Fat Tire Amber Ale Clone

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Chuckrox8

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Several years ago I was fortunate enough to spend an entire year in beautiful Colorado with micro breweries plentiful. I first sampled Fat Tire and have grown to love this beer although some consider it "bad". I love it. Unfortunately, I am in GA and New Belgium doesn't ship their products East of the Mississippi River. Bummer. Anyway, a friend of mine and his dad started home brewing several years ago and have gotten quite good at it. My queston is that, if I use a clone recipe and all the right ingredients and brew the Fat Tire Clone(after many failed attempts most likely), how close would it taste to the real Fat Tire using a generic simple kit setup? Will a clone taste the same? First post on here so try not to be too harsh.

If anyone would like to trade for some Fat Tire, I have Sweet Water, Terrapin, and some other great Georgia beers close by. Thanks
 
I brewed the Fat Tire clone from Austin Homebrewing Supply and to me, it is very close to the real thing. Go for it.
 
Yep, me too. My husband liked it so much, I brewed it again. Although, when I did a beer swap and got the "real" Fat Tire, my husband said mine tasted a little better. He likes the fresher taste of homebrew, and he noticed the difference.

Lorena
 
Hey, I want to brew a Fat Tire Clone... what recipes are yall using?! I need to brew like last week... so speedy replies are welcome!!

Brewpilot
 
Brewpilot said:
Hey, I want to brew a Fat Tire Clone... what recipes are yall using?! I need to brew like last week... so speedy replies are welcome!!

Brewpilot

There must be a dozen recipes on this site. Look around and you'll find plenty.
 
Here is the actual recipe:

3 oz biscuit malt
1/2 pound crystal 90L
1/4 pound victory malt
6 oz munich malt


4 pounds extra pale LME
3 pounds pale LME

3/4 oz Northern Brewer (9.8%AA) (60 mins)
1/2 oz Hersbrucker (2.8%AA) (15 minutes)
1/4 oz Willamette (4.6%AA) (5 minutes)

o.g. was 1.050 at 75 degrees (I didn't adjust)
f.g. was 1.014 when I used Nottingham yeast.

F.g. was 1.010 when I used California ale yeast.

Both tasted about the same- no real difference from the liquid yeast.

Lorena
 
Thanks for the replies. If I have never home brewed before should I attempt this first? As far as the difficulty goes because I assume some beers are much harder to brew than others. Lorenae, would this turn out alright just using a simple brew kit and nothing too fancy?

P.S. Just had a Sawtooth Ale from Left Hand the other day. Definitely one of my favorites! Ahh Colorado breweries make some good beer.
 
Chuckrox8 said:
Thanks for the replies. If I have never home brewed before should I attempt this first? As far as the difficulty goes because I assume some beers are much harder to brew than others. Lorenae, would this turn out alright just using a simple brew kit and nothing too fancy?

P.S. Just had a Sawtooth Ale from Left Hand the other day. Definitely one of my favorites! Ahh Colorado breweries make some good beer.


You can do the Fat Tire clone (or the Sawtooth, for that matter) just by steeping grains in a grain bag, and then boiling and adding the extract and hops according to the schedule. It's not any harder or more difficult than extract only. It would be fine for a first beer try. We can walk you through it step by step, and howtobrew.com covers extract/steeping grains brews thoroughly.

Lorena
 
Just last night I drank the first finished beer from the clone kit from highgravitybrew.com.

I've never had Fat Tire since it's not available locally, but the clone is quite good.
 
I just happened to be skimming through a bunch of posts here and ran across this one. I followed the link above to the Austin Homebrew site for the clone kit and I was curious about a couple of the add-ons it lists.

What is a BrewVent Yeast Fuel? Is it necessary and is it worth the extra buck?

What is up with the optional 1% Alcohol boost that "doesn't compromise flavor" as it says? Is that worth 2 bucks if you want a little extra kick?
 
Schmitts said:
I just happened to be skimming through a bunch of posts here and ran across this one. I followed the link above to the Austin Homebrew site for the clone kit and I was curious about a couple of the add-ons it lists.

What is a BrewVent Yeast Fuel? Is it necessary and is it worth the extra buck?

What is up with the optional 1% Alcohol boost that "doesn't compromise flavor" as it says? Is that worth 2 bucks if you want a little extra kick?

