Brrrr Clone

[ZebulonBrewer]

Good evening everyone, I just wanted to share my recipe for one of my favorite homebrews: My Widmer Brother's 'Brrrr' Clone.

I've made this twice now; once in 2013 and once in 2014. On beeradvocate it is listed as a Winter Warmer, but I've been calling it an Imperial Red Ale. I love it, my wife loves it, my friends love it. It's a great beer. It's relavent info is listed below:

Brrr
bitterness: 50 IBU
alcohol by volume: 7.2%
original gravity: 17° PLATO (1.070)
malts:
Pale, Caramel 10L & 80L,
Munich 10L, Carapils, Dark Chocolate
hops:
Bittering: Alchemy
Aroma: Simcoe & Cascade

I made this last year because of the name (I'm sure many of us do this), and on the good reputation of the Widmer Brother's Brewery. I was able to sample this beer, oak aged, at the Big Beer and Barleywine Festival in Dayton, OH in late 2013, and it is definitely something I need to try to do, perhaps for this year.

I originally put this together from a couple of posts while looking for a clone, but there wasn't a singular recipe, that was easy to find, on this site. That's where this comes in. I made this batch as a partial mash, partial boil, BIAB due to the limitations of my boil kettle and heat source. I am a month or three from being AG BIAB with a new 50QT kettle (I hope).

(Note: this was a 1L starter, and the crystal 15 was because my LHBS was out of 10)

This is very easy to convert to all grain or hybrid extract (as I made it last year), and despite the alcohol content, it is ready after 3 weeks to a month in primary, plus carbonation.

I have considered altering the name of this brew to individualize it, but the best I can come up with is along the lines of 'Red Winter's Doom' or 'Red Wintery Doom' which are.....Ok. I'd like thoughts.

Here is a picture of the final product. This has not sat long enough to be cleared well, and it's late and not well lit in my new house at night.

 

[JLeuck64]

Interesting, I too have my first attempt at this clone chugging along in the primary right now. I found an AG recipe on Brewer's Friend that is a little bit different than yours but pretty darn close! I like the color of your finished product!

 

[ZebulonBrewer]

The color is the best part. With more time sitting in my fridge it will only get better. You won't be disappointed. Have you ever had the real thing?

 

[JLeuck64]

Yes, I live near Widmer's Brewery so the shelves are full of it out here! I have a six pack in the fridge waiting for comparison taste testing.

I've noticed with Widmer's that use Simcoe hops is the aroma is really present. My brews never seem to pick up that aroma unless I add a dry hop addition during the secondary. This is something I am also considering with this current recipe and will make a decision when it is ready to transfer over to the secondary.

 

[ZebulonBrewer]

I really dig the aroma. The slight pine of the Simcoe along with the citrus in the Cascade are excellent. Not sure if I have as much or more than the real thing, and I do know that water chemistry plays a part in this, but I just use store-bought spring water, so I can't really help much there.

Not sure why there isn't much action on this thread. Maybe I should have posted it in the recipe's section

 

[hopmonster2189]

I've been looking at trying to brew a Brr. How'd your hops turn out? Anything you would change about your additions?

also 2 lbs of crystal seems like a lot to me, it's not too thick of a mouthfeel?

 

[ZebulonBrewer]

The aroma is fantastic. Very clean combination of dank-pine and clean citrus. Sometimes when I am having it I feel that it might be a touch too bitter, but I've only ever had the barrel aged Brrr and it is probably just my preference vs. what is *correct*.

As for maltiness and body, I mashed at 152 (partial mash, with poor temp control, so figure 154-149 over an hour). I feel that the mouthfeel is fine. Not as thin as some higher gravity beers, and well short of a porter, hence my 1.014 FG. The recipe I based it on had an FG of 1.018, and last year when I made it the FG was 1.022 (I underpitched like a boss) and it was the best sweetest beer I've ever had

Hope that helps.

Happy Brewing!

 

[hopmonster2189]

I'm gonna do an all grain and use your hop schedule. Gonna throw in a lb more Munich but a little less crystal. My pipeline is pretty stacked and I have 2 brews on deck so I won't get to brew the Brrr for another 3 weeks.

 

[JLeuck64]

http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/68190/widmer-s-brrr

Link above is for the clone recipe I am trying right now. The only substitutions I made were Nugget hops for the Millenium and I used whole leaf hops instead of pellet. It's been fermenting in primary for 3 weeks. The air lock finally slowed down enough that I decided to check on it today. My O.G. was 1.070 with just under 5 Gal's. S.G. today was down to 1.010 and it's a strong A$$ tasting ale for sure! I opened one of my store bought Brrr's and the Cascade aroma seems to dominate to my nose so I decided to dry hop with about 3/4 oz of Cascade and 1/8 oz Simcoe and transferred it to the secondary.

