Spotted Cow Extract Clone Help / Challenge...Will Donate $25 to HomeBrewTalk

a little pic of my latest one ... man I love this beer!!

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?....264701482341.144091.595697341&type=3&theater

This FIB loves the cow. Thanks for the research everyone. This is in the queue for sure. I might do a second batch with a small amount of rye for schnicks. Fruity with a bit of zing might be fun.

Beers!

My youngest son's birthday is coming up in June so I plan to have a variety of home brew on tap for all to enjoy. I made a batch of BrewNinja's recipe again for the occasion so the uninitiated have something easy drinking.

I love this thread, glad there are so many people so committed to getting this right. Spotted Cow is one of my wife and I's favorite beers, and now that we live in Cleveland we cant get it. Ok, I just picked up all the equipment to go all grain, and we want to brew this as our first beer.

After reading through the whole thread, it sounds like Beer Ninja's Recipe from post #249 was the closest, if anyone has gotten any closer, I would love to know. Reading through it sounded like there were problems getting the yeast right, and I wondered, if anyone tried to collect the yeast from the bottle of Cow and make a yeast starter from that...I would imagine you couldn't get any closer than that.

Let me know if you have any input, I am going to get my ingredients ordered and brew in a week or so.

Cheers,

Mike

pvtschultz said:

I think that BrewNinja's version has been the clone standard based on my trials and reading back through this thread. BeerBaronBob's has about a pound more rye which adds a distinct flavor/crispness to the brew and the cluster hops is different (but promising based on my ~4 week taste test). I've reposted BrewNinja's recipe below.

The Kolsch yeast is very easy to top crop and I just used a third generation for my most recent batch. The yeast will impart a green taste to the beer during bottle conditioning for 1-3 weeks so be patient.


Recipe: Spotted Cow Clone
Style: Cream Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 6.59 gal
Estimated OG: 1.047 SG
Estimated Color: 5.0 SRM
Estimated IBU: 15.3 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
5.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 48.78 %
2.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 19.51 %
1.75 lb Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM) Grain 17.07 %
0.50 lb Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 4.88 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 4.88 %
0.50 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 4.88 %
0.35 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] (60 min) Hops 10.1 IBU
0.50 oz Saaz [4.00 %] (30 min) Hops 5.2 IBU
1.10 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs Kolsch Yeast (Wyeast Labs #2565) Yeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 10.25 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 12.81 qt of water at 164.6 F 152.0 F

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is it really with that small ammount of hops? this will be my first brew and first time will be all grain want my favorite beer i cant get in oregon cloned

also im told your supposed to use siome ammount of orange peels

misterX said:

is it really with that small amount of hops? this will be my first brew and first time will be all grain want my favorite beer i cant get in Oregon cloned

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Cream Ale guidelines state 15-20 IBU, this one leans a bit more to the malt.

brewing it now first ever batch of beer doing all grain 8 minutes till hop edition #2

misterX said:

brewing it now first ever batch of beer doing all grain 8 minutes till hop edition #2

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First ever!!! .. now that's the way to start .... just give it at least 3 weeks to ferment and a couple weeks in the bottle .... your gonna love it ... cheers

misterX said:

also im told your supposed to use siome ammount of orange peels

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Pretty sure New Glarus does not use any orange peels in making Spotted Cow

og at 1.o47 i was spot on

i noticed it isnt a verry active ferment on mine at least nothing like doing wine or other alcohols ive done before should i ferment with a brewbelt on it maybe to kick it in the butt and get it moving along?

misterX said:

i noticed it isnt a verry active ferment on mine at least nothing like doing wine or other alcohols ive done before should i ferment with a brewbelt on it maybe to kick it in the butt and get it moving along?

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I would say that it really depends on what temp its at right now. Yeast don't appreciate abrupt changes in temp. And adding heat might just make it produce esters that you wouldn't want in the cow. Even if the airlock activity is slow, it doesn't necessarily indicate that it's fermenting slowly. If you're in the low 60's range, I would recommend that you just try to keep it steady.

