Make your yeast starter 2–3 days ahead of time. In the kettle, heat 4.1 gallons (16 L) of water to 113° F (45° C) and mash in with grain to stabilize at 104° F (40° C). Mix grain into the water and stir the mash quietly to minimize the amount of oxygen entrained in the mash. Immediately start heating the mash to 122° F (50° C). Stir continuously but gently as the mash heats. The temperature should rise by approximately 2° F (1° C) per minute.
When the mash reaches 113° F (45° C), pause for 5 minutes, and then resume heating to 122° F (50° C). Rest here for 15 minutes, and then pull a decoction equal to about 40 percent of the mash volume. Choose the thickest part of the mash. Transfer this to a large pot and begin heating, gently. Stir gently and continuously as you heat. You may need to add water if the decoction gets so thick that scorching is possible. When the decoction reaches 158° F (70° C), rest until an iodine test comes back negative, and then continue heating. Boil the decoction for 20 minutes, stirring (gently) nearly constantly. You may occasionally need to heat the main mash to hold its temperature at 122° F (50° C).
Return the decoction to the main mash with as little splashing as possible. Stir and adjust temperature, if needed, to 149° F (65° C). Hold at 149° F (65° C) for 15 minutes, then heat mash—stirring (quietly) almost constantly—to 158° F (70° C). Rest at 158° F (70° C) until a negative iodine test is returned, then begin heating the mash to 168° F (76° C). Quietly transfer the mash to the lauter tun. Recirculate for about 20 minutes, then begin running off wort. Sparge with water hot enough to hold the grain bed temperature at 168° F (76° C). You will need about 3.7 gallons (14 L) of sparge water for this. Collect 6.3 gallons (24 L) of wort.
Boil the wort for 90 minutes, adding the hops for the final 60 minutes. Cool the wort to 54° F (12° C). Transfer 3.6 qt. (3.4 L) of this (chilled, not aerated, not pitched) wort to sanitized Mason jars. Store jars in a refrigerator until needed (as speise). Transfer the remaining wort—4.4 gallons (17 L)—to a sanitized bucket fermenter, aerate the wort, and pitch the sediment from the yeast starter.
Ferment, allowing the temperature to rise to 64° F (18° C). Take the lid off the bucket for the 1 to 2 days when the fermentation is at it’s most vigorous. Reseal the bucket and affix the airlock, and resume a closed fermentation, after this period. (If you’d like, you could crop some yeast from the fermentation before sealing the bucket.) After fermentation stops, allow the beer to settle for 4–10 days. Prime the beer with speise, add lager yeast, and bottle in heavy bottles. Store the beer warm for 2 weeks to bottle condition to 4.0 volumes of CO2.
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