Can You Brew It recipe for Rogue Dead Guy Ale

I am going to brew this recipe, this weekend. I bought a Shakespeare Stout on Monday to try and harvest some pacman. Its still on my stirplate, but Im pretty sure it is a fail.

Anyway here is the question, I have WLP001 and WLP005 from other batches in the fridge. I see people have success with WLP001, any one try WLP005 as it brings out the maltiness? Just curious, I might try and post results.

You should stick with the wlp001, unless you're willing to increase the fermentation temp and have a more estery beer that isn't really like Dead Guy.

I actually came home and after sitting on the stir plate for 48 hours, the wort only attenuated a couple points, but I figured if its a couple points, something is going on in there. So I put in the fridge and this morning I had a nice little layer of yeast on the bottom. I stepped it up today. I might actually have some usable pacman yeast on my hands.

rockfish42 said:

You should stick with the wlp001, unless you're willing to increase the fermentation temp and have a more estery beer that isn't really like Dead Guy.

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I know it wouldn't really be Dead Guy, but I was just curious to see if anyone had tried with an English Ale Yeast. Seems like the grain bill would compliment the malty characteristics of the English strains.

Brewed this today! BIAB, 60 min mash @152; 10 min mashout @ 167.....90 min boil......1061 OG, pitched pacman yeast starter...3 hrs later and have some airlock activity! The tube sample was most dead guy promising!
The wait is on...gonna ferment @ 60 degrees (slowly bring up temp toward end? anyone have suggestions here?
...2 weeks primary, keg, enjoy...

This beer turned out great! I, and all friends/family, love it!
Next time I'll mash at 154....BIAB...my FG was low...1.008

@doomXsaloon - What did you brew for recipe?

I brewed it twice this year with BIAB. I'm drinking from my second keg now of my 4/14 transfer. I need to start my fermentation on the batch I brewed last Sunday.

* see pics

glienhard said:

@doomXsaloon - What did you brew for recipe?

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I basically followed the Can you Brew it recipe, and listened to that podcast interview with John Maier...

I am trying to figure out how do we know that Rogue brewery, specifically the brewmaster, uses the Ranger IBU formula? Also I couldn't pick up John mentioning the AA% of the whirlpool hops.

1MadScientist said:

I am trying to figure out how do we know that Rogue brewery, specifically the brewmaster, uses the Ranger IBU formula? Also I couldn't pick up John mentioning the AA% of the whirlpool hops.

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The whirlpool hops shouldn't result in significant IBU so the AA% isn't significant.

Per information available on the internet, Dead Guy is 40 IBU. The CYBI recipe is 49 IBU (Rager), but about 5 IBU's of that calculated bitterness is because they entered the whirlpool hops as 1 min instead of 0 min.

I brewed this and made a note to adjust the bittering addition to make 40 IBU Tinseth in an attempt to get closer to the commerical bitterness and leave the whirlpool addition (10 minute steep after flameout for me) the same.

Overall, the beer was excellent and is on my list to rebrew this year. My other changes for next time include:

1. Using a 10L Munich instead of the Weyermann Light Munich (6L) I chose the first time.
2. Mash at 154F for less attenuation. I'd use Wyeast 1056 again, fermented at 63F.
3. Shorten the boil to 60 min, adjust bittering addition for 40 IBU Tinseth.

Thank you DSmith,

That's interesting that you are using 40 IBU Tinseth. I have my recipe set for that too. My last two 10 gallon batches have been tasting good with that.

I haven't found any recipe on the internet, just the CYBI audio interview with John. I heard John say 40 IBU. I just trying to find out, at this point, if it's Rager or Tinseth and which matches the commercial brew.

Thanks,,, for your taste bud analysis.

The web site lists 40 IBU but not which equation they used.
http://rogue.com/beers/dead-guy-ale.php

1MadScientist said:

Thank you DSmith,

That's interesting that you are using 40 IBU Tenseth. I have my recipe set for that too. My last two 10 gallon batches have been tasting good with that.

