Anyone have a recipe for Falstaff? I've seen posts here and other websites that reference Ballentine (Ballantine) to Falstaff but I don't know if it is the same. I would like to clone whatever came out of the can labeled Falstaff if possible.
Falstaff
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That closest thing I have been able to find are clones for Ballantine's XXX
Bally's and Falstaff are intertwined in brewing history. Here is a great website on the story...
http://www.falstaffbrewing.com/index.htm
Bally's and Falstaff are intertwined in brewing history. Here is a great website on the story...
http://www.falstaffbrewing.com/index.htm
At one time Falstaff owned the Ballantine brand and brewed their beers but the Falstaff beer was just another forgetable American light lager. Ballantine also offered an American light lager of their own but if you are referring to the Ballantine ales (XXX and IPA) Falstaff beer was absolutely nothing at all like those.
If you are trying to dupicate the old Falstaff lager, good luck. It was probably made with a blend of hops and an IBU rate just at or slightly above the threshold of human taste perception. If you want a go at it just make a basic American light lager with 60-70% lager malt, 6-row or 2-row, and 30-40% corn and rice. My guess is that Falstaff used both but it's only a guess. Hop to a maximum of 15 IBU with perhaps a blend of Cluster and Hallertau. If you could figure out what yeast they used and the strain is available then by all means use it. Otherwise I would recommend Yeast Danish Lager 1042.
OP
OP
A...It was probably made with a blend of hops and an IBU rate just at or slightly above the threshold of human taste perception. ...
Now tell me how you really feel! LOL, that is absolutely hysterical
Now tell me how you really feel! LOL, that is absolutely hysterical
Heh, not actually trying to be funny here, just accurate. If you look at almost any beer in this style (BMC, Falstaff, or defunct regionals) it will have 30-45% non-malt starch like corn or rice and an IBU rate of 10-15. The taste threshold is supposed to be in the area of 10 and for many of the last several decades Budweiser's IBUs, for example, were right about 10. It may have crept up in recent years all the way to 12 or 13.
Apart from which adjunct a brewery used, most of the taste difference within the style were from the yeast strain which fermented the particular beer. The most significant aroma in Budweiser, for instance, is probably the acetylaldehyde (green apple smell) that is a byproduct of AB's yeast strain.
StunnedMonkey
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Thanks for that link. I got a kick out of the Fort wayne plant photos. I drive by the old brewery once a month or so and it always makes me sort of sad, though Falstaff was undeniably swill...at least it was by the time I was of age in the early '80's. The Balentine XXX wasn't bad though, at least compared to the pedestrian offerings available in the midwest in 1982.
OP
OP
Okay well I was LMAO when I read that first quote. I seriously thought you just didn't like the taste of Falstaff and were commenting such. I'm a newbie or NOOB as it is phrased here. So I really have no idea what you are talking about when you talk about taste threshold. I just like the way last Falstaff I had tasted. I liked the last Schlitz I had as well, they were similar. But that was YEARS ago. However I have read about flaked corn and rice in some gluten free recipies I've collected. I should make a new thread but want to know more about the proper way to ferment flaked corn, oats, and rice. Thankx for the advice and the laugh!
Look in the Recipe Data Base for Biermuncher's "Cream of the Three Crops." It may actually be what you are looking for, in terms of taste.
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