Munich Helles Dead Guy Clone (Extract & AG- see note)

Brewed. Had to make a couple of changes, c60 at 6oz, and 6 row at 12 oz. This was do to the supplies on hand. Hit all the numbers on this one.

I did the extract version of this with 9 pounds of Pale LME.

I didn't make a start, but just used the Activator pack, and I had fermentation within 10 hours. I was surprised at just how fast fermentation started.

My O.G. was 1.062 or so, and I'm fermenting it at 59-60* in my bathroom. It seems to be pretty stable for now. How cold can I go with Pacman yeast before it goes to sleep?

Redcat said:

I did the extract version of this with 9 pounds of Pale LME.

I didn't make a start, but just used the Activator pack, and I had fermentation within 10 hours. I was surprised at just how fast fermentation started.

My O.G. was 1.062 or so, and I'm fermenting it at 59-60* in my bathroom. It seems to be pretty stable for now. How cold can I go with Pacman yeast before it goes to sleep?

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I've never fermented it below 60 degrees, but if it's active it's fine!

Brewed the AG version of this last weekend. Like a true champion, I managed to unknowingly knock the manifold off my ball valve while mixing in the grains. Nothing like sticking your hand in 155* mash to make a man out of you. I was ~5 points low on my pre-boil gravity, so I supplemented with 8oz DME at 15mins which hit my OG perfectly. I'll have to check out the mill at the homebrew shop, maybe even pick up one for myself to get my crush under control.

I also went to ferment this lower, 62* in the chest freezer. Took a little over a day to show signs of activity with a 1L starter of washed 1056, but it's rippin right along now.

HBS didn't have Saaz, so I substituted Vanguard instead.

Pretty excited for this, Dead Guy is one of my and the girlfriend's favorites. If it turns out even half as good as i'm expecting it'll definitely be in the regular rotation.

Now I just need to get a keg setup going.

I would suggest getting your own mill. I could never hit my numbers with the lbs crushing my grain till I got my own mill.
Mines still going fine , running at 64 degrees. Can' t wait for this one, I figure about 3 weeks till it goes in the keg.

I made the extract version a few weeks ago. My og was 1.074, and my fg was 1.015. Mine tastes borderline too sweet. Does sweetness mellow out at all? I haven't had very many batches turn out overly sweet. Thanks.

letmeholleratya said:

I made the extract version a few weeks ago. My og was 1.074, and my fg was 1.015. Mine tastes borderline too sweet. Does sweetness mellow out at all? I haven't had very many batches turn out overly sweet. Thanks.

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I made the extract last October. It took at least five weeks after bottling before the sweetness mellowed out. Hang in there.

letmeholleratya said:

I made the extract version a few weeks ago. My og was 1.074, and my fg was 1.015. Mine tastes borderline too sweet. Does sweetness mellow out at all? I haven't had very many batches turn out overly sweet. Thanks.

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More to the point than the gravity readings, what was your mash temperature? The higher you mash = more unfermentables = more sweetness.

letmeholleratya said:

I made the extract version a few weeks ago. My og was 1.074, and my fg was 1.015. Mine tastes borderline too sweet. Does sweetness mellow out at all? I haven't had very many batches turn out overly sweet. Thanks.

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Nothing wrong with that finishing gravity. I would give it more than a few weeks before casting any sort of judgement.

Thanks for the replies. I'll just let it sit in the keg for a few weeks and revisit.

Rico567 - i didn't do the all grain version of this recipe; didn't have my mlt yet. I do now though, and will be doing my first ag brew tomorrow

I have a question, which I think I already know the answer to... My friend and I brewed this as an extract in early December, kegged in early January, but we definitely have a harsh alcohol taste, even now after aging for 6 or so weeks. The fermentation temp where we stored this (basement) hovers at around 68-70 degrees, and we used harvested pac man yeast with a starter. Fermentation started after about 8 hours. I think we somehow got fusel alcohol flavors in there, which is odd, since I used the same harvested yeast a few weeks later for an IPA, which seems to be doing fine. I am guessing that we should just stick this one in a corner for a few months to mellow out? Could this have been due to using harvested yeast or just because it was a bigger beer?

My first guess would be temperature. 70F is pretty high for that kind of beer. My basement stays around 61-62F this time of year, but I still chill to <70F to keep the temperatures down.

