Henry Weinhard private reserve/clone

Hi everyone

just wondering if anybody knows of a clone for Henry Weinhard private reserve,
i got a friend that really likes this beer and he got a brewing outfit for christmas so i thought i would ask if anybody might no of a clone for this beer so he could try making it, thanks

What I did was crap in my own mouth for about 30 days. That loosely approximated the result. HTH

I know this is an old thread. If it's going to be the top hit on Google, it may as well be helpful.

I've been in the mood for quaffable lagers lately. I drank a couple Henry's PRs last night, and I'll be damned if it didn't remind me of an authentic German lager. I'm going to make this. Here's what I've gathered:

Henry's Private Reserve is 15 IBUs, with an ABV of 4.8%. A few clones I've found online would produce IBUs in the 30s and 40s, plus they were extract recipes. I believe I have worked out an all-grain recipe that will work. If anyone has critiques or another clone recipe for this in the meantime, please share your findings. I intend to come back to this thread after having tasted it in a couple months.

Here is what I think I'll try for a 5-gallon recipe
5 1/4 lbs of two-row, mash for 60 minutes at 152° F
Raise to boil, and boil for 30 minutes
1/2 ounce Cascade for 25 minutes
2 lbs of brown rice syrup, stir till dissolved
Bring back to a simmer and immediately remove from heat
--post boil--
Chill wort to 170° F
1/2 ounce of Cascade, place lid on kettle, stand for 20 minutes
Chill to pitching temps, pitch lager yeast of choice (I'm thinking CrossMyLoof Kolsh, two packs)
--post fermentation and desired lagering time--
1 ounce of Cascade
Keg three days after dry hop

[EDIT]
I'm brewing this today. I changed the recipe a tad. Here's the 5-gallon recipe I'm going with:

6 lbs of two-row, BIAB, 5 gallons of RO water
Mash for 70 minutes at 148° F
Sparge with tap water brought volume to 6.5 gallons
Raise to boil
Boil for 35 minutes
-------
2 lbs of rice syrup solids, stir till dissolved
1/2 ounce Cascade whole leaf (8.1% AA)
Boil for 25 minutes

--post boil--
Chill wort to 170° F
1/2 ounce of Cascade whole leaf, place lid on kettle, stand for 20 minutes
Chill to 60° F
Pitch CrossMyLoof Kolsh yeast, two packs

Store at 58° F for six weeks

--post fermentation--
3 ounces of pellet Cascade
Keg three days after dry hop

This should produce the following stats:
SRM 2.84
ABV 5.07%
IBU 17

More news in April!

OG of 1.056. Brewer's Friend thought I would hit 1.048 with an efficiency of 85%. 5-gallon class carboy was full. I took the measurement at 60° F.
Whatever.

Well, the beer is three weeks old in the primary, and I believe it has reached a final gravity of 1.009.
It has an aftertaste of white bread crust, and what little hops I put in the boil are gone.
It tastes super clean and basic, which is kinda the target for an American light lager like this.
The beer smells and tastes slightly of yeast, but not in a super offensive way.
No real off-flavors.

Although I don't taste diacetyl now, if there is any, and the yeast flavor is masking it, I don't want to rob the yeast of the opportunity to clean it up. I am not going to ramp up my temperature, and according to Figure A below, diacetyl should be down to undetectable levels after about 28 days.

I'm going to transfer to a fresh carboy in eight days to get the beer off the yeast cake, and hopefully the final two weeks will clean up the remaining yeast character. The Cascade dry hop should put a button on things.

Okay, I'm still working on this, but I have gotten much closer. That batch I mentioned above, it was fine if you want to try it. Sorry I never came back with feedback, but it wasn't close enough to Henry's. I now have temperature control, and I've begun a different approach.

Although our German/American brewing forefathers used rice, corn, and six-row when they attempted to make something similar to the Czech Pilsner, I have come much closer just using German-based malts, and no adjuncts. Here's my latest attempt that tastes pretty darn close:

5 gallon batch, all grain, BIAB
6 lbs of German Vienna malt
1 lb of German Munich malt
Mash @ 145° F for 75 minutes with:

• 1 tsp alpha amylase enzyme
  
• 1 tsp gypsum
• 1 tsp calcium chloride

Remove grains, sparge bag, bring to a boil
1oz Centennial hops
Boil for 35 minutes
Chill to 65° F
OG should be in the ballpark of 1.044

1 pack of Fermentis Saflager S-23 yeast
Ferment in ambient temp of 55° F
On day four, ramp beer temp to 68° F, and leave it there for three days
Let fall back to ambient temp of mid 50s
(I forgot to check FG, but the calculator said to expect 1.010)
Condition for 10 days, then keg

It might not pass a triangle test, but maybe. I'm only on day two in the keg, so it's not quite fully carbonated. As a fan of Henry's, I can definitely say this is very drinkable, and if you handed it to someone, saying it was a Henry's, they might not question it. Now that I've gotten this close, I might try to start adding rice back into the recipe. I'm new to this cloning business, and Henry's is the first beer I've ever repeatedly attempted to clone from my own guesswork. I don't know if you (OP) still read these posts, but I can't be the only person that cares about this, so I feel compelled to keep sharing my progress. Hopefully someone out there appreciates it.

