Blue Moon Clone

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JONNYROTTEN said:
So for my reference and others if it works out good. Will post results
12 gallons
11# 2 row
9# white wheat
3 oz German tettnang @60 (because I had it)
3 teaspoon crushed coriander seed because its all I had left ( smells way better and fresher than the powder)
4 teaspoon powdered coriander...both additions at 10 min
3 teaspoons dried Valencia peel at 5 min
Chilled at flameout (no steep) to pitch temps
Click to expand...
This beer taste amazingly bland after hitting FG at 7 days. The 05 is borderline water and the wlp400 got saved a tad by the yeast. I don't see how carbing will save it but you never know. It needs an orange infusion or just about anything to make it a real beer. Granted I came in at 1.045 which was right for the volume I had.
Even my wife said the sample was bland and that's saying something
 
TasunkaWitko said:
I think you're missing the flaked oats.
Click to expand...
Maybe. It's an odd batch to say the least. Many wheat beers are just 2 row and wheat. I have the wlp400 cold crashing now and a orange vodka mix I plan on dumping in. I was thinking of dry hopping the 05 batch still sitting at room temps with cascade or mosaic or centennial I have I hand. I was reading they work in a wheat and sorta turn it into a NEIPA.
 
Blue Moon is 10% flaked oats. That might be why your OG was off? Just a guess - it might have been mash temps, perhaps.

The Cascade hops might be worth a try - I used them on a couple of things recently and really liked them. A little floral, a little citrusy. They might save the beer.
 
So, I am just getting back into brewing so forgive me for the noob questions.

In regards to Wayne's recipe post #429:

What volume of strike water should I use?
Then I add 2 gals 200F water to raise mash to 168F, right?
Sparge temp and final volume?

I did read, search through the thread but no help. TIA!
 
Welp...This turned out pretty darn good.
To be honest the tincture made the beer I think. Before racking I took a pint and it was pretty bland. I added the tincture and it bumped the flavor. It's only the first day carbed and we'll see how it ages but I think I would make this again for a summer beer.
This the WLP400
The 05 batch was straight water tasting and dry hopped to bring in some flavor. Not kegging that till this one is killed. Might be a couple of weeks at lager temps. I'll be interested how that works out

UPDATE: A couple day later nice and carbed and balanced and this beer is awesome!
It will be a regular in my rotation for sure. Perfect for when you dont want another IPA or darker malty beer.
 

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Well I brewed this yesterday for the ladies for our annual river trip. BIAB 2.5 G batch. My boil gravity was supposed to be 1.037 and I hit 1.038, OG was supposed to be 1.050 and I got 1.051. Good enough for me. Even though I brewed it for the girls, I'm excited to try it out. What vol of CO2 are people shooting for this. I've read anywhere from 2.5 to 3.
 
Alright I just cracked open a bottle of this. I brewed with wb-06. It's got a good flavor to it actually. Not my favorite but barely any tartness. The trick is pitch/ferment at 62f for a few days. Once fermentation slows down to around airlock bubbles every 15 seconds bump up to 64f for 2 days, bump up to 66f for 2 days, then bump up to 68f and let it ride for a week or so. I know I know airlock activity is not the best judge of fermentation but that's what I did with refractometer readings every so often. Almost have this nailed. So close that I'm brewing this again next weekend with us-05 and fingers crossed!
 
I would like to try using fresh sweet orange peel when I brew again this weekend. The grain bill is spot on and the additions are as well now. Trying us-05. My question is I ended up using 1 oz dried sweet orange peel at 5 minutes. How many fresh oranges, or ozs, of fresh zest should I use?
 
rtstrider said:
I would like to try using fresh sweet orange peel when I brew again this weekend. The grain bill is spot on and the additions are as well now. Trying us-05. My question is I ended up using 1 oz dried sweet orange peel at 5 minutes. How many fresh oranges, or ozs, of fresh zest should I use?
Click to expand...
I have brewed a Blue Moon clone about 10 times as my wife likes it. I've never substituted home made dried sweet orange peel for the store bought kind.

What I have done is made my own "dry orange peel" by taking the zest from 8 naval oranges and heating them in the oven for 20 minutes at 200 on parchment paper, then adding half of them to each of 2 kegs in nylon bags. This was a 10 gallon batch. This really accentuated the orange flavor and aroma.

