1554 Enlightenment Black ale by New belgium

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Jayfro21

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So I have been drinking this beer tonight and I have to say that it is one of my all-time favorites! Anyways, just wanted to know if anybody has a clone recipe for this beer? Any help would be great!

Jason
 
I'd be interested to see what's in that AHS clone kit. There is a common flavor which seems to run through all of the New Belgium beers...a common flavor which makes me dislike each and every type I've tried. I think it's biscuit but I'm not quite sure.
 
Got some in the keg right now. It's quite yummy:

5 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.0 SRM) 48.19 %
2 lbs Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) 19.28 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) 9.64 %
1 lbs Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) 9.64 %
8.0 oz Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) 4.82 %
8.0 oz Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) 4.82 %
4.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) 2.41 %
2.0 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) 1.20 %
0.50 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] (60 min) 19.0 IBU
0.50 oz Saaz [4.00 %] (30 min) 4.1 IBU
1 Pkgs San Francisco Lager Yeast
 
Poobah58 said:
Got some in the keg right now. It's quite yummy:

5 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.0 SRM) 48.19 %
2 lbs Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) 19.28 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) 9.64 %
1 lbs Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) 9.64 %
8.0 oz Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) 4.82 %
8.0 oz Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) 4.82 %
4.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) 2.41 %
2.0 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) 1.20 %
0.50 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] (60 min) 19.0 IBU
0.50 oz Saaz [4.00 %] (30 min) 4.1 IBU
1 Pkgs San Francisco Lager Yeast
Click to expand...

almost a pound of roasted grains? that seems crazy...i thought this was supposed to be a schwarzbier? black lagers shouldn't have roasted barley at all...i'd assume they use mostly carafa II
 
c1377 said:
I am wanting to make this as well.

I found this kit @ Austin Home Brew Supplies
http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_452_43_322&products_id=1735

I don't know whether to get the Extract or the Mini-Mash though.

Does anyone know the difference?
Click to expand...

Mini-mash replaces some of the extract with specialty grains that need to be steeped for about 45 minutes at 155 degrees and then rinsed with 170 degree water. It adds about an hour to the process over extract but is supposedly a considerable improvement in color and flavor. Give the guys a call and they will help you out.

Eric
 
DeathBrewer said:
almost a pound of roasted grains? that seems crazy...i thought this was supposed to be a schwarzbier? black lagers shouldn't have roasted barley at all...i'd assume they use mostly carafa II
Click to expand...

From what I understand, this is not a schwarzbier, but some weird take on a belgium ale. I also don't think it is a lager at all.
 
It's technically a dark Belgian Specialty Ale. And I believe that NB uses a Belgian yeast strain for all of their beers, so the SF Lager yeast may not give the appropriate flavor.
 
ilikestuff said:
It's technically a dark Belgian Specialty Ale. And I believe that NB uses a Belgian yeast strain for all of their beers, so the SF Lager yeast may not give the appropriate flavor.
Click to expand...

Interestingly enough, NB does use a lager strain for 1554. per New Belgium's website:

Born of a flood and centuries-old Belgian text, 1554 Enlightened Black Ale uses a light lager yeast strain and dark chocolaty malts to redefine what dark beer can be. In 1997, a Fort Collins flood destroyed the original recipe our researcher, Phil Benstein, found in the library. So Phil and brewmaster, Peter Bouckaert, traveled to Belgium to retrieve this unique style lost to the ages. Their first challenge was deciphering antiquated script and outdated units of measurement, but trial and error (and many months of in-house sampling) culminated in 1554, a highly quaffable dark beer with a moderate body and mouthfeel.p
Click to expand...

I'm a fan of 1554. Most of NB's beers I can take or leave, but the 1554 is pretty darn tasty.
 
I despise most of NB's beers, but i would agree that their 1554 is generally pretty good. i didn't find it to be that roasty, although chocolate malt is not out of the question.

Even in the description from beeradvocate for the Belgian Dark Ale:

Belgian Darks offer a massive range of characters. Colors play within the amber to light brown to deep garnet hues, with thick, rocky heads of great retention. Aromas can be anywhere from traces of yeast, spiced, malty, floral and even slightly intoxicating. Flavors from dry and spiced, to sweet and malty. Most have a low level of bitterness.
Click to expand...

no mention of roastiness. i'll have to try this again...
 
