Spotted Cow Inspired Beer

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KAMMEE

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I recently spent a couple weekends in Wisconsin, and found a bunch of great New Glarus Beers. The Spotted Cow inspired me to make something that has a cream ale base, but with a few tweaks. I really enjoyed the character the yeast provided to Spotted Cow, and have recently read that its probably the Wyeast Kolsch strain, but when I tasted the beer I came up with some very faint banana, and the beer was fairly cloudy but not as cloudy as a Heffe or Wit. Either way, I decided to go with the Wyeast 3068 Weihenstephan Weizen strain to get the good esters. This is an experiment to see if I can create a great tasting summer beer. Comments are welcome, but note this is a beer inspired by the spotted cow, not a clone.

Assumed 70% Efficiency (this is what I have targeted and routinely get with my system). This makes 6 Gallons.

Grainbill:
7.5 lb 2 row (rahr)
2 lb flaked corn (breiss)
1 lb flaked wheat (breiss)
.25 lb Biscuit
.25 lb Victory
.25 lb Carapils

Hops: ~ 16 IBU
1 oz liberty 5% 60 min 15 IBU
0.5 oz Saaz 4% 5 min 1 IBU

Stats:
Preboil Gravity: 1.041
Post Boil Gravity: 1.049
Final Gravity: 1.011
ABV: 4.9%

Yeast: WY 3068

Mash @149 for 90 minutes to convert the corn and wheat.
Strike Water: 4.2 Gallons at 160F
Sparge Water: 5.0 Gallons at 179F

I use 100% RO water, I'm just planning on adding about 2 TSP or ~ 8mg of calcium chloride to the water. I'll add about 4ml of lactic acid to the mash to set the PH.
 
I had the same experience about 2 months ago, and came home wanting to brew a spotted cow clone as well. The only recipe I found was the Kolsch yeast. The beer turned out alright, but there is definitely something "off", and my first thought was the yeast as well.

Let us know how this turns out with the 3068. I'd love to brew it again and get closer to the original.
 
Just a reminder, this isn't intended to be a clone, but I'll post a review in about five or six weeks when it's ready for consumption.
 
I nailed the numbers last night, everything turned out exactly as written in the recipe. I did use some Fermcap-S in the fermenter as I didn't want to hastle with a blowoff tube.... we'll see if it helps, as I'm already seeing bubbles in the airlock and its only been about 8 hours since the pitch. I'm really excited to try this... and depending on how it turns out may turn around and do a Bavarian Heffe with the yeast to get a couple brews out of one smack pack.
 
Kegged this spotted cow inspired beer tonight, gravity came out at 1.013. That leaves me with an ABV of 4.7%, which is close to what I wanted. Hydrometer sample presented a nice light golden color and hazy from the yeast. The taste was very nice, extremely drinkable with just a hint of banana, similar to what I recall experiencing with Spotted Cow. With some nice carbonation coming out of solution in the sample tube, it even had a good drying affect. I can't wait for this to carb up, in a week I'll be enjoying this on draft!
 
I Couldn't help but pull a glass after work. It's very hazy from the yeast but has great character. I think the yeast is the forward player here, so I'll make this again with a kolsch yeast in another month or so. It's easy drinking though!

image-214006768.jpg
 
I thought I'd post an update for anyone who's interested. This has cleared a bit with some time in the keg. Its still slightly hazy, but now the yeast is not contributing as much in the way of flavor. There is some slight banana in the aroma, but some really good clove flavor. It compliments the cream ale base and makes this a slightly complex beer considering it has a cream ale type base. I'm very happy with how this turned out but still curious how Kolsch yeast would turn out.
 
Giving this another go with some WLP029 Kolsch yeast. Didn't have any victory on hand, just going to use 0.5 lb of biscuit. Trying Wheat Malt instead of Flaked Wheat. Should be Good.
 
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