What is your “flagship” beer?

[Dustbowl]

What is your “flagship” beer? The beer that you love most and represents your brewing best. Recipes welcome if you’re willing.

I’ll start, mine is called Death’s Door Double IPA. It’s the absolute favorite beer I brew and it’s a big hit with everyone there be shared it with.

5 Gallon Batch
Edit: OG 1.083,
FG 1.014,
9.2 % ABV

0.8 g Gypsum / gal Water
0.2 g CaCl2 / gal Water

73% 2-row
11% Munich
6% Crystal 40
10% Sugar

Mash pH 5.3
Mash Temp 154F

82 IBU Warrior @ First Wort
2 oz Centennial @ 15 min
2 oz Centennial @ 10 min
2 oz Centennial @ 5 min
2 oz Centennial @ Flameout

US-05 @ 67F
4 oz Centennial Dry Hop for 7 Days

Cheers!

 

[madscientist451]

Thanks for posting, what OG do you shoot for?

I suppose mine would be a Czech dark lager, suitably aged.

I'll post the recipe when I get home tomorrow.

 

[Dustbowl]

Thanks for posting, what OG do you shoot for?

I suppose mine would be a Czech dark lager, suitably aged.

I'll post the recipe when I get hope tomorrow.

Oops, OG 1.083. Edited original post with gravity and alcohol info.

Always up for a good dark lager!

 

[friarsmith]

Mine is a Standard American Lager

EZ Action Lager (5 gal)
90% 6row
10% Flaked Maize
Mash at 144-146* for 90 minutes, ramp to mashout if desired
90 minute boil
18 IBU Liberty hops @ 60 mins
1 oz Liberty hops in the whirlpool
WLP840
Low mineral water

 

[RPh_Guy]

0.8 g Gypsum / mL Water
0.2 g CaCl2 / mL Water

I'm sure this isn't what you mean.

 

[Dustbowl]

I'm sure this isn't what you mean.

Yep...should be gal, edited...too used to mLs in my day job. Would be a pretty salty beer, LOL.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

My citrus lawnmower blonde and my nut brown. Both are competition enders. Don't know where my bar would be without them. Bids for the recipes start at $1M.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

I don't really have one. I have a base IPA grain bill that I brew using various hop combos. That's easily a "fan favorite" with my friends and family. My wife loves those brews. There's no magic to it though:

Equal amounts of golden promise and pale ale malt, about 6% white wheat and enough acid malt to get the mash pH to around 5.3. RO water with gypsum and calcium chloride to achieve about 75ppm sulfate and 150ppm chloride.


The one I'm most proud of is just a BCBS clone recipe I found online that I tweaked by adding flaked oats. I pseudo barrel aged it with bourbon and cocoa nibs. It was amazing. I'll be brewing that one again this summer since I'm down to my last two bottles.

 

[BrewMan13]

American porter, no doubt:

7 lbs 2-Row
2 lbs Munich II
12.00 oz Black Patent
8.00 oz Crystal 40L
8.00 oz Chocolate Malt
1.50 oz Willamette 60 min
0.50 oz Willamette 20 min
American Ale Wyeast 1056

Left off the water chemistry bits, but suffice it to say, I follow the black-balanced bru'n water profile.

 

[Saunassa]

My cashmere hop blonde, I liked it and when my bud drank it he asked for another two cases.

 

[jswillbrewforbeer]

American Cream Ale I call "Brown's Race."

80% Rahr 6-Row
20% Briess Flaked Maize

150F - 60 Min
170F - 10 Min

Ca 73, Mg 11, Na 11, Cl 63, SO4 61, HCO 39

Magnum @ 90 (adjust this addition as needed to get 13-15 total recipe IBUs)
2.84 g/gal Hersbrucker @10

Chico Ale @ 68F

Fine w/ gelatin, carb to 2.6 Volumes

 

[Jfclem62]

As much as I've tried to push my Neipa as my "flagship", the one I get most compliments on is my Kolsch. which I must say is quickly becoming my go to when I pour a pint.

 

[Braufessor]

The one I always try to have on hand if I can - and my favorite beer is a Dortmunder Lager.

Water:
All RO water.....
Ca = 60
Na = 15
Sulfate = 90
Chloride = 40
Lactic Acid to get pH in the 5.25 range.
I tend to add all or most of the minerals into the mash, none in the sparge. If I don't put all in the mash, I add the rest direct to the kettle.