I just kegged my batch a week ago after 10 days in the primary. I pitched my starter at 60 degrees and allowed it slowly rise to 64 during the period. It tastes really good, still cloudly as hell but its got that fruity cream ale flavor that I was shooting for. I'll post my recipe and some pictures with a side by side with the original cow in a couple more days. I feel like it always tastes best if it can sit in the keg for awhile after its carbed

100th Post!

i may get a trip to wisconsin soon from my aunt and uncle that are there still and this brew supply store here claims to be able do clone any beer you bring in so its worth a try buying some and for $150 they take care of the fermenting and bottling and all the ingredients you go in there and brew a 15 gal batch no mess to clean or anything not a bad deal id say

I like spotted cow fine, but I don't think I'd ever want 15 gallons of it. It's not the most flavorful beer out there and I think some of new glarus' other brews are better

at 1.007 now you think ferment should be about done enough to transfer to secondary?

X ...don't even transfer to a secondary. Since you are at terminal gravity let it sit a while to clear up then keg/bottle it

misterX said:

at 1.007 now you think ferment should be about done enough to transfer to secondary?

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That's a really low gravity, are you checking it with a refractometer or hydrometer? I even pitched a boat load of yeast from a harvest, fermented warmer, and still stopped at 1.012 with my hydrometer. I've got two more weeks of bottle time and then we'll be able to see how it turned out.

ok here's what I did

04/19/2012

5 lb 2 Row
1.5 lb Flaked Maize
1.5 lb Vienna
1 lb Flaked Barley
1 lb Crystal 10L

2.3 oz Hersbrucker (2.6% AA) 60 minutes ===> I intended 2 oz but it was all I had left so I just went with it
0.5 oz Saaz (3% AA) 5 minutes
irish moss added with 15 minutes left
estimated IBU: 18.5

Wyeast Kolsch with 1 liter starter

Mashed at 152 degrees with 4 gallons
Sparged with 4.5 gallons 168 degree

90 minute boil with a little added water at the end to get a batch size of 5.5 gallons.
estimated og 1.050
measured 1.050

It was chilly during this week so I just put it near the window with a wet tshirt on it. It was at 60 for the first couple days. So I closed the window and it raised to 64 over the next 7 days. The 10th day I took a gravity reading and it was at 1.006. A little drier than I wanted it to get but oh well. I cold crashed it and racked it into the keg the next day. This was 15 days ago.

Now that I can taste them side by side I think I have to go with the opinions of the others who have attempted; I like mine better.
that being said, they are very close. They are both crisp and have that fruity tang right up front. My brew has a little more spice to it, and I do have to say that mine tastes a bit grassy at the end, which I suspect could be remedied by using little less sazz(or by using hallertauer instead of hersbrucker, which I now realize lends grassy flavors as well). They are almost identical bitterness wise, but I would still say that mine is a little bit stronger, so I could probably reduce the hersbrucker to 2 oz, to aim for 16 IBUs compared to the 18.5 I got. Mine is darker, but not by much. Mine is also cloudier, which is unusual given how clear my ales have been lately. This leads me to wonder if the flaked barley is to blame, as I have heard others tell about its potential for cloudiness.

If I were to attempt this again I would reduce the barley to half a pound, and probably use a bit less saaz adding it at flameout instead of 5 min(or just use hallertauer instead of hersbrucker). Mash at 154 to 156 for a higher FG, aim for 16-17 IBUs, and I probably wouldn't do anything about the crystal cause I like it looking darker anyways.

BTW they both are a bit clearer than they are in the pic

Loving this thread. In fact, it got me - a forum lurker - to finally post.

My question is directed mostly at wookiemofo, if you're still hanging around this thread (but I'd love feedback from anyone). How did your partial mash recipe compare to the AG? I'm still not equipped for a full AG mash, and was going to do something close to your partial mash bill (from way back on #115 on this thread). My only change is to tone the extract down by a half pound to get to a 4.9% ABV (beersmith has your #115 recipe at 5.5%). Any thoughts?

It seems BeerNinja's AG recipe has also done well. That has a half pound of crystal in it. What are the thoughts on crystal in this recipe?

The first PM recipe that I did was the best of them all... I stopped brewing it because a) I got sick of it and b) each time I brewed it got farther and farther away from the real thing. Even my PM was far off but I kind of preferred it, as did all my friends. I was just never able to duplicate it.

If I were to brew again I'd use someone's recipe from these later posts... As far as crystal, I can't really speak to it. Been way too long. I don't recall it doing much for the sweetness though. Aside from my recipe being sweeter then the real deal.

I entered brewninjas recipe in my first homedrew contest and scored a 36.5 .... I was pleased with that ... one note said perfect example of the style ... I will be in Wisconsin next week for some real sc and ill do a side by side ... cheers cow lovers

Love how the thread is still alive and well. I went ahead and finally had time to brew my clone of Spotted Cow. This was also my first go at it using BIAB and I;d have to say it was a great experience. Let me know what you think of the recipe. I'll let you know how it turns out once it is ready!