I haven't found any recipe on the internet, just the CYBI audio interview with John. I heard John say 40 IBU. I just trying to find out, at this point, if it's Rager or Tenseth and which matches the commercial brew.

Thanks,,, for your taste bud analysis.

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The 40 IBU is most likely determined by laboratory analysis. I only brewed it once as close as the CYBI recipe as possible, bought some of the commercial beer, and formed my thoughts about how I think I could brew a closer "clone". Switching to Tinseth and recalculating the single bittering addition for 40 IBU is my next try.

Per the information from the interview, the whirlpool hops weight is 0.79 time the bittering hop weight. The CYBI recipe is pretty close to this ratio too. You'll have to decide if that ratio means anything and if you increase the bittering hop, do you increase the whirlpool hops too? I thought the CYBI hop aroma was pretty close to the commercial beer.

1MadScientist said:

I am trying to figure out how do we know that Rogue brewery, specifically the brewmaster, uses the Ranger IBU formula? Also I couldn't pick up John mentioning the AA% of the whirlpool hops.

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(Deleted)

DSmith said:

1. Using a 10L Munich instead of the Weyermann Light Munich (6L) I chose the first time.
2. Mash at 154F for less attenuation (looking for 1.016 FG). I'd use Wyeast 1056 again, fermented at 63F.
3. Shorten the boil to 60 min, adjust bittering addition for 40 IBU Tinseth.

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I brewed the CYBI recipe first, made notes compared with the commercial Dead Guy and am re-brewing this week based on the changes above. My experience with the CYBI recipe is that it was not a clone, but my use of light Munich probably made the biggest difference. The CYBI recipe wasn't clear regarding the Munich used. Here is my version with light Munich:



I'm also slightly increasing the whirlpool hops because the Tinseth IBU formula will result in more bittering hops. The interview indicated 38# of 7.5%AA bittering hops and 30# of whirlpool hops. I'm keeping that ratio the same based on 7.5%AA bittering hops. My actual bittering hops are 8.0%AA, but that change for IBU won't affect the whirlpool hop amount.

My grain bill based on the interview is this;

67.5% Rahr 2 row (1.8 SRM)
22.8% Bress Bonlander Munich (12.8 SRM)
9.8% Great Western C 15 (15 SRM)
(Color: 8.4 SRM)

I am drinking this currently.

I bumped up the IBU on this one to 54 Tinseth, Perle @ 60 mins. and Czech Saaz @ 0 mins. (I wanted Sterling, but for the one mail order supplier, didn't have it). I treat the 0 mins. addition as a hop stand for at least 40 mins. with the cover on.

I haven't done a side-by-side taste test, but from my memory, I loved it the best when I had it in 2006 in Coorvalis and Newport (brewery).

So I brewed (a variation of) this yesterday with this bill:

11 lb 2 row
4 lb Munich
1 lb Crystal 10
.5 lb Crystal 20

Hit 6gal of 1.070 post boil. Used 2oz Perle at 90 min and 1oz Centennial at 1min. Pitched Us05 at 1600 yesterday. Kind of wishing I used a starter because no airlock activity as of this morning. But, it is early and I'm fermenting at 60. Excited to see how this turns out!

Here are some condensed answers to a ton of questions I see again and again in this thread.

Carastan -
Don't bother. That was a sub that Tasty made. Carastan comes in 2 lovibonds, this has been hashed and rehashed.... but it does not matter. Great Western C15 is what Rogue uses and you should too. The Munich is so dominant that you can approximate it with a C10 and C20 blend and get away clean.

Sterling -
Maier uses Sterling because US Saaz was being phased out. It is not a homebrew substitution, Sterling is the finishing hop in the beer you buy at the store. Also Tasty said something about Centennial in the podcast. Don't use it in place of Sterling. I have no idea what he was thinking. Seriously, just use Czech Saaz if you have to.

Pacman -
Rogue uses it and they ferment at 60f. You can use 001/1056/US05 at a low temp. Just be sure you attenuate properly.

