Midnight Oil

Preparation:

In a large brew kettle or stock pot, heat 1.25 gallons of water to 155ºF and your crushed grains (in a steeping bag) to the water and let stand for 60 minutes with the heating element turned off.
While your grains steep in the hot water, divide your hops into two separate batches.

Add 5 gallons of water to your fermenter and add 1oz of Star-San or other acid sanitizer. Whether it be a bucket, carboy, or other vessel, it's important for your equipment to be sanitized to avoid unwanted infections to your beer. If you're fermenting in a brew bucket, you can leave the sanitizer solution in the bucket, just be sure to use the solution to sanitize your airlock, bung, funnel, and anything else that may touch your beer after the boil is complete.

The Boil:

After your grains have steeped for 60 minutes, pull the grain bag out of the water and discard grains. Add 4.5 gallons of water and 3lbs of your dark liquid malt extract to your large pot or brew kettle and bring to a boil, be sure to fully dissolve the extract into the water by stirring constantly. To help prevent boil over, it helps to have a spray bottle that is filled with distilled water that you can use to knock down the foam. When the water has reached a rolling boil, it's time to add your first hop addition. Add 1oz of East Kent Goldings hops to your brew kettle and stir them in slowly. At this point, set a timer for 45 minutes, that's when we add the next ingredient(s).

After 45 minutes passes, briefly turn off your burner and add your 2 pounds of dark dry malt extract, 1oz. East Kent Goldings hops, 5g of yeast nutrient, and your wort chiller to sanitize if you're using one. Be sure to stir in the extract until it dissolves completely and then restart your burner. Set a timer for 15 minutes.

After the 15 minute timer, your boil is complete! Turn off your burner and immediately start to cool your wort. Now that the boil is complete, everything that touches the wort should be sanitized.

When your wort is cooled to about 80ºF, transfer it into your sanitized fermenter and add your yeast. Shake your fermenter, with the lid on, vigorously to add oxygen to the liquid to help promote a strong fermentation. After this point, it is important to minimize oxygen exposure to your fermentation. If you're taking an original gravity measurement, now is the time to do so.

Add your airlock to your fermenter and store in a cool dark place. Your airlock should be filled to the specified line with sanitizer to keep unwanted bacteria out of your fermenter.

Fermentation:

Within 6-12 hours, you should start to see gas bubbling through your airlock. You may see activity sooner depending on the temperature of your fermentation, but try to keep it around 68ºF. Let the fermentation continue undisturbed for the next 14 days, or until fermentation activity stops completely.

If you have the ability to add your fermenter to a refrigerator, do so after your fermentation is complete. This is known as cold crashing and will help to settle out all of the remaining unwanted debris from your beer. After 2-3 days in the fridge, you're ready to package your beer!

After Packaging:

This beer is going good right away, but if you want great beer, let this sit in the package for 4-6 months. After this time of conditioning, you will have a beer that's more complex, smooth, and easy drinking.