WBC
Well-Known Member
I have been wanting to make a Becks clone and figure that they most likely just use pale malt and Saaz or a combo of saaz and another hop? Becks is a very dry beer and so they may mash at 146 F. Any ideas?
Becks clone
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Sounds good. How are you going to get that slight "skunk" aroma (which I happen to like)?
jdoiv
Well-Known Member
BierMuncher said:
Simple. Bottle it in green bottles and let it sit out in the light for a couple of days.
OP
OP
WBC
Well-Known Member
BierMuncher said:
That's what I thought someone would answer. They must lager a long time and the hops that are used must create this taste? I have no other explanation.
Glibbidy
Well-Known Member
WBC said:They must lager a long time and the hops that are used must create this taste? I have no other explanation.
It's those green bottles looking into the light.
denimglen
Well-Known Member
I like Beck's as a session beer, it would be great if you could let us/me know how you go. I've looked around before but never found a recipe.
Here's some ideas. FOR BMC stuff....
I don' like full bodied ales and prefer a fizzier, light coloured easy to drink beer like what I am used to. And my wife likes it and my friends all drink it by the bucketful.
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Okay, not really but to show I am not always an EAC heres some pointers for those that do.
Millions of people like to drink Bud/Miller/Coors (BMC) style beers. These beers are loosely grouped under the style of American Pilsners although they have little in common to a true Pilsner. They are light in colour and body and lightly hopped.
So how is it made?
Well Beer is made from Water, Malt, Hops and Yeast. The main addition to this is the use of corn or rice because it is cheap, adds very little body, colour or flavour to the beer, which is what gives it its properties. The corn and rice is unmalted so relies on the enzymes from the malted barley to convert the starch from the rice/corn to fermentable sugars. Because of this 6 row barley is used because of its higher diastic properties. To help beer production take less space instead of brewing lots of weak beer some of the breweries brew a stronger beer and then water it down at production.
If you are going to try this then you should be aware that because there are no heavy or strong flavours and off flavours caused by method or ingredients will show through and not be masked so fresh ingredients should be used.
Malt:
UK 2 row pale malts are generally to dark for pilsners and dont have enough diastic power, so a US 2 row or German Pilsner 2 row can be used. 6 row has a grainier profile than 2 row hence the reason for using some 2 row.
Adjuncts:
To get Corn into the mash then you can use; Flaked maize which is pre-gelatinised and add it to your mash. Corn syrup can be added late to the kettle. You can also use corn grits but they need a separate mash. The same goes for flaked maize, rice syrup and rice grits.
Hops:
Obviously a lot off American hops are used although some foreign styles of hops are grown domestically as well as some imports are used. Importantly the bitterness is low at around 10-14 IBU.
Yeast:
Obviously a lager yeast is the best bet. Its difficult to tell what the big boys use bit an American Lager yeast is a good choice, like Wyeast 2035 os similar.
So far we have an outline of the beer.
OG 1040 - 1045
FG 1005 1007
SRM - ~ 2-4
IBU 10-14
ABV 4-5%
So from the info above we can put a list together.
2 row pale or pilsner malt
6 row pale palt
Rice or Corn adjunct
Hops from the list of : Noble, Cascade, Willamette, Spalt, Newport, Sterling and a few others.
Yeast. Lager, American, Wyeast 2035.
A good clean tasting water is a must especially if you plan to brew strong and water it down. Sterilised water can help with this but youll need to add brewing salts to it. You can also use Camden tablets to take out chloramines and boil to remove chlorine.
Now that info above is well is enough to get you well in the way to understanding how to brew a BMC style beer.
Now this is where the EAC bit comes in. Id say its all toooo much effort and its much easier toy just go buy a case for $20 dollars or what ever it costs and use your brew time to brew a Real Ale worth the effort. But because Im in a good mood heres a little more info.
You need to mash for a highly fermentable wort, which means at the lower end of the mashing scale maybe 150-152 or if you have the inclination ability to step mash then do some lower temp steps with a rest at 140 really helping to get a dry beer. Im no expert on step mashes so cant really help more than that.
With sparging clarity is important so fly sparging can help or at least returning plenty of the first mash back to the mash when batch sparging. You need to be careful not to sparge bellow around 1010.
