Victory Summer Love

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Absolutely. It is close, but I couldnt get that victory crispness.. must be the water, or perhaps a different yeast

I live within ten miles, I should probably inquire...

Anyways. This recipe stands alone as an excellent beer.

I vote that g-star adds this to his recipes pull down. Definitely one of the best beers I've brewed this summer. Balanced, crisp, and delightful.

In fact, it was originally for my buddy's bachelor party weekend for our labor day trip to the mountains but I cannot stop drinking it!
 
Glad to hear things are turning out well for folks.

I agree, the recipe is not a clone, but a very good beer nonetheless. The real thing is lighter in color...next time I might just go with a grain bill of Pilsner and Munich and leave out the crystal malt. Also, Victory has a signature hop flavor that I find difficult to reproduce at home. I pick it up in Prima Pils, Hop Wallop, and Summer Love. Still somewhat of a mystery to me.

Cheers!
 
I know we're kind of past the season on this beer, but I just found this on the Victory website, and it seems to confirm the thinking of bittering/flavoring this beer with German hops, and dry-hopping with a citrusy American variety:

Q: I am a big fan of Summer Love. Is it considered a Kolsch style Ale?
A: Summer Love is not a Kolsch style ale, though we can see why you might place it near that style. It can be classified as a “blonde ale,” which is a style permitted to display a broad range of characteristics. We feel that Summer Love Ale brings both excitement and comfort to the blonde ale category. The citrusy nose promises the excitement of an IPA, while the European hops in the middle give it earthy and comfortable familiarity. After all, blondes do have more fun.
 
here are my notes from when i made this for a labor day party. the people at the party really were surprised that it was home brew and the keg was kicked rather quickly. turned out pretty good. it took a little while to come together and it was ready about a week before labor day.


23 Summer love
7.13.12

og 1.053
fg 1.015
abv 4.9
ibu 29
srm 4.6

bel. Pils 8lbs
Vienna 1lb
10L 12oz
cara-pils 4oz

60
brewers gold 0.75oz
15
spalt 0.5oz
hallertau 0.5oz
10
spalt 0.5oz
hallertau 0.5oz
0
saaz 1oz
spalt 1oz
brewers gold 0.25oz

us-05

step mash. 110, 120, 150, 170. Full 60min boil. Chilled to 80F. strained and set in basement
 
I think I might have accidentally cloned this recently. I was testing out a new brewery, and I just threw together a recipe that was meant to be an amber ale, but it turned out much lighter in color and body than I had planned. I used Hallertau for boil and flavor, and dryhopped with some amerillo I had left from a different brew. Not sure why I dry hopped, it wasn't in the original plan. I went looking for something to eat in the freezer, saw the hops, and threw them in after primary.

Anyways, just kegged it a few days ago, and it was really close to the original summer love from 2 years ago. Closer, actually, than previous attempts of mine to clone it on purpose. If anybody is interested, I'll post the recipe after work. Really nice beer (assuming it clears up, pretty cloudy still) with a heck of a lot of aroma.
 
this was the beer that subconsciously made me want to homebrew.
first time i had it was this past summer and i am pretty sure i detected a citrusy hop in the nose. i will likely dry hop with 1 oz of citra
i would love a lil more feedback on the grain bill here. has a consensus been reached? i'm looking for the lighter color of the victory brew
thanks all for your hard work thus far

to date ive brewed a partial sierra nevada clone, ag stone ipa clone (recipe from a book! ha), and my ag arrogant bastard clone (recipe from this forum) will be ready for carbonation in a week. all have been great so far and i look forward to brewing this summer love in the spring!
 
The next time I brew this, I would drop the crystal and go with something like 90/10 Pilsner/Munich, or something in that ballpark. Shoot for an OG of around 1.052 and 40-45 IBU's using clean ale yeast and German hops (Perle, Hellertauer, Spalt, etc). at 60/30/15 min. I would then dry-hop with 2oz of Citra for 7 days and package however you like.

Based on my experience with the original recipe, this seems like it might get a step closer to the real thing. Let us know how your version turns out.

Cheers!
 
Did you do a 90 minutes boil?

I have a German ale starter that needs to be used and I think it will work well with this.

I do a 90min boil whenever I use Pilsner malt, regardless of the recipe. Why take a chance with DMS?
 
NewJersey said:
whats dms?

Dimethyl sulfide.

