jeffg
Well-Known Member
So I have been drinking my Fat Tire clone for about a month now, and while I am reasonably happy with it, I am not fully satisfied. The only catch is, I do not have the real thing to do a side by side comparison, so I am only going by memory as to what is missing.
Here's my recipe for five gallons all-grain :
6 lbs belgian pale malt
.5 crystal 20
.5 crystal 40
.5 carapils
.5 Munich malt
.5 bisquit
.5 chocolate
1 oz willamette 4.9% 60 minutes
.3 oz Willammette 15
.3 oz Willamette 5
california ale yeast
OG 1.050
FG 1.009
For starters, I think I'd bump the grain bill up to 10 lbs and try to get a little more malt flavor, maybe by adding a pound of munich or vienna...not really sure. I think it could have use a teeny bit more hops as well. The other thing is, the california ale yeast is almost too clean. I recall Fat tire has a slight aftertaste to its finish that I associate with may be a different yeast. Thing is, I read an article with the brewer where he sugested using a clean yeast like the Chico yeast.
I think the bisquit flavor is just about right. What would more chocolate do to the flavor? I odn't think the color is perfect either, I think this is darker than FT which is dark but has a hint of amber/red in it (could be wrong there though).
I think it is good for my first attempt at this particular style, but it could be better. This appears to be one of the more popular styles on this board from what I can tell so I'd love some suggestions/input/etc.
What say you?
Here's my recipe for five gallons all-grain :
6 lbs belgian pale malt
.5 crystal 20
.5 crystal 40
.5 carapils
.5 Munich malt
.5 bisquit
.5 chocolate
1 oz willamette 4.9% 60 minutes
.3 oz Willammette 15
.3 oz Willamette 5
california ale yeast
OG 1.050
FG 1.009
For starters, I think I'd bump the grain bill up to 10 lbs and try to get a little more malt flavor, maybe by adding a pound of munich or vienna...not really sure. I think it could have use a teeny bit more hops as well. The other thing is, the california ale yeast is almost too clean. I recall Fat tire has a slight aftertaste to its finish that I associate with may be a different yeast. Thing is, I read an article with the brewer where he sugested using a clean yeast like the Chico yeast.
I think the bisquit flavor is just about right. What would more chocolate do to the flavor? I odn't think the color is perfect either, I think this is darker than FT which is dark but has a hint of amber/red in it (could be wrong there though).
I think it is good for my first attempt at this particular style, but it could be better. This appears to be one of the more popular styles on this board from what I can tell so I'd love some suggestions/input/etc.
What say you?