Humdinger of a Hootenanny

Brewed: 10/29/2023

Kegged: 11/11/2023

I rolled:

An American original, Kentucky Common was almost exclusively produced and sold around Louisville, Kentucky from some time after the Civil War until Prohibition. It was inexpensive and quickly produced, racked into barrels while actively fermenting, and tightly bunged to allow carbonation in the saloon cellar. Before the style died, it accounted for about 75% of sales around Louisville.

Some have speculated it was a dark variant of Cream Ale, created by immigrant Germanic brewers who added darker grains to help acidity the local carbonate water.

According to untappd, I've had a few Kentucky Commons, ranging from "meh" to something I really enjoyed.

I don't really remember ... I'm getting that from my ratings / comments in untappd.

I vaguely remember listening to one of my homebrewing podcasts that discussed Kentucky Common, and thinking that corn grits and rye would be good ingredients in it.

I don't remember why exactly, but it seems reasonable.

Here is the recipe I came up with ...

If you want to read more about this beer, see Sheppy's Blog: Humdinger

Humdinger of a Hootenanny --- Batch 1 (345)

Style	Kentucky Common	Batch Size	5.50 gal
Type	All Grain	Boil Size	6.59 gal
Brewhouse Efficiency	68.00	Boil Time	60 minutes

Recipe Characteristics

Recipe Gravity

1.051 SG

Estimated FG

1.015 SG

Recipe Bitterness

21.9 IBUs (Rager)

Alcohol by Volume

4.7 %

BU : GU

0.433

Recipe Color

13.5 SRM

Color

Measured OG:

1.052

Measured FG:

1.008

ADF:

Measured ABV:

5.8

Ingredients

Ingredients
Amt	Name	Type	#	%/IBU	Volume
7.93 gal	Denver, Colorado	Water	1	-	-
2.00 g	Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash)	Water Agent	2	-	-
5.00 g	Calcium Chloride (Mash)	Water Agent	3	-	-
1.00 tsp	Lactic Acid (Mash)	Water Agent	4	-	-
1 lbs 8.0 oz	Grits (1.0 SRM)	Adjunct	5	12.9 %	0.13 gal
8 lbs	Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)	Grain	6	68.8 %	0.63 gal
1 lbs 8.0 oz	Rye Malt (4.7 SRM)	Grain	7	12.9 %	0.12 gal
4.0 oz	Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM)	Grain	8	2.2 %	0.02 gal
6.0 oz	Chocolate Rye Malt (250.0 SRM)	Grain	9	3.2 %	0.03 gal
1.000 oz	Cascade [8.90 %] - Boil 30.0 min	Hop	10	18.6 IBUs	-
1.00 tsp	Yeast Nutrient (Boil 10.0 mins)	Other	11	-	-
1.00 Items	Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 10.0 mins)	Fining	12	-	-
1.000 oz	Tettnang [4.80 %] - Boil 5.0 min	Hop	13	3.3 IBUs	-
1.0 pkg	Dusseldorf Alt Yeast (White Labs #WLP036) [35.49 ml]	Yeast	14	-	-
0.50 tsp	Gelatin (Bottling 1.0 days)	Fining	15	-	-

Mash Profile

Mash Steps
Name	Description	Step Temperature	Step Time
Saccharification	Add 31.77 qt of water at 158.6 F	152.0 F	45 min
Heat	Heat to 158.0 F over 10 min	158.0 F	15 min
Mash Out	Heat to 170.0 F over 7 min	170.0 F	10 min

If steeping, remove grains, and prepare to boil wort

Recipe Notes
Roll-a-Style "18"
Make small yeast starter a day or two before brew day.
Water salts bring Denver water profile (as defined by BeerSmith) to
Ca: 92.4 ppm, Mg:8.5 ppm, Na: 21.4 ppm, SO4: 88.0 ppm, Cl: 103.8 ppm, HCO3: 104.0 ppm
Acid to bring water pH to around 5.3
Mash as directed.
Boil as directed.
Cool wort to as close to 60F as possible.
Ferment in low 60's for a day or two then let the fermentation rise to ambient temp.
Keg after one to two weeks in fermentor.
Add gelatin to keg after the beer has chilled one or two days.
Force carbonate to taste.
Enjoy!

Brewing Record

Brew Date:		Strike Temp:
Mash Temps:
Pre-boil OG	(1.046 SG)	Pre-boil Vol	(6.59 gal)
Actual Mash Efficiency		Pitch Temp
Fermentation
Day 1:
Day ...
Day ...