Some things I noticed when brewing it: I didn't need to get the strike water that high, the grains only dropped the temp a degree or two. I will also use 9 gallons of water to start next time since I didn't get 5.5 gallons in the primary. My efficiency was low, I believe it was 63% so there are two things I'll do next time: I'll double crush the grains and I will do a 10 minute mash out at 170.

Brew Method: BIAB
Style Name: Cream Ale
Boil Time: 75 min
Batch Size: 5.5 gallons
Boil Size: 8.5 gallons
Efficiency: 75%

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.048
Final Gravity: 1.012
ABV (standard): 4.7%
IBU (tinseth): 18.61
SRM (morey): 4.02

FERMENTABLES:
4 lb - Pale 2-Row (42.1%)
1.75 lb - Flaked Corn (18.4%)
0.75 lb - Flaked Barley (7.9%)
0.5 lb - Munich - Light 10L (5.3%)
2 lb - Pilsner (21.1%)
0.5 lb - Caramel / Crystal 10L (5.3%)

HOPS:
0.5 oz - Northern Brewer (AA 7.8) for 60 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil
0.5 oz - Saaz (AA 3.5) for 10 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil

MASH STEPS:
1) Temp: 162 F, Time: 0 min, Amount: 32 qt, Strike Temp
2) Infusion, Temp: 154 F, Time: 75 min, Amount: 32 qt, Mash temp

OTHER INGREDIENTS:
0.5 oz - Irish Moss, Time: 10 min, Type: Fining, Use: Boil

It has been eight weeks since the last time that I brewed brewninja's recipe with the best results so far. The biggest thing that I have learned over the last year or so is that I must pay attention to my water to control mash pH and to remove chloramine. That has resulted in a marked improvement in my beer quality which is showing up in this recipe. I'm comfortable now making comments and suggestions.

I ended up with about 19 IBU's and a 1.049 wort. This is too bitter for the style and the malt flavor was lost.
The 20 min Saz appears to be out of place. I don't pick up any hop flavor in Spotted Cow and there is a touch of grassiness in the finish of my beer. I'll shoot for 16-17 IBU total bitterness the next time and reduce or eliminate the 20 min addition.

The first thing I need to do is not over-carbonate, that'll be an easy fix.

To bring out more maltiness, I plan to switch the 4 ounce C20L to an 8 ounce C10L. I'll leave the rest of the recipe alone for the time being.

I used 50/50 RO to dechlorinated Milwaukee tap water with about 50 ppm Ca and a 1.50:1 CL:SO4 ratio. I'm going to up the RO percentage and also bring the Ca to upwards of 100 ppm w/o adding any additional SO4. This should increase the Cl:SO4 ratio and hopefully smooth out the flavor a bit more.

I have a few more beer in front of this again, but I'll shoot for having a batch ready as we come out of winter hibernation in WI.

eanmcnulty said:

I have made six versions of Spotted Cow, and that is a lot for, because I am not really a fan. My friends are, and it was a challenge to try to make it as close as I could. Well, this version is my third, and I think it was the best. Unfortunately I don't remember if it was the closest to Spotted Cow, but it was really tasty.

We differ in our amounts of Crystal 20, Munich, and Flaked Barley. Also, I just used all 2-row for base malt. I think you will get more hop character from the 10 min of .5oz Saaz than I did. I don't think there will be a lot of difference between Hallertauer and Northern Brewer. Let us know how it turns out.

Spotted Cow Clone
Style: Cream Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Boil Size: 3.14 gal
Post Boil Volume: 2.86 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 2.50 gal
Bottling Volume: 2.50 gal
Estimated OG: 1.050 SG
Estimated Color: 4.8 SRM
Estimated IBU: 15.5 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 71.5 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

3.50 lb Pale 2 Row US (2.0 SRM) 65.4%
1.00 lb Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM) 18.7%
0.50 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) 9.3%
0.25 lb Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) 4.7%
0.10 lb Crystal Malt 20L (20.0 SRM) 1.9%
0.75 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker [2.40%] Boil 60 min 13.1 IBUs
0.25 ts Irish Moss Boil 15.0 mins)
0.25 oz Saaz [6.80%] Boil 5.0 min 2.5 IBUs
1.0 pkg Kolsch Yeast Wyeast Labs #2565

No Sparge Mash - Mash In - Add 16.16 qt of water at 160.9 F - 154.0 F for 60 min

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going to try this 1 today. My hops are 6.5 percent German traditions though. Will see how it turns out thanks.

