La Fin Du Monde Clone?

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joshualeahy

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Does Anyone out there have a partial mash for the beer La Fin Du Monde? i really want to brew it. Thanks for your help
josh
 
joshualeahy said:
Does Anyone out there have a partial mash for the beer La Fin Du Monde? i really want to brew it. Thanks for your help
josh

i've tried with no luck. try the book, "clone brews". they may have it?

DeRoux's Broux
 
I bought a case of Fin du Monde recently and it got me interested in brewing again. I do have a clone recipe for it in one of my books, and I'll dig it out if you are interested after reading this: It uses cane sugar instead of the standard ingredients. It also ends up 9-10% alcohol, which is pretty steep.

If we are talking about the same product, it comes from Canada, and is in 22 oz bottles with a cork and wire stopper, is that the stuff??

I liked it early on, but now it seems too sweet. It's nice to tell my wife I'll only have "one bottle of beer" and at 22 oz and 10% I just don't need anymore! Nice buzz before dinner. . .

What you give up is the fuller flavor of a good ale.

Let me know and I'll get the recipe for you.
 
Hey Fred, any chance we could get that La Fin du Monde clone recipe? I love that beer, and I would really appreciate a good recipe, as I haven't had any luck finding one on the forum (or anywhere else, for that matter.) Thanks in advance!
 
I am happy to say I accidentally brewed a beer which is surprisingly close to La Fin. It's a Honey Weizenbock. I've since modified the recipe and I think what follows should be surprisingly close to La Fin... The only caveat I have is that I don't know what to do with the hops. I used Hallertau in my Weizenbock, but that's clearly wrong for the La Fin. Maybe try 2 ounces of Strisselspalt split at 60, 30, 15 and 1? I've never used Stresselspalt though, so that's just a guess...

Fermentables:
2 lbs wildflower honey (added to primary)
8 lbs belgian pils
3 lbs belgian wheat
1 lbs honey malt
0.25 to 1.0 lbs of something "biscuit-like"
0.25 lbs belgian aromatic
0.25 oz bitter orange peel @10

WLP 300 Hefeweizen yeast.
No secondary, let it sit in primary for at least a month



Right now I am drinking my Weizenbock and a La Fin side by side... The only thing I'm missing is the aroma, the cloviness, and my beer is much softer... maybe it needs some brett or something, and definitely a slight biscuit character... And I was fermenting at 77. I think upper-60's will get you even closer to La Fin.
 
IF they told you what was in them do you think they would sell as many? Probably not since I believe there is a R&D "markup" in all their clone kits
 
Damn Squirrels said:
Of course, they don't tell you what is in the kits, so there's no possibility of tweaking it. Totally useless, IMHO. I won't buy a kit if they won't tell me the recipe.

I know it sucks, on the website they dont tell you the ingredents. When you get the kit, they tell you what the ingredents are, and how much of each you are using. If I end up ordering that kit, I will post up the ingredents.
 
If you were in the beer business and spent the time and resources to find a clone would you give it away? Would you be pissed if someone gave it to everyone?

I'm happy to purchase from a place that does the research and has such a great selection of clones.
 
I am happy to say I accidentally brewed a beer which is surprisingly close to La Fin. It's a Honey Weizenbock. I've since modified the recipe and I think what follows should be surprisingly close to La Fin... The only caveat I have is that I don't know what to do with the hops. I used Hallertau in my Weizenbock, but that's clearly wrong for the La Fin. Maybe try 2 ounces of Strisselspalt split at 60, 30, 15 and 1? I've never used Stresselspalt though, so that's just a guess...

Fermentables:
2 lbs wildflower honey (added to primary)
8 lbs belgian pils
3 lbs belgian wheat
1 lbs honey malt
0.25 to 1.0 lbs of something "biscuit-like"
0.25 lbs belgian aromatic
0.25 oz bitter orange peel @10

WLP 300 Hefeweizen yeast.
No secondary, let it sit in primary for at least a month



Right now I am drinking my Weizenbock and a La Fin side by side... The only thing I'm missing is the aroma, the cloviness, and my beer is much softer... maybe it needs some brett or something, and definitely a slight biscuit character... And I was fermenting at 77. I think upper-60's will get you even closer to La Fin.

Well being this thread has been awoken, I wonder if anyone has played with this recipe at all? I will most likely attempt this as my next brew in a few weeks, so I would love to hear if there have been any successes or failures in regards to it.

Thanks.
 