A good boil is required to make sure you boil off any DMS and allow a good hot break.
Also note that due to poor handling and clear bottles that these beers quite often get skunked and the beer swilling masses have got used to it and see it as a positive flavour in these beers. So short of finding a passing skunk...I suggest looking after a few bottle and also letting a few bottles skunk in daylight. Taste two side by side warm then tast two side by side chilled to see what you think.
Thats enough for now. If any one who is less of an EAC wants to pick up on the actual recipes, hop additions, fermenting ageing and carbing schedules please feel free.
Im off for a Real Beer.
I don' like full bodied ales and prefer a fizzier, light coloured easy to drink beer like what I am used to. And my wife likes it and my friends all drink it by the bucketful.
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
Okay, not really but to show I am not always an EAC heres some pointers for those that do.
Millions of people like to drink Bud/Miller/Coors (BMC) style beers. These beers are loosely grouped under the style of American Pilsners although they have little in common to a true Pilsner. They are light in colour and body and lightly hopped.
So how is it made?
Well Beer is made from Water, Malt, Hops and Yeast. The main addition to this is the use of corn or rice because it is cheap, adds very little body, colour or flavour to the beer, which is what gives it its properties. The corn and rice is unmalted so relies on the enzymes from the malted barley to convert the starch from the rice/corn to fermentable sugars. Because of this 6 row barley is used because of its higher diastic properties. To help beer production take less space instead of brewing lots of weak beer some of the breweries brew a stronger beer and then water it down at production.
If you are going to try this then you should be aware that because there are no heavy or strong flavours and off flavours caused by method or ingredients will show through and not be masked so fresh ingredients should be used.
Malt:
UK 2 row pale malts are generally to dark for pilsners and dont have enough diastic power, so a US 2 row or German Pilsner 2 row can be used. 6 row has a grainier profile than 2 row hence the reason for using some 2 row.
Adjuncts:
To get Corn into the mash then you can use; Flaked maize which is pre-gelatinised and add it to your mash. Corn syrup can be added late to the kettle. You can also use corn grits but they need a separate mash. The same goes for flaked maize, rice syrup and rice grits.
Hops:
Obviously a lot off American hops are used although some foreign styles of hops are grown domestically as well as some imports are used. Importantly the bitterness is low at around 10-14 IBU.
Yeast:
Obviously a lager yeast is the best bet. Its difficult to tell what the big boys use bit an American Lager yeast is a good choice, like Wyeast 2035 os similar.
So far we have an outline of the beer.
OG 1040 - 1045
FG 1005 1007
SRM - ~ 2-4
IBU 10-14
ABV 4-5%
So from the info above we can put a list together.
2 row pale or pilsner malt
6 row pale palt
Rice or Corn adjunct
Hops from the list of : Noble, Cascade, Willamette, Spalt, Newport, Sterling and a few others.
Yeast. Lager, American, Wyeast 2035.
A good clean tasting water is a must especially if you plan to brew strong and water it down. Sterilised water can help with this but youll need to add brewing salts to it. You can also use Camden tablets to take out chloramines and boil to remove chlorine.
Now that info above is well is enough to get you well in the way to understanding how to brew a BMC style beer.
Now this is where the EAC bit comes in. Id say its all toooo much effort and its much easier toy just go buy a case for $20 dollars or what ever it costs and use your brew time to brew a Real Ale worth the effort. But because Im in a good mood heres a little more info.
You need to mash for a highly fermentable wort, which means at the lower end of the mashing scale maybe 150-152 or if you have the inclination ability to step mash then do some lower temp steps with a rest at 140 really helping to get a dry beer. Im no expert on step mashes so cant really help more than that.
With sparging clarity is important so fly sparging can help or at least returning plenty of the first mash back to the mash when batch sparging. You need to be careful not to sparge bellow around 1010.
A good boil is required to make sure you boil off any DMS and allow a good hot break.
Also note that due to poor handling and clear bottles that these beers quite often get skunked and the beer swilling masses have got used to it and see it as a positive flavour in these beers. So short of finding a passing skunk...I suggest looking after a few bottle and also letting a few bottles skunk in daylight. Taste two side by side warm then tast two side by side chilled to see what you think.
