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RUNningonbrew · 01-19-2012, 12:40 PM

I'm looking for a good blue moon clone for my wife, any suggestions? Also I know its a lower gravity beer so should I make a starter?

**bucfanmike** · 01-19-2012, 01:41 PM

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/homebrewing-ingredients/recipe-kits/belgian-ales/belgian-witbier.html

When I first started brewing my wifes favorite beer was sadly Blue Moon. She loves this beer from midwest. Northern brewer has one similar as well. Anyway huge hit with all her friends too. She now drinks more variety so I havent brewed this in awhile. May have to throw in the camping rotation this summer.

bja · 01-19-2012, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wayne1

Blue Moon Belgian White was first sold commercially as Belly Slide Belgian White at the SandLot Brewery at Coors Field during the 1995 opening season.

We did do a little fine tuning of the recipe, which was developed by Dr. Keith Villa of Coors R&D. Mostly to do with the ratio of Orange Peel to Corriander.

The amounts of grains we used are roughly:
50% 2 row pale malt. (The first couple of batches were made with Great Western)
40% white wheat malt
10% flaked oats.

Hallertauer Mittelfrueh hops were added for a 90 minute boil. Bittering should be around 17.5 IBU. Only one addition.

Blue Moon has always used pre-ground corriander and Valencia orange peel. Keith did not want the bitterness of Curacao oranges. He preferred the sweetness of the ground Valencia.

Try 1.25 tsp of ground corriander added to the kettle 10 minutes before the end of boil. This is for a 5-6 gallon batch.

Add 0.33tsp of ground Valencia orange peel 5 minutes before the end of boil.

The Chico strain would work well in this recipe. You want a neutral taste from the yeast. Keith has said that the flavors that should come through are the orange peel and corriander, not the yeast.

Be careful when lautering. I have made this recipe and some variations of it in three different pubs, with three different systems. I usually have trouble and end up sticking the mash. Run off very slowly.

This recipe is dead on, and yes, you make a starter for everything with liquid yeast.

scottatdrake · 01-19-2012, 04:05 PM

bja beat me to it. Doesn't get any clone-ier than the original recipe!

Starters never hurt but isn't 100% necessary for this one.

bja · 01-19-2012, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottatdrake

Starters never hurt but isn't 100% necessary for this one.

Really? How can you be 100% sure you have viable yeast?

barrooze · 01-19-2012, 04:20 PM

Put ur info into Mr. Malty's calculator to check if u need a starter. Often, if ur using fresh yeast and the OG is below 1.050 (for a 5gal batch) you don't need a starter as you'll have enough viable yeast in a vial or smack pack.

scottatdrake · 01-19-2012, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bja

Really? How can you be 100% sure you have viable yeast?

Well, I generally use the Wyeast smack pack. If it blows up like a balloon, it's viable. I've had some old ones that only inflated half way. Checked the date and, yep, they were 4-5 months old. So I just bought another pack or two. Piched em all!

(Yeah, and Mr. Malty is a great tool.)

bja · 01-19-2012, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by barrooze

Put ur info into Mr. Malty's calculator to check if u need a starter. Often, if ur using fresh yeast and the OG is below 1.050 (for a 5gal batch) you don't need a starter as you'll have enough viable yeast in a vial or smack pack.

Yeah? I just tried it. You need to go down to an OG of 1.025 before you don't need a starter.

RUNningonbrew · 01-19-2012, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bja

This recipe is dead on, and yes, you make a starter for everything with liquid yeast.

So what are the pounds for a 5 gallon batch?

**Euphist** · 01-20-2012, 12:18 AM

Well, according to BeerAdvocate, Blue Moon is 5.4%. I plugged it into BeerSmith, and went the easy route...5lb, 4lb, 1lb...and it came out to 5.6%.

Close enough for me!