You might consider this recipe, posted by a well-known and very respected brewer on another forum. If I were going to make this beer, this is the recipe I would use:

La Fin de la Fin

Batch Size (GAL): 5.25 Wort Size (GAL): 5.25
Total Grain (LBS): 14.00
Anticipated OG: 1.0786 Plato: 19.01
Anticipated SRM: 5.1
Anticipated IBU: 24.4
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 75 Minutes

Grain/Extract/Sugar:
10.00 lbs. Belgian Pilsener (71.4%)
1.50 lbs. German Wheat Malt (0.7%)
0.50 lbs. Belgian Aromatic Malt (3.6%)
2.00 lbs. Honey (14.3%)

Hops:
1.00 oz. Styrian Goldings Pellet (5.25AA) at 60 min (16 IBUs)
0.75 oz. Styrian Goldings Pellet (5.25AA) at 25 min (8.4 IBUs)

Extras:
2.00 Tsp Fresh Ground Coriander Seed Spice at 10 min
1.00 Tbsp Fresh Grated Orange Zest Spice at 0 min

Yeast:
Wyeast 3864 Canadian/Belgian or Unibroue yeast cultured from a bottle

Mash Schedule:
Mash at 150F

Fermentation:
Primary Fermentation: 10 days at 75F
Secondary Fermentation: 21 days at 70F

Anticipated F.G.: 1.011
 
Wyeast was selling the yeast that Unibroue uses (3864 - Canadian/Belgian Ale) this summer. I used it to make an FDM-inspired ale with a completely seat-of-the-pants recipe - 12 lbs. 2-row, 1 lb. Munich, .5 lb. cane sugar, 1 oz. of Northern Brewer (9.9%, 60 min.), .75 oz Sterling (end) - and it turned out absolutely splendid. I wish I could tell you the OG; I want to say 1.070, but I didn't take notes. My bad. I take notes now. Anyway, it was great. Fragrant, potent, golden, effervescent. I still have six litres of it, which I'm guarding jealously.
 
I really need to drink this again. Last time I had it was in a place that has since burned to the ground :(
 
Im glad this thread is back up. I was at a beer tasting last night and I remembered to bring along some vials to collect yeast samples from the bottles. Well......

I got a La Fin Du Monde yeast strain in my fridge waiting to be cultured. So expect a clone in the near future.
 
You might consider this recipe, posted by a well-known and very respected brewer on another forum. If I were going to make this beer, this is the recipe I would use:

La Fin de la Fin

Batch Size (GAL): 5.25 Wort Size (GAL): 5.25
Total Grain (LBS): 14.00
Anticipated OG: 1.0786 Plato: 19.01
Anticipated SRM: 5.1
Anticipated IBU: 24.4
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 75 Minutes

Grain/Extract/Sugar:
10.00 lbs. Belgian Pilsener (71.4%)
1.50 lbs. German Wheat Malt (0.7%)
0.50 lbs. Belgian Aromatic Malt (3.6%)
2.00 lbs. Honey (14.3%)

Hops:
1.00 oz. Styrian Goldings Pellet (5.25AA) at 60 min (16 IBUs)
0.75 oz. Styrian Goldings Pellet (5.25AA) at 25 min (8.4 IBUs)

Extras:
2.00 Tsp Fresh Ground Coriander Seed Spice at 10 min
1.00 Tbsp Fresh Grated Orange Zest Spice at 0 min

Yeast:
Wyeast 3864 Canadian/Belgian or Unibroue yeast cultured from a bottle

Mash Schedule:
Mash at 150F

Fermentation:
Primary Fermentation: 10 days at 75F
Secondary Fermentation: 21 days at 70F

Anticipated F.G.: 1.011


nbw,

Have you made this clone yourself? If so, did it turn out rather well or were there any noticeable differences? Thanks
 
It's very good. It's the same recipe I linked to on page 1

Just out of curiosity, how long did you age it in the bottles before it tasted good? I know some are ready as soon as carbed and others have to age for weeks or months in the bottle.
 
Thank you all very much for the tips on this beer. This thread will be very useful to me this month, as I will be creating my own version of this one with a few changes.

Since the Wyeast 3864 is not available at this time, what substitute would you recommend? I figured on using Wyeast 3787 Westmalle. Does this sound like a good choice?

I first had La Fin du Monde at Epcot Centre in Florida, and it came off a tap. This particular beer most definately had clove and bubblegum flavors, something I am used to being attributed to Weizens. I read somewhere (either online or on a bottle) that Unibrue uses 3 seperate yeast strains in La Fin du Monde. Do you think one of these yeasts might be a Weizen yeast?

I have since had La Fin in the bottle and could not pick out the clove/bubblegum flavors, but it was certainly there the first time I sampled.
 
I am interested in this idea that one of the strains could be a weizen yeast. The beer is definitely cloudy and the label states that it is fermented with a special blend of strains.

