Surprise, It’s National Drink Beer Day!

In our continuing series of national days you didn’t know about, we have come across another one that celebrates suds. We have already passed: Beer can appreciation day, New Beers Eve, National beer day, Home brew day, IPA day, International beer day, and beer lovers day. There are about a dozen we missed, like King Gambrinus day. And, there are at least a dozen more to come before the end of the year. But, this one is especially poignant because it gets right to the point. Surprise, It’s National Drink Beer Day! There are no doubts as to how to celebrate. It’s in the title, simple, and to the point: Drink beer! Even a drunk can understand that one.

I think quagmire put it best when he said, “let’s play Drink the beer.” But, you need to play fair. Whatever you do, don’t drop the last beer, eh. Especially if you are in Canada. That’s like a crime ya’ know. Usually, we would give you some recipes here, on what to make with beer. But, today isn’t about cooking. It’s about drinking. So, no beer recipes.

Surprise, It’s National Drink Beer Day! We do have a recipe for you.

Oh, okay, maybe one. But, only to gear up for Oktoberfest. This is a home brew recipe for enjoyment at Halloween. It takes 2 weeks in the primary fermenter, followed by 2 weeks in the bottle, hence the name 28 days later. The name is also a nod to the post apocalyptic film of the same name (just in time for Halloween). It is a medium body ale, most Oktoberfests have more of a lager feel. But, heading into the cooler season, I think it should be something with a little more substance. This is real stick to your ribs, fill you up and keep you warm with a cold beer stuff. Coming in around 6% alcohol helps with that.

Whether you make your own or buy beer, the important thing is to do what beer is made for: drinking. Is there a better holiday in the world? Methinks not. If you don’t like beer, though, it won’t hold the same allure. I suppose we can be forgiving and bend the rules a bit. You can drink another alcoholic beverage. But, keep the spirit of this most wonderful time of the year. And, perhaps you could visit a shrink and find out why you don’t like beer. It sounds like you may have a problem.

Cheers! Prost!

28 Days Later October Ale

cheffd

Print Recipe

Prep Time 45 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Fermenting and bottling time 28 days d

Course beer

Cuisine American, Artisan, German, Octoberfest

Servings 5 Gallons

Ingredients

  

• 6 Gallons Water (3 gallons for cooking, then more to finish)
• 8 Lb Medium malt extract
• 1 quart Munich Malt
• 1 pint Carapils Malt
• 1 Pint Chocolate Malt
• 3 each cinnamon sticks
• 2 Oz Hallertau Hops
• 1 oz Cascades hops
• 1/2 oz Chinook Hops
• 1/2 oz Hallertau hops (finishing)
• 1 each defloculation tablet (or 1 oz Irish moss)
• 11.5 grams Lager yeast
• 3/4 cup corn sugar or other type of priming sugar

Instructions

 

• Sanitize all your equipment and containers at all steps of the process.
• Bring 3 gallons of water to a boil.
• Place the Malts in a cheesecloth sack and put in the water. Add in the cinnamon sticks. Taper it back to a simmer. Allow to simmer for 45 minutes. Then remove the bag, making sure to strain the liquid back into the pot.
• Whisk in the Malt extract and bring back to a simmer.
• Add in the Hallertau hops. Simmer for 45 minutes.
• Add the cascades hops and Irish moss or flocculation tablet. Simmer for another 10 minutes.
• Add in the remaining hops. Continue simmer for 5 more minutes.
• Strain the brew into a 5 gallon bucket using a sparging bag to remove as much sediment as possible. Take out the bag and add cold water to the wort. Transfer to a "carboy or fermenting tub. Allow to cool to room temperature. Then pitch the yeast.
• Put a stopper with a blow off tube in the carboy. Put the fermenter in a dark cool place like a closet. Allow the brew to ferment for 2 to 3 days with the tube so that the krausen (foamy discharge) can escape, and drain off into a container with water in it. Check the discharge a couple times a day.
• When the discharge level tapers off, replace the tube with an air lock. Allow to ferment an additional 11 days for a total of 14 days.
• After the initial fermentation, transfer the beer to a "raking" or bottling bucket. Strain it out during the transfer to remove excess sediment. Use a syphon for this process. You don't want to mix in the sediment in the bottom. Heat the priming sugar in about a cup of water. Whisk into the beer. Transfer the beer to bottles and/or kegs. Cap them and then allow the secondary fermentation to take place. Place the bottles or kegs in a dark cool place where they won't be disturbed for 2 weeks.
• The bottled beer should sit for 2 more weeks. Then, you can rfrigerate and enjoy.

Notes

At each step along the way, make sure you sanitize all your equipment. Not just cleaning. They need to be sanitized with a beer safe/food safe sanitizing solution and/or heat sanitizing. This can be done in a dishwasher if it has a sanitize setting. The temperature required needs to be over 190 degrees. If that type of temperature is not achievable, use a chemical sanitizer such as star San, Beer Clean, or one step. You need to sanitize every piece of equipment. I usually boil the bottle caps to sanitize them.

Keyword Ale, artisan, beer, Halloween, Home Brew, Octoberfest

Warning, drinking beer may lead to being appointed to the US supreme court despite a lack of qualifications or professional demeanor.