Another Fizzy Yellow Beer

As the weather gets nicer here in Chi-town it is coming up on backyard bbq season, and I want to make a batch that I can serve to my BMC swilling friends. I'm not trying to clone PBR, or Bud, but this should get me in the ballpark I think?

For 5.5 Gallons:
3 lbs extra light DME
2 lbs 2-row pale
2 lbs flaked corn

Mash at 153F for 60-90M, Boil for 90.
Add 1 oz of Palisades at 20M
Chill to 55F and pitch S-05.

Predicted ABV: 4.4%, IBU: 13

I'm also trying to keep the cost down for this recipe, so I think I can do this whole batch for less than $20! I have Palisades listed here, but I'm questioning wheter it is appropriate. I want to keep the IBU's low, but I still want a least a hint of hop flavor.

Would any of the following, which I have in my freezer be better? (I need to stop hoarding hops! Lol).

Motueka, Pacific Gem, Pacific Jade, Green Bullet, Summit, Simcoe, Fuggles, Amarillo, Citra? (note, this is NOT an IPA ) I also have 1/2 oz of American Saaz (6.5% AA) and I think a partial bag (another 1/2 oz?) of Styrian Goldings that I'm trying to use up.

I'm afraid if I go with a high alpha, I'm only going to be able to add like .25 oz and that is only going to add bitterness and not give me the little hint of hop flavor I am going for. On the other hand, it seems silly to not use what is on hand.

Ideas?

I vote for Motueka, I've only used it once but I loved that beer.

Thats all.

Looks good man. I vote for a little simcoe in there too I love that hop.

I wouldn't use any of the high alpha flavor/aroma hops like Simco in a swilling beer. Use up the Saaz It's pretty decent for a early and mid/late addition.

I usually brew up Cream Ale's for the BMC crowd at BBQs. They're pretty well received by both sides of the fence.

Cool- thanks for the feedback. Would 1/2 oz of both saaz and styrian goldings be weird?

acidrain23 said:

Cool- thanks for the feedback. Would 1/2 oz of both saaz and styrian goldings be weird?

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No, it wouldn't be weird at all. I made a wit using those two hops last summer and it was fantastic.

The famous Brooklyn lagers of the 1950s used a decent proportion of flaked maize and were finished with Styrian Goldings at ~20 minutes left to boil. You may surprise an elderly man at your parties with a taste of his youth!

I'd save the Saaz for a recipe in which it can shine. I'd bitter with something as neutral as possible; as a general rule, the more strongly flavored the bittering hops the more likely flavor will end up in the final product. This is especially true with a light-bodied, less flavorful grist. The Brooklyn pilsners I wrote of earlier used Clusters to bitter, but nobody other than me on HBT seems to use them anymore...

Cheers!

Bob

acidrain23 said:

Cool- thanks for the feedback. Would 1/2 oz of both saaz and styrian goldings be weird?

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this is what i would do

Yes; I would split the Saaz and Goldings. The other hops are more suited for a Pale Ale/IPA.

While I agree with Bob that cluster (and YES I use it all the time!) is a great clean bittering hop it wasn't on your list of available hops.

Bob said:

The famous Brooklyn lagers of the 1950s used a decent proportion of flaked maize and were finished with Styrian Goldings at ~20 minutes left to boil. You may surprise an elderly man at your parties with a taste of his youth!
...The Brooklyn pilsners I wrote of earlier used Clusters to bitter, but nobody other than me on HBT seems to use them anymore...

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Got any good recipes you'd like to share? After hearing some of the history of Cluster in American brewing, I'm planning to do a few brews using it. Given that cream ales were also such a huge part of the beer menu pre-prohibition, that's definitely on the list, but the Brooklyn pilsner concept sounds cool as well.

Raenon said:

Got any good recipes you'd like to share? After hearing some of the history of Cluster in American brewing, I'm planning to do a few brews using it. Given that cream ales were also such a huge part of the beer menu pre-prohibition, that's definitely on the list, but the Brooklyn pilsner concept sounds cool as well.

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Find "SchmiPielSchaeRheingoldter" in my recipe dropdown or just click here.

