Blue Moon Clone

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I just wanted to say thanks to Wayne, Nilo and others for all the work they have put into this thread and to homebrewing to allow us to make a beer similar to Blue Moon.

I broke in my single-tier 20-gallon RIMS system this weekend following Wayne's recipe from post from post 429.

Wayne1 said:
My current suggestion for a homebrew version of Blue Moon would use.

5.5 lbs Weyermann Bohemian Pils malt
4.5 lbs Weyermann Pale Wheat malt
1.4 lbs flaked oats
0.5 lbs rice hulls

Mash at 154F for 60 min. Add 2 gallons 200 F water for mash out to achieve 168F Hold for 10 min.

1.2 oz Hallertauer (4.3 AA) full length of boil 60-90 min.
0.5-0.7 oz fresh ground coriander (10 min before boil end)
1.0 oz sweet or Valencia Orange Peel (amount will depend on how finely ground the spice is and if it is fresh zest or dried) (5 min before end of boil)
Click to expand...

I wanted to end up with around 12 gallons so I did change the quantities accordingly. For the coriander, I bought a bottle of Spice Island Coriander Seed (1 oz) and ground it up in a coffee grinder. I also used 4 oz of Spice Island Orange Peel. I used that much based on the information from this thread and personal experience adding 1 oz of it to a blonde I brewed.

I separated it into two vessels and used S-04 and US-05. I wanted to try two different yeasts on the same brew to see how they differ.

This probably wasn't a good brew to use on a new system. I sparged with too much water and ended up boiling 17 gallons. I ran out of time (I had plans) so I couldn't boil off the extra water (I left 2+ gallons in the boil kettle). I was shooting for OG of 1.055, but ended at 1.050, after adding an additional two lbs of Light DME.

Both buckets are fermenting nicely at 67 degrees. I will report back on the flavor.

Once again, thanks to Wayne, Nilo and others.
 
I had a keg of my latest BM at a party Saturday, which I used a whole can of McCormick Valencia orange peels (1.5oz), and 1h later there was nothing left. This beer has a very wide acceptance, success is garanteed among craft and BMC drinkers.
 
Well, I finally pounded all the way through this thread and here's my plan as soon as I can get some grain together (not easy to find stuff where I live and paying through the teeth for shipping pisses me off. . .)

Let me know what you think. This is pretty much Wayne's first one. This is also my first time using Beersmith so I hope that mess below is readable. . .

Blue Moon Clone v1.0
American Wheat or Rye Beer
Type: All Grain Date: 2012-07-26
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal Brewer: Watershed Brewing Co.
Boil Size: 9.19 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 90 min Equipment: Pot (18.5 Gal/70 L) and Cooler (9.5 Gal/40 L) - All Grain
End of Boil Volume 6.50 gal Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 5.05 gal Est Mash Efficiency 73.9 %
Fermentation: Ale, Single Stage Taste Rating(out of 50): 30.0
Taste Notes:
Ingredients

Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
8.0 oz Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 1 4.8 %
5 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 2 47.6 %
4 lbs White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 3 38.1 %
1 lbs Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 4 9.5 %
1.00 oz Hallertauer [4.80 %] - Boil 90.0 min Hop 5 18.6 IBUs
1.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) [50.28 ml] Yeast 6 -
Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.045 SG Measured Original Gravity: 1.046 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.009 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.6 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 4.7 %
Bitterness: 18.6 IBUs Calories: 151.6 kcal/12oz
Est Color: 3.4 SRM
Mash Profile

Mash Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge Total Grain Weight: 10 lbs 8.0 oz
Sparge Water: 7.17 gal Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F Tun Temperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE Mash PH: 5.20
Mash Steps
Name Description Step Temperature Step Time
Mash In Add 16.32 qt of water at 161.4 F 152.0 F 60 min
Sparge Step: Batch sparge with 2 steps (2.17gal, 5.00gal) of 168.0 F water
Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).
Carbonation and Storage

Carbonation Type: Bottle Volumes of CO2: 2.5
Pressure/Weight: 4.51 oz Carbonation Used: Bottle with 4.51 oz Corn Sugar
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 70.0 F Age for: 30.00 days
Fermentation: Ale, Single Stage Storage Temperature: 65.0 F
 
KPSquared:
That's the general recipe, except for the orange and coriander. Those seem to be the hardest flavors of a Blue Moon to get right.
What are your plans for those?
 
