All-Grain - Old Fezziwig Clone

BrokenBrew · 11-16-2009, 11:13 PM

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Safale T-58
Yeast Starter: No
Batch Size (Gallons): 6
Original Gravity: 1.057
Final Gravity: 1.015
IBU: 27
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Color: 21
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 21 @ 65
Tasting Notes: As close to Sam Adam's Old Fezziwig as I could get.

7 lbs. Two-row Pale
3 lbs. Munich
1 lb. Carapils/Dextrin
1 lb. Crystal 60L
12 oz. Special B
2 oz. Chocolate

.75 oz. Centennial 60 minutes
.5 oz. Cascade 30 minutes
.5 oz. Hallertau 5 minutes

.12 oz. Cinnamon stick - 5 minutes
1 oz. freshly grated orange peel - 5 minutes
1.2 oz. freshly grated ginger root - 5 minutes

Mashed in at 154 for 60 minutes. Batch sparge.

I tweaked a recipe from ChemE just a little to increase the ABV. I just finished one of these, and I have to say that this is probably the best beer I've made to date.

**ChemE** · 02-01-2010, 01:03 AM

Awesome, just found this thread looking to see if anyone has made any headway on this brew and was pretty surprised to see my name. BrokenBrew, did this beer turn out anything like Old Fezziwig? It sure looks like it could given the Spec B content and spices. I'm looking to brew this in the next few weeks, would you recommend any tweaks to the recipe to move it closer to the SA brew? Thanks in advance!

BrokenBrew · 02-01-2010, 12:23 PM

I'll be honest, I didn't buy SA's variety pack this year as it had mostly beer that I don't like. But - from what I recall of Fezziwig, this is pretty close. If not, it's damn good anyway.

I entered this in a competition recently, and received a 33. Not stellar, but pretty acceptable for my first comp. The only comment from the judges was that there was a little too much ginger. Probably cut it to .75 oz of fresh. I think the freshly grated ginger really comes through strong.

I'm currently drinking my second batch of it, and it's excellent.

**motobrewer** · 02-01-2010, 12:41 PM

how long did you let it age before sending to the comp?

**ChemE** · 02-01-2010, 01:16 PM

+1 to what motobrewer is asking. Ginger beers needs to age in bottles for 12ish months for the ginger to settle down. That's why I'm looking to brew this now so that it will be ready for Christmas 2010. If you got dinged for overpowering ginger and still got a 33 that's a pretty darn good recipe!

BrokenBrew · 02-01-2010, 02:13 PM

I didn't let it age very long, read at all. It sat in the bottles three weeks before I popped one open, then probably two more by the time it got to the comp.

I'll remember that about the ginger next time. By the way, I disagree about it being overpowering. I can certainly taste it, but I think it's pretty balanced.

One judge said the ginger was too much, the other didn't mention it. One judge said it needed more hops, the other said the hops were just right. Obviously, it's a matter of opinion.

**motobrewer** · 02-01-2010, 02:17 PM

i had a hunk of dried ginger, so I gound that up and used 0.6oz in my holiday brew. I couldn't really taste it, but then again mine was overpowered by bitter orange peel (next time i'll use sweet or fresh, and a lot less).

**ChemE** · 02-01-2010, 05:22 PM

Interesting and I'm just parroting what I've read on here about highly spiced beers. I'll certainly drink one every few weeks to see where it peaks, but I fully expect it to take a few months.

**stromam** · 02-28-2010, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrokenBrew

5 lbs. Two-row Pale
3 lbs. Munich
1 lb. Carapils/Dextrin
1 lb. Crystal 60L
12 oz. Special B
2 oz. Chocolate

.75 oz. Centennial 60 minutes
.5 oz. Cascade 30 minutes
.5 oz. Hallertau 5 minutes

.12 oz. Cinnamon stick - 5 minutes
1 oz. freshly grated orange peel - 5 minutes
1.2 oz. freshly grated ginger root - 5 minutes

Mashed in at 154 for 60 minutes. Batch sparge.

I tweaked a recipe from ChemE just a little to increase the ABV. I just finished one of these, and I have to say that this is probably the best beer I've made to date.

Note: the post says 5 lbs Two-row, but the beersmith recipe says 7. I think the beersmith one is right (based on it's calculated OG). Just be careful, I bought ingredients based on the 5 lbs. and now i'm either gonna have to go buy more or use some of my light DME.

BrokenBrew · 02-28-2010, 07:36 PM

Stromam, you're absolutely right. Typo on my part. I think the original only had 5 lbs and I upped it to 7. I've made it both ways, and the extra two pounds of two row really makes no difference. Just not quite as strong.

I corrected the original post. Thanks for the correction.