I'm rather chuffed with the recipe, if you don't mind me saying so. It appears others have been successful, too, so good luck with it! I've been brewing it as a Cream Ale because I drink it too quickly to properly lager it these days. S-05 fermented cool works nearly as well as lagering it properly.

Cheers!

Bob

Yankeehillbrewer said:

I vote for Motueka, I've only used it once but I loved that beer.

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Yes! I just kegged a Pilsner/Motueka SMASH last night and the early taste was really promising.

Sounds a lot like the recipe in the most recent BYO for Classic American Pilsner, which I just put into the keg a couple weeks ago. The Saaz in that recipe was good, but Jamil mentioned using Cluster as well to keep it more "American". Any 'soft' bittering hop would be good. Amarillo may work, too. Experiment!

Bob said:

The Brooklyn pilsners I wrote of earlier used Clusters to bitter, but nobody other than me on HBT seems to use them anymore...

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I used Clusters with a Red Ale last fall. Didn't like the spiciness of the hop with that style. I'd like to try it again with some other recipes, too, to figure out what it works well in, because I feel that that flavor would be great in the right brew.

Burgs said:

Yes! I just kegged a Pilsner/Motueka SMASH last night and the early taste was really promising.

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Nice! Sounds tasty

I brewed this finally! I ended up using the Styrian Goldings and Saaz, .25 of each at 20 and 10M, + a pinch (like five cones) of Simcoe at the beginning of the mash, just for the hell of it. Also, I was worried about not getting complete conversion, so I threw a pinch of amalyse enzyme into the mash. The wort tasted very sweet, I am assuming I got all of the starch converted, though I didn't perform a test.

Here is a major gaff- it warmed up this weekend and I wanted to keep the brew cool, so I turned on out portable airconditioning unit in the spare room. Unfortutely I didn't realize that the heat needs to be vented, and fell asleep- when I checked on it, the ambient air temp was 92F, doh! I was able to get the window's open and get the room temp back down in the low 70's in short order, but hope I didn't cause the S-05 to throw any off flavors! I will let this sit on the yeast cake an extra week after it is done, hopefully the yeast will clean up after themselves.

ScottSingleton said:

I would split the Saaz and Goldings.

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+1 on this combo.

I know you don't want to invest in more hops, but a Saaz and Hallertau combo would make a good "fuzzy yellow beer."

scurry64 said:

+1 on this combo.

I know you don't want to invest in more hops, but a Saaz and Hallertau combo would make a good "fuzzy yellow beer."

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Cool, I'll keep that in mind if I brew this one again, thanks. I'm guessing the yeast are gonna make short work of this one, will post back here when it's pourin!

I would use:

6 lbs extra light DME
8 oz crystal 10
1 oz magnum 90 minutes
4 oz cascade at 30 min.

While you are boiling, open up 50 or so keystone lights and dump them directly into an available keg.

This is weird and I didn't catch it until I just now checked my notes- Tastybrew predicted 1.050 but my hydrometer read 1.060! What do you think would account for the extra .010 points? I did check AFTER I aerated the wort- is dissolved gas messing up my reading?

Oh yes, I also mashed the two row and flaked corn "low" around 150F, and the added pinch of amylase as I mentioned previously.

I think a higher than expected efficiency could easily account for the higher OG.

It's happened to me.

So, I tasted a sample out of the fermenter last night, and sufice it to say, it was predictably bland. Alcohol is a little hot, but it did come out clean (I was a little worried, because it was throwin some stank out of the airlock initially). It probably would have been a good experiment to bottle it and let it carb up so I can evaulate my techniques and look for off flavors. Boring! On a whim, my ADD self tossed two ounces of Summit in the fermenter with some glass marbles and I'm bottling it this weekend. Well, at least I will get to evaulate the aromatic properties of Summit this way!

I would just like to say that I discovered regular ol cream ale + 2 oz Summit dry hops is AMAZING! Not bitter, deliciously cirtus (tangerine, no onion luckily!) and a great summer quencher. Even the BMC drinkers liked it, it was a hit!