TOTALLY appreciating your scientific effort! Exact details are extremely important, I think, if you are attempting a clone. Henry's PR has been my fav "house beer" for years. At least in my local supermarket (Winco/Eagle, Idaho) it has been the best "cheap beer". I used to be able to get a 12 pack of longnecks for only $10.49. That's been over a year now so it has gone up, in fact gone missing! Now I can only get the cans locally. If you pour them into a frozen pint glass, the experience is better than the typical canned beer. But, I miss the taste and feel of that longneck so that got me thinking about finding a clone that works. My oldest son and I tried a clone of Sam Adam's "Fezzywig" a year or so ago and it wasn't too far off. I'd love to hit Henry's right on, just for grins. I'll let you know how it turns out.

mtnmanspirit said:

TOTALLY appreciating your scientific effort! Exact details are extremely important, I think, if you are attempting a clone. Henry's PR has been my fav "house beer" for years. At least in my local supermarket (Winco/Eagle, Idaho) it has been the best "cheap beer". I used to be able to get a 12 pack of longnecks for only $10.49. That's been over a year now so it has gone up, in fact gone missing! Now I can only get the cans locally. If you pour them into a frozen pint glass, the experience is better than the typical canned beer. But, I miss the taste and feel of that longneck so that got me thinking about finding a clone that works. My oldest son and I tried a clone of Sam Adam's "Fezzywig" a year or so ago and it wasn't too far off. I'd love to hit Henry's right on, just for grins. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Click to expand...

I am new at brewing and I too am in Idaho. I remember when Henry's first came to the Boise area when it was brewed in Portland, Oregon. It was on many taps in the local pubs. The flavor, to me, was a step above the standard lagers and became one of my favorites. I see some disparaging remarks at the taste or beer quality of Henry's but remember we do share the enjoyment of a cold beer regardless of the flavor or ingredients. We each have out own opinions of what is good or bad. Being different is what has caused so many different and distinct flavors to be created and enjoyed by all
As I get a little more equipment and methods to try this recipe I look forward to experiencing the first taste of a beer having fond memories.

i thought henry made root beer? i was surprised this wasn't in the soda forum?

bracconiere said:

i thought henry made root beer? i was surprised this wasn't in the soda forum?

Click to expand...

Henry Weinhard was a brewer and a soda maker the mid 1800's. Molsen Coors owns the rights to the name now so they rotate it in and out of markets just like they do with numerous other names. The beer used to be common in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1990's, but I haven't seen it in quite some time. It's not a particularly good beer but it beats Bud/Miller/Coors.

The Root Beer you speak of is a far better product than the beer.

According to this, corn syrup is one of the ingredients:
https://www.barnivore.com/products/...ry Weinhard's products,syrup, hops, and yeast.

Internet research turns up opinions that it was better "back in the day" but the recent version isn't all that great, so perhaps skip the corn syrup, go with then recipe above and give it a modest charge of Cascade hops.

Their Blue Boar was better than the Private Reserve, back in the day. Last I saw of that was about 5 years ago in Washington State, but you still see Private Reserve here and there.

The Weinhard Brewery was the oldest on the West coast prior to closure, If I recall, 1856. Was originally called City Brewery I believe. Portland has bigger issues these days than a loss of a brewery, what a shame. Used to be a great place.

Weinhard branched into sodas during Prohibition, it still remains.

I liked Henry's too especially the Hefeweizen. I wish they would bring it back!

Beermeister32 said:

Their Blue Boar was better than the Private Reserve, back in the day. Last I saw of that was about 5 years ago in Washington State, but you still see Private Reserve here and there.

The Weinhard Brewery was the oldest on the West coast prior to closure, If I recall, 1856. Was originally called City Brewery I believe. Portland has bigger issues these days than a loss of a brewery, what a shame. Used to be a great place.

Weinhard branched into sodas during Prohibition, it still remains.

Click to expand...

I was traveling to Portland quite a bit in the early 00's (2003~2005) and remember a brewpub and restaurant inside the old brewery building. It was quite a hip place as I recall. A lot of young professionals and after-work crowd. I guess that's all in the past.

Brooo Brother

madscientist451 said:

According to this, corn syrup is one of the ingredients:
https://www.barnivore.com/products/...ry Weinhard's products,syrup, hops, and yeast.

Internet research turns up opinions that it was better "back in the day" but the recent version isn't all that great, so perhaps skip the corn syrup, go with then recipe above and give it a modest charge of Cascade hops.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I still drink Henry's Private Reserve, but there is definitely some kind of oddly sweet, lingering aftertaste, and I don't recall it tasting like that in the late '90s, but of course memory is fallible.

Interesting find on the corn syrup. Considering I don't prefer this (possibly newer) aftertaste of Henry's, I'm inclined to stick with rice syrup solids and amylase enzymes to boost the ABV of the tiny grain bill.
I've also been playing with replacing the Munich malt with Victory, and I like that quite a bit too.
Of course, this for me is turning into chasing a memory of what I think Henry's used to taste like, as opposed to nailing down what it is today. My goal now is making something as drinkable as Henry's, but tastes more natural to my palate.
Also, probably to no one's surprise, Saflager 34/70 (or Imperial L13 Global) also works great for this style, and it's the one I've stuck with the most as I've continued to experiment.

My present day lawn-mowing lagers taste something like a hybrid between Henry's and Weihenstephaner Original Premium Helles. I can only imagine the latter is what Henry himself was influenced by when he decided to start brewing in pioneer America.

It’s a damn good macro lager. It’s usually cheaper than BMC and imo far tastier.

I’ve had a few cider pressing get togethers and it fit the bill perfectly.

I recall seeing this show up in the early 2010s when I lived in Texas. That was when hyperlocal was all the rage and it was ran out of town because nobody wanted to drink crafty beers at the time. That also saw the Budweiser and Michelob crafty brands disappear. I can't recall if I ever drank this beer but I definitely remember seeing it.

I would assume it had rice or corn in it. Older recipes, even back in the 1990s might have used six row as a base which might explain the slightly different flavor you haven't pinned down yet.