I knew I left something out. . .working a midnight, my brain was broken.

Planning on a half oz. or less of corriander and a full oz. of orange peel. Going to use Mccormick's for both. Based on updates from Wayne and others.

I might up my grain bill a bit. Wouldn't mind a little higher OG. Seems a little low. I think Blue Moon (or Rickard's White for me) is about 5.4% ABV so I'd like to shoot for that.
 
So don't laugh at my newbie question, but is there an extract / semi simpler recipe for this or a kit that anyone knows of? I know it won't be as good, but I'm a newbie to home brew and trying to get my feet wet.
 
I dunno if your trying to do something specific, but I've done the Blue Moon Belgian White clone from Austin Homebrew Supply and kicked that keg quick enough with no problems.
 
nilo posted an extract recipe here. He didn't include the spices (coriander & sweet orange peel), though - read a little of the rest of the thread and you'll find out what people are experimenting with in that regard.
 
I just made a beer somewhat along the lines of blue moon, and the wife loves it.
8lbs 2row
1/2 instant oats
1/4lb crystal 60
1 oz cascade at 30min
1 oz orange peel and 3/4 oz corriander at 5 minutes.

I mashed grains at 152 for 75 minutes and mashed out, batch sparged.
boiled for 75 minutes. primary for 10 days and right to the keg. It is carbing now, but the flat one I had today was great.
 
Wayne1 said:
In February I proposed a recipe variant based on reports of thin bodied beers being made from the original recipe I posted.

I made a batch of that recipe, with a few changes, not too long ago. The recipe with the Vienna malt yields a VERY full bodied beer. Too much so, IMHO.

Everyone's system and technique is different and the results of a recipe brewed on one system will be different from almost anyone else.

I have found NO problems, with thin body, mashing the oats with the rest of the grain. I do suggest you give it a try. If, for you, your beer has a thin body, then go for the boiling oats.

The amount of spices used will be different for almost everyone. It appears that no two people are using the exact same spices. Some use pre-ground coriander, some use fresh, some use fresh oranges and zest them, some use pre-ground orange peel. Each variation will require different amounts in the kettle.

I will say that I do agree that 1 ounce of fresh ground coriander is too much.

As a rough guideline, try between 0.25 and 0.5 ounces of fresh ground coriander 10 minutes before the end of the boil. Anything else, you will have to try on your own.

For orange peel, it depends on what state it is in. I used to use very finely ground Valencia orange peel. Perhaps the McCormicks is the closest to that. Other forms of orange peel will require quite a larger amount to get the same amount of flavor. I used a dehydrated, minced orange peel from a local spice shop. Savory Spice

I used 0.3 oz and it was nowhere near enough. I also added about 0.5 oz in a bag in conditioning. It helped, but the amount of orange was quite reduced from Blue Moon. Depending on what form of orange peel you are using, I would suggest starting at 1 oz and adjusting from there.

For my system and brewing style, I believe the first recipe is pretty darn close to reproducing grain portion of Blue Moon. I might even suggest using Pilsener Malt. The Vienna just added way too much fullness and body.

My current suggestion for a homebrew version of Blue Moon would use.

5.5 lbs Weyermann Bohemian Pils malt
4.5 lbs Weyermann Pale Wheat malt
1.4 lbs flaked oats
0.5 lbs rice hulls

Mash at 154F for 60 min. Add 2 gallons 200 F water for mash out to achieve 168F Hold for 10 min.

1.2 oz Hallertauer (4.3 AA) full length of boil 60-90 min.
0.5-0.7 oz fresh ground coriander (10 min before boil end)
1.0 oz sweet or Valencia Orange Peel (amount will depend on how finely ground the spice is and if it is fresh zest or dried) (5 min before end of boil)

I would currently suggest using either US-04 or Windsor dried yeast (rehydrated according to directions on packet) US-05 or 1056 might finish too dry. You do want a little sweetness to get close to current Blue Moon flavor.

For my system and style, I ferment 2 weeks in one vessel and then transfer to another vessel for an additional week of conditioning. I then transfer to a keg and carbonate cold under pressure.

