Victory Summer Love

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

g-star

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2010
Messages
869
Reaction score
163
Location
PA
Has anyone been drinking this lately? It’s a new American Blonde Ale from Victory and it is great stuff for summertime quaffing. Nice, light, and malty with a great unique hop nose. Everyone seems to love it (including me), and the distributors are having a hard time keeping it in stock. So naturally, I want to brew up a clone or something similar.

The website states it is 5.2% ABV made with German Pilsener malt and German and American hops. Just wondering if anyone has tried to make it, or if there’s any ideas out there. The yeast is probably a house strain, but I think any neutral American ale yeast might work. For 5 gallons, I’m thinking:

OG = 1.052ish
FG = 1.010ish

8# German Pilsener
1# Vienna
0.5% Crystal 10

S-05

I’m mostly struggling with the hops. I’m thinking about shooting for a total IBU around 25 – 30, using Northern Brewer for bittering, then a combination of American/German hops for flavor/aroma. Maybe a combination of Centennial/Tetnang/Pearle or something in that vein. Anyone got any better ideas or insight???

Thanks
 
I just tapped my version using saaz and dry hopping with citra... I believe it is the closest clone I have ever made...
 
Picked up a sixer of this last night, very good! I love everything I have ever had from Victory, they just might be the best brewery in the US.

Seems like a pilsner recipe made with an ale yeast
 
I am a partial mash guy but here it is...

3.3lbs of Pilsner LME
1lb Pilsner DME
2lbs German Vienna Malt/ steeping 45 @155
wyeast Kolsch yeast

1oz Hallertau @ 60min
1oz Citra @ 15min
.5oz Citra @ 10min
.5oz Citra@ 5min

2oz. dry hopped I actually did in keg

I am still a novice having only done about 15 partial mashes but this seems very close...
 
Thanks for posting the recipe. I was definitely too light on the hops. I might convert your recipe to AG and give it a go.
 
Excellent brew imo, i was actually inspired to do an american blonde ale because of this beer. Good luck to ya!
 
I am a partial mash guy but here it is...

3.3lbs of Pilsner LME
1lb Pilsner DME
2lbs German Vienna Malt/ steeping 45 @155
wyeast Kolsch yeast

1oz Hallertau @ 60min
1oz Citra @ 15min
.5oz Citra @ 10min
.5oz Citra@ 5min

2oz. dry hopped I actually did in keg

I am still a novice having only done about 15 partial mashes but this seems very close...

Hey, what was your batch size? I get an OG of 1.033 when putting this into BeerSmith as a 5.25 gallon. At 58 IBU's (calculated) this seems out of whack to me. Thanks!
 
Picked up a sixer of this last night, very good! I love everything I have ever had from Victory, they just might be the best brewery in the US.

Seems like a pilsner recipe made with an ale yeast

Victory rocks! What blows me away is the selection they have on tap at the brewery. They have a rauchbier on tap right now that I'm dying to try.
 
I'm sorry I just looked back at notes and it was 2 cans of Pilsner LME... Notes got misplaced during recent move...
 
I'm sorry I just looked back at notes and it was 2 cans of Pilsner LME... Notes got misplaced during recent move...

Thanks...that brings the OG up to 1.058, which is more reasonable.

I'm going to do this or something like it soon, as my original attempt is running low and I have to keep the pipeline moving along. :mug:
 
I brewed it last year and the grain bill was very close, but this year I'm going to up the hops. Here's my plan:

5.5gal @ 75% efficiency:

OG: 1.049
FG: 1.009

27 IBU

8lbs Pilsener
1lb Vienna
0.75lbs Crystal 10L
.25lbs CaraPils

0.75oz Perle 60min
1oz Citra 10min
1oz Citra 0min
2oz Citra dry hop 10-14 days

11.5g US-05, ferment at 67F
 
I tried this today for the first time. Very nice summer beer. Seemed very clean to me and definitely a bit hoppy. I'm thinking either a Kolsch yeast or S-05 fermented 58-60°F.
 
g-star, how close did this turn out to the Summer Love ale? I'm thinking of brewing a batch of this next weekend.
 
I would say close, but not cloned. Victory gets a certain noble hop flavor in some of their beers that I find difficult to duplicate for some reason.

If I were to re-brew, I would use a spicy German hop for flavor in the 10-20 min range, and dry hop with Citra.
 
Thanks.

I am going to try and rework the hop additions based on your comment about the noble hops.