Lightly kilned Plilsner malt can produce this in the boil, a long vigorous boil can help drive it off. If present in the finished beer, a cooked corn/vegetable off flavor can result.
 
This is not an exact replica, but I brewed this twice and it is good - for the wife.
Pilsener 10lb
Cara Pils 0.5lb
Honey Malt 0.5lb (thus for you know who)
1oz Perle after collecting 1-2 gal wort
1oz Centennial at flameout
90 min boil
S-05
OG 1.052 FG 1.012

Making for 3rd time tonight.....

after I wrote this I was looking at greyhound recipe, I might actually try that next time as he seems to have done more homework......
 
Stryker. All I did was look at what the others did and adapt it to what I had. I ended up kegging and took it to a Labor Day party. They said it tasted pretty damn close. The keg was kicked very quickly. I'll make it again this year and pick up a case.
 
As per their website, this is made with Tettnang, Simcoe, and Amarillo. Anyone made something similar with these hops?
 
I brewed this yesterday with Magnum for bittering and Hallertau for the 15, 10 and 0 minute additions. Will dry hop with 4 oz of Citra when primary is done (10 gallon batch.) The only other change was C-20 instead of C-10 (LHBS was out). Well, that and I had to boil for 2 hours because of screwing up my sparge and needing to collect 14.75 gallons pre boil to get my needed gravity points.

I'll let you know how it turns out.
 
As per their website, this is made with Tettnang, Simcoe, and Amarillo. Anyone made something similar with these hops?

That is new information for 2013, I believe. Nice catch!

I'm thinking my attempt this year will use Tettnang in the boil and Simcoe/Amarillo in the whirlpool/dryhop.
 
This is the recipe I'm going for will see how it turns out.

5 pounds of Pilsen DME
2 pounds of Vienna

.5 oz Simcoe at 60
.5 oz Tettnang at 30
.5 oz tettnang at 10

.5 oz simcoe and 1 oz Amarillo (or Cascade if LHBS is out of Amarillo when I go to get supplies) to dry hop. Hopefully this will be ready in about 5 weeks from when my brother and I decide to brew.

My concern is the IBU is coming in low
 
I had my first of the year earlier this week, such a fantastic beer. I definitely get a Kolsch or German Ale yeast characteristic out of it. Has anyone else made an attempt at this with one of these yeasts?
 
Hopefully I'll get to brew my recipe up next weekend or some weeknight this coming week with my brother. It's a partial mash and this is where I wound up, hoping it tastes like Summer Love

Mash

2 lbs Vienna
1.5 lbs Pilsner

Boil

4 lbs Pilsner DME
60 minute .5 oz Simcoe
30 minute .5 oz Tettnang
10 minute .5 oz Tettnang

Gonna ferment it with the Kolsch yeast from East Coast Yeast if they have it in stock at love2brew. Comes out to the right ABV and close to the right IBUs.
 
stack said:
I had my first of the year earlier this week, such a fantastic beer. I definitely get a Kolsch or German Ale yeast characteristic out of it. Has anyone else made an attempt at this with one of these yeasts?

I've only used Cal Ale yeast in my attempts, but you raise a good point. I think my next attempt will be with WLP029.
 
Added my second dry hop addition of 2oz Citra today, beer tasting and smelling a lot like I remember it from last year. However, slight problem. I had a pint of this year's Summer Love last night and I think Victory has changed it all around. There is a very upfront citrus nose in the aroma which strikes me as much more than in the past, and the other thing is the bitterness has been dialed up a LOT. If I had to guess, I'd say it was pushing 45-50 IBUs. Of course, I know beer can change depending on how it's handled and served, and of course I could be wrong, but I definitely think they changed it up. Just something to consider if you're going to compare your brew to the current official product side-by-side.
 
Added my second dry hop addition of 2oz Citra today, beer tasting and smelling a lot like I remember it from last year. However, slight problem. I had a pint of this year's Summer Love last night and I think Victory has changed it all around. There is a very upfront citrus nose in the aroma which strikes me as much more than in the past, and the other thing is the bitterness has been dialed up a LOT. If I had to guess, I'd say it was pushing 45-50 IBUs. Of course, I know beer can change depending on how it's handled and served, and of course I could be wrong, but I definitely think they changed it up. Just something to consider if you're going to compare your brew to the current official product side-by-side.

Are you using straight Downingtown water or RO?
 