Thats enough for now. If any one who is less of an EAC wants to pick up on the actual recipes, hop additions, fermenting ageing and carbing schedules please feel free.
Im off for a Real Beer.
WBC said:
German pilsner malt and Hallertau Hersbrucker will get you extremely close to a Beck's profile. I also like to use about 10% flaked barley for the grainy flavor I have always detected in Beck's. For yeast try the Wyeast 2042 Danish lager strain. Beck's is probably dry because it is very well attenuated. My mash schedule would be 132F for 20 minutes, 151F for 60 minutes via decoction and 10 minutes at mashout. If you do a single infusion try 148F for the main sacchrification rest. Make a very big starter, pay attention to the fermentation temp and give it at least a few weeks of true lagering.
Sample Beck's Recipe/5 US gallons
8 lbs German pils malt
1 lb flaked barley (there might be chit malt in Beck's if you want to hunt some down)
1/2 lb CaraPils/CaraFoam (optional)
1 oz Hallertau Northern Brewer 6% AA for 60 minutes
1 oz Hallertau Hersbrucker 3% AA for 30 minutes
1 oz Hallertau Hersbrucker 3% AA for 5 minutes
Est OG 1.052
Est IBU 34
OP
OP
WBC
Well-Known Member
BigEd said:
I had considered Hallertau Hersbrucker too so I will try this out and see what happens. I am making 12 gallons though so will resize using Beersmith. I'm going to age for 6-8 weeks in the kegs.
Orfy? I'd say you were in a good mood....
OP
OP
WBC
Well-Known Member
Orfy was on a roll. I think he was thinking I wanted to make a Miller or Coors clone but I am trying to make a really dry but nicely hopped German Pils. I think I will go with this recipe but use WLP830 german yeast. It's basic and should be good. I will post as I go along
For 12 gallons
17 lbs German pils malt
1.5 lb flaked barley
1/2 lb CaraPils/CaraFoam
2 oz Hallertau Northern Brewer 6% AA for 60 minutes
2 oz Hallertau Hersbrucker 3% AA for 30 minutes
2 oz Hallertau Hersbrucker 3% AA for 5 minutes
For 12 gallons
17 lbs German pils malt
1.5 lb flaked barley
1/2 lb CaraPils/CaraFoam
2 oz Hallertau Northern Brewer 6% AA for 60 minutes
2 oz Hallertau Hersbrucker 3% AA for 30 minutes
2 oz Hallertau Hersbrucker 3% AA for 5 minutes
I happen to like that flavor. I love St. Pauli Girl, Lowenbrauh, Heineken, Becks. etc...WBC said:That's what I thought someone would answer. They must lager a long time and the hops that are used must create this taste? I have no other explanation.
I decided to do a bit of an experiment and see if I could impart that aroma on my house ale so I set a few clear bottles out in the bright sun for 60 minutes and that was plenty. Just a hint of the flavor...but it was a dead ringer for that skunky german beer.
Get yourself some green or clear bottles and try it with a 6 pack. See the difference.
orfy said:
Orfy, dude, i throughly appreciate your UK outlook on American beer, but this guy is asking about Becks. German beer. Remember? The guys who would have kicked your ass?.............
denimglen
Well-Known Member
Haha, I wouldn't say Beck's is the truest of pilsners but it ainta BMC.
WBC, would love to hear your progress.
WBC, would love to hear your progress.
I must admit Becks is next to the Rolling Rock on shelves around here. That puts me off.
OP
OP
WBC
Well-Known Member
Ok, it has been a while and I had to get a good yeast propigated for this beer. I made a black bier (schwortzbier) and it is lagering. I will use this same yeast to make the helles or lager. I will be using the white Labs 830 yeast and have propigated it 2 times. I just love the way it foames when shaken a bit and watched it as it worked at 53 F on the Black bier. Any of you who are thinking of making a German beer should consider this yeast. It is a very strong yeast and will create a good beer if fermented at the proper temps. You can pitch cold (53 F) or warm (65 F to 75 F) and then drop to 53 over a 12 to 15 hour period so as not to shock the yeast. I am going to make the Pale German lager in 2 weeks as I have another beer to make before it.
ewbish
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Soooo, did anybody try this recipe? I'm asking, because I have a buddy coming back from overseas in May......I asked him what kind of beer profile/flavor/clone he wanted me to brew up for his home coming.......and he asked for Becks. After I got done laughing, I realized he was serious........so now I'm trying to find a reasonably close recipe, and I googled up this old thread.