With this last batch, I found the flavor of the beer to have an upfront bitter edge to it for about a month in the keg. This did finally go away and the end result was very smooth. I also noticed this bitterness in another beer I made with the dehydrated peel I purchased from the spice shop. My guess is that some of the bitter pith was included in the peel.

The end result, after 4-6 weeks, in the keg was very pleasing. The body very big, the orange flavor on the low side and it was drier than the current Blue Moon. I think with the changes I listed above and some experimentation on your part, you can come very close to what is being offered in the bars and stores today.

As I have mentioned through out this thread and especially this post, a lot will depend on the exact ingredients you use. This recipe does call for a bit of individual fine tuning for each person's gear and brewing style.

I hope some more of you try this and report back your results.

Cheers,
Wayne
Click to expand...

I made this just like the recipe & wound up at OG 1.051
Just wondering if that is to high or what anyone else got with the same brew.
 
My version of that recipe started at 1.049. I ran about 72% system efficiency for that brew for 6 gallons in my kettle after boil. 1.051 would come in to be 75%.

That sounds like good efficiency.
 
I think that is closer to what wayne had said. Not any lower for sure. I have all the ingredients for this. Just waiting to get my BIAB set up ready to go.

(guess wayne replied the same time as me)
 
Wayne1 said:
My version of that recipe started at 1.049. I ran about 72% system efficiency for that brew for 6 gallons in my kettle after boil. 1.051 would come in to be 75%.

That sounds like good efficiency.
Click to expand...

I mashed with 3.5 gallons & sparged with 3 gal. i wound up with 4.5 gal after boil whichn is what i usually wind up with my method. i had to add 1 gal. of water before pitching yeast. It tasted pretty good before the yeast.
 
I finally had a chance to compare my batch (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/blue-moon-clone-65328/index60.html#post4236492) to a bottled commercial example. Mine's been in bottle for 5 weeks now.

The body, mouthfeel, malt and hop profile were pretty much spot on. There really wasn't a meaningful difference between the two in this respect.

The most obvious difference was that mine was a bit darker, possibly because I had to use 2 lbs wheat LME, even though I added it at flameout (I'm only set up to mash about 7 lbs). The color difference wasn't dramatic, but it was fairly obvious when they were side by side. Looking at an SRM color chart, if the commercial version is 3 SRM, mine is probably about 5 SRM. Replacing some or all of the wheat LME with pilsen LME (and adjusting the grains to maintain the 50/40/10 ratio) should get me closer to the commercial version. I also have a 5 gal brew kettle so I needed to top up with just over 1 gal to get 5 gal into the fermenter. Not sure if affected my color. If anyone has any thoughts on the best way to lighten this beer, I'd love to hear them.

The other difference was that my coriander (0.66 oz) was a bit more pronounced than in the commercial version. I've tried 0.38 oz before and that wasn't enough so 0.50 oz would probably get me pretty darn close. That said, I actually prefer the extra coriander in mine. I live in Southern California and eat and cook a lot of Mexican food which uses a lot of coriander, so maybe I'm just biased toward the flavor.

The orange was a little harder for me to figure out. I used 0.66 oz of sweet dried orange peel and it wasn't as noticeable as in the commercial version, but that could be because it was partially masked by the extra coriander in mine. To get closer to the commercial version I would probably start by dropping the coriander down to 0.50 oz and leaving the orange alone, but I wouldn't be surprised if I eventually determine that I also need to increase the orange to 0.75 oz.

Wayne, thanks again for your invaluable contributions to this thread! Overall, I'm pretty happy with how this turned out. Just a little disappointed with the color, which I'm sure is due to some limitation in my process and not the original recipe. I think the spices are nicely balanced and they suite my personal taste, but I'll probably tweak them next time just for the challenge of nailing the clone attempt.
 
Hey guys. So I made a blue moon clone similar to blue balls. During my mash I wasn't able to add sweet Orange peel. Do you think I could add oranges to a secondary fermented to get that sweet orangy taste? Or could that alter it and change up the taste too much. Let me know what you think. Thanks
 
Absolutely. Zest a couple of oranges (2-3 baseball-sized ones) and soak the zest in a couple ounces of vodka overnight. Throw it all in the bucket or carboy.
 
