Blue Moon Clone

Yakima 728
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ratinator said:
My lhb shop only carries wheat malt and if i order malts from some online stores im paying an extra 20$ shipping. Can wheat malt be used with little change than white wheat malt? I was told their wheat malt is 4lovi and white wheat is less than 3 lovi. i wanna get started on this batch but i wanna make sure everythings spot on.
Click to expand...

correction it's weyermann pale wheat malt
 
The brand of malted wheat really isn't going to matter very much. I suggested Weyermann as I thought it should be available nationwide.

Using Great Western or Briess won't make much difference. The last few times I made it, I used Colorado Malting Company wheat. As that is not available to most folks, I suggested Weyermann as they do make a very consistent product.

Use what your LHBS has on hand. The color might not be exactly correct, but it should taste very good.

On clarity, I am thinking that Coors is using a low flocculating yeast strain to keep it cloudy. Both S-05 and S-04 tend to drop out of suspension fairly quickly. Color and clarity really don't mean too much to me. You may want to try a few different yeast strains to see is you can find a clean flavor with low flocculation. I cannot offer any suggestions as I DO want a yeast to drop bright. My current favorite is Wyeast #1469. I love the flavor is gives. This would not be suggested for a Blue Moon clone if you want it cloudy.

Cheers,
Wayne
 
I would like to know why I only got about 7 gallons when I expected to get around 9-10 gallons:

RECIPE:
10.5 LBS Pale Malt (2 Row) US
2 LBS White Wheat Malt
2 LBS Oats, Flaked
2OZ Hallertauer
1OZ Bitter Orange Peel
1OZ Sweet Orange peel
1OZ Coriander Seed (crushed)

Mashed in with 6 Gallons of water @ 168. It only stayed at 168 for about 30 minutes and rose up to 170 degrees for the remainder of the mash.
Gravity on this was at 1.080

Sparged with 5.5 gallons of water and rinsed the grains. After adding this sparge water we ended up at a pre-boil volume of about 8 gallons. Pre boil gravity was at 1.0415.

We boiled for 75 minutes: 60 min boil on the hallertauer and then 10 minute boil with coriander and irish moss then wrapped up with a 5 minute flame out on the orange peels.

I used the wort chiller and got the wort down to 68 degrees. Put in the carboys and pitched Safale 04.

We were only able to get about 7 gallons into the carboys. And they look SUPER murkey and dirty.

First Question: Should we have used more grains and water to get more yield? I didn't use any topper water because I wanted to keep my gravity.

Second Question:Why would the wort that went into the carboys be so murkey? Did we not boil long enough to get it out or did we boil too long and we made it too concentrated?

Any and all feedback would be great!
 
ShootersBrewCrew said:
I would like to know why I only got about 7 gallons when I expected to get around 9-10 gallons:

RECIPE:
10.5 LBS Pale Malt (2 Row) US
2 LBS White Wheat Malt
2 LBS Oats, Flaked
2OZ Hallertauer
1OZ Bitter Orange Peel
1OZ Sweet Orange peel
1OZ Coriander Seed (crushed)

Mashed in with 6 Gallons of water @ 168. It only stayed at 168 for about 30 minutes and rose up to 170 degrees for the remainder of the mash.
Gravity on this was at 1.080

Sparged with 5.5 gallons of water and rinsed the grains. After adding this sparge water we ended up at a pre-boil volume of about 8 gallons. Pre boil gravity was at 1.0415.

We boiled for 75 minutes: 60 min boil on the hallertauer and then 10 minute boil with coriander and irish moss then wrapped up with a 5 minute flame out on the orange peels.

I used the wort chiller and got the wort down to 68 degrees. Put in the carboys and pitched Safale 04.

We were only able to get about 7 gallons into the carboys. And they look SUPER murkey and dirty.

First Question: Should we have used more grains and water to get more yield? I didn't use any topper water because I wanted to keep my gravity.

Second Question:Why would the wort that went into the carboys be so murkey? Did we not boil long enough to get it out or did we boil too long and we made it too concentrated?

Any and all feedback would be great!
Click to expand...

A) You did not use anywhere near enough grains or water.

B) You mashed at way too high a temperature.

C) You do not show use of any rice hulls which would help with your run off.

For ending up with 10 gallons to serve, you need to be able to boil close to 15 gallons to account for evaporation and losses from trub in the kettle and fermenter.

You will need 2) fermenters that can hold a minimum of 6.5 gallons each or one at 13-15 gallons.