If you make a yeast starter, I don't see the need for the yeast fuel.

All the alcohol boost is is a mix of corn sugar and dme that up's your fermentables...
 
John Beere said:
If you make a yeast starter, I don't see the need for the yeast fuel.

All the alcohol boost is is a mix of corn sugar and dme that up's your fermentables...


Yep- what he said. I've never bought the yeast fuel. Aerate your wort and pitch enough yeast. When I made it with dry yeast, I just sprinkled the dry yeast on top. when I made it with liquid yeast, I made a starter a day or two before. I didn't buy the alcohol boost, either. I got 5.24 % alcohol without it.

Lorena
 
Speaking of the Fat Tire Clone - I made this awhile back and was very pleased with it. I'm considering doing a 10 gallon batch and treating 5 gallon as an ale (with ale yeast) and the other as a lager (with a lager yeast and proper lagering)... should be interesting.
 
FYI - December BYO magazine feature article is on New Belgium Brewery and they provide 4 of their recipes, Fat Tire, Abbey Ale, Tripple, and Ranger IPA.

They use the same proprietary yeast for Fat Tire and Ranger. BYO said Wyeast did a special edition release of the yeast and checking the Wyeast site that was in 2008, and not since.

If I could remember the Fat Tire grain bill I'd provide it but the mag is at home and I am not.

But... just checked the New Belgium website and here is their info

ABV - 5.2%
IBU - 18.5
Calories - 155
Hops - Willamette, Goldings, Target
Malts - Pale, C-80, Munich, Victory
OG - 12.6
TG - 2.2
 
I've heard that its sold in NC now. That said, there is none to be found here in NJ. I used the brewer's apprentice's clone as my first brew. It tasted great, but not quite the same as the real thing. Chalk it up to me being green or the recipe not being the same... or both! I brewed it again with similar results.

Anyhow, last time I was in my LHBS, I saw the latest BYO magazine featured an article on New Belgium. It is complete with 6 or so clone recipes of their beers, including Fat Tire. I'm hoping to take a crack at one after the holidays.

Here is a link to BYO: http://***********/stories/issue/list/issues/277-december-2010
 
my first batch was an extract porter, my second batch was an all grain fat tire clone. the fat tire was WAY better than the extract beer. here's the clone recipe i used:

Flat Ass Tired


Brew Type: All Grain
Style: American Amber Ale
Batch Size: 5.00 gal Assistant Brewer: Beer Wench
Mash: 60 minutes at 155 degrees
Boil Volume: 6.5 gal Boil Time: 90 min


Ingredients
6.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3 SRM) Grain 58.5 %
2.00 lb Amber Malt (22 SRM) Grain 19.5 %
1.00 lb Munich Malt (9 SRM) Grain 9.8 %
0.50 lb Biscuit Malt (23 SRM) Grain 4.9 %
0.25 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10 SRM) Grain 2.4 %
0.25 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40 SRM) Grain 2.4 %
0.25 lb Special Roast (50 SRM) Grain 2.4 %
0.75 oz Northern Brewer [8.5%] (60 min) Hops 22.8 IBU
0.50 oz Williamette [5.5%] (30 min) Hops 7.6 IBU
0.50 oz Williamette [5.5%] (15 min) Hops 4.9 IBU
0.50 oz Williamette [5.5%] (5 min) Hops 2.0 IBU
American Ale II (Wyeast Labs #1272) [Starter 1000 ml]

Beer Profile Estimated Original Gravity: 1.058 SG (1.045-1.056 SG) Measured Original Gravity: 1.059 SG
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.014 SG (1.010-1.015 SG) Measured Final Gravity: 1.012 SG
Estimated Color: 12 SRM (11-18 SRM) Color [Color]
Bitterness: 37.2 IBU (20.0-40.0 IBU) Alpha Acid Units: 2.4 AAU
Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 5.7 % (4.5-5.7 %) Actual Alcohol by Volume: 6.1 %
 
I live near charlotte nc and it's in practically every grocery store around here.
 
Where in GA are you that you cant find Fat Tire? I live in Alabama close to the GA border and regularly go over to buy New Belgium products. Fat Tire should be available in almost every gas station and grocery store in the state.

**disregard didn't realize this thread was a necromancy from years ago.**
 
Just a little side note to floridians.......I know a guy who works for a beer distributing company.....says new Belgium should be here by 2012
 
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