Hey! I want to clone a 450 year old beer

I have recently fallen for a beer i thought i would never fall for. This "New Belgium" brewery has come up with a beer that is from a recipe over four century's old: "1554 Belgian Blackbeer." Amazingly.. Quite a beer! This, despite New Belgiums mostly lackluster past. It is very cool to think that you can be crafting a beer the same as the beer crafted 400+ years ago, and alot of people are trying this completely new style. Here is what i have so far:

Amount Item Type % or IBU
8 lbs Pale Ale Malt 2-Row (3.5 SRM) Grain 83.1 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 5.2 %
8.0 oz Caramunich (71.0 SRM) Grain 5.2 %
4.0 oz Carafa I (337.0 SRM) Grain 2.6 %
4.0 oz Chocolate 340.0 SRM) Grain 2.6 %
2.1 oz Black Patent Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 1.3 %
1.50 oz Williamette [5.50%] (60 min) Hops 29.8 IBU
0.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00%] (60 min) Hops 9.0 IBU
1 Pkgs California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) Yeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: Light Body Batch Sparge - Nate
Total Grain Weight: 9.63 lb
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Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Mash In Add 12.04 qt of water at 168.3 F 152.0 F 60 min


Notes:
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The true ingredients were listed as this. 80L Caramel Munich and 55L Crystal and just German Carafa Malt. I chose the closest subs. The Caramel Munich may just be Munich.

It doesn't fit a style category, they call it a black ale. Similar to a Schwarzbier but not lagered

If you find something Extract or AG that is closer lemme know. This beer has my highest complement for uniqueness; uniqueness in itself is a high complement.

Thats one of my favorites that they make. keep us posted on how it comes out. I may want to try this.

- magno

I read this from their websight. I am wondering what yeast and at what temp they are fermenting at. I am definately interested in cloning this one as well.

Other than being dark in color, 1554 has little in common with Porters or Stouts. The beer is fermented at relatively high temperatures using a European lager yeast that imparts a refreshing, zesty acidity. Chocolate and coffee tones in the nose give way to a surprisingly clean finish. With 1554 our staff hoped to create a beer similar to what folks enjoyed nearly five-hundred years ago without ignoring five-hundred years of technological innovation.We hope you’ll agree that 1554 is the delicious result of a lot of well-spent library time.

yeah..... apparently higher temps for fermentation. Also what makes it unusual is that is has no flavor or aroma hops. A very cool and unique beer! The thing is: I can't the picture this given recipe as perfect. The crystal malt would give it a sweeter and well.. more caramel like flavor. I think that somewhere out there a better recipe exitsts. Is it just me? or does it seem that it should include wheat.

I recently floated a Black Ale. It was part of an experiment. Made a Schwartzbier wort and split it, lagered half and did the other with London Ale yeast. Wasn't much of a difference, but they were both good.

There was a titanic thread on another board trying to clone this. I used the recipe they ended up with and am drinking it right now, it's pretty close. Important things to remember - they're using lager yeast, so use lager yeast. I fermented mine around 68. When they say warm they mean warm for lager, not warm like a trappist ale. Also you need more munich malt. They use a lot in this recipe. Get rid of the chocolate, black patent and carafa and put in carafa II, it'd dehusked so it's like dingemans debittered malt. The guy from the brewery mentions using debittered malt in a post someplace. Do a google search, I think it was brewboard where I got the recipe.

Recipe Specifications
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Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 7.16 gal
Estimated OG: 1.053 SG
Estimated Color: 24.0 SRM
Estimated IBU: 27.0 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
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Amount Item Type % or IBU
5.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 43.5 %
3.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 30.4 %
1.00 lb Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 8.7 %
1.00 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 8.7 %
0.50 lb Carafa II (412.0 SRM) Grain 4.3 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 4.3 %
0.90 oz Northern Brewer [8.80%] (60 min) Hops 27.0
2.00 gm Seeds of Paradise (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs SafLager West European Lager (DCL Yeast #SYeast-Lager


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 11.50 lb
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Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Mash In Add 14.38 qt of water at 164.8 F 154.0 F 60 min
Mash Out Add 8.05 qt of water at 196.6 F 168.0 F 10 min

thangz man