Buffalo Sweat, from Tall Grass Brewing - Please help me put this one together

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Very good, sir!

Many thanks - between the description on the website and the information provided by your post, I should be able to knock it together. The percentages of the grains will most likely be the biggest challenge, but trial and error are most of the fun!

Take care -

Ron
 
I believe that I have this recipe converted to 1 gallon. It is, as far as I can tell, a direct conversion from Northern Brewer's all-grain recipe posted in the link above.

The OG and FG both seem to be a couple of hundredths of a point high in my conversion, but I generally do not worry about this, as it could be a variation in Brewers Friend, or my error when inputting mash guidelines, grains etc.

The one thing that stuck out like a sore thumb was my IBU count. Tall Grass Brewing's page on Buffalo Sweat says specifically that the IBUs are 10, yet the recipe I have entered shows them at 26.23 (Rager). Would it be a good idea to modify the hops a bit, based on this? My inclination is to do so, but it could also be a typo or something at the website?

There are a few other minor differences. The recipe doesn't use CaraPils, but the website says that it has it. Little things like that.

I have only had the one taste of this stout, so I am not totally familiar with it. If anyone has had a chance to compare both the original and Northern Brewer's recipe, I'd appreciate a comment or two about how they compare to each other. A few other things I could use help with are:

Should the IBUs come down a bit? If so, what would be the best way to do that and keep with the original beer?

Should I consider adding (or subbing) CaraPils in there somewhere, or will the grains in the recipe achieve the same effect?

Any and all suggestions would be appreciated. I want to get this one as close as possible - partially because it is a damned good beer, but also because it is a favourite beer of one of my best friends. If I can get the recipe as close as possible, I'd like to sue it to introduce him to homebrewing.

Thanks again -

Ron
 
By watching the video posted - if you look at the can as he puts it down it says 20 IBU not 10. Probably a typo on their website.
 
Good catch, A_M - I didn't see that, but it makes sense. With that in mind I'll shoot for around 20 - or maybe even leave it as-is.

Thanks! :mug:
 
I brewed this from the recipe that is listed in the northern brewers link early this year. I love the beer and when I tried it side by side it was not even close to the original. This was before I had my water tested. I found my water extremely hard so so my mash pH was very high. I installed a RO filter in my house since then. I brewed another batch 2 weeks ago and changed things in the recipe. I used Vienna malt instead of the 2 row that most call for. The Tallgrass website said that's what they use. I also added 8 oz. of carapils something else Tallgrass mentioned on their website. I used 1oz. of Glacier hops along with .25 oz. of Willamete hops also which brought my IBU to 14.7. I used 80 percent RO water and 10 percent well water with 3.8 grams of calcium chloride which got my mash pH to 5.4 which should be much better than my first batch. I'm hoping for a closer taste to the original with this recipe.

Good luck
 
It's definitely more than 10. I don't think 26 will be too different. You checked your AA% to make sure they're the same?

Carapils is for body and head. There are other things in the recipe for that, but the body/mouthfeel is one of the great things about that beer.
 
Hey, Bigarcherynut - thanks for the reply. My water tends to be on the soft side, so we'll see how it goes with this. Some of the ebst beers I've made have been in the brown/porter/stout range using this water, so I am guessing that we're in good shape there.

Hi, Eric, and thanks for the excellent suggestions. I checked the AAs and they seemed to be really close or identical, so that looks good. I was thinking of splitting the glacier hops in half and adding half at 60 and half at 30. This is what I normally do, anyway, so it makes sense.

Based on the website and comments, it sounds like it wouldn't hurt at all to add a little CaraPils to the grain bill. Would anyone care to recommend an amount of CaraPils for a 1-gallon batch? Here is what I have so far:

American Pale Ale Malt - 1.55 lb (currently Briess, but I've heard that this results in a rather "thin" beer - suggestions?)
Roasted Barley - 0.2 lb
Vienna - 0.2 lb
Flaked Oats - 0.1 lb
Victory - 0.1 lb
Black Patent - 0.075 lb (1.2 oz)

I am unfamiliar with a couple of those grains - I am assuming that the roasted barley and black patent contribute to the coffee and chocolate flavours?

Thanks again to all -

Ron
 
Well, after splitting the Glacier hops into 2 additions (.1 oz at 60 and .1 oz at 30), the IBUs are down to 20.59...I can live with that! :mug:
 
TasunkaWitko said:
American Pale Ale Malt - 1.55 lb (currently Briess, but I've heard that this results in a rather "thin" beer - suggestions?)
Roasted Barley - 0.2 lb
Vienna - 0.2 lb
Flaked Oats - 0.1 lb
Victory - 0.1 lb
Black Patent - 0.075 lb (1.2 oz)
Click to expand...

Now that I've actually read things more thoroughly I see something I might be able to contribute. With your inquiry on American Pale Ale Malt, I don't know what base malt Tallgrass uses for this, someone recommended Vienna instead and that might be good (I see you already have a little). Maris Otter is good in Stouts (I think), so maybe that would be something to look for. I've used Malting Company of Ireland (MCI) Stout Malt, and that has made for some good Stouts like these.

I haven't compared these malts well enough (although I think the Vienna SMaSH I made was the maltiest thing ever), and it has been a while since I had Buffalo Sweat (I remember liking it, but I can't recall how exactly it tasted), so it is up to other readers to give you an idea on what would be best, or you to do some experimenting and let us know what malt works the best.
 
