Blue Moon clone recipe?

I am a heavy, malty beer brewer/drinker who had been turned off of wheat beers by a few German Weizenbrau years ago and never went back ... until this past week. I had a Blue Moon belguim wheat beer and liked it. Enough to buy a 12 pack.
Now does anyone have a clone recipe they care to share?
I figure I'll save one of the bottles to harvest the yeast. Or do they use a bottle conditioning yeast different from the brewing yeast? Does anyone know?

I just kegged a Belgian white that I brewed from a B3 recipe I found here somewhere. It came out great! It's more similar to Hoegaarden than Blue Moon. It's got a bit more body to it than the Blue Moon.

5 gal AG recipe:
10.5 lb. Belgian pale malt (can sub Maris Otter)
1.5 lb. Flaked soft white wheat
1 lb. Flaked oats

1 oz. Saaz @ 60min
1 oz. Hallertauer @60 min.

1 oz. Crushed Coriander seed @10min
1 oz. Bitter orange peel @10min.

Wyeast 3944 Belgian Witbier

I did a single infusion @153F for 60min & batch sparged

It's unfiltered but I think it's still pasteurized... probably dead yeast in the bottle.

Some ideas...

I bottled up a batch of the recipe below about 2 wks ago; and I have a few comments you might be able to use.

1. I think Blue Moon has more of an orange taste. Total orange for this batch was 3/4 oz bitter orange; I've made up a wit bier that used 1 oz bitter and 1 oz sweet which was much more prominent. What I'd recommend is using 1/4 oz bitter and 1/4 oz sweet orange peel at 15 min, then add 1/2 oz bitter and 1/4 oz sweet at 2 minutes.
2. If you use a Belgian Wit Bier yeast, be prepared to get that characteristic Belgian yeast taste. If this isn't what you're shooting for, plan accordingly.
3. Coriander. I'd personally use more coriander; I like somewhere in between 1/4 to 1/2 oz total. Maybe add 1/4 oz at 15 and 1/4 at 2 oz.
4. I'd probably skip the cumin if I did it again.

8 oz. Belgian aromatic
4 oz. Flaked oats
8 oz. Flaked wheat
5.5 lb. Wheat extract

1 oz. Kent Goldings (4.1% AA, 60 min.)
0.5 oz. Kent Goldings (6.3% AA, 45 min.)
0.5 oz. Saaz (5.0% AA, 13 min.)

0.25 oz bitter orange peel @ 15 min
0.75 tsp crushed coriander seeds @ 15 min
1/8 tsp crushed cumin seeds @ 15 minutes
0.5 oz bitter orange peel @ 2 min
0.5 tsp crushed coriander seeds @ 2 min
1/8 tsp crushed cumin seeds @ 2 min

Wyeast 3944 Belgian Witbier yeast

Prime with 3/4 cup corn sugar.

I hope this helps a little. My previous attempt can be found in my sig.

Blue Moon is an American-ized Celis/Hoegaarden knock off. I think Cheesefood has a link to a pretty good Hoegaarden clone recipe in his signature.

Yuri_Rage said:

Blue Moon is an American-ized Celis/Hoegaarden knock off. I think Cheesefood has a link to a pretty good Hoegaarden clone recipe in his signature.

Click to expand...

'Scuse me? Knock-off?? I believe Peter Celis started / revived Hoegaarden, sold it, came to the States, started Peter Celis Brewery and brewed Blue Moon, sold it to Coors, who has since sold it to Molson of Canada...

I thought Coors and Molson merged?

They did, ticker TAP. Not sure if it was a true merger, or if one bought the other.

homebrewer_99 said:

'Scuse me? Knock-off?? I believe Peter Celis started / revived Hoegaarden, sold it, came to the States, started Peter Celis Brewery and brewed Blue Moon, sold it to Coors, who has since sold it to Molson of Canada...

Click to expand...

Now I don't want to get into a pissing contest or big argument here, but I can't find a single piece of info that supports Celis ever brewing Blue Moon and selling the recipe to Coors. He tends to get credit for reviving Hoegaarden in Belgium and for creating the famed Celis White in his brewery in Austin.

All that aside, I really enjoy both Hoegaarden and Blue Moon, and I'd jump at the chance to sample a Celis White if I ever find it for sale.

Blue moon.... Available in Extract, Mini-Mash, Unmilled AG and Milled AG..... Enjoy..

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=10902

yeah Bill. I think you're getting Blue Moon and Celis White confused. Or did Coors buy it and change the name?

Probably not though, because Miller bought Celis and then shut it down according to Beer Advocate.

What we really need is a Celis White recipe.

I heard an interview with the head brewer of the brew pub at Coors field. According to him, Blue Moon was developed there as a brewmaster's special and was so popular, it eventually went to wide distribution.

OK, so Celis brewed Celis White and not Blue Moon...not much difference, but I'll admit my bad..

homebrewer_99 said:

OK, so Celis brewed Celis White and not Blue Moon...not much difference, but I'll admit my bad..

Click to expand...

Agreed - the original brewer is of little consequence if all you're trying to do is copy his results (unless you want to actually give him a call...). IMHO, I'd rather brew a Hoegaarden clone, but I'll certainly order a Blue Moon if it's on tap, and I'd be more than willing to try someone else's Blue Moon clone attempt (brew-swap???).

