NB Phat Tyre Extract w/ New Belgium Yeast

I just had my first glorious encounter w/ Fat Tire Ale. I loved it so much that I decided to try and make it as my next batch.

Has anyone here used this kit with the New Belgium yeast? I know the kit itself has been around for a while, but I haven't heard any outcomes with the new yeast.

what kit? did you mean to post a link?

rabidgerbil said:

what kit? did you mean to post a link?

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Sorry 'bout that. Fixed it.

can you still get that Yeast? I was just at the Brewery Saturday, and I didn't ask for any, and my LHBS was all out

i have the midwest one fermenting right now and got the fat tire yeast. I took a reading about a week ago and it tasted pretty good, weel see what happens in the crab process

Yeah, i'v got the AHBS kit with the fat tire yeast bottle conditioning now, i made sure to wash and save my yeast from the primary as i think i'll be making this one again.

I'v never had the real thing, but thankfully my brother is taking a trip out west after christmas so he will be bringing me back some so i can compare.

Chello said:

I'v never had the real thing

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It taste like warm biscuits or nuts, or something. Maybe heaven.

I would re-evaluate my religious beliefs if I could be promised an endless supply of Fat Tire.

But I guess that would eventually get boring, so maybe no re-evaluation is necessary.

Chello said:

I've never had the real thing

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Oh, I feel so sorry for you....I just had it fresh at the Brewery Saturday....yes, hate me, oh and it was delicious

damn. I just ordered ingredients to make a fat tire clone I'm planning on brewing the week after christmas. I didn't know about that yeast. I was just going to use 1056 or a packet of Nottingham. I just bought 2 packs of 1056 the other day. I'll have to call my LHBS to see if they have it.

98EXL said:

can you still get that Yeast? I was just at the Brewery Saturday, and I didn't ask for any, and my LHBS was all out

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It's supposed to be available through Jan 10, 2008.

I just called them. 2 left in stock. I guess I need to get back over there tonight.

January 10! Oh F***!

I thought it was a permanent addition to the Wyeast line. i guess I'm gonna have to learn how to wash my yeast...

Yeah, I just bought one on the way home from work since I already have 2 smackpacks of 1056 on hand as well. I'm going to be brewing a lot the week between xmas and new years.

I have this kit from NB with the Wyeast in my primary right now. I cant wait to see how it compares to the real thing. I am thinking about ordering another kit just for the heck of it anyway.

chase said:

January 10! Oh F***!

I thought it was a permanent addition to the Wyeast line. i guess I'm gonna have to learn how to wash my yeast...

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I can always send you a slant or something, too.

I did YooperChick's clone recipe, hydro reading today tasted like the real deal. Bottling tomorrow.

I have 6 22oz's of the stuff from my thanksgiving restock fat tire isn't distributed in michigan, but I have found it in chicago and my father in law lives there .

biscuits and nuts and heaven sounds about right

I may have to order some yeast myself before jan 10 to give the clone a try.

mrkristofo said:

I can always send you a slant or something, too.

I did YooperChick's clone recipe, hydro reading today tasted like the real deal. Bottling tomorrow.

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I'm making Yoop's clone recipe on 12/26 but using the Wyeast Fat Tire yeast. I was thinking I might up the bittering hops just a tad. Just to see if I can tell any difference.

I have Northern Brewer's kit right on tap right now. It's an extract kit with New Belgium's yeast. It isn't spot on Fat Tire, but it is good.

r@fink said:

I have Northern Brewer's kit right on tap right now. It's an extract kit with New Belgium's yeast. It isn't spot on Fat Tire, but it is good.

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Finally! An answer.

I was never expecting it to be exact, but just hoping that if it wasn't close, it would at least be good. Thanks.

A Fat Tire clone recipe I followed used WL 001 California Ale yeast. My LHBS doesn't carry Wyeast (only WL). How much would you think this may change? I am wondering because I can order it online or just move along and brew. Excited to use the real stuff, but it's a minor obstacle.

I just popped open my first extract kit from AHBS using the fat tire wyeast. Its a very good beer, not really what i was expecting but good non the less, but like i said previously i have nothing to compare it with.

I'll probably order that kit again, especially because i made sure to wash/save some yeast cake...

I am a lover of Fat Tire Ale for savoring (too often my college age friends don't concentrate on the merry buzz and go straight to schmidt-faced) and have read quite a bit in the past month about brewing so please correct me if I'm wrong but can't you use the existing sediment found at the bottom of a Fat Tire (preferably many) and build a starter from that?

Jaeger48 said:

I am a lover of Fat Tire Ale for savoring (too often my college age friends don't concentrate on the merry buzz and go straight to schmidt-faced) and have read quite a bit in the past month about brewing so please correct me if I'm wrong but can't you use the existing sediment found at the bottom of a Fat Tire (preferably many) and build a starter from that?

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I think that this can be done for many styles of beer, but I've heard with belgian beers, the bottling yeast can be different than the fermenting yeast. That's just what I've heard.

chase said:

I think that this can be done for many styles of beer, but I've heard with belgian beers, the bottling yeast can be different than the fermenting yeast. That's just what I've heard.