I plan to get to the bottom of this. I took some bottle sediment a couple of days ago and it is growing quite slowly. No surprise, since it came from a high grav. beer.

My searches have turned up some conflicting information on this beer.

Here is a list in which someone claims to have had success in culturing the yeast from a bottle:http://www.nada.kth.se/~alun/Beer/Bottle-Yeasts/

Here someone gives a little more detail, but clearly did a bulk harvest in liquid, never separating to single colonies. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/la-fin-du-monde-yeast-harvest-119973/ The thread goes off the rails and doesn't have a resolution.

Here we have someone claiming that this ale is bottled with a different strain than was used for fermentation: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/la-fin-du-monde-12244/

I am not inclined to believe this last claim but I would be happy to hear anyone chime in with more information.

Since different strains have different flocculation characteristics, my yeast harvest is not likely to consist of the same strain ratio as was used to pitch. Therefore it seems like it would be best to separate the strains and pitch separate starters.

In order to determine if there are different strains in that bottle I am going to streak my harvest to single colonies and make many small starters with individual colonies. My hope is to find different flavor profiles in the starters that can help me to identify the different strains and separate them. I know there are probably better ways of doing this, and I am open to suggestions.

...and waiting for Wyeast 3864 to come out again is just not as fun.
 
Subscribed for more info on one of my favorite breweries. Any info on obtaining their yeast characteristics would be awesome.
 
Unibroue's yeast strain is definitely more similar to the wit/weizen type strains than the trappist type strains. Many people have a strong association between belgian style beers and trappist strong ales, and have heard that the brewmaster at Unibroue came from Chimay, and just assume that they must use a trappist-type strain. They also make mostly much stronger, barley-centered beers with that yeast, so the picture becomes distorted a bit. But try a weizenbock once - such as Victory Moonglow - and you'll see what I mean.

If I were to try to clone a Unibroue beer without the Belgian/Canadian strain, which hasn't been available for a good while, I'd try splitting a batch between WLP 380 and WLP 400, see which is closer.
 
I didn't notice a substantial honey flavor the last time that I had a fin du monde. Is there a strong reason that honey is used instead of typical tripel sugars?

Would it be better to utilize a combination of tripel type sugar and honey malt?

EDIT:

It looks like I have answered my own question. According to the brewery they do NOT use honey in the fin du monde.

http://www.barnivore.com/products/6354-unibroue-la-fin-du-monde#

I will be making my version with 1/2 lb honey malt.
 
Update: Tried culturing from the bottle three times and was not able to get any growth whatsoever. I have no plans to pursue this further.
 
I went with wyeast 1214 (chimay strain) and I will let you know how it goes in about a month or so.
 
I just brewed mine this past weekend. I based it on the grain bill from the linked recipe, but replaced the honey with table sugar. I also changed up the hop additions and dropped the spice/zest.

Boil Size: 7.25 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6 gal
Estimated OG: 1.074 SG
Measured OG: 1.075 SG
Estimated Color: 5.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 23.4 IBUs

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
11 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 73.3 %
1 lbs 8.0 oz Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 2 10.0 %
8.0 oz Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 3 3.3 %
2 lbs Sugar, Table (Sucrose) [Boil for15 min]( Sugar 6 13.3 %

1.00 oz Styrian Goldings [4.90 %] - Boil 90.0 mi Hop 4 17.9 IBUs
0.75 oz Styrian Goldings [4.90 %] - Boil 25.0 mi Hop 5 5.4 IBUs
1.00 oz Saaz [4.00 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 7 0.0 IBUs
0.25 oz Styrian Goldings [4.90 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 8 0.0 IBUs

mashed at 148-150F. racked it onto a big cake of WLP500 (Chimay Strain). this badboy went from 1.075 down to 1.010 in four days. fermentation started at 63F, reached about 72 at its peak.
 
I brewed mine with the following ingredients.

10.5 lb pilsner
1.5 lb dememera sugar
1.5 lb wheat malt
0.5 lb aromatic malt
0.5 lb honey malt

1 oz styrian goldings at 60mins
1 oz styrian goldings at 25mins

Wyeast Belgian Ale - 1214 (Chimay)

Mine finished up at about 9.5% alcohol.

After 3 months or so of conditioning mine came out pretty good. I don't think it was a complete match for the actual beer but it was close. If I did this over I would drop the honey malt as it didn't seem to add much honey flavor.

I realized that I forgot to post my results after brewing this in February 2012.
 
Mine turned out a really good tripel / strong golden, but by no means a clone. I don't think you can come close without using the Unibroue strain. If I did it again, I would also attempt adding some honey or light candi during fermentation.
 
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