We drank it all and my wife liked it but she said she preferred my standard BM recipe so I never did it again.
 
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This was the first beer I brewed with my new 2 vessel electric system and it turned out to be one of the best beers I have made. I used Wayne's recipe in post #429, except I used 2 oz of sweet orange peel. Making it again next week for a guys fishing trip next month. This will be a regular brew!

Thank You!

20180511_200828.jpeg
 
Ok guys I freakin nailed it. Been trying for this right over a year. Here's the recipe and you're welcome!

5 Gallon batch
BIAB
Use either reverse osmosis or distilled water only (if you're going to use the water profile below)
OG 1.049
FG 1.008
ABV 5.38% (real Blue Moon is 5.40% so this is pretty much right on the money)
Efficiency 70%
Yeast: 1 packet of US-05 rehydrated

Water profile additions (added to the boil)

2.5 grams gypsum
1 gram pickling salt
3 grams calcium chloride

Grain Bill

4.6LB Pale 2 row
3.6LB White Wheat
1LB Flaked Oats

Mashed at 155F for 60 Minutes

Hops

1oz Hallertau at 90 minutes

2 Grams Yeast nutrient 10 minutes

1oz Brewers Best Coriander 10 min addition (I put this in a ziploc bag and used a rolling pin to crush this prior to adding to the boil)

1oz Brewers Best Sweet Orange Peel 5 min addition

Now I used a paint strainer bag for the spice additions just like you would a muslin bag with steeping grains

So add the 1oz Coriander at 10 min to the paint strainer bag and 1oz sweet orange peel at 5 min to the paint strainer bag.

Now here's the trick I found that made the difference.

Once you remove from heat or turn off the heat let everything stand for 5 minutes before chilling the wort. Now chill the wort (with the spices still in there) to 60F. Remove spice paint strainer bag. I gave mine a few good dunks and squeezes and move the wort to the fermenter. Rehydrate the US-05 and let sit for 30 minutes prior to pitching. Oxygenate the wort (I just shook the heck out of my 6.5 gallon bucket fermenter). Pitch the yeast and ferment at 66F till you are within .1 to .05 points of your FG then ramp up the ferment temps to 68F and let that ride out. I pitched the yeast around 7PM 5/19 and the fermentation completed on 5/24. Going to let this sit in the primary for another week or so for the yeasties to help do their thing and for a little bulk aging :) The sample literally tastes just like Blue Moon. I hope this helps the fellow home brewers that have been working on this just like I have! Good luck!
 
Hi there has been a lot of confusion on the spicing. Do your think 2.5 tsp of ground coriander @ 10 mins and 1oz of sweet orange peel @ 1 min / flameout would be within the acceptable range?
 
rtstrider said:
Ok guys I freakin nailed it. Been trying for this right over a year. Here's the recipe and you're welcome!

5 Gallon batch
BIAB
Use either reverse osmosis or distilled water only (if you're going to use the water profile below)
OG 1.049
FG 1.008
ABV 5.38% (real Blue Moon is 5.40% so this is pretty much right on the money)
Efficiency 70%
Yeast: 1 packet of US-05 rehydrated

Water profile additions (added to the boil)

2.5 grams gypsum
1 gram pickling salt
3 grams calcium chloride

Grain Bill

4.6LB Pale 2 row
3.6LB White Wheat
1LB Flaked Oats

Mashed at 155F for 60 Minutes

Hops

1oz Hallertau at 90 minutes

2 Grams Yeast nutrient 10 minutes

1oz Brewers Best Coriander 10 min addition (I put this in a ziploc bag and used a rolling pin to crush this prior to adding to the boil)

1oz Brewers Best Sweet Orange Peel 5 min addition

Now I used a paint strainer bag for the spice additions just like you would a muslin bag with steeping grains

So add the 1oz Coriander at 10 min to the paint strainer bag and 1oz sweet orange peel at 5 min to the paint strainer bag.

Now here's the trick I found that made the difference.