It's not exactly blue moon, but the Grand Cru that Midwest has is an ass-kicker. I've had several requests to keep it on tap at all times. i'm going to play with it a bit, but the general recipe is darn good

Yuri_Rage said:

Agreed - the original brewer is of little consequence if all you're trying to do is copy his results (unless you want to actually give him a call...). IMHO, I'd rather brew a Hoegaarden clone, but I'll certainly order a Blue Moon if it's on tap, and I'd be more than willing to try someone else's Blue Moon clone attempt (brew-swap???).

Click to expand...

...where's the line? I have a glass...

Been looking on the web and over at the Brewery's Gambrinus mug I found this Blue Moon clone:
http://brewery.org/gambmug/recs/1007343134-32688.shtml

and at Beer Tools I found this Belgian Wit:
http://www.beertools.com/html/recipe.php?view=3732

Has onyone made these? positives? negatives?

The Belgian White looks OK besides the two pot trick.

Mike-H said:

Blue moon.... Available in Extract, Mini-Mash, Unmilled AG and Milled AG..... Enjoy..

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=10902

Click to expand...

Anyone have info on this extrat kit? I just wonder if comes with dried orange peel and coriander or if it is already in the extract. I think I would prefer it come separate and NOT already be in the extract.

Yuri_Rage said:

Now I don't want to get into a pissing contest or big argument here, but I can't find a single piece of info that supports Celis ever brewing Blue Moon and selling the recipe to Coors. He tends to get credit for reviving Hoegaarden in Belgium and for creating the famed Celis White in his brewery in Austin.

All that aside, I really enjoy both Hoegaarden and Blue Moon, and I'd jump at the chance to sample a Celis White if I ever find it for sale.

Click to expand...

We have it for sale at our shop here in VA. If we can get it, you prolly can too.

berudd said:

Anyone have info on this extrat kit? I just wonder if comes with dried orange peel and coriander or if it is already in the extract. I think I would prefer it come separate and NOT already be in the extract.

Click to expand...

I brewed the Mini-Mash version almost 2 weeks ago. The orange peel and coriander came mixed together in 2 seperate pre-measured packages for throwing into 2 seperate times in the boil. Seemed like a stand up kit to me. Of course i have yet to sample the final results.

I brew the Austin Homebrew Blue Moon extract kit last week. The extract kit seemed more like a mini mash kit to me but I am new to thise so maybe not. The kit did have extract but it also had a grain bag with oats, wheat and pilsner. I had to steep these at 155 for 45 minutes and then sparge with 170. After that I added extract and boiled. My kit had the orange peel and coriander in a single bag and they all went in together halfway through a 30 minute boil. There was no bag for them and I did not have any so I pitch them in loose. I also did not have a way to strain them out so they remained in there when I moved to the fermenter. I am a little concerned about that but we will see how it goes.

I chose the White Labs yeast. This was my first time with that brand and I think I will stick with it. The next day fermentation was rockin great. I will bottle this weekend and take a taste then to see how it is.

More details to come.

I actually just had the first one last night. Keep in mind, I am not a huge Blue Moon fan. I brewed this for my girlfriend. But all in all, I think it came out well. I think it has more orange flavor than I anticipated but not overpowering. I was concerned that the corriander would dominate but I don't notice it. It is pretty light, and not too hoppy which you would expect. I need to go buy a six pack to compare it too.

Overall, I would say I am happy with it. I was surprised that the extract kit required what I thought was more of a mini mash followed by some sparging but it was not a big deal.

Yeah, well, this is a quandary of sorts! The closer you get to it tasting like Blue Moon, the worse it'll be, while the farther from the target you get, the better it'll be. Innnnteresting...

Now I don't want to get into a pissing contest or big argument here, but I can't find a single piece of info that supports Celis ever brewing Blue Moon and selling the recipe to Coors. He tends to get credit for reviving Hoegaarden in Belgium and for creating the famed Celis White in his brewery in Austin.

All that aside, I really enjoy both Hoegaarden and Blue Moon, and I'd jump at the chance to sample a Celis White if I ever find it for sale.

Click to expand...

Celis beers are now brewed by Michigan Brewing Company in Webberville. Not sure if they distribute to New Mexico but I can get it in Portland OR

OK, so we have been drinking the Blue Moon clone.

It is very slightly darker in color but very close.
Carbonation and head seems about the same.
Clone has slighlty more orange flavor.
Clone is slightly more bitter
Clone seems to have more flavor in general.

So for, it seems that those that like Blue Moon really like the clone as well.

I brewed a pretty simple all grain blue moon clone this weekend that called for sweet orange peel, coriander and honey but the instructions didn't specify when to throw in the adjuncts. I put the orange peel and coriander in with the aroma hops 5 min before flame out and dumped the honey directly after flame out. I sampled a little bit of the wort and it has a pretty nice flavor.

Blue moon clone
5gal batch

8.5# pilsen malt - steep at 152F with 3gal for an hour then sparge at same temp until total of 7gal produced
1oz. hallertau for bittering at the start of the boil
.5oz hallertau for aroma 5m before flame out
1oz sweet orange peel
1oz crushed coriander
1.5# local honey

OG 1.058

wlp400 pitched at 71F and fermenting at same