California Common (Steam) Beer and the San Francisco Seals

For my first legitimate post and next batch of home-brew, I am brewing a California Common style of beer, popularized by Anchor brewing with their Steam beer.  This type of beer is an pale ale, but it utilizes a bottom fermenting lager yeast as opposed to top fermenting ale yeast.  Originating in San Francisco, Steam beer has been brewed since the late 19th century, and is as old as baseball.

One of the earliest professional baseball teams in San Francisco was the Seals, a minor league team and  charter member of the Pacific Coast League. The Seals once played 230 games in a season, a minor league (and probably major league) record.  The Seals played until 1957, when the Giants came to town and were forced to move to Arizona.  Notable alumni include pitcher Harry Feldman and Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio.

The recipe for my "Seal Ale" will be as follows:

• 8.5 lbs 2-row Base Malt
• 0.75 lbs Crystal Malt 40L
• 0.5 lbs Dextrin Malt
• 1 oz Northern Brewer Hops for 60 min
• 1 oz Northern Brewer Hops for 15 min

The OG target is 1.048-1.054 and the target FG is 1.011-1.014 with an IBU range of 30-45.  I hope to post a post-brewing update after I brew.

Also a Cubs update, they lost today 12-2 to the Dodgers on a rainy April afternoon.