Lakefront Brewery Fixed Gear

Hey all, for those of you who have had Fixed Gear American Red Ale by Lakefront Brewery (Milwaukee, WI) you know how awesome it is. Northern Brewer has a PM kit for the beer, and I'm looking to convert it to AG.

Here's what the kit includes:
9.15# Gold Malt Syrup
3/4# Caramel 60L
1/2# Special B.

Hops:
1oz columbus 60 min
1/2oz chinook 20 min
1oz cascade 5 min
1oz centennial dry hop
1oz chinook dry hop

1056 or S-05 yeast.

Going by the Lakefront website, they only call out Chinook and Cascade hops, and say it's 34IBU. When I put "default" approximate AAs in for the hops I'm getting almost 60 IBUs.

I understand that the Gold Malt Syrup is basically pale malt with some carapils. Here's what I'm thinking about doing....please let me know what you think:

5gallon batch
9 1/2# 2-row pale
1# carapils
3/4# caramel 60L
1/2# special B

I'll follow the hop schedule that the kit outlines but probably take the columbus down to 1/2oz (and I'll modify slightly based on the exact AAs that my hops turn out to be) but aim to be at 34IBU.

Any comments/criticism are welcome! Cheers, and happy almost national homebrew day!

Is Lakefront a hipster brewery?

NB has the AG recipe on their site:
http://www.northernbrewer.com/documentation/allgrain/AG-FixedGear_Pro_Lakefront.pdf

Brewed it and it is awesome as is.

Don't they have an AG kit for that same recipe?

Well I'll be damned. Maybe I should use my eyes instead of being so distracted on a Friday afternoon dreaming of brewing!

Since Lakefront and Norther Brewer have teamed up, I have brewed the Fixed gear recipe 3 times. I just tapped the third last night, so damn delicious. Tastes and smells just like the real stuff it's insane.

5.25 gallon / Mash 153*F / 60min single infusion mash / 90min boil
11.25lbs 2-row (use malteurop if possible)
.75lbs C-60
.50lbs Special B

Boil for 30 minutes without any hop addition:
.5oz Columbus @ 60min
.5oz Chinook @ 20min
1oz Cascade @ 5min
1oz Centennial - dry hop
1oz Chinook - dry hop

Primary 2 weeks. Secondary 10 days. Dry hop full 10 days of secondary.
Cheers - Justin

idigg said:

Since Lakefront and Norther Brewer have teamed up, I have brewed the Fixed gear recipe 3 times. I just tapped the third last night, so damn delicious. Tastes and smells just like the real stuff it's insane.

5.25 gallon / Mash 153*F / 60min single infusion mash / 90min boil
11.25lbs 2-row (use malteurop if possible)
.75lbs C-60
.50lbs Special B

Boil for 30 minutes without any hop addition:
.5oz Columbus @ 60min
.5oz Chinook @ 20min
1oz Cascade @ 5min
1oz Centennial - dry hop
1oz Chinook - dry hop

Primary 2 weeks. Secondary 10 days. Dry hop full 10 days of secondary.
Cheers - Justin

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Awesome, thanks for the recipe. I'm going to be doing 10-gallons of this over the weekend, can't wait!

Tried this one at the brewery and really liked it alot. I thought about getting the kit. What is the main difference b/w an American Red and an Irish Red? The yeast used is my assumption.

@Nate

Technically an American red has nothing to do with an Irish red... You know, if you listen to the BJCP. I think the simplest answer is "No roast." But of course, you can argue that.

"Like an American pale ale with more body, more caramel richness, and a balance more towards malt than hops (although hop rates can be significant). Known simply as Red Ales in some regions, these beers were popularized in the hop-loving Northern California and the Pacific Northwest areas before spreading nationwide. Can overlap in color with American pale ales. However, American amber ales differ from American pale ales not only by being usually darker in color, but also by having more caramel flavor, more body, and usually being balanced more evenly between malt and bitterness. Should not have a strong chocolate or roast character that might suggest an American brown ale (although small amounts are OK)."

I'm looking forward to brewing this clone recipe in the next week or two. I noticed the flavor profile changed a bit and Lakefront's website now says the beer includes Citra hops. But as much as I love Citra, I think I will brew the recipe exactly as NB has posted it and compare it to the real deal.

I think the Fixed Gear is one of the better beers I have brewed. I haven't tasted the real thing but my daughter and son-in-law said they couldn't tell the difference between mine and Lakefront's. At first I thought mine came out too dark, but I saw it poured from a tap and the color was the same. The last time I was in Milwaukee I stopped at NB and was going to pick up another kit, but they were all out of Special B. I have been busy brewing lighter, summer beers but I need to get this one on the schedule.

I've had the 10 gallons bottled and conditioning for just about 2 weeks now. They hydrometer samples I had were amazing, I'll be putting some in the fridge to test carbonation and let you guys know how they turned out.

Cheers, TGIF!

I bought the kit twice from NB and this stuff is outstanding! I actually enjoy the way mine comes out slightly more hoppy IMO than the real one....you can't go wrong with this recipe

I think I'll brew this for my next batch

My liquor store didn't have Fixed Gear to do a side by side comparison, but I had my first taste of the homebrew version last night and it's a terrific beer. I feel mine might have slightly more influence with citrusy hops, but I'm extremely happy with how it turned out. This will likely become a household staple.

Anyone have an extract recipe for this beer?

BeardedMan said:

Anyone have an extract recipe for this beer?

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Did you read the first post?

jcojr72 said:

Did you read the first post?

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Yea...I am looking for all extract not PM. But after talking to some people I think I'll just wait until I'm doing AG.

The OP said that's a PM recipe, but it's really extract w steeping grains. Should work just fine for ya!

JonM said:

The OP said that's a PM recipe, but it's really extract w steeping grains. Should work just fine for ya!

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Yep that was an oversight by me! Guess I read it over too quickly and didnt realize. Thanks guys.