Troeg's Mad Elf

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I started this clone because i am not able to buy it where i live now...once i move back to PA i will buy it and start making a perfect clone for my favorite beer i moved away from. I will always support the local breweries.
 
Please don't misconstrue my intent. I always have and always will support local breweries. Cloning beers you love is more for the fun/challenge than to save money. Keep up the good work guys, this has been fun to follow.

Cheers!
 
Bottled yesterday, ended up with a little over 7 gallons. 3 cases and 1 bottle. 11.3% should be a good time.
 
Moved all mine into the ferm chamber sitting at a cozy 21, hope they carb up soon, I want to try this stuff out already.
 
be advised this stuff takes some time to age...in the beginning the high ABV is VERY noticable! after a bit it mellows out and this stuff gets dangerous! haha
 
Yea I ideally would like to let the majority of it sit around until the holidays. We will see though, that is about the status with all my beer and mead at the moment :/
 
So what you are saying is you need to brew something lighter that you can drink in the mean time to keep you out of the really good stuff until it is ready? haha
 
6 weeks after brew day, I transfered to keg and force carbed. Yesterday the wife and I had a few glasses. We both like my version better. The cherry flavor is noticeable but to too tart like mad elf, and not too sweet for my tastes. I came in a little over 12%. Overall we like it better than mad elf. I may try a modified recipe based on what you all have been digging up, but there's nothing I can complain about the one I tried.

1397389602402.jpg
 
By the way, I will do a side by side of the two soon. I have a few bottles of Mad Elf in the basement that I saved from last season.
 
Can someone post and exctract recipe for this one? Id like to try brewing this one.
 
Can someone post and exctract recipe for this one? Id like to try brewing this one.

This is the recipe I used, when I did extract. Its really PM, beacuse I wanted to get some pilsen in it and didnt have access to pils extract.

Briess Golden Light LME 8.0 lb 65 %
Briess 2-Row Brewers Malt 2.0 lb 16 %
Briess Pilsen Malt 1.0 lb 8 %
Caramunich Malt 40 1.0 lb 8 %
Bairds Chocolate Malt 0.19 lb 1 %

Hallertau (US) 1.0 oz 60 min Boil Pellet 4.3%
Czech Saaz () 1.0 oz 10 min Boil Pellet 5.0%

Belgian Witbier Wyeast 3944 74.0%

Cinnamon Sticks 2.0 each 1.0 min Boil
Cherries 4.0 each 7.0 days Secondary
 
Does anyone have this beer from bewery? Im on west coast, wa and I cant find. Can I order? Im willing to pay for beer as well as shipping cost. Id like to brew this bad but hard to make that call never tasting the origanal. Thxs
 
Does anyone have this beer from bewery? Im on west coast, wa and I cant find. Can I order? Im willing to pay for beer as well as shipping cost. Id like to brew this bad but hard to make that call never tasting the origanal. Thxs

Head over to the trading section and ask there. You'll need something to trade. But not sure if its still available. I have 5 bottles left but not sure if I want to part with.
 
Does anyone have this beer from bewery? Im on west coast, wa and I cant find. Can I order? Im willing to pay for beer as well as shipping cost. Id like to brew this bad but hard to make that call never tasting the origanal. Thxs

It's only out during the holiday. The last year's batch IMO was kinda bad compared to previous years anyhow, seemed way hot and not as tasty.
 
Theck is right, as it is a seasonal beer that usually comes out around Thanksgiving.

I actually saved two bottles from the holidays in order to compare my clone. I used one of them for my comparison. The other one I still have and could potentially part with. I'm just not really familiar with trading or any west coast beers I might trade for.

I'll actually post next with my notes on the comparison and some pics.
 
I brewed this on February 6th. Here is my recipe. I added the honey a few days into fermentation. After about 3-4 weeks in primary, I racked to secondary and added the cherry juice and cherry preserves. Here is my recipe from BeerSmith

======================================
Mad Elf
Belgian Specialty Ale (16 E)Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 4.10 gal
Boil Size: 6.24 gal
Boil Time: 90 min
End of Boil Vol: 4.37 gal
Final Bottling Vol: 3.60 gal
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage
Date: 03 Mar 2014
Brewer: Blake
Asst Brewer:
Equipment: 7.5 gal BIAB
Efficiency: 81.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 83.0 %
Taste Rating: 30.0