So how about it, any other Becks clone recipes out there? Success, results with this one?
I'm curious, are you guys saying I should try Becks because I'm missing a good beer?
ewbish
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Not IMHO. I'll try and clone it, because I've been asked to. If I want a Pils, I'll look to Pilsner Urquell or Budvar before Becks.
ewbish
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Oh yeah, along with Big Ed's suggested recipe.....I would probably use White Labs Pilsner Lager #800 at 50 degrees until primary is done, rack to secondary and later at 40 or so for a month to 6 weeks.
Sample Beck's Recipe/5 US gallons
8 lbs German pils malt
1 lb flaked barley (there might be chit malt in Beck's if you want to hunt some down)
1/2 lb CaraPils/CaraFoam (optional)
1 oz Hallertau Northern Brewer 6% AA for 60 minutes
1 oz Hallertau Hersbrucker 3% AA for 30 minutes
1 oz Hallertau Hersbrucker 3% AA for 5 minutes
Sample Beck's Recipe/5 US gallons
8 lbs German pils malt
1 lb flaked barley (there might be chit malt in Beck's if you want to hunt some down)
1/2 lb CaraPils/CaraFoam (optional)
1 oz Hallertau Northern Brewer 6% AA for 60 minutes
1 oz Hallertau Hersbrucker 3% AA for 30 minutes
1 oz Hallertau Hersbrucker 3% AA for 5 minutes
I've used this recipe several times, although not in years, to brew for somebody who was a big Beck's fan. It's very close, but better.
ewbish
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I've used this recipe several times, although not in years, to brew for somebody who was a big Beck's fan. It's very close, but better.
Cool, what do you think about using the WL Pilsner #800 instead of the #830? The 800 is supposed to create a drier taste (which I associate with Becks), but I've never brewed with it.
My first preference would still be the Wyeast 2042 Danish unless you can't find it or don't like it. Among the WL choices I think the 800 would be OK but the 802 might be better in that it's a more neutral flavor than the 800 to my tastes.
ewbish
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My first preference would still be the Wyeast 2042 Danish unless you can't find it or don't like it. Among the WL choices I think the 800 would be OK but the 802 might be better in that it's a more neutral flavor than the 800 to my tastes.
Thanks! I prefer the WL pitchable tubes.......I hoard the tubes and always harvest yeast from the cake and put back in the tube.........
Not familiar with the 802, but I will look it up it's properties. I'll post back on my results after brewing this.
Eric
I don't know why everyone seems to ut down a quality beer like Becks. I live in Quebec and we have a lot of fine beers. But lets get real, there is no comparison when it comes to German and Trappiste(belgian brews). Pilsner Urquel has been a favorite of mine forever, but I definetly enjoy Becks a whole lot better. It's more of a lager. It's more heady and sharp like a belgian and less skunky and more malty than a pilsner. Both make great beers with a vibrante hops aroma and bitter/sweet taste. Great beer. I definetly don't want corn in my beer Coors.
Dubcut
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Nice thread, I'm definitely going to take a shot at this recipe, though maybe throw some vienna in there. I was mad disappointed with an all extract pilsner that finished a week ago. It was my first lager and wayyy too full bodied, among other things. This is what I'm looking for, a light crisp lager.
so it hallertau or northernbrewer at 60mins?
Yes.
Hallertau Northern Brewer indicates they were grown in the Hallertau area of Germany. For German hops the first name is the growing region and the second name is the variety.
boo boo
Well-Known Member
I agree. And yes, you guys have a lot of great beer that I don't have access to.
On getting the dryness of a german lager i have read, perhaps here on the recipie page, that adding alpha amalyese to the ferment/mash? would make the brew more fermentable and give a more crisp taste. I'll be trying this on my next Germen Lager. Oh and by the way WY2042 is the bomb for german lagers.
