Cloning Rochefort - The Ultimate Guide

[DannPM]

I put together this paper. If you give it a read give me some feedback, good, bad? Changes needed? etc. Input appreciated!

Cloning Rochefort

Thanks!

 

[slawre5]

Wish I would have had this a few months ago. I brewed the Roquefort 8 clone I found here a little while back and I have to say it is also pretty close. Now I will try your recipe. Here is a pic of my first clone:

 

[DannPM]

That looks good and tasty man, what was similar/different with your clone compared to the actual Rochefort 8?

People seem to like that recipe but I am still looking for something closer, a true clone.

 

[rexbanner]

candisyrup.com/recipes.html

I bet these guys got pretty damned close.

 

[DannPM]

Rex that is an invalid link, can you please repost?

 

[rexbanner]

Rex that is an invalid link, can you please repost?

candisyrup.com/recipes.html

 

[DannPM]

Thanks Rex. All the clones I have tried and read about seem to be close but never really hit the nail on the head. I'm thinking the staggered wort additions over 4 days has a significant impact on flavor profile. I mean fermentation is the most important part of any beer and their process is so unique, so different from all other breweries, it definitely has a significant impact on the flavor IMO.

IMO again, I think that fermentation profile has more of an impact than the grist bill.

 

[Houblon]

Herman Holtrop
http://www.oocities.org/iluvhops/brouwsel/rochefort8.html



#304 Rochefort 8 Denny
http://forum.northernbrewer.com/vie...p=787762&hilit=+Rochefort+clone+Denny#p787576

 

[slawre5]

That looks good and tasty man, what was similar/different with your clone compared to the actual Rochefort 8?

People seem to like that recipe but I am still looking for something closer, a true clone.

It has a good flavor and aroma for sure but it just doesn't have the depth of flavor of the rochefort. However, I am drinking mine after only 8 weeks from brewing it so that could be the reason. From reading your paper the batch fermentation and flaked wheat propably have something to do with it.

 

[DannPM]

I updated the document to include full grainbills for each beer in the last section.

 

[DannPM]

It has a good flavor and aroma for sure but it just doesn't have the depth of flavor of the rochefort. However, I am drinking mine after only 8 weeks from brewing it so that could be the reason. From reading your paper the batch fermentation and flaked wheat propably have something to do with it.

I think the D2, which is what I used before I knew the actual dark soft candi sugar they use in the brewery was available, contributes harsher burnt notes than found in actual Rochefort.

 

[chapa]

Great writeup!

 

[PaulHilgeman]

Through my own trial and errror, I have come down to a very similar recipe. Mine uses some Special B though, 4oz. But everything else is very similar, I use CaraMunich I, which Wyermann puts at 38°L I believe. I suppose you could go for CaraMunich II, which is closer to 60°L. I do my recipe with 5% of the GRAIN bill as CaraMunich, this probably means that I use quite a bit more than you, but I also use CaraMunich I. I also use 4oz of Special B, and 2oz of Carafa Special III for the color like you recommend. I use ONLY first runnings, and this is what my recipe looks like:

24 Lbs Pilsner Malt
1lb 5oz Wyermann CaraMunich I
4oz Special B
2oz Carafa Special III

3 Packs Brown Candi Sugar

Mash @ 150 for 2hrs.

I too used to use a large dose of D2 syrup, though I would simply use 2 of the 16 fl.oz bottles or 3 of the 16oz packs, so my 3 of the 16 dry ounce packs, might be a bit short of yours, but not by much.

I always did a single healthy pitch of yeast and it generally got done fermenting in about 5 days. I pracitice VERY precise temp control, with a probe in the wort. I would generally pitch at 66, and let it ramp under modest control, by increasing 1-2 degrees per day to about 74 on day 4, then just letting it finish. Maybe Pitching HUGE has the same affect as the staggered additions. I generally did a 3L stirplate starter from 2 packs of 1762.

I agree that the corn is in the recipe, but I dont like it, so I make it without it.

During the hop shortage, I routinely used Willamette to the same IBUs for bittering, and it worked just fine.

The beer comes out fantastic, but a beer with this much flavor that travels across the Atlantic will be impossible to 'clone'. I always get a little bit of funkiness from R10 that is really only perceptible when tasting side-by-side with the real thing. The aroma is never quite right and is just a bit stale. Maybe someday I will get to Belgium!

 

[PaulHilgeman]

In regard to the above post, having brewed this with D2 also, it just gives an auful lot of Plum / Rasin flavors, maybe a touch of roast, but not too much IMO.