Taste Notes: Should be 11% gravity and 15 IBU

Added 8 oz of mixed berry preserves and 32 oz of cherry juice

Ingredients Amt Name Type # %/IBU
9 lbs 1.6 oz Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 75.0 %
1 lbs 6.4 oz Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 2 11.5 %
2.2 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 3 1.1 %
0.80 oz Saaz [2.90 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 4 10.2 IBUs
0.40 oz Saaz [2.90 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 5 3.9 IBUs
0.35 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrueh (2012) [4.80 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 6 5.7 IBUs
0.67 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrueh (2012) [4.80 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 7 5.1 IBUs
2.0 pkg Trappist Ale (White Labs #WLP500) [35.49 ml] Yeast 8 -
1 lbs 8.0 oz Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 9 12.4 %

Gravity, Alcohol Content and Color
Est Original Gravity: 1.091 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.013 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 10.3 %
Bitterness: 25.0 IBUs
Est Color: 11.2 SRM Measured Original Gravity: 1.091 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.014 SG
Actual Alcohol by Vol: 10.2 %
Calories: 313.8 kcal/12oz
Mash Profile
Mash Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body
Sparge Water: 2.34 gal
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE
Total Grain Weight: 12 lbs 2.1 oz
Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Tun Temperature: 72.0 F
Mash PH: 5.20 Mash Steps Name Description Step Temperature Step Time
Mash In Add 13.29 qt of water at 163.7 F 152.0 F 60 min
Mash Out Add 7.44 qt of water at 200.7 F 168.0 F 10 min

Sparge: Fly sparge with 2.34 gal water at 168.0 F
Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).

Carbonation and Storage
Carbonation Type: Bottle
Pressure/Weight: 2.83 oz
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 70.0 F
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage
Volumes of CO2: 2.3
Carbonation Used: Bottle with 2.83 oz Corn Sugar
Age for: 30.00 days
Storage Temperature: 65.0 F
Notes
7.1 gallon: total water
4.1 gallon: mash
3.0 gallon: sparge
-------------
Pre-boil Volume: 5.5

Post-boil OG: 1.078 @ 4.1 gallons 81% efficiency

Had a little trouble with mash temp initially.
1.75L starter
19c ferm temp to start

Added 32oz tart cherry juice and 2 oz cherry preserves.
================================================


This is a picture of the cherry juice I used. I couldn't find any good real cherries, and wasn't keen on using pie filling. Canned cherries I managed to find at one store, but it would have cost me about 20 bucks for the cherries I needed. I wound up buying this for about 7 bucks.

pv


As for the comparison. Mine is on the left, the real is on the right:

pv


Mine looks darker, but it's really not much darker. Mine had much better head retention, and the head blocked some light and made it seem a lot darker. The head on mine was white, while the head on the real stuff was a light caramel color and dissipated quickly.

Also, here was a shot from a few weeks before I did the comparison. It was a bit cloudier, as it was soon after I kegged and I never used gelatin on this.

pv


As for tasting, overall both my wife and I thought mine tasted better. It had less cherry flavor that the real stuff. Otherwise, I couldn't tell the difference between the two. I've had about 10 people sample it, and they all love it. There is no noticable heat, it doesn't take like it is 12%. I had a fellow brewer over a couple nights ago and we sampled about 5 different homebrews I had available. He liked the Mad Elf the most. I may have to brew another batch sooner than the holidays. My wife and I had this on tap and I had to take it off because we were burning through it. Overall, I don't think there is much I would change about my recipe--despite the fact that people on this thread have gotten more information in the past 2 months from Troeg's.
 
Does anyone have this beer from bewery? Im on west coast, wa and I cant find. Can I order? Im willing to pay for beer as well as shipping cost. Id like to brew this bad but hard to make that call never tasting the origanal. Thxs

I have a bunch in my cellar, about 2 cases worth mixed between 2011, 2012, and 2013 vintages. What part of CA are you from? PM me if you want to make a small trade.
 
Im from washougal, wa. Bout 15 mins from portland, ore. I love to make a trade. I got some santas private reserve from rouge if your interested.
 
Poptarts, is there an easy way to convert that extract recipe so it's for a 5 gallon batch?
 