Well from what I've read so far is that there's no extract recipe to get a good clone of SC, but PM is feasible if you have a good supply of pots. I haven't had a SC in years and I'm glad I stumbled upon this thread. This is definitely going to be my first batch when I'm finally settled here in FL.

Here's a PM recipe I made thats more on the extract side so there's very little grain malt. I have 3 hop additions (60, 30, 5) with a 5 min to get more aroma in there since Beerninja said there clone didn't have much of an aroma. Please take a look as I'm a type of Brewer that just throws stuff together and call it beer. Comments would be welcomed.


http://hopville.com/recipe/1661022

I modified the batch a little then brewed up a batch today. The small change I made was whats written on the SC label. I used 6 Row malt instead of the 2 row.

Here's what I have.

Spotted Ninja Cow
Style: Cream Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Boil Size: 7.5 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.5 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.5 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.0gal
Estimated OG: 1.055 SG
Estimated Color: 4.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 15.5 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 81.6 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 87.6 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes
5 lb Pale 6 Row US (2.0 SRM) 48.8%
2 lb Belgian Pilsner (2.0 SRM) 19.5%
1.75 lb Corn, Flaked (1.7 SRM) 17.1%
0.50 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) 4.9%
0.50 lb Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) 4.9%
0.50 lb Crystal Malt 20L (20.0 SRM) 4.9%
0.50 oz Northern Brewer (8.5%) Boil 60 min 13.1 IBUs
0.50 oz Saaz [4.0%] Boil 30 min 4.8 IBUs
1.00 Whirlfloc tablet
1.0 pkg Kolsch Yeast Wyeast Labs #2565

No Sparge Mash - Mash In - Add 7.5gals of water at 160 F - 154.0 F for 90 min

Let is know how it turns out

dawgmatic said:

ok here's what I did

04/19/2012

5 lb 2 Row
1.5 lb Flaked Maize
1.5 lb Vienna
1 lb Flaked Barley
1 lb Crystal 10L

2.3 oz Hersbrucker (2.6% AA) 60 minutes ===> I intended 2 oz but it was all I had left so I just went with it
0.5 oz Saaz (3% AA) 5 minutes
irish moss added with 15 minutes left
estimated IBU: 18.5

Wyeast Kolsch with 1 liter starter

Mashed at 152 degrees with 4 gallons
Sparged with 4.5 gallons 168 degree

90 minute boil with a little added water at the end to get a batch size of 5.5 gallons.
estimated og 1.050
measured 1.050

It was chilly during this week so I just put it near the window with a wet tshirt on it. It was at 60 for the first couple days. So I closed the window and it raised to 64 over the next 7 days. The 10th day I took a gravity reading and it was at 1.006. A little drier than I wanted it to get but oh well. I cold crashed it and racked it into the keg the next day. This was 15 days ago.

Now that I can taste them side by side I think I have to go with the opinions of the others who have attempted; I like mine better.
that being said, they are very close. They are both crisp and have that fruity tang right up front. My brew has a little more spice to it, and I do have to say that mine tastes a bit grassy at the end, which I suspect could be remedied by using little less sazz(or by using hallertauer instead of hersbrucker, which I now realize lends grassy flavors as well). They are almost identical bitterness wise, but I would still say that mine is a little bit stronger, so I could probably reduce the hersbrucker to 2 oz, to aim for 16 IBUs compared to the 18.5 I got. Mine is darker, but not by much. Mine is also cloudier, which is unusual given how clear my ales have been lately. This leads me to wonder if the flaked barley is to blame, as I have heard others tell about its potential for cloudiness.

If I were to attempt this again I would reduce the barley to half a pound, and probably use a bit less saaz adding it at flameout instead of 5 min(or just use hallertauer instead of hersbrucker). Mash at 154 to 156 for a higher FG, aim for 16-17 IBUs, and I probably wouldn't do anything about the crystal cause I like it looking darker anyways.

BTW they both are a bit clearer than they are in the pic

Click to expand...

I'll be brewing this tomorrow, per your suggestion I'm swapping hersbrucker for hallterauer.

Stir plate is spinning away, looking forward to brew day