In Add 13.19 qt of water at 170.1 F 154.0 F 60 min
Carbonation Type: Kegged (Forced CO2) Carbonation Volumes: 2.6 (2.4-2.8 vols)
Estimated Pressure: 10.2 PSI Kegging Temperature: 34.0 F
Pressure Used: - Age for: 4.0 Weeks
Storage Temperature: 34.0 F
Notes
.05 lbs = 22 grams of Chocolate Malt. Try with 1% Pale Chocolate (200 SRM) also.