Grain bill should be about 11 lbs. malted barley, 9 lbs malted wheat and 3 lbs flaked oats. Use around 1/2 lb rice hulls. Mash for 60-75 minutes at 150 F. Use around 7 gallons of 163 F water to mix with malt for mashing.

Fly sparge with 10.75 gallons of 168F water to get around 14.5 gallons in your kettle. Boil for 90 minutes total. After the first 30 minutes of boiling add the hops. Roughly 2.5 oz of Hallertau @ 4.3 AA.

Continue the boil for another 50 minutes. Add the coriander with 10 minutes left in the boil. DO NOT use Irish moss. Add the orange peel with 5 mimutes left in the boil. After a total of 90 minutes of boiling. Turn off the heat and stir the kettle in a circular motion for a couple of minutes to start a very slight whirlpool which should bring the hops and spices together in a mound in the center of the kettle. Allow to settle for 15 minutes. Cool rapidly and transfer to fermenters and add yeast.

Good luck.
 
I used 1/2# rice hulls in the mash to increase run offs and decrease clogging the run offs...

I think my HBS was not feeling well and gave me the wrong amount of grains TBH. I do not have a scale and this was first go round at the all grain method so I was not sure what to expect. I thought i did my homework, but clearly not enough...

Thank you for the feedback!
 
Basic rule of thumb, for each gallon of wort, 2.5 lb of grains to get you around 1.055 original gravity. Assuming 70% mash eff.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Home Brew mobile app
 
Shooters Brew Crew - it seems like you didn't read the recipe at all? Your grain bill is completely out of wack. Where did you get those numbers from?

Mash temp is crazy high.

Not nearly enough water either.

I see it's your first time but things are so far of base I'm just wondering what info you were using?

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Home Brew mobile app
 
He could have used the recipe for a 5gal batch, but the mashing temps are way off

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Home Brew mobile app
 
I used a recipe off this thread. But my LHBS was sick and she didn't give me enough grains and I didn't know the difference.

Thanks for the feedback!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
ImageUploadedByHome Brew1396401215.026184.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
Thanks to Wayne1 for the great info on how to make this brew. I made 10 gallons a couple months ago and have been really loving it. I plan to make this a regular brew for sure. We split the batch into two 5 gallon batches. The first five came off the top of the boil kettle nice and clear. The second 5 got some of the coriander and Valencia seasonings from the bottom of the boil kettle (unintentionally). In the first month you could notice a slight difference between them. However now you can't tell them apart. Here is a pic of both compared to the original. Yummy for sure!

1396750279538.jpg
 
I had an opportunity to visit the mother ship today during a stop in Denver (on the way to Summit county for spring break). As I approached the front door at noon with giddy anticipation, the excitement was quickly dashed as I realized they didn't open for 2 more hours. Curses!!! I didn't feel like waiting 2 hours so we walked across the street and hit Breckenridge Brewery so all was not lost.

1396751272754.jpg
 
I will be brewing this on Saturday as my wife loves Blue Moon. It was actually the first six pack she brought to my place when we were dating. We also drank at Sandlot while in Colorado this summer. I will be splitting the batch between s05 and either some Forbidden Fruit or Belgian Wheat. I'll do another batch later but I'd like to get a more Belgian wit beer out of this brew day too.
 
Okay this time I brewed it right!

Yielded 9.5 gallons!!! Thanks again guys for the feedback. This time was a total success and used my new tired system!!!ImageUploadedByHome Brew1397339401.779199.jpg


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I just brewed Wayne's original recipe. I used 1/2 pound rice hulls and had a little trouble with stuck sparge in the first runoff but made it through ok. My question is, is it necessary to crush flaked grain (oats in this example)? I think next time I will increase the amount of rice hulls.
 
Tasted a sample today and it was great. The Mrs. approved which was really the point of brewing this. Also Blue Moon was the first 6 pack she ever brought to my place when we were first dating so it was cool to be able to make our own.
 
Brewed a variation of Wayne1 and Nilo's #12 recipe. Pretty much used Wayne1's grain recipe with Nilo's #12 Spice Ratios. Beer tastes absolutely delicious, has the blue moon look definitely will be brewing this again.
 
I am brewing a batch of beer with my m.i.l. For mothers day. She wants blue moon. That led me to this thread. I went out and bought a hoegarden and a blue moon and have been drinking them side by side, trying to decide which apptoach to take, knowing she may not belooking for a clone per se.

