Name: Kentucky is one of four commonwealth’s in the US and along with the style of beer it just seemed to be a nice fit. The other three states that refer to themselves as commonwealth’s are Pennsylvania, Virginia and Massachusetts.

Style: Kentucky Common (27 in the 2015 BJCP Style Guide) is in the historical category. This was a beer produced in the Louisville area before Prohibition, but it never really rebounded after the repeal. This is an infinitely drinkable beer that may look dark upon first glance, but blends a surprising spectrum of grain flavors into a clean and dry finish with low hop bitterness. This is similar to what a dark cream ale would be like.

Story: Since no current specifics of this style exist, we tried to put ourselves into the mindset of someone brewing in that period. Kentucky Common would have been brewed with grains from the area, and we took full liberty with that interpretation - not allowing ourselves to be confined to barley alone. We felt the yeast would have been similar to the other quick fermenting yeasts in the region at the time and used a “common” method of hybrid fermentation.

History of One Lake Brewing Releases:

• Summer 2019

• Summer 2021

Ingredients: Standard American 2-row base is 70% of the grain bill. We add in a good amount of Rye and Corn using a little bit of Chocolate and Dark Crystal malt . Hops are added with a traditional American craft beer hop schedule - bitterness for early additions, flavor for midway additions and aroma for late additions - there are no dry hops in this beer.

Methods: The most interesting part of the process for this beer involve the fermentation schedule. We use a lager yeast that has evolved to produce its best work at a higher temperature than standard lager fermentations. This higher temperature speeds up the fermentation, and produces the flavor profiles of a hybrid beer (Germal Altbier and Kolsch are other hybrid fermentations examples).

Recipe Box:

Brewer’s 2-row malt - 75%
Rye and Corn - ~10% each
Chocolate Malt - 2-3%
Dark Crystal Malt (125L) - 1-2%

20IBU of any neutral Hop at First Wort

California Common yeast

Brewing Method:

Gravity targets:
* OG 1.052, FG 1.014

Adjust water to achieve mash of:
* 5.45pH and 0.8:1 ratio of SO4/Cl

Standard mash thickness
149-151 degree mash temp target
Sparge with 175 degree 6.0pH water with same salt profile as mash
60 minute boil