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I don't remember any sediment in my 22oz bottles... I'm going to have to pay attention the next time I empty one

Grrrrr....I JUST brewed a fat tire clone from midwest and I didnt know about this special yeast. I wish I did as I would have ordered it to give my brew that extra kick. Man I wish I could go back in time and brew with the real yeast. Oh well, Im sure it will come out very good and ill just RDWHAHB.

If you ordered the kit in the last two months, it came with the Fat Tire yeast. It looked just like any other Wyeast smackpack, but it was labeled, "New Belgium".

I brewed the Fat Tire clone (YooperBrew's recipe) on 12/31. I upped the aroma hops just slightly, other than that I did her recipe exactly. I pitched the Wyeast Fat Tire yeast and had fermentation about 15 hours later. It went like crazy and I had a blowoff tube on for 4-5 days. It was a cold week in Chicago and my pantry gets a little chilly. I had the apt. set to 70 and had the carboy wrapped in a towel and an old hoodie. Temp was roughly 66-68 degrees. Might have dropped a little lower a few times overnight. The tube has since been replaced with an airlock and its now 1/7 and its still bubbling every 8 seconds or so.

Those that have used the Fat Tire yeast, how long have your fermentations gone?

Mine went for about four days. I don't think I had adequate aeration though. My final attenatuation was about 67%. Let us know how it turns out. I've had mine the 2º for about two weeks now. I'll bottle next weekend.

I brewed this kit back in November and I had good/active fermintation for about 5 days at 66f. I let it sit 4 weeks in the bottle before the first sample. It was good (not great), but for some reason there was very little head and low carbonation. I let it go another two weeks and the beer has come around.

At 6 weeks this is the best kit I've brewed!!! Very balanced and super clean.

I wonder if this yeast is a little slower than most. Most of my kits have finished the active fermination in 3 days or less and are fully bottle conditioned in 3-4 weeks.

The smack pack never swelled up on this yeast either and the fermintation took longer than most to get going (It went a good 12 - 24 hours before it took off). But...all that said...this was been a great kit. I only have a few left and will be sad to see it gone!

chase said:

If you ordered the kit in the last two months, it came with the Fat Tire yeast. It looked just like any other Wyeast smackpack, but it was labeled, "New Belgium".

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Looks like I got gypped then. I ordered my kit in the middle of Dec. Oh well, its not that big a deal anyways. It will still be a good brew.

Yeah. I think it will be good. When I sampled my gravity reading, it only had a very slight biscuity flavor. Otherwise it tasted like a good-ole wholesome amber ale.

Yeah, mine is lacking in the biscuit flavor. Its not noticeable at all.

I hope mine has that biscuit flavor in it. Thats what makes it a Fat Tire. Shouldn't the biscuit flavor be down to the specialty grains and not the yeast? I could be wrong on that however, otherwise what would be so special about the Fat Tire yeast?

Yooper's recipe called for 3 oz. Biscuit malt.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=27648

The info at northern brewer doesn't show any. I'd think that'd account for the lack of a biscuit flavor.

AHBS kit came with 3oz biscuit in the grain bill. Next time i brew it (soon) i'm going to use a different recipe

I just got this kit from NB for christmas (thanks sister-in-law!) and the hops included are Hallertau + Liberty instead of Summit listed in the NB inventory online or Fuggles + Willamette listed in some of the clones I've seen online. Is this the hop shortage taking its toll? any idea how far off the mark the the Hallertau kit will be?

We looked at the NB Phat Tyre extract kit but because it seemed to be missing some of the malts (particularly the aforementioned biscuit), we passed on it. I found two other recipes for Fat Tire, one in BYO and one in Beer Captured (?), and those were similar enough that we chose one of them. I forget the exact malt loadout, but it did use biscuit.

We got the Fat Tire yeast from NB, though, and it fermented really clear and made a nice thick cake. The final product is carbonating right now, and I have a 12-er of actual Fat Tire imported from Texas to compare it with. There will be a wonderful Friday night coming up...

jelsas, I would recommend running those hops through BeerSmith and determine if the IBUs workout for the style. My kit used the Summit hops, and with the amount they provided (0.5oz I think) the IBUs come out really low. Just something to consider.

And yes, I would imagine that the hop shortage could be to blame. NB did just announce though, that they are starting to get in the 2007 hop crop, and it will be available soon.

I just checked my paperwork after returning from a couch-moving party. We did use the recipe from the Szamatulski's Beer Captured (a fine tome) with the Wyeast Fat Tire smack pack.

It calls for 8 oz crystal 80, 6 oz Munich, 4 oz Victory, and 3 oz Biscuit; 1/3 oz Yakima Magnum, 1/2 Hallertau Hersbrucker (we subbed in a mix of Hallertauer and Hersbrucker), and 1/4 Willamette. In comparison, the NB kit uses 8 oz crystal 60 and 8 oz of Victory; 1/2 oz of Summit.

I knew the flavor profile for the real Fat Tire was more complex, so we used the book's recipe. The dregs from the primary were nondescript, sludgy, and really green...but I look forward to the final results.

To hear that the Fat Tire yeast is now history makes me sad, but also glad we saved 2/3 of the starter. It took off nicely, seemed to ferment pretty quickly, and like I said left a really clear beer--now if the beer tastes good, we'll have to find something else to use the yeast in.

I think I'm going to wash the yeast once I get it out of primary (Its still fermenting!) and save it and try to come up with some kind of brown ale to use it in.