Grain:
I brew to about 1.050 gravity
As a general rule, I use this rough percentage of grain:
85% Base Malt (I like Weyermann Barke Pilsner).... but, you can use just about any combo of base malts including various pilsner malts, even portions of 2 row or things like golden promise
10-15% regular weyermann Munich malt
1-2% melanoiden Malt

I just do a simple infusion mash for 60-75 minutes at 150 degrees

Hops:
I go with 25-30 IBU's of something like Magnum to bitter at 60 minutes
10-15 IBU's of Something like Hallertau or Tettnang at 30 min.
5-10 IBU of something like Hallertau or Tettnang at 15 min.

Yeast - Good starter for a lager yeast.
I like 2124 or 2206
Ferment at 50-52 degrees for a week. Kick it up to 55-57 toward day 6-7-8-9. I put mine at room temperature (mid 60's for 4-5 days) after that to let it finish out. Back into the fermentation chamber for week 3.... dropping temp 5-10 degrees per day down to 33-35.

Then I transfer it to kegs and let it sit for at least 2-3 more weeks before starting to sample.... depending on my patience.

 

[Spartan1979]

Mine has been Altbier. But I think it may be moving to German Pils.

 

[bracconiere]

i like it dry, and never the same twice.....

 

[kevin58]

My go-to always on tap house beer used to be Denny's rye IPA but lately it's a toss up between my cream ale and 1880 Porter.

 

[bleme]

I've never brewed the same thing twice.
Even when I try to, I can't help but tweak it.
I guess that makes me a tweaker...

 

[thehaze]

Pale Ale ---> 95% Maris Otter + 5% Crystal 60L + 200 gr / 7 oz Amarillo + Large whirlpool and NO dry hopping + 5.5% ABV + 35 IBU
India Porter ---> 86% Maris Otter + 14% Black malt, Pale Chocolate, Crystal 90L, Crystal 160L + 200 gr / 7 oz Chinook + Large whirlpool and NO dry hopping + 8% ABV + 65 IBU

 

[2005STi]

HopHands clone

7lbs 2 row
3 lbs oats
1/2 lb honey malt

Mash 152. OG 1.054
1/2 oz each citra/mosaic/centennial @5min
1/2 oz each citra/mosaic/centennial @0min

London Ale 3 ferment @66F for 4 days and raise 1 deg/day until 1.012 FG

Dry Hop @ day 5 or <1.016
1oz centennial
1oz citra
2oz mosaic

 

[applescrap]

Founders kbs with cold brew dry processed Ethiopian, dutch processed cocoa powder, and a splash of stranahans in the glass.

 

[bkboiler]

my house beers and my flagship beer are different animals.

Flagship to me means most technically complex, representing an achievement of both capital investment, political savvy and large amounts of manpower.

House beers are just ones that will be popular.

Top 4 votes for flagship (my own recipes):

1. Piney the Lager - dank and yet crisp and dry. Focuses on pine and dank note hops using a Czech lager yeast strain.
2. Oaked WCIPA - heavy dry hop and medium toast oak, high ABV, but very smooth.
3. Coffee Hoppy Stout - roasted a very fruit forward coffee and brewed a basic american stout (adding the coffee brewed as a chemex in primary). Afterward dry hopped with loads of tropical fruit hops. Goes really well in a stout believe it or not.
4. Hibiscus Czech Premium Lager - pepper notes from Czech lager strain, floral from saaz dry hop and herbal and floral notes from hibiscus tea bags soaked prior to boil. Turned out a pink beer. Very fun to drink and not lacking complexity at all!

Honestly, even as they are flagship, I may not brew them again unless I have a party or event where I know they would be enjoyed...

As far as my house beers:
House vanilla-lactose cream ale
House appley cider
House low-ABV fizzy Mead
HBT "Orfy's" Mild Ale
HBT "Holly Ale" Winter Warmer
Beamish Clone
and if adventurous drinkers are coming around
I may also do
HBT "shipwrecked" Saison
HBT "nugget nectar" clone

Any of those house beers are easy enough to rebrew and please MOST people who come over...

My flagship beers may be amazing (imho), but most people coming to my house won't like them.. .

 

[RocketBrewer]

My personal go-to would probably be my "Such a Brut" IPA, a fruity, crushable 8% Brut IPA that I usually make 10 gal at a time and can drink one after another. Among others, it would probably be my "Vote for Pedro" Mexican Lager.

 

[deuc224]

As much as I've tried to push my Neipa as my "flagship", the one I get most compliments on is my Kolsch. which I must say is quickly becoming my go to when I pour a pint.

This does no one any good without knowing how to brew it sir lol!!!!

