Captain Barley's Steamboat Brew

Here is an attempt to make an "Anchor Steam" taste-alike.  Steam beer is ale that is brewed with Lager yeast, or Lager fermented at Ale temperatures.  The story goes that in California, they wanted to use Lager yeast (because it was all they had and they wanted beer), but they didn't have refrigeration, so they just brewed it at Ale temperatures.  It works...

Equipment Needs

1 - 6.5 Gallon Food Grade Plastic Pales for fer                                          mentor.
1 - 6.5 Gallon Food Grade Plastic Pale with spigot for bottling.
Airlock.
1 - 4+ Gallon stainless steel stock pot for brew-pot.
Food thermometer capable of measuring up to 220+ degrees.
3 way hydrometer.
3 feet of 3/4 inch plastic tubing.
Siphoning setup.
Long spoon.
45-50 12 oz. Crown Top bottles or equivalent.
45-50 Crown Top Bottle Caps.

Ingredients

1 lb. British caramalt, crushed
6 lb. Amber malt extract
3 oz. Northern Brewer Hops (7.8%)
1 tsp Irish moss
8 oz. honey

Procedure

  1. Bring 2 gal. tap water to a boil with grain in it.
  2. Remove grain just before boil
  3. Add 6 Lb. Amber Malt Extract.
  4. Bring to a boil again.
  5. After 10 minutes of re-boil, add 1 oz. bittering hops.
  6. After 45 minutes (total), add 1 oz. flavor/aroma Hops and Irish Moss.
  7. After 60 minutes (total), remove from heat and steep remaining Hops for 1-2 minutes.
  8. Cool to below 80 degrees Fahrenheit, preferably closer to 70 degrees.
  9. Move to fermenting device and fill with cool water to 5 gallons.
  10. Observe gravity reading.
  11. Pitch yeast and agitate for 2 minutes.
  12. Cover and allow to ferment at room temperature for 1-2 weeks.
  13. When no bubbles are observed in the airlock, remove cover and observe a gravity reading.
  14. Boil 2 cups of water with 3/4 c. Corn Sugar.
  15. Add corn sugar mixture to bottling bucket.
  16. Siphon beer into bottling bucket with corn sugar.
  17. Bottle.
  18. Keep bottles at room temperature for 1 week then move to cooler place for at least 1 more week.
  19. Enjoy your beer.

Results

The results of this beer were pretty good.  I was a little disappointed that it tasted a lot like Santa Amber, but it is a bit different.  I'm not really getting the carbonation that I want in my beer, so I will have to do something to address that.  Hopefully when I start kegging I will get better results.

The yield was 45 12 oz. bottles and the alcohol by volume was 4.6 %.