IBU's - No one knows what the true IBUs of Dead Guy are without analysis. Maier even said in the interview that "some of those numbers" from the website are a bit off when talking with Tasty. Go with the recipe and make a good beer.

All that said, I brewed this with success many times and its great.

In fact, I brewed it once with Czech Saaz, 1056, missed the OG by many points and did the C10/C15 blend. The thing looked and tasted so damn much like Dead Guy in the side by side that I mixed the 2 samples in one glass because I lost track of which was which. I've brewed about 10 of these CYBI recipes and that is certainly the closest I've come.

I've also brewed it strictly to the recipe and had even more success. The recipe is perfect.

Hope this helps.

Just a FYI, the Costco in Grafton, WI is selling Dead Guy by the case.

Made this with Pacman yeast and Saaz instead of Sterling and it turned out incredible. Will be making the exact same recipe again soon

Wow. Turned out fantastic and tastes great. Very clean, great color and clarity. Because I tweaked the grain bill slightly, it is MALTY. Big malt aroma and mouthfeel. I love the taste, but think I'll nix the centennial in favor of something to give more hop aroma on the nose. I'll be brewing this again.

micahnormal said:

So I brewed (a variation of) this yesterday with this bill:

11 lb 2 row
4 lb Munich
1 lb Crystal 10
.5 lb Crystal 20

Hit 6gal of 1.070 post boil. Used 2oz Perle at 90 min and 1oz Centennial at 1min. Pitched Us05 at 1600 yesterday. Kind of wishing I used a starter because no airlock activity as of this morning. But, it is early and I'm fermenting at 60. Excited to see how this turns out!

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micahnormal said:

Wow. Turned out fantastic and tastes great. Very clean, great color and clarity. Because I tweaked the grain bill slightly, it is MALTY. Big malt aroma and mouthfeel. I love the taste, but think I'll nix the centennial in favor of something to give more hop aroma on the nose. I'll be brewing this again.

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Good to know. I just brewed similar to your recipe because of my LHBS lack of C15, but I went a little overboard on the crystals, I used 1 lb C10 and 1.5 lb CaraVienne (20L). I hope it's not too Malty, but it was so cold out Sunday that I had trouble keeping mash temp, so hopefully that would dry out an otherwise too Malty beer.

I used Dried yeast, trying out Mangrove Jack's Workhorse strain. We'll see how it turns out. Go Baby Go!!!

EDIT: Looks like with all the added crystal it ended up around 1.018-1.019. Not as dry as dead guy, but should be decent.

Would this beer benefit from a couple months of lagering? Also, if I enter this in a beer comp should it be entered as a maibock?

Just kicked a keg of this tonight, brewing another tomorrow. My tweaks:

10.5 Lb 2-Row
3.5 Lb 10L Munich
.75 Lb Crystal 10L
.75 Lb Crystal 20l
40g Perle @ 90 min
28g Centennial @ 1 min

Mash 152*
Sparge 170*

US-05 (2 packs, pitched dry)@ 60* for 2 weeks.

My best/favorite beer in my 2 years of brewing.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

My love of Dead Guy prompted me to start brewing. I used the following recipe.
8.0 lb (3.6 kg) Great Western 2-row pale malt
2.0 lb (0.9 kg) Munich malt
1.0 lb (0.45 kg) 15° L crystal malt
1.0 oz (28 g) Perle pellet hops, 8% alpha acid (90 min)
0.5 oz (14 g) Saaz pellet hops, 4.3% alpha acid (10 min)
1.0 tps (5 ml) Irish moss (20 min)

It's in the bottle now. As it was my first batch, I didn't have an hydrometer yet. Curious to see how it comes out. I had 6.5 gallons of wort pre 90 minute boil. You all seem to be using a much higher grain bill than my recipe called for. Do you experienced guys think this recipe will work out? Depending on the outcome, I might try the OP recipe. As I said, Dead Guy is my favorite beer ever. If I even get close, I'll be happy.