It's such an easy recipe that I was dubious during brew day that it would turn out this close but I am pleasantly surprised today.

 

[JLeuck64]

I've only ever had the barrel aged Brrr and it is probably just my preference vs. what is *correct*.

I've never tried that version, I think they call it Brrrbon IIRC. That should be simple to imitate with some oak chips soaked in Bourbon, then pitch it all into the secondary. I will have to try and find some Brrrbon so I can give it a taste

 

[ZebulonBrewer]

Glad your recipe looks like it is turning out well, JLeuck64. With that kind of attenuation you're ABV is just short of 7.9% ...... yowza! If you bottle them, I think a bomber of that would fit the saying of, 'One is too much, two is just right, and three is a train wreck'

 

[JLeuck64]

Whelp.... I bottled my clone version from brewer's friend tonight and even though I decided to dry hop it in the secondary I think I missed the mark. It just doesn't have the hop aroma I think it should. After looking through your hop schedule I can see differences between the recipes that may explain mine falling short. This batch is STRONG though ( ; and I'll have to give your's a try next time.

 

[hopmonster2189]

brewed it yesterday, ended up using 2 oz simcoe and 3 oz cascade for the 15-5 min additions. used ringwood ale yeast I harvested from a previous batch. hopefully there's enough hop flavor and aroma.

 

[ZebulonBrewer]

Whelp.... I bottled my clone version from brewer's friend tonight and even though I decided to dry hop it in the secondary I think I missed the mark. It just doesn't have the hop aroma I think it should. After looking through your hop schedule I can see differences between the recipes that may explain mine falling short. This batch is STRONG though ( ; and I'll have to give your's a try next time.

The first time I made this I underpitched it severely (white labs vial without a starter into the 1.070-ish wort). super duper sweet, yet still good. I think the recipe is pretty forgiving, and with the dryhop, you should be able to make up for any aroma that may have been missed.

I happened to check this right as I put the grains in for a NB Irish Red kit I got for a very good deal ($15!). You inspired me to break out one of my own Brrr Clones.

Happy Brewing!

ZB

 

[JLeuck64]

This is how my clone version turned out. It's not the OP's version but one I found on Brewer's Friend website. Mine is on the right and the store bought version is on the left. Obviously I missed the mark on color. My brewing buddy actually preferred my clone attempt over the store bought version... but I feel like it is still pretty green. It ended up with an ABV of 8%!!!!

I still have one more bottle of the original Brrr in the fridge so.... I am thinking of making a yeast starter with it then brewing the OP's recipe!

 

[ZebulonBrewer]

Alright, so the color isn't quite right, but what about taste/aroma? How was it vs. the original? I'd like to know. By looking at your recipe, and the differences between it and the real thing, it may inform some good changes to my recipe (or some combo of both )

 

[JLeuck64]

My buddy said, and I would have to agree with him, "If you were trying to clone that Widmer you missed the mark"

Recipe I used tastes familiar when you drink one on it's own. In a side by side taste test the clone is not the same as the original.

 

[ZebulonBrewer]

My buddy said, and I would have to agree with him, "If you were trying to clone that Widmer you missed the mark"

Recipe I used tastes familiar when you drink one on it's own. In a side by side taste test the clone is not the same as the original.

Good to know. Thanks for the update.

As for mine, I'm pretty sad. I only have three bottles left. If I have the willpower I'll set 1 or 2 aside for conditioning long term.

 

[ZebulonBrewer]

Just pitched the starter for my Brrr Clone 2015. Unfortunately my LHBS was out of 2014 Simcoe, and I didn't have time to source it from elsewhere (I've read about a 2014 Simcoe shortage. Hopefully the 2015 crop arrives soon.

After wandering the coolers at my homebrew store for about 10 minutes, I decided to go with Motueka as the stand in. Motueka is NOT Simcoe, and it probably isn't that close, but I thought it'd be interesting to try, and I'm looking forward to tasting the differences. Other ideas were EKG, Centennial, and CTZ.

Here is a pic of the brew-in-progress, while I enjoy my fresh Hoppy American Amber (Yooper's recipe).

 

[ZebulonBrewer]

My Brother-in-law found a six pack of Brrr in a Western Ohio gas station, and gave me two of them. I'm excited to try it later. My 2015 Brrr (with the Motueka in place of Simcoe) was bottled about a week ago, and hopefully it is as good as the last few years.

 

[ZebulonBrewer]

Have the 2nd step of a Wyeast 1728 yeast starter going now. Will brew tomorrow on my day off

This will the first time I'm doing this recipe all grain, as well as my largest all grain to date, at nearly 17 pounds of grain. I'm excited, and will post the recipe a little later.

 

[ZebulonBrewer]

Finally brewing up the recipe, and also finally posting the AG recipe.

Went with the Wyeast for the yeast, and have a nice big started ready to go.