Summer Ale

Sam Adams Summer Ale Clone
This light, wheat-based thirst-quencher is perfect for summertime. Unlike other “lawnmower” beers, our “clone” of Summer Ale has delicate complexities of citrus and peppery spiciness, while maintaining a clean, refreshing palate.

Statistics
Original Gravity 1.051
Final Gravity 1.016
Alcohol Content 4.7%

Ingredients
6 lb. Munton’s Wheat Dry Malt Extract
1 oz. Perle Hop Pellets (Bittering)
1/2 oz. Saaz Pellets (Flavoring)
1/2 oz. Saaz Pellets (Finishing)
2 gm Paradise Seeds
1 oz Lemon Peel
Wyeast # 1056 XL American Ale Yeast

Procedure
A few hours before you begin to brew, prepare your liquid yeast according to the package instructions. We assume that you are familiar with basic homebrewing techniques, so these procedures are abbreviated.

1. Add 1½ gallons of water to your brew kettle and bring to a boil.

2. Remove the pot from the heat and add the bags of dried malt extract. Keep the kettle off the burner and stir until the malt extract is completely dissolved.

3. Put the pot back on the burner and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, place the bittering hops into a muslin bag, add them to the pot, and set your timer to boil for 1 hour. Keep an eye on the pot to avoid boil-overs.

4. After 45 minutes, add ½ teaspoon of Irish moss, or 1 Whirlfloc tablet, to help clarify your beer (optional).

5. After 50 minutes, add ½ oz flavoring hops, and zest 1 lemon, only adding the the zest.

6. After 55 minutes add Paradise Seeds (crack them open first).

7. After 58 minutes, add ½ oz. finishing hops.

8. After 60 minutes of boiling, turn off the heat. Put a lid on your pot and cool it in an ice bath (use your sink) for about 30 minutes. Remove the hop bag(s) from the kettle.

9.Pour 2 gallons of cold water into your sanitized fermenter, add the cooled wort (the stuff in your pot), and top up with additional water to 5 gallons. Aerate the wort with vigorous stirring, rocking the fermenter, etc.

10. Make sure the wort is below 80°F before adding yeast. Take a hydrometer reading if desired to determine original gravity. Add the yeast to the wort.

11. Store the fermenter where the temperature will be a fairly constant 60°–65°F. Active fermentation may take only a few days, or it can last up to 2 weeks. A hydrometer reading is a great way to determine when the fermentation is done. Keep the beer in the primary fermenter for two weeks until active fermentation is done (no signs of active fermentation for the last 2–3 days).

12. When ready to bottle, siphon beer into your sanitized bottling bucket, leaving sediment behind. Boil the priming sugar in 1–2 cups of water for a few minutes, gently stir into the beer, and bottle as usual.