Just brewed Nilo's #6 version of the blue moon, pitched yeast about 20 min ago, hit the OG on the mark, will see in a couple weeks how this turns out. Figure 2 weeks in primary, 1 week secondary, 1 week keg, set and forget, blue moon is a favorite at the house so if it turns out good I am sure it will be brewed at least once a month. Kudos to NILO and WAYNE1, you guys have put in all the hard work so we can enjoy the benefits. BTW, in Aurora, CO talked to the guys at dry dock and they do not ad anything to the water profile out here, so I guess I moved to brewers paradise.
 
pascott6 said:
I mashed with 3.5 gallons & sparged with 3 gal. i wound up with 4.5 gal after boil whichn is what i usually wind up with my method. i had to add 1 gal. of water before pitching yeast. It tasted pretty good before the yeast.
Click to expand...

Kegged it on Saturday & tasted it today. WOW is it sour. What the hell happened? Its almost undrinkable. What should i do ? :confused:
 
pascott6 said:
Kegged it on Saturday & tasted it today. WOW is it sour. What the hell happened? Its almost undrinkable. What should i do ? :confused:
Click to expand...

sounds like an infection, wild yeast, bacterial infection (Lactobacillus), lack of proper sanitation. I'm not a good source, never had this happening to my beers. If it is undrinkable, dump it.
 
shouldn't matter just take longer to ferment. As far as the bitterness it could be a number of things with out being able to taste it we cant help to much.
 
he said sour and not bitter. very different things. pitching dry is OK.
 
Ok, I'm going to try again. My last batch was a 5 gal partial mash using 2 lbs wheat LME. It tasted great but I wasn't real happy with how dark it was. I mash in a 4 gal cooler and I have a 5 gal brew kettle so I should be able to pull off a 4 gal all-grain batch, which I hope will help with the color. I may have to top up with .25 gal of water, but no biggie. Here's my recipe:

3.75 lbs domestic 2-row (50%)
3.00 lbs wheat malt (40%)
0.75 lbs flaked oats (10%)
17.5 IBUs of Tettnang at 60 min.
0.50 oz coriander at 10 min.
0.50 oz sweet orange peel at 5 min
Wyeast 1056
75% eff, 1.052 OG, 1.012 FG, 77% ADF, est ABV 5.3%, 3.6 SRM
 
nilo said:
he said sour and not bitter. very different things. pitching dry is OK.
Click to expand...

Nilo now that i tryed it again its not to bad. Still has a little bite to it. I may have used the wrong wording when discribing. How do you tell the difference between sour & bitter?
 
Beer Faults

Here is a list of the most common descriptions of faults in beer with suggestions on what may have caused them and how to prevent them in future brews.

"Bitterness is the most sensitive of the tastes, and many perceive it as unpleasant, sharp, or disagreeable. Common bitter foods and beverages include coffee, unsweetened cocoa, South American mate, marmalade, bitter gourd, beer, bitters, olives, citrus peel, many plants in the Brassicaceae family, dandelion greens, wild chicory, and escarole. Quinine is also known for its bitter taste and is found in tonic water."

Depending on what orange peel and how it was processed, there may be some of the pith (white inner portion of peel) included. This is VERY bitter.

"Sourness is the taste that detects acidity. The most common food group that contains naturally sour foods is fruit, such as lemon, grape, orange, tamarind and sometimes melon. Wine also usually has a sour tinge to its flavor, and if not kept correctly, milk can spoil and develop a sour taste. Sour candy is popular in North America[32] including Cry Babies, Warheads, Lemon drops, Shock tarts and Sour Skittles and Starburst. Many of these candies contain citric acid."

A sour taste could be caused by an infection, a high fermentation temp could also bring through a sour flavor.
 
Wayne1 said:
Beer Faults

Here is a list of the most common descriptions of faults in beer with suggestions on what may have caused them and how to prevent them in future brews.

"Bitterness is the most sensitive of the tastes, and many perceive it as unpleasant, sharp, or disagreeable. Common bitter foods and beverages include coffee, unsweetened cocoa, South American mate, marmalade, bitter gourd, beer, bitters, olives, citrus peel, many plants in the Brassicaceae family, dandelion greens, wild chicory, and escarole. Quinine is also known for its bitter taste and is found in tonic water."

