World’s Most Popular Homemade Beer Recipe – Goat Scrotum Ale
Beer drinkers from all over the world have their own favorite brews. Some love a good Indian Pale Ale, while others need the malty taste of a dark Irish Stout. For many Americans, a Coors or a Budweiser will do, unless they wish to relax, when they chose a cold Mexican Corona. But when you ask those who love to make their own beers, in the comfort of their own homes, the number one beer recipe, they all praise Goat Scrotum Ale.
Now I know Goat Scrotum sounds like something utterly unappetizing, but you might be a bit surprised to find it’s anything but! In fact, one of the biggest reasons that this beer is so popular is due to the variety of ways that you can make it. For instance, you can make Goat Scrotum to taste like a bitter-sweet chocolate, a spicy hot licorice, or even a fruity ginger blend. The combination’s are nearly endless!
Goat Scrotum Ale first came onto the beer-making scene during the early 1800′s, but at that time it was known as “Tumultuous Porter”. The dark, spicy and quite fragrant brew drew in the crowds until prohibition hit, and then the brew and its recipe disappeared for quite some time. Thankfully, a man by the name of Charlie Papazian did his own research and was able to bring this recipe back to all beer makers once more.
So the question now remains: What is the recipe, and how does the homebrewer make it? Well, the beginning ingredients are five pounds of dark malt extract, one pound crystal malt, a quarter-pound each of crushed black patent malt and crushed roasted barley, and three and a half ounces of Hallertauer leaf hops. You will also need one cup each of brown sugar and blackstrap molasses, one pound of corn sugar, two teaspoons gypsum, one teaspoon Irish Moss, and a package of ale yeast. Finally, about three-quarter cups of corn sugar to prime the bottles with.
Whew – quite a list of ingredients! But we’re not quite done yet. Now we have the optional ingredients that you can use all together, by themselves, or mix and match as you see fit. The optional ingredients are two to four ounces of freshly grated ginger root, up to two inches of brewing licorice, two tablespoons of spruce tree essence, anywhere from one to ten dried chili peppers, one-quarter cup of slightly crushed juniper berries, and/or six ounces of unsweetened Baker’s chocolate or baking cocoa powder.
Now for the recipe itself: To begin with, steep the crystal malt in the brewing water for one hour at 150F. After removing any leftover crystal malt, mix in dark malt extract, brown sugar, blackstrap molasses, and one pound of the corn sugar. Bring to a soft boil and make sure all items dissolve completely. Next comes the hops: add in a quarter ounce, plus any of your optional ingredients, and boil fifteen minutes. Next, add another half ounce for an additional fifteen minutes.
Then, add in the black patent malt and crushed roasted barley, boiling another fifteen minutes. Add in another quarter ounce of hops and also pour in the gypsum and Irish Moss, boiling for 13 minutes. Finally, add the remaining ounce and a half of hops, boiling for two more minutes.
Allow the wort to cool to room temperature. Pour this mixture into the fermenter, making sure to strain out all the boiled items. Once the wort’s temperature falls below 80F, pitch in the yeast. Finally, once the wort has completely fermented, prime the wort with the three-quarter cups of corn sugar and bottle. Enjoy!
Author: Raymond Bouchard
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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