So, has anyone made this recipe? I'm really wanting to recreate this beer.
 
ha, i was coming on here this morning to post about this beer! It's in my top 5 commercially available beers. I love it!

the lager yeast is what throws me off. Is it a hybrid? Lager yeast @ ale temps? because they call it an ale, but everything i read says lager yeast. I'm not much for clone recipes just cause i like the uniqueness of my own stuff, but i really wanna copy this one.
 
Poobah58 said:
Got some in the keg right now. It's quite yummy:

5 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.0 SRM) 48.19 %
2 lbs Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) 19.28 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) 9.64 %
1 lbs Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) 9.64 %
8.0 oz Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) 4.82 %
8.0 oz Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) 4.82 %
4.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) 2.41 %
2.0 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) 1.20 %
0.50 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] (60 min) 19.0 IBU
0.50 oz Saaz [4.00 %] (30 min) 4.1 IBU
1 Pkgs San Francisco Lager Yeast
Click to expand...


is this your own clone recipe or one of the Kit clones?
 
This thread has some great info on NB's 1554. It has some comments/brewing tips from the brewer at NB. No roasted barley...either debittered black or dehusked-carafa. A subtle, unknown spice addition.

EDIT: Here are some tips from NB (itt linked above):
I am glad to hear you like 1554 so much. I'm not going to give you style guidelines because I think they're a bunch of hooey.

Malt: The basic idea is to brew a big beer, relatively high gravity with a lot of unfermentable content to keep the body high and the alcohol moderate. Some 2-row, but a lot of Munich, Caramel, and Carapils malts. Use chocolate and black malt extremely sparingly, a little bit goes a long way for color. If there were a black malt that had no bittering effect, that would probably be the one to use.

Hops: Bitterness is moderate to high, enough to offset all that extra sweetness. Water is kept soft to keep the bitterness quite mellow. There is no aroma hop in 1554. If anything, you could put in some kind of spice at flavor threshold.

Yeast: Lager yeast, ale temperatures. Particular strain doesn't matter, as long as it is a low sulfur producer.

Finishing wise, this beer is straightforward.

Hope this helps, good luck and happy brewing.
Click to expand...
 
That thread is a great read. I love threads like that. There was a wheat beer thread like that which taught me worlds about my beloved hefewiessen.

I love 1554 as well... may do this at some point.
 
ok, so i've been reading on this various different places for the past hour since SWMBO is gone tonight. Still doing extract so i've got LME rather than base grains

3# Light/extra Pale LME
4# Munich LME (60% 2-row, 40% munich i believe)
8 oz crystal 120
8 oz carapils
2 oz chocolate malt
2 oz de-bittered black

.75 oz magnum @ 60

Yeast: WLP838 or WY2124

also read on brewing network about some "Grains of Paradise" but i don't really know what that contributes so i don't really know how that will impact the outcome.

I've got a couple more brews planned coming up, but this one's going to be next in line i think.
 
Poobah58 said:
Got some in the keg right now. It's quite yummy:

5 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.0 SRM) 48.19 %
2 lbs Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) 19.28 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) 9.64 %
1 lbs Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) 9.64 %
8.0 oz Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) 4.82 %
8.0 oz Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) 4.82 %
4.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) 2.41 %
2.0 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) 1.20 %
0.50 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] (60 min) 19.0 IBU
0.50 oz Saaz [4.00 %] (30 min) 4.1 IBU
1 Pkgs San Francisco Lager Yeast
Click to expand...

Just got my ingredients from BMW...gotta love Ed's "Brewbuilder"! Anyway, I had my first bottle of NB 1554 last month and I thought is was good enough to try and duplicate. I'm using White Labs SF lager yeast, and I'm going to ferment it in the mid fifties. I usually don't ever go for "clone" recipes. I'll report back when this one is done!:mug:
 
I am almost 21 days in primary of the AHS clone. Pitched the Wyeast they recommended and it's sat at around 65 for 3 weeks tomorrow.

I may go ahead and rack this one to a corni hit it with 30psi and put it back in the brew closet for another week or two. Anyone have any idea how long one like this might take to come together once the little yesters are done doing their thing?
 
BHowe said:
I am almost 21 days in primary of the AHS clone. Pitched the Wyeast they recommended and it's sat at around 65 for 3 weeks tomorrow.

I may go ahead and rack this one to a corni hit it with 30psi and put it back in the brew closet for another week or two. Anyone have any idea how long one like this might take to come together once the little yesters are done doing their thing?
Click to expand...
I'd put it in the fridge for a month or two, then rack to another keg...
 

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