Once you remove from heat or turn off the heat let everything stand for 5 minutes before chilling the wort. Now chill the wort (with the spices still in there) to 60F. Remove spice paint strainer bag. I gave mine a few good dunks and squeezes and move the wort to the fermenter. Rehydrate the US-05 and let sit for 30 minutes prior to pitching. Oxygenate the wort (I just shook the heck out of my 6.5 gallon bucket fermenter). Pitch the yeast and ferment at 66F till you are within .1 to .05 points of your FG then ramp up the ferment temps to 68F and let that ride out. I pitched the yeast around 7PM 5/19 and the fermentation completed on 5/24. Going to let this sit in the primary for another week or so for the yeasties to help do their thing and for a little bulk aging :) The sample literally tastes just like Blue Moon. I hope this helps the fellow home brewers that have been working on this just like I have! Good luck!
Click to expand...

Ok I'll say I finally was able to source a pack of 3944 (pitched at a 0.75 ale rate per brewers friend using a stir plate) locally, did a step mash, and swapped out the sweet orange peel with bitter. Used the same recipe above with 3944 and MUCH better and true to style. Had a head brewer swear he just drank a Hoegaarden. Said he hates Wits but he'd drink it. Said it was really good.
 
So according to my calculations 1 oz of coriander would 6 tsps that seems like a awful lot. I was thinking more of 2.5 or 3 tsps. Should I go closer to the 6 tsp or will that overpower everything?
 
I would suggest weighing it...then you know.

If you're worried about it being too much, then back off a quarter or a third, but still weigh it and keep notes; if it works well for you, then you will want to repeat it.
 
I have been brewing this for years and it is spot on. But, I can no longer find dried Valencia Orange Peel. Does anyone have a source for it?
 
I tried both McCormicks and Frontier and ended up using Frontier for the last couple of batches.
Recipes HERE.
I'm back by the way, and for the posts that I still see here today, this recipe seems to be still very alive. Good to know, I may need some help to refresh my mind on how to brew again. Slowly but getting back.
Wayne, I assume you are still around, yes?
Thanks.
 
Wayne1 said:
nilo,
Great to see you on the forums. I am recently retired from pro brewing but I am very willing to help amateurs.
Wayne
Click to expand...
Now that you're around could you clarify the spice amounts. There was a lot of confusion.

Also dried vs zest orange amounts
 
nilo said:
I tried both McCormicks and Frontier and ended up using Frontier for the last couple of batches.
Recipes HERE.
I'm back by the way, and for the posts that I still see here today, this recipe seems to be still very alive. Good to know, I may need some help to refresh my mind on how to brew again. Slowly but getting back.
Wayne, I assume you are still around, yes?
Thanks.
Click to expand...

I have brewed over 500 gallons of the Original Wayne1 recipe with McCormick Valencia Orange Peel and it is perfect. Nobody can tell the difference between mine and the Original. Looking at the Frontier description I cannot tell if it is Valencia...
 
jeffreybandel said:
I have brewed over 500 gallons of the Original Wayne1 recipe with McCormick Valencia Orange Peel and it is perfect. Nobody can tell the difference between mine and the Original. Looking at the Frontier description I cannot tell if it is Valencia...
Click to expand...
Whats your spice amounts?
 
jeffreybandel said:
I have brewed over 500 gallons of the Original Wayne1 recipe with McCormick Valencia Orange Peel and it is perfect. Nobody can tell the difference between mine and the Original. Looking at the Frontier description I cannot tell if it is Valencia...
Click to expand...

Unless you brew with both and compare, you'll never know which is better or worse. Yes, the Frontier doesn't say what orange it is from, but what really matters is the results, IMHO.
 
Walmart page says "out of stock". I have posted the question to McCormick Consumer Affairs Department on availability of this product. Will see what comes back.
 
nilo said:
Walmart page says "out of stock". I have posted the question to McCormick Consumer Affairs Department on availability of this product. Will see what comes back.
Click to expand...
Their website says it's not in stock online or available for pick-up, but your local store might have it. If you type in your zip code here, you can see if it's in stock locally, and the cost.

https://brickseek.com/walmart-inventory-checker/?sku=11984874
 
From McCormic customer care "We are happy to let you know that we still making Orange peel."
They recommended to look at Safeway stores
 
I did a wheat beer inspired by this thread and its a crowd pleaser! I did 10 IBU worth of El Dorodo in boil, .5oz valencia orange peel & .75 oz toasted coriander at flameout, fermented with midwestern ale with another .5oz of orange peel into the fermentor. Great beer! If I do it again I am going to try Voss Kviek for more citrus in the beer.
 

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