For the beer I mentioned that I suggested is different, that was a pint from a bar.

For this particular brew I used my tap water which shakes down like so:
(ppm)
Ca 53
Mg 28
Na 24
Cl 51
SO4 24
CaCO3 203

For my grain bill (15# Pils, 2# Vienna, 1.5# C20, 0.5# Carapils) this left me with -93 residual alkalinity (10.5 gallon batch size) (Don't use C20 - it comes out darker than you want. My LHBS was out of C10. The beer tastes great from the sample when I dry hopped.)

To the mash I added: 6g of Gypsum and 4 mL of Lactic acid.

The resultant ppm
Ca 78
Mg 28
Na 24
Cl 51
SO4 84
and a Cl:SO4 ratio of 0.61 to enhance bitterness.
Estimated mash pH was 5.58 and the thickness was 1.3 qt/#.

Let me know if there are other questions.

I use distilled when I brew a Helles or a Pilsner..
 
For my next attempt (sometime within the next month or so), I'm going to drop the crystal entirely. The more that I think about it, Victory is a brewery with a strong German influence, and we know the Germans are not big on crystal/caramel malts. I'm thinking:

85% Pils
10-15% Munich
5% Carapils (maybe)

Bitter with Tettnang to 35-40 IBU's
Simcoe/Amarillo in the whirlpool/dryhop
WLP029

medium sulfate water
 
Artisan? I get my grains there all the time. Mike is always helpful, and he knows he stuff. Made it easy for me when I started out

I had a Summer Love on tap at Riverstone (gotta love $3 victory brew and Buck a shuck oyster Wednesdays) the other night and decided to brew a Summer Love inspired beer this weekend. Went to Artisan and got the ingredients today for the following recipe variation that I came up with.

Anyone have last minute thoughts before I brew tomorrow? Otherwise I will report on the results.

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Love Summer
Brewer: Bruce & Lauren
Asst Brewer:
Style: Blonde Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 8.20 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.50 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.051 SG
Estimated Color: 3.0 SRM
Estimated IBU: 30.2 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 81.8 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
8 lbs Pilsen Malt 2-Row (Briess) (1.0 SRM) Grain 1 76.2 %
1 lbs Munich (Dingemans) (5.5 SRM) Grain 2 9.5 %
1 lbs Vienna Malt (Weyermann) (3.0 SRM) Grain 3 9.5 %
8.0 oz Carapils (Briess) (1.5 SRM) Grain 4 4.8 %
0.50 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Boil 90.0 min Hop 5 25.6 IBUs
0.50 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 6 1.8 IBUs
0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 7 2.8 IBUs
0.50 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] - Aroma Steep 0.0 min Hop 8 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) Yeast 9 -
0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Day Hop 10 0.0 IBUs
0.50 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] - Dry Hop 4.0 Days Hop 11 0.0 IBUs
0.50 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Days Hop 12 0.0 IBUs


Mash Schedule: Bruce batch
Total Grain Weight: 10 lbs 8.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 15.12 qt of water at 164.0 F 152.0 F 60 min

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun, , 6.17gal) of 168.0 F water
Notes:
------
 
I think you're going to like that but I will say this: I mashed at 150 and also had 1.051 OG and US-05 took it down to 1.005. It has been "over"-attenuating for me on most recent batches. You may want to consider upping your mash temp to say 154. My fermentation was at 64F for about 3 days until it was around 70% through the ferment then ramped it to 68 to speed it along since I needed to dry hop and keg and have it ready for a party next weekend.
 
I think you're going to like that but I will say this: I mashed at 150 and also had 1.051 OG and US-05 took it down to 1.005. It has been "over"-attenuating for me on most recent batches. You may want to consider upping your mash temp to say 154. My fermentation was at 64F for about 3 days until it was around 70% through the ferment then ramped it to 68 to speed it along since I needed to dry hop and keg and have it ready for a party next weekend.

I mashed at 153 and hit the 1.053 OG exactly, so I am happy there. Due to accidental mixing we ended up with 1# of carapils in the grain bill. I have been having good luck with the 05 yeast, and consider it my house yeast at this point. I think the beer should be well attenuated for the crisp flavor I associate with the Summer Love. I hope it gets down below 1.010, but time will tell.
I will bring you one to try at a BUZZ meeting and we can compare.
 