Kent88 said:
Now that I've actually read things more thoroughly I see something I might be able to contribute. With your inquiry on American Pale Ale Malt, I don't know what base malt Tallgrass uses for this, someone recommended Vienna instead and that might be good (I see you already have a little). Maris Otter is good in Stouts (I think), so maybe that would be something to look for. I've used Malting Company of Ireland (MCI) Stout Malt, and that has made for some good Stouts like these.

I haven't compared these malts well enough (although I think the Vienna SMaSH I made was the maltiest thing ever), and it has been a while since I had Buffalo Sweat (I remember liking it, but I can't recall how exactly it tasted), so it is up to other readers to give you an idea on what would be best, or you to do some experimenting and let us know what malt works the best.
Click to expand...

I posted about using Vienna Malt. After I read your post I revisited the Tallgrass website to see what they listed for Buffalo Sweat. I may have read this wrong. Here is what they listed for malts.

Malts: Brewer’s Malt, Goldpils/Vienna, Victory, Carapils, Roasted Barley, Black Malt

Being fairly new at all grain I took it to mean Goldpils/Vienna was the base malt. Am I wrong? Brewer's Malt I took it to mean the list of malts used. Is Brewer's Malt a particular kind of malt?

I compared pale 2 row used in some of the buffalo clones to Vienna and read the Vienna would be malty. I decided to go with the Vienna seeing my batch with 2 row was not close to the original beer.
 
Revisiting this as I move closer to it actually becoming a reality. This might already be psoted somewhere else, but putting it down, so I don't forget:

TallGrass Brewing Company said:
Style: Oatmeal Cream Stout

"...rich taste, creamy mouthfeel and sweet, lingering finish as liquid chocolate chip cookies made with espresso...."

ABV: 5.0%

IBU: 14 (this must be a typo - the can says 20)

Malts: 2Row Pale, Carapils, Vienna, Victory, Black, Roasted Barley, Malted White Wheat

Hops: Columbus, Willamette

Adjuncts: Lactose Sugar, Flaked Oats

http://tallgrassbeer.com/buffalosweat/
Click to expand...

Also, the can says that the OG is 1.057 and the ABV is 5%/Vol.
 
Based on the information in the post immediately above this one, here is my "best guess." It hits the numbers (except for ABV, where it is a little high) and seems to conform to the maximum percentages for the various specialty grains etc. I was very tempted to use Maris Otter, but this "seems" to be an American Stout, so I stayed with American 2-row from MaltEurop, which uses Montana barley.

The problem is that I've only tasted Buffalo Sweat once, so I am going off of memory and descriptions. I think it's close, but if those who have more experience with this stout want to offer some tweaks, I am all ears.

Buffalo Sweat
Oatmeal Cream Stout
TasunkaWitko's Adaptation

1 Gallon
All-Grain

OG - 1.057
FG - 1.014
ABV - 5.59
IBU - 20.07
SRM - 37.69

Fermentables

1.0 lb 2-Row American Pale Malt (MaltEurop) - 43.5%
0.30 lb Vienna Malt (MaltEurop) - 13%
0.30 lb Victory Malt (Briess) - 13%
0.25 lb Wheat Malt (MaltEurop) - 10.9%
0.15 lb Roasted Barley (Briess) - 6.5%
0.10 lb 2-row Black Malt (Briess) - 4.3%
0.10 lb 2-Row Carapils Malt (Briess) - 4.3%
0.10 lb Flaked Oats - 4.3%

60-minute mash at 156 degrees

60-Minute Boil

60 Minutes - Columbus - 0.05 oz
30 Minutes - Willamette - 0.10 oz
1 Minute - Willamette - 0.10 oz

Other Ingredients

Lactose - 0.1 lb

Yeast - S04
 
I taste this beer quite often. My batch is not like the original at all. Same as my first attempt. It's good and drinkable but I want to brew something close to the original. It's missing that coffee finishing flavor. Actually all of my clones for porters and stouts I try are missing that taste. Either the recipes are not right or I'm doing something wrong.

If I could only taste yours I could tell you it you're on to it. Lol

Please help me out with what I need to do to boost the coffee flavor of my brews.
 
I am guessing that the coffee comes from the black malt and the roasted barley. I tried to make them fairly prominent in my attempted recipe, with a chance for the chocolate and cream flavours to come through, as well. Since the description includes a cookie flavour, as well, I am hoping that those notes will be represented by the Victory, Vienna and wheat.
 
It has been a few months since you started this thread, have you attempted a batch yet, or are you just now getting to it?

The recipe sheet reads Wyeast 1098, pitched into cold wort. If you could stick with that, I think it would be a good idea.
 
Hi, Kent - I apologise for my tardy response.

I have not yet brewed this beer, mostly because I am trying to brew my way through the last few pre-packaged mixes that I have from Brooklyn Brew Shop (all have been excellent, by the way). I'm hoping to try it mid-to-late winter, maybe in time for Saint Patrick's Day.

Based on what I have read on TallGrass's website and on this forum - and the one time that I tried this beer - I think my post above hits pretty close. Even if it isn't perfect, I look on it as a starting point, and hope that I can "tweak" it from there.

As for yeast, I am pretty much limited to dry yeast due to my location (over 200 miles from the nearest LHBS), but if I get a chance, I will use the 1098, for sure. The selection of S04 was based on past experience with it, although I've also done well with Nottingham in stouts.

If you get the chance, give it a shot and let me know how close (or how far off) it is! :mug:
 

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