Yeah, it is definitely at the high end of the temp range for the yeast. I was planning on investing in/finding a fridge and temp control, and this will get me moving on that. Can anyone give me feedback on fusel alcohol flavor and their experience with it and if they have seen it condition out with time? I have been taking samples, and it seems to be going away very slowly. I have 4 other kegs to get through, so I have some time to age this one.

Has anyone done a long primary on this beer? I'm considering racking it to a secondary, but this being my second brew I don't want to make a mistake and contaminate it.

I know it might not be as clear as a beer that has been moved to the secondary. I did use Irish moss, and it is looking pretty good at 10 days.

This is now a standard beer in my repertoire. I do nothing but a one-month primary and right into the bottles. Great beer!

Yooper said:

Well, I made another batch of this a couple of weeks ago- it's still in primary. I pitched on a pacific ale yeast cake- and it finished at 1.006! Holy cow- it's dry! I mashed at 153-154, so I definitely wasn't planning on it being that dry. Darn!

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Hi Yooper,
I always brew all grain. Now it's too cold in Quebec so I will brew partial mash. Was looking at this recipe but have a question about steeping speciality grains such as munich.. I thought these needed to me mashed. Can you explain this? Should I add a bit of 2-row to the specialty grain and cut back on the LDME in order to have a better conversion? IS the Munich there only for color and taste and not to bring gravity points. Am I missing something? Thanks

Mine finished at 1.012 on WLP001 yeast. it's in the secondary only because i need the yeast. So far from the sample taste it is good.
I have Pacman yeast on order to do a second run and i'll be able to compare the two.

terrenum said:

Hi Yooper,
I always brew all grain. Now it's too cold in Quebec so I will brew partial mash. Was looking at this recipe but have a question about steeping speciality grains such as munich.. I thought these needed to me mashed. Can you explain this? Should I add a bit of 2-row to the specialty grain and cut back on the LDME in order to have a better conversion? IS the Munich there only for color and taste and not to bring gravity points. Am I missing something? Thanks

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Yes, Munich must be mashed. But it can convert itself so there isn't any need to add two-row.

I am going to try this recipe out this weekend. I have US Golding, Sterling, Cascade and Summit hops on hand. Will the Golding or Sterling work with this recipe or should I go ahead and buy some Perle to get more true to the flavor? Thanks!

Anyone? I'm brewing this weekend and want to make the right hops choice.

Indytruks138 said:

I am going to try this recipe out this weekend. I have US Golding, Sterling, Cascade and Summit hops on hand. Will the Golding or Sterling work with this recipe or should I go ahead and buy some Perle to get more true to the flavor? Thanks!

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None of those are perle. Using different flavor hops will change the flavor. If you want to try different hops, it will be different. Not necessarily bad at all- but different.

I'd go with Sterling over US Goldings. It won't be the same beer, but it'd still be delicious.

I racked this to a secondary last night after 17 days.

S.G. was 1.022

Hopefully I can get another couple points in the next two weeks while it sleeps there.

I will be attempting a partial mash within the week. First PM I will try.

Brewing as I type. Pacman yeast just came in via Fed Ex. Changes made : 9 lbs maris otter. 3 lbs 2 row. 1.25 oz perle (60 min) , .50 oz perle (30 min).

completed og 1.068. :rockin: Smells like camel candy.

Into my boil right now, so good so far. I agree my house smells like candy from the mash. Caramel candy.

I made this but with 1056. I have to say, it's sitting in a keg carbing up now, but this is _the_best_beer_ i've made thus far. Everything has finally come together, accurate mash temps, full yeast starter, pure oxygen wand, cool (~62*F) fermentation temps. This is the beer I'm going to judge all other recipes by.

Plus, the girlfriend loves it too. What's not to like? This is going to be in regular rotation for sure, like..every other week.

Yooper said:

10 pounds maris otter
1 pound Cara-Munich
1 pound Munich
1/2 pound crystal 40L

Mash at 156-158 for 45 minutes or until conversion. Sparge to get up to boil volume.

Hops:
1 ounce Perle 60 minutes
.25 ounce perle 30 minutes
.25 ounce perle 5 minutes
.25 ounce saaz 5 minutes

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I found an old recipie on NB for there clone that they don't sell as a kit anymore but as an ingredient list. I did there's before I found yours...'it looks like this .....

6 # good ole 'merican 2- row
0.5 # Cara Munich
5.75 # Munich
0.5 # Crystal 80

The hopping and mashing are basically the same.