Just letting everyone know, this is the next beer my father and I plan on brewing. By far my favorite summer beer! Has there been a consensus on the recipe? I've learned more about beer making in this thread, than actually brewing it. Any suggestions or pointers would be fantastic!

Right now we have:

Pilsen Light Malt 6lbs
2 Bags of Czech Saaz Hops
Pilsner Lager Yeast

Not sure if any of this stuff will work in the recipe (again we're amateurs), but it is from Midwest Supplies, we're about to order more hops and whatever is needed to get the recipe going.
 
This is an ale, so you definitely don't want lager yeast (especially if you're "amateurs"). Saaz hops have a distinctive character that might be appropriate as part of the hop bill, but you'll need some American hops for aroma/flavor. The Victory website specifically mentions Simcoe/Amarillo.
 
Maybe I had some from a bad batch or something, but the one I had at the restaurant this past Saturday was awful. 3 of us tried it and all agreed it was awful. My friend just bought a case so I will try a bottle, but man it was bad.
 
Just letting everyone know, this is the next beer my father and I plan on brewing. By far my favorite summer beer! Has there been a consensus on the recipe? I've learned more about beer making in this thread, than actually brewing it. Any suggestions or pointers would be fantastic!

Right now we have:

Pilsen Light Malt 6lbs
2 Bags of Czech Saaz Hops
Pilsner Lager Yeast

Not sure if any of this stuff will work in the recipe (again we're amateurs), but it is from Midwest Supplies, we're about to order more hops and whatever is needed to get the recipe going.

If you are beginners you probably do not want to do a lager, it requires chilling to ferment. Victory mentions the hops they use on the website and Saaz is not one of them. While you can make a wonderful beer with Saaz, I do not think it will help you make a summer love inspired beer.
Not sure if you are looking to do all grain or extract.

I went to the Phillies game over the weekend and for those who do not know, they have a Victory Beer hall there, where summer love was on tap. A very good beer indeed. Going down to the game again tonight, so I look forward to some more summer love. They have good selection of craft beers at Citizens Bank Park this year, with all the Philly area brewers well represented, now if they could only get the beer man to hand out sly fox cans instead of those silly aluminum bottles.
 
Anyone tried this as an extract with grains recipe. I'm hoping to brew this weekend and haven't been able to see a Summer Love extract and grains recipe. Any help you all can provide would be MUCH appreciated!
 
I had a Summer Love on tap at Riverstone (gotta love $3 victory brew and Buck a shuck oyster Wednesdays) the other night and decided to brew a Summer Love inspired beer this weekend. Went to Artisan and got the ingredients today for the following recipe variation that I came up with.

Anyone have last minute thoughts before I brew tomorrow? Otherwise I will report on the results.

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Love Summer
Brewer: Bruce & Lauren
Asst Brewer:
Style: Blonde Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 8.20 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.50 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.051 SG
Estimated Color: 3.0 SRM
Estimated IBU: 30.2 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 81.8 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
8 lbs Pilsen Malt 2-Row (Briess) (1.0 SRM) Grain 1 76.2 %
1 lbs Munich (Dingemans) (5.5 SRM) Grain 2 9.5 %
1 lbs Vienna Malt (Weyermann) (3.0 SRM) Grain 3 9.5 %
8.0 oz Carapils (Briess) (1.5 SRM) Grain 4 4.8 %
0.50 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Boil 90.0 min Hop 5 25.6 IBUs
0.50 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 6 1.8 IBUs
0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 7 2.8 IBUs
0.50 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] - Aroma Steep 0.0 min Hop 8 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) Yeast 9 -
0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Day Hop 10 0.0 IBUs
0.50 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] - Dry Hop 4.0 Days Hop 11 0.0 IBUs
0.50 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Days Hop 12 0.0 IBUs

Mash Schedule: Bruce batch
Total Grain Weight: 10 lbs 8.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 15.12 qt of water at 164.0 F 152.0 F 60 min

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun, , 6.17gal) of 168.0 F water
Notes:
------

Have you sampled this yet? I'm planning on brewing nearly the same thing this weekend.
 
Met the brewer at a beer week event and he said that summer love was tettnanger, Amarillo, and citra.
 
That's weird, their website says Simcoe not citra. Maybe the site is out of date. I'll be using Simcoe regardless.
 
I think he may have been thinking of Head waters pale ale when he said that. I know for sure that one uses Citra and Summer love definitely has Simcoe
 
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