The biggest difference other than the phenolics in the hoegarden, to me, was the seemingly hugely full body of blue moon. It reminds me of a beers ive mashed upwards of 157. Blue moon is also a little more bitter, though the orange flavor i think is sweeter.

Food f or thought anyways. I think im going to try wayne's second recipe with a higher mash temp. Will report back.

For those interested, my personal preference lies with the hoegarden, though blue moon is enjoyable. For my wife, blue moon was the clear and immediate winner.

Im thinking ill try nottingham dry ale yeast.
 
Getting ready to brew this tonight. Just wanted to take a moment to register and say thanks to all for the insight.

Cheers, from Fremont, CA!
 
mks_ said:
Getting ready to brew this tonight. Just wanted to take a moment to register and say thanks to all for the insight.

Cheers, from Fremont, CA!
Click to expand...
Which recipe did you use? Let us know how it goes!
 
I brewed a BM clone 2 weeks ago. I have not done anything cloudy before, so I am used to letting things settle an extra week or so. For this batch should I force carb just after FG or let it sit an extra week or so?
 
Nilo -

I made 10 gallons of your #12 recipe yesterday. Everything went really well, except the cornstarch clumped together the second it hit the boil. I tried breaking it up with my mash paddle but I still had several large clumps at the end of the boil. While cleaning out my brew kettle the chunks literally felt like rubber.

Just curious if you had experienced this or not.
 
stewart194 said:
Nilo -

I made 10 gallons of your #12 recipe yesterday. Everything went really well, except the cornstarch clumped together the second it hit the boil. I tried breaking it up with my mash paddle but I still had several large clumps at the end of the boil. While cleaning out my brew kettle the chunks literally felt like rubber.

Just curious if you had experienced this or not.
Click to expand...
My experience cooking with cornstarch is that you first have to make a little slurry with cold water (or wine, stock etc), otherwise it will clump.
 
progmac said:
My experience cooking with cornstarch is that you first have to make a little slurry with cold water (or wine, stock etc), otherwise it will clump.
Click to expand...


This is correct. It doesn't work in hot temps. You have to mix with cold fluid first. Then add to hot fluids. It should also be right on the box.


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew
 
ok... A quick question...I have made this brew b4 and was happy with the results...question, how come we dont harvest yeast from blue moon bottles for this recipe?...it just seems the way to go.. has anybody done this?...just a thought.....Tom
 
tnsen said:
ok... A quick question...I have made this brew b4 and was happy with the results...question, how come we dont harvest yeast from blue moon bottles for this recipe?...it just seems the way to go.. has anybody done this?...just a thought.....Tom
Click to expand...

I assume commercial BM is no different from most beers, pasteurized beer, no viable yeast left, longer shelf live. Yes?
 
Nilo....I just opened and poured a Blue Moon....I took a small flashlight and looked at the bottom of bottle, I can see a small layer of sediment wich looks like yeast paste, looking at the top of my bottle it says "A refreshing unfiltered wheat ale"...keyword "unfiltered"...Seems like a possibility to harvest this with a stirplate and flask...stepping up a few times (I have done this with bells)...just an Idea for the purists out there lol.... its a lot easier to rip open a pack of us-05, with great results. One thing I have learned in this homebrew hobby is that you can make this as hard, or as easy as you wish! and Nilo...thank you for your dedication to this topic......cheers.....Tom
 
tnsen said:
Nilo....I just opened and poured a Blue Moon....I took a small flashlight and looked at the bottom of bottle, I can see a small layer of sediment wich looks like yeast paste, looking at the top of my bottle it says "A refreshing unfiltered wheat ale"...keyword "unfiltered"...Seems like a possibility to harvest this with a stirplate and flask...stepping up a few times (I have done this with bells)...just an Idea for the purists out there lol.... its a lot easier to rip open a pack of us-05, with great results. One thing I have learned in this homebrew hobby is that you can make this as hard, or as easy as you wish! and Nilo...thank you for your dedication to this topic......cheers.....Tom
Click to expand...

Hi, BM looks unfiltered indeed but that doesn't mean it is not pasteurized. Pasteurization is not done by filtering but by temperature changes with objective to kill any living thing in the beer. I'm not saying it is pasteurized, but chances are it is.
Wayne, need your expertize in commercial brewing here man, chime in with your input!
 
Has anyone tried this with blood orange peel? My spice shop had "regular" orange peel and blood orange peel. I tasted them both and the blood orange was much sweeter, the regular much more bitter. Based on Wayne's comment of 0.3oz being "nowhere near enough" orange peel, I'm going to go with 0.8 oz in my attempt.
 
