Country Boy Cougar Bait

[VV_Wildcatfan]

Absolutely love this beer and would like to try to few it at home. Does anyone have a good clone recipe? Country Boy won't say much about the recipe, and all I have is "mostly base malt with few unfermentables." They also say the only hops are willamette and cascade in the boil with no dry hop.

Any and all help appreciated!

 

[TonyKZ1]

Like the name of it, hopefully someone will be able to help you figure out a recipe.

 

[kyt]

Was hoping someone had a clone already for this beer.
A brewmaster friend of mine got in touch with Country Boy for me, to find out about the aging Cougar Bait into Nacho Bait.

I guess I'll be the one to start tinkering with this one.
Here's the details for Nacho:

"For a 5 gallon batch, you would need to age on about 1 ounce of habaneros (less than 5 peppers probably). If you wanted jalapeño flavor, you should go about 5 ounces of peppers. For either pepper you want to remove the seeds and veins and rinse with vodka to clean. Then you age the beer on them post fermentation (kinda like dry hopping) for 5 to 7 days. If you wanna bump the heat to taste at the end, have a tincture made up of vodka and whichever pepper and you can dose by ml of liquid."

 

[kyt]

Thought maybe someone would like an update on this.
I took a wild stab at this on my own.
The batch didn't start off great. Ended up running out of gas, and some other issues.
The beer didn't turn out bad, but still, wasn't right.
It's WAY cloudy, even after being kegged in the fridge for several weeks now. Too sweet, dextrinous, and too little hopping.

My girlfriend and I took a trip down to the brewery, and talked to the head brewer about it. These are the notes he gave me:
OG 11°P
FG 1.7/2°P
2 row
Crystal 60 <=5% (just a small handful he says)
mash 5.2-5.5 pH
Wyeast 1056
Columbus or Magnum 15-20ibu
Fermented 62°F + diacetyl rest

I have a batch in the Chronical right now in the process of cold crashing.
Maris Otter 97%
C60 3%
Magnum 13.3% AA 17.5 IBU
WLP001

Mashed 64°C
Fermented 7 days at 16°C
Diacetyl 2 days at 20°C

Took a reading at day 7 of 2.5°P

I'll update in a week or so after it's kegged, with a comparison to commercially available Cougar Bait, before I Nacho the F out of it
If it's not close enough, I won't be wasting my habaneros!

 

[TheMadKing]

Thought maybe someone would like an update on this.
I took a wild stab at this on my own.
The batch didn't start off great. Ended up running out of gas, and some other issues.
The beer didn't turn out bad, but still, wasn't right.
It's WAY cloudy, even after being kegged in the fridge for several weeks now. Too sweet, dextrinous, and too little hopping.

My girlfriend and I took a trip down to the brewery, and talked to the head brewer about it. These are the notes he gave me:
OG 11°P
FG 1.7/2°P
2 row
Crystal 60 <=5% (just a small handful he says)
mash 5.2-5.5 pH
Wyeast 1056
Columbus or Magnum 15-20ibu
Fermented 62°F + diacetyl rest

I have a batch in the Chronical right now in the process of cold crashing.
Maris Otter 97%
C60 3%
Magnum 13.3% AA 17.5 IBU
WLP001

Mashed 64°C
Fermented 7 days at 16°C
Diacetyl 2 days at 20°C

Took a reading at day 7 of 2.5°P

I'll update in a week or so after it's kegged, with a comparison to commercially available Cougar Bait, before I Nacho the F out of it
If it's not close enough, I won't be wasting my habaneros!

You're going to get way different flavor from Maris Otter than American 2-row, so that right there will be different. I've never had the original, so I can't comment on how close it will be, but if the brewer said 2-row then it's probably American 2-row. Jut my $0.02

 

[kyt]

I agree completely. I used to use Golden Promise almost exclusively for a while, until that HBS closed. The new one doesn't carry it so I've been using Maris. Was out of habit, I didn't even consider the brewery likely used regular 2-row.
I will note my log for next time though.
I kegged yesterday, FG (2.4°P). Which is weird now that I think about it. It was 68-69 in my house yesterday, but my sample which I left on the counter for a couple hours read 76°F. May try to pull another sample for gravity reading and use a different probe.