The recipe below looks to be on the light side (both in grain and hops) to match up with what Rogue lists for Dead Guy, but it should turn out a good drinking beer.

VegasBrew1 said:

My love of Dead Guy prompted me to start brewing. I used the following recipe.
8.0 lb (3.6 kg) Great Western 2-row pale malt
2.0 lb (0.9 kg) Munich malt
1.0 lb (0.45 kg) 15° L crystal malt
1.0 oz (28 g) Perle pellet hops, 8% alpha acid (90 min)
0.5 oz (14 g) Saaz pellet hops, 4.3% alpha acid (10 min)
1.0 tps (5 ml) Irish moss (20 min)

It's in the bottle now. As it was my first batch, I didn't have an hydrometer yet. Curious to see how it comes out. I had 6.5 gallons of wort pre 90 minute boil. You all seem to be using a much higher grain bill than my recipe called for. Do you experienced guys think this recipe will work out? Depending on the outcome, I might try the OP recipe. As I said, Dead Guy is my favorite beer ever. If I even get close, I'll be happy.

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Thanks for the comeback glienhard. I guess the tale is told once you poor the bottle (and sip). Seems to me the only drawback of home brewing is having to wait to see what you've done. Worth it thought. Cheers all.

I've tried brewing this twice now and cannot get that delicious heavy-malty flavor to come out. All I end up with is a thin, lifeless, low-hop "pale ale" for lack of a better term. It's drinkable but not even remotely close to RDG.

Can someone help me here? Here are the malt bills I have in my notes for 5.5 gal batches. I realize they aren't 1:1 but I assumed, perhaps incorrectly, that I made intelligent subs based on ingredients I could readily obtain:

Attempt 1:

11 lbs Marris Otter
1 lb C-40
1 lb Munich
Mash 157
S-05 Yeast

Attempt 2:

9 lbs 2-row
3 lbs munich
1 lb carared
Mash 152F
S-05 Yeast

I would have thought that given the malt bills here, I'd have a fairly substantial malt base with the munich/crystal, and even with the MO in the first recipe. But both were lifeless and thin. I don't get it.

Anyone have this issue or know a fix? Both were fermented at ambient temps if that matters (about 66f).

Perhaps mashing a little higher/longer? MO should give it a nice taste.

Maybe the 05 is dropping the gravity too far?

Checking water chemistry and mash ph might help? I'm still kind of a newb, but I've begun to address these issues as my process has become quite sound (at least I think so). I am amazed that mash bill #1 isn't malty and tasty. Highish mash temp, good grains, where could the flavor be going?

Just posting up a thanks for those that have brewed this and posted up results. Brewed it yesterday with success. Using RVA yeast labs Pacman to ferment at 60f.

It's nice having confidence in a new recipe the first time brewing! Recently had 3 duds in a row, I am due for a nice brew.

Listened to the podcast and read through a good number of posts here.
The SRM with this recipe comes in at 10; but DGA is 20. How to account for this color variation??
If I add 2.7 oz. Chocolate malt I can get it up to 16. Question:

Would that small amount change the taste significantly??
Thanks

*bump... Any thoughts?

There has only ever been just 3 malts in the grain bill. Don't get wrapped up with the software color. In the olden days, Carastan Light was used.

The recipe produces the same color in a side by side, but if you feel to tinker, used Carastan Dark and a 2 row Pale Ale.

Anybody using US-05 and hitting better than a 73.5% AA ? It's suppose to go down to 77% AA with Pacman.

I see people mentioning whirl pooling their finishing hops for this recipe. Are you doing a hop stand here? If so how long? Or are you just whirl pooling them as part of chilling?

jekeane said:

I see people mentioning whirl pooling their finishing hops for this recipe. Are you doing a hop stand here? If so how long? Or are you just whirl pooling them as part of chilling?

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At the home brew level they are about the same, imo. I do a 30 mins. hop stand at flame out.

thanks. That is what I assumed but wasn't sure. Have my starter going right now for this weekend.