No idea if this will be good but:Recipe:

Mad Elf Clone -extract
TYPE: Extract
Style: Fruit Beer
---RECIPE SPECIFICATIONS-----------------------------------------------
SRM: 11.2 SRM SRM RANGE: 3.0-50.0 SRM
IBU: 16.5 IBUs Tinseth IBU RANGE: 5.0-70.0 IBUs
OG: 1.083 SG OG RANGE: 1.030-1.110 SG
FG: 1.016 SG FG RANGE: 1.004-1.024 SG
BU:GU: 0.200 Calories: 263.9 kcal/12oz Est ABV: 8.8 %
EE%: 70.00 % Batch: 5.50 gal Boil: 7.74 gal BT: 60 Mins

---WATER CHEMISTRY ADDITIONS----------------


Total Grain Weight: 12 lbs 0.1 oz Total Hops: 2.09 oz oz.
---MASH/STEEP PROCESS------MASH PH:5.40 ------
>>>>>>>>>>-ADD WATER CHEMICALS BEFORE GRAINS!!<<<<<<<

Amt Name Type # %/IBU
1.4 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 1 0.7 %


---SPARGE PROCESS---
>>>>>>>>>>-RECYCLE FIRST RUNNINGS & VERIFY GRAIN/MLT TEMPS: 72.0 F/72.0 F
>>>>>>>>>>-ADD BOIL CHEMICALS BEFORE FWH
If steeping, remove grains, and prepare to boil wort

---BOIL PROCESS-----------------------------
Est Pre_Boil Gravity: 1.059 SG Est OG: 1.083 SG
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
9 lbs 1.7 oz Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 2 75.9 %
10.3 oz Amber Liquid Extract (12.5 SRM) Extract 3 5.3 %
1.05 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker [4.00 %] - Boil Hop 4 12.1 IBUs
1.05 oz Saaz [4.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 5 4.4 IBUs
 
So this is the new recipe I came up with based on these numbers and I think it must be pretty damn close. The good news is they recipe just got a ton cheaper since we went from multiple pounds of honey to only .25 for a 5 gallon batch.

Just looking back at this, I find it hard to believe that they would only use .05 lbs of honey per gallon. That's such a small amount that I would think they wouldnt be advertising it on the label if they are including .4% honey out of all the ingredients. I'm guessing they put .05 instead of .5 lbs per gallon.
 
Honey is crazy expensive and pretty much sugar, so if they can supplement honey with just plain table sugar I'm sure that they would. Plenty of people advertise the spices they put in beer and those obviously make up a very small percentage of the ingredients. I plan on brewing it they way they said with the .05 lbs/gal this fall and ill update with results.
I just feel like .05 is a hard typo to make off of .5
 
Getting close to the time to brew this so it is on hand and ready to drink when the weather cools down. I am going to brew this hopefully sometime in August to have ready for End of Oct/beginning of Nov. What are you guys all going to do?
 
im going to brew the recipe i posted some time this winter, i still have about 6 gallons of my last batch just aging away in the cellar.
 
I added 3# tart cherries to mine, so its way tart. I'm probably gonna brew a double batch and blend half.
 
Clone on the left, 2013 on the right. I'm pretty sure this beer has caramunich for the color and caramel flavor. Low cherry flavor on both.

1414207007590.jpg
 
I'm pretty sure this beer has caramunich for the color and caramel flavor.

Nope: http://www.troegs.com/our_brews/mad_elf_ale.aspx

I revised last years recipe slightly and brewed it 3 weeks ago. I used Willamette for bittering, and added 2 lbs of honey mixed with 32oz of organic tart cherry juice about 3/4 of the way through fermentation. Fermented starting at 65 for 36 hours then raise to 66 for 12 hours.

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.20 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.50 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.75 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.25 gal
Estimated OG: 1.106 SG
Estimated Color: 12.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 23.1 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 71.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 77.2 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
17 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) UK (1.0 SRM) Grain 1 73.1 %
4 lbs Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 2 17.2 %
4.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 3 1.1 %
1.25 oz Willamette [5.20 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 4 14.8 IBUs
1.10 oz Saaz [2.90 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 5 4.4 IBUs
1.00 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrueh (2012) [4.80 %] Hop 6 4.0 IBUs
2.9 pkg Trappist Ale (White Labs #WLP500) [35.49 Yeast 7 -
2 lbs Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 8 8.6 %


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 23 lbs 4.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 27.37 qt of water at 163.3 F 152.0 F 60 min
Mash Out Add 14.88 qt of water at 201.6 F 168.0 F 10 min
 
With the cans of cherries are you guys draining the juice before or everything going in?
 
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