*EDIT* - no its not - sorry:

1.5 oz Perle @ 60min
1.0 oz Saaz @ 0 min


Have you had this recipie and if not do you have any ideas where this one would be different.

I ordered these materials around x-mas by request of some of my brewing buddies that want me to brew it again. Oh,'and I almost forgot... NB still had no Pacman so they sub 1450 ( denny's fav ) which is what I used before so I'm sticking with it. I figure I'll make a huge starter cause I'm in a bit of a rush to get this one in the bottle.

Seriously considering doing your recipie as a comparison since this one is a mover..

Yooper - can you post a copy of your most recent/curren Beersmith .bsm file?

ultravista said:

Yooper - can you post a copy of your most recent/curren Beersmith .bsm file?

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Unfortunately, what is posted already is all that I have. My computer died in November, and I just bought Beersmith new and entered what I could download from this site.

Yooper said:

Dead Guy Clone

1 pound Cara-Munich
1 pound Munich
1/2 pound crystal 40L

Steep grains in a bag at 155 degrees for 30 minutes. Sparge with 1/2 gallon 170 degree water. Allow grains to drip into pot, but don't squeeze. Discard grains. Bring to a boil and add:

4lbs Alexanders Pale LME
4LBS LDME
(I substituted all XLDME)

1 oz perle 60 mins
1/4 oz perle 30 minutes
1/4 oz perle 5 mins
1/4 oz saaz 5 mins.

1 tsp Irish Moss 15 minutes or Whirlfloc

I used pacman yeast. If pacman is not available, try 1056 (American Ale yeast).

o.g. was 1.066
f.g. was 1.018

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First time following a recipe on here. Only done 2 batches from the LHBS sheet. I really want to do this recipe since it's a normal commercial beer I drink.

Im a little worried and confused on the sparge. I add 1/2 gallon of 170 degree water after the 30 minutes of steeping???? Then add the extract bring to a boil and follow hop plan???

mjmac85 said:

First time following a recipe on here. Only done 2 batches from the LHBS sheet. I really want to do this recipe since it's a normal commercial beer I drink.

Im a little worried and confused on the sparge. I add 1/2 gallon of 170 degree water after the 30 minutes of steeping???? Then add the extract bring to a boil and follow hop plan???

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The 170 deg 0.5 gallons is a "sparge" or hot water rinse of the steeping grains in this case. The grains steep in a bag to contain them. After the steep, lift the bag and either suspend it over the pot and use the 170 deg sparge water to rinse them off ( water and extract from grains drips into pot below) OR, you can "batch sparge" by removing the steeping grains from the steep water and add them ( still in the steeping bag) to the 1/2'gallon of 170 degree water. Bob it up and down a bit to rinse off the sugars from the grain and then add that to the wort you made from steeping.
Start heating your wort, add the malt Extract and start following the hop schedule once you see the first boil bubble.

Is that a good idea for all recipes or only when included in directions?

mjmac85 said:

Is that a good idea for all recipes or only when included in directions?

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You may find some useful discussions here:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/beginner-extract-brewing-howto-99139/
It's a stickie and is worth a read.

Pm thread is here:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/easy-partial-mash-brewing-pics-75231/

Brewed this 7 days ago. Mashed at 158 degrees and used a Pacman starter. Hit my OG 1.066 exact. Fermented at 60-62 degrees. Just checked gravity, it was 1.020, not sure it's quite done but I decided to bring upstairs to where it is 72 degrees to see if it'll drop just a few more points. There was a huge yeast cake, so I swirled the carboy around to pick up the yeast from the bottom.

I realize mashing at 158 is probably the reason for the slightly high gravity, but I didn't want it to ferment too low since Pacman is a hungry beast.

Just did a BIAB using the All grain recipe from the original post. Mashed at around 158 for minutes and followed the hop schedule. Added Irish Moss at 15 minutes. Gravity was 1.038 if I read it correctly. It is currently in a water bath at 60 degrees. I hope it stays around that temp.

Where is the most recent/updated AG recipe? Or is the recipe on the first page the best? Im going backwards on the thread and am on page 40.

Also, Im ordering this recipe off of brewmasterswarehouse.com and all they have munich wise is Briess Organic munich 10, dark munich, and munich type II. Which would be best?

I used the Munich Type II. This go-around, I am doing the CYBI Dead Guy recipe from an interview with John M.

This will be my fourth Dead Guy batch. Can't wait to see what the results of the CYBI recipe are.