Depending on what orange peel and how it was processed, there may be some of the pith (white inner portion of peel) included. This is VERY bitter.

"Sourness is the taste that detects acidity. The most common food group that contains naturally sour foods is fruit, such as lemon, grape, orange, tamarind and sometimes melon. Wine also usually has a sour tinge to its flavor, and if not kept correctly, milk can spoil and develop a sour taste. Sour candy is popular in North America[32] including Cry Babies, Warheads, Lemon drops, Shock tarts and Sour Skittles and Starburst. Many of these candies contain citric acid."

A sour taste could be caused by an infection, a high fermentation temp could also bring through a sour flavor.
Click to expand...

Wayne i made your version & it had a very tart taste. It is now a week later & it doesn't taste near as tart (bitter) as when it first came out of the fermenter. I used the McCormic Valenzia ground orange spice in this batch. Do you think it will go away & if it was an infection would it get better with age? I've never had an infection while brewing.
 
Just transfered to the secondary yesterday, must say smells and taste great so far, was almost tempted to transfer straight to the keg.
 
So whats the fermenting/aging timeframe on Nilo's recipes to get good? I always hear that wheat beers tend to go downhill being aged longer and are typically better up front within the first few weeks after fermentation is done.

Going to be making this for someone as a pregnancy gift, so i know the date approximate date...trying to figure out when it'd be best to brew this and bottle it so its ready. She wont likely be able to drink it immediately with feeding and all but still would be good to plan out so i can make sure i have carboys or buckets available and not taken up with my other brews.
 
Well I am back on the Blue Moon Clone saddle again thanks to several of you. After five previous attempts I had grown bored with my results. Part of this was that I started when this thread was young (the ratio of orange to coriander was backwards). All the same, I had a couple of “good” variations and some that tasted like vitamins. This was likely do in part to my own early brewing mistakes.

In checking back in on the thread last week (after a good time away), I found it to be huge (yes I read through the whole damn thing) and still alive. Further, I found that many of the shortfalls I found in the results had been addressed. I now have 10 gallons bubbling away. It smells great. I am sure it will be my best version yet. Thanks to Wayne1 for taking the time (and patience) to get us on track with the original BM recipe while also embracing the tweaks and changes by others. Also huge thanks to Nilo, ekjohns, and the rest of the folks for sticking with the recipe, refining it, and helping the rest of us perfect our own (I say with fingers crossed).
 
FuzzeWuzze said:
So whats the fermenting/aging timeframe on Nilo's recipes to get good? I always hear that wheat beers tend to go downhill being aged longer and are typically better up front within the first few weeks after fermentation is done.

Going to be making this for someone as a pregnancy gift, so i know the date approximate date...trying to figure out when it'd be best to brew this and bottle it so its ready. She wont likely be able to drink it immediately with feeding and all but still would be good to plan out so i can make sure i have carboys or buckets available and not taken up with my other brews.
Click to expand...

Depends on the yeast. If you use S04, it ferments in 3 days, S05 will take 2 weeks. Once fermented, I would leave it in keg for 2 weeks.
 
nilo said:
Depends on the yeast. If you use S04, it ferments in 3 days, S05 will take 2 weeks. Once fermented, I would leave it in keg for 2 weeks.
Click to expand...

Hi Nilo, after fermentation is complete, do you recommend transferring to keg with priming sugar/DME and then waiting two weeks while it carbonates and ages? Or do you suggest transferring from primary to keg, waiting two weeks, then adding priming sugar to allow carbing to start? Thanks!
 
jjcoolj, I think that you will find a wide range of opinions here about how long you should leave on primary, if you should use a secondary or not and aging time.
I'm on the side of drinking my beer as soon as possible, as long as flavor is not impacted. Sometimes I leave more time if I have other brews available to drink and i'm not desperate.
What I usually do it to leave at least a week in fermenter for S04 and two weeks for S05 (Generally 1 week after fermentation is completed). If I was naturally carbonating, I would transfer to keg and add corn sugar and leave at room temp for few days to carbonate, then move to fridge and cool for another week before drinking.
 

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