Terrible home brew week for me.

Brewed a similar recipe by "memory" and ended up adding hops at 10 minutes; quite the opposite of what I had intended.

Ran out of propane with roughly 4 minutes left in my boil. Crap.

None of that matters, however, as no fermentation has occurred since.

Pitched my backup yeast, still nothing. Might have to dump this, review my notes and try again.

I also kicked my keg of amber home brew that night. So thirsty!
 
Well, I've read this entire thread and had a go at it, so after having recently polished off the last bottle of this clone, I wanted to share my impressions.

Of course I brewed to original belly slide version, in keeping with the theme here and would have to agree with others that the 'body' of the beer itself is not as thick as the modern BM. I drank all of them, so it was def a drinkable beer, but not in the body realm of my smash ales.

basics:

2.75 g batch

2.5 gw 2-row
2.0 briess white wheat
0.5 oats
0.25 carpils

mashed 156 60 min.
90 minute boil

60 min .75 oz Hallertau

S-05 2 weeks, no cold crash.

Some observations/changes I'm contemplating for another batch:

1) I used GW 2-row, thinking that great western sounds like it goes well with Denver. I usually do ales with Rahr and those brews seemed to have the thickness I wanted this beer to have, or be closer too. More or that later.

2) My batch was 2.75 gallon and I scaled the coriander/orange down to the gram from Wayne's original suggestion. After sampling the cooled wort I got the coriander but was missing some orange, so I zested a single sweet orange from my local grocer and dry hopped it. The result was pleasant with only a slightly forward orange flavor, which isnt a deal breaker at my house. Next time I'll just bump up the dried peel from the proportion used at boil and let it ride.

3) My OG was 1046 with 1008 FG. This might have an influence on the lower body character, so I'll see if I cant put the next one well into the fifties.

4) The wheat contribution did not go unnoticed. Can't say I get that much wheat from commercial Blue Moon, perhaps its base is a little higher % than belly slide. Not I big wheat fan myself anyway, so in the future I might try a little less wheat.

5) Overall I enjoyed the beer, just need build in a little more body/mouthfeel/malty sweetness. There not a lot of room past 156 mash so that leaves the grains. Might split the Rahr with some Maris Otter, but don't want to inject too many variables at one time. Probably just do Rahr alone next time.

Thanks for everyone's previous contributions to the thread.
 
I mash my clone at 158f degrees to get the body of a blue moon. That seems to be close as far as the body. I still have yet to find that balance of orange and coriander.
 
Knowing what I know about my system, I gave this a go. Here is my interpretation

5.5# American 2-Row
0.5# Aromatic
4# American White Wheat
1.5# Flaked Oats
0.5# Rice Hulls

Add 5mL lactic to cool mash water before heating
Strike 4.5 gallons @ 172
Mash @ 158
Batch sparge with 4 gallons, treated w 1.5mL lactic

Hops
0.4oz cascade @ 60 mins

Spices
0.6 oz coriandor at flameout, begin cooling to 165
hold at 165, add 1 oz dried blood orange peel, steep for 10 mins
then cool

safale us 05

OG: 1.054
FG: 1.015
11 ibu

Ferment at 65F (ambient)
Click to expand...
Now, this is Wayne's grainbill proportions, except I added aromatic because I add aromatic to everything; just a thing I do for a house flavor.

I chose my spicing regimen based on Wayne's comments here. I went with cascade for bittering because I have a ton and I've never gotten much flavor from a bittering hop. I went with blood orange peel because that was the sweeter of the two orange peels available at my local spice shop. I went with the whirlpool addition to try to keep as many aromatics as possible. I went with the 158F mash because I perceive (current) blue moon as having a very full body.

My fermentation chamber smells unbelievably good. I'm getting a lot of orange aromatics.

Will report back.
 
well I am going to brew #12 this saturday....any thoughts about using Safbrew WB- 06..this is a speciality yeast for wheat beer...I happened to see it at the lhbs and grabbed it..(impulse buy)...I also have 05 and 04 as well....my #8 tasted great with 04...thinking bout trying the 06 wheat stuff.....Tom
 
tnsen said:
well I am going to brew #12 this saturday....any thoughts about using Safbrew WB- 06..this is a speciality yeast for wheat beer...I happened to see it at the lhbs and grabbed it..(impulse buy)...I also have 05 and 04 as well....my #8 tasted great with 04...thinking bout trying the 06 wheat stuff.....Tom
Click to expand...

I would try S05, then you can play with S06 next time, just my 2c
 

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