 

[applescrap]

My flagship is my house. And yes I quoted myself. First time actually.

Some other house brews, at thanksgiving time I brew a pumpkin beer that has a lot of pumpkin and very light spice. Zainasheff black widow porter is another one. Warm fermented lagers of course.

My other main staple, my flagship, my main vein, is daddys juice and daddys orchard. They are my recipes and they are on the forum somewhere. Really hoping someone will slap them in a recipe place for me. Anyways its hard cider fermented dry and backsweetened with the best black cherry juice I can find.

Founders kbs with cold brew dry processed Ethiopian, dutch processed cocoa powder, and a splash of stranahans in the glass.

 

[jonny24]

I basically tend to brew a rotation of Pilsner/Lager > English Pale/ Irish Red > American Pale > Guinness clone.

The "flagship" would be my Norfolk Pilsner. Out of those styles it's the one I can use most to get people to try homebrew, and impress them since they can compare to beers they are familiar with. For that reason I've spent the most time fine-tuning the recipe by making organized tweaks. The rest of the styles I brew are usually totally different each time, mostly based on what I have on hand. Lately I've been more focused into dialing in the ideal recipe, so that I can brew several batches this spring for my wedding in August.

Somewhat unfortunately, I've gone down the same path that most big brewers did in chasing crowd-pleasing drinkability - I'm not totally sure you could really call this a Pilsner anymore. I flip-flop on using pilsner malt or two-row, the IBU's have progressively dropped, and I'm not even using lager yeast technically. I haven't changed the name because I have custom reusable vinyl labels and a custom tap handle for it. Anyway, it's a damn good lager, and I'm generally quite proud to serve it to people.

Norfolk Pilsner - Heemskerk Brewery:

OG ~1.050, FG ~1.008 IBU ~20

Single infusion mash ~150 F, batch sparge

4kg 2-row (8.8 lb)
0.5 kg Vienna (1.1 lb)

15 IBU Perle @ 60
5 IBU Saaz @ 20

Mangrove Jack's M54 California Lager Yeast @ 65 F for three weeks, keg + chill, one more week before serving

 

[balrog]

Fun thread @Dustbowl

My two I make all the time are an altbier and a slight tweak on @Yooper 's Haus Pale
Altbier (originally an Alaskan Amber but much less crystal for a drier beer)
Bairds Maris Otter - 2.5-3.5L 6.50 pound
Bairds Medium Crystal Malt - 70-80L 1 pound
Briess Dark Munich Malt - 30L 1 pound
Weyermann CARAFA II Special - 413-450L 3 ounce
Magnum 0.6 oz 30
Saaz 1.5 oz 15
Whirlfloc 1 ea 5
Saaz 2.5 oz 0
WY1007 60°
Mash 152/60 boil 30
1.048OG 32ibu 19srm 5.0gal

Haus Pale
Bairds Maris Otter - 2.5-3.5L 4.0 pound
Briess Goldpils Vienna Malt - 3.5L 2 pound
Best Malz Munich Malt - 4.2-8.0L 2 pound

Magnum 0.35 oz 30
Cascade 1 oz 15
Whirlfloc 1 ea 5
Cascade 1 oz 0
Homegrown Cascade 2 oz 0

WY1450 64°
Mash 152/45 boil 30
1.046OG 32ibu 7srm 4.75gal

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Hmmm...for years my Flagship (the beer I brewed often) was a Pale Ale similar to Sierra Nevada Pale. It changed a little over the years (more hops) but the basic was:

• 9 lbs Pale Malt
• 1 lb Crystal 60
• 4 oz of Cascade (1 oz at 60, 20, 0, dry hop)
• Chico Yeast

Well, I have gotten less fond of Crystal and more fond of hops, so I still have to devote some time to my "new" house pale ale, but the last one with a mix of Pale + Munich + Wheat was close.

I bit ago I came up with a list of my "core" beers that I want to devote time to "perfecting". I have made good progress on a few (American IPA and English Porter), and some are a work in progress that I have brewed once or twice (Dubbel, Milk Stout, Single, etc.). I have not really started the Triple or Quad.

Hoppy
- American IPA
- American Pale Ale - Classic
- American Pale Ale - New
- Rye IPA
- NEIPA / Hazy Pale

Dark/Roasty
- English Porter
- Oatmeal Stout
- Imperial Stout
- Milk Stout
- Multi-grain Porter (Wheat/Rye/Oats)

Belgian
- Single
- Dubbel
- Saison
- Triple
- Quad