How many ibus do you think I should shoot for?

I have some Magnum, Tettnang, Saaz, Perle, and Hallertau.
 
Thanks.

I am going to try and rework the hop additions based on your comment about the noble hops.

How many ibus do you think I should shoot for?

I have some Magnum, Tettnang, Saaz, Perle, and Hallertau.

This year's batch seems more firmly bittered with little to no American (Citra) hop character. I would set my IBU's close to 35. Magnum might be a bit too clean, the hop character in this beer is distinctive. I would bitter and flavor with any combination of the others you mentioned.

This year's batch almost seems like a fruiter, softer, more subdued Prima Pils.
 
Ok I plan on brewing this on Sunday.

I will be using your malt bill, and here is what I got with the hops..

Est OG. 1.049

60 min: 1oz perle 9.0%, 20.8 ibis
30 min: 1oz tettnang 5.5%, 10.5ibus
15 min: 1oz hallertauer 3%, 3.4ibus
5 min: 2oz saaz 3% 2.8 ibus.

Total ibus 37.4

Any other suggestions? Should I throw some citra in at flame out, or for the dry hop? I also have more of the above German / noble hops that I could steep or dry hop with.

Any feedback on this schedule would be great, as I have not used any of these noble / german hops before

Thanks for you help with the recipe!
 
Looks like a good attempt to me. I don't pick up any Citra in this year's version, so that's really your call. I liked it better in years past when I think it was finished with Citra..

I'd limit the dry hopping to an oz or so. Please let us know how it turns out.
 
Please take this with a grain of salt, but I definitely pick up a citra character in this years beer. I think that I'd throw some in at the end of the boil or use it to dry hop.

If it's not citra, I'd love to know what "that" is...
 
I don't think it's citra. It reminds me more of the Tettnang aromas I got from the Terroir of Tettnang Braumeister Pils series that victory did a couple months ago. It good certainly be Hallertau, though.

Initially I thought there was an american hop aroma, but as the beer has aged I have not detected any wrotting cabbage. I still have a couple bottles of the first batch from this year. It smells markedly different from the second batch, but not at all oxidized.

I think this beer is fantastic, and I especially love the malt structure. It's interesting, yet incredibly light.

Cheers.
 
I think there may be some American hops in this years batch. I was picking up something that reminded me of Simcoe. Just a hint of some spicy onion and garlic. I get it more in the flavor than the aroma. There is definitely mostly German hops though.
 
I finally got to brew this today. Thanks to g-star for the recipe guidance.

8lb pils
.25 carapils
.75 c10
1lb Vienna

OG. 1.053
IBU: 38.8

60 min:
0.75oz perle 9.4%

15 min:
0.5oz tettnang 6.2%,
0.5oz hallertauer 3.2%

10 min:
0.5oz hallertauer 3.2%
0.5oz tettnang 6.2%

Flame out:
1oz saaz 3%
1oz tettnang 6.2%
.25oz perle 9.4%

I mashed at 151, and will be fermenting with us05 at 64 degrees.

Pretty pumped about this one. I will report back in a couple of weeks with an update.
 
Looks good, let us know how it turns out.

I just brewed and American hopped version using this grain bill/yeast, using Centennial for bittering and Ahtanum for the late additions. We'll see how it compares.
 
This turned out excellent. Finished around 1.009 / 1.010

Kegged yesterday and it tasted great uncarbed.

Thanks for the guidance on the grain bill G.star.

I fermented real low with the 05 and it is incredibly smooth and flavorful.

Looking forward to trying it after it spends a week or two in the keg... If it lasts...
 
The only thing this beer is missing is the aroma.. are their any German hops that you would recommend for a dry hop?

I have some citra but am hesitant because I am not sure if it will mesh with all of the German hops I used.

Thanks
 
I would dry hop with Citra if possible. Victory states on their web site that they use American and German hops, and it was noted before that they claimed Citra was present when this beer was only available at the brew pub years ago.

I don't get a lot of Citra in this year's version, but I think it works nonetheless.

Cheers!
 
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
 
This beer turned out great. It is not a clone of summer love, but it stands alone as one of the best beers I brewed.

Also, the citra dry hop was a great recommendation. I ended up dry hopping in the keg at 40 degrees and after a week it is glorious! Initially it had a grassy / veg taste from the hops, but tonight I pulled a pint and it has come into its own.

This will not last long.

ForumRunner_20120809_212839.jpg
 
Back
Top