Anyway, we haven't had Cougar Bait in a while, but my girlfriend says she thinks this batch tastes exactly like how she remembers it. It was warmish.
I thought it tastes a touch too bitter and slightly grainy. :/

 

[kyt]

Sorry about the delayed update.
We did find some Cougar Bait on draught and brought a growler home to compare against ours.
Some things to note
Our batch was really clear, more hoppy, and slightly drier. The flavors were more crisp/sharp too.

Clarity: I did treat with gelatin, Country Boy probably doesn't do that. However the CB beer appeared to have some chill haze that cleared as it warmed up.

Bittering: the brewer said they shoot for 15-20 IBU; using BeerSmith I calculated for 17 IBU. This was my first batch on my new GrainFather, my hop utilization may not be dialed in appropriately. Tasting these side by side, I should have shot for closer to 12-ish range at these default equipment values. Would be nice to get an assay :\

Body: I have no idea how ours finished at a higher gravity, but the body still seemed lighter/drier. Maybe this has to do with our water, I only use distilled. If you treat your water, I expect your results to be different.


We actually really liked our version much better, but the next time I brew it I will dial back the hops a little.
We really liked the Maris character, you'll want to use regular domestic 2-row.
Don't use any finings.
Carb for about 1.7 volumes (~4psi@4°C)

 

[NCSU_05_FX4]

Why would anyone want to clone Cougar Bait? It's little more than the most basic blond ale.

 

[kh54s10]

Why would anyone want to clone Cougar Bait? It's little more than the most basic blond ale.

You have something against blondes???

 

[65C]

Why would anyone want to clone Cougar Bait? It's little more than the most basic blond ale.

I'd buy it or make it for the name alone

 

[Lefou]

Blonde ale is in the Light Hybrid category and it's a pretty flexible style.
You can add body and color, make them dry, whatever. With a change in yeast, hops, or grist you can have a Belgian or American style, or tweak a little to get a Pilsner.

My blonde was simple.
60% Belgian Pilsner, 20% Vienna, 20% wheat malt. Cascade and Hallertau for aroma. Ends up around 5% ABV and dry if you do a simple infusion mash at about 145F-150F and add amylase.
Use soft water with the light malty profile. Hit it with Whirlfloc 15 minutes before the boil finishes.
Prime with one Domino sugar cube per 12oz; 2 cubes per 22oz. bottle. Carb 3-4 weeks.
It's a great light to medium body beer, nice foam stand, dry slightly hoppy finish with citrus and melon ... and yes, you don't add any damned caramel malts.

 

[Lefou]

Why would anyone want to clone Cougar Bait? It's little more than the most basic blond ale.

Done right, a blonde is a good light SRM ale or lager.
One of the best recipes on HBT is the Centennial blonde.

 

[k1ngl1ves]

You have something against blondes???

I've had a few blondes. Overall, I prefer brunettes.

 

[FunkedOut]

Was hoping someone had a clone already for this beer.
A brewmaster friend of mine got in touch with Country Boy for me, to find out about the aging Cougar Bait into Nacho Bait....

I would've guessed aging Cougar Bait into Jaguar Bait.

 

[NCSU_05_FX4]

I'd buy it or make it for the name alone

That's probably why it started selling in the first place. Then they canned the hell out of it and flooded KY with a local beer made by "country boys" and everyone ate it up. It's probably the least interesting and one of the worst beers they make. The brewery actually makes a bunch of really outstanding beers, but Cougar Bait was designed to be drank by folks who usually drink BMC.

 

[VV_Wildcatfan]

That's probably why it started selling in the first place. Then they canned the hell out of it and flooded KY with a local beer made by "country boys" and everyone ate it up. It's probably the least interesting and one of the worst beers they make. The brewery actually makes a bunch of really outstanding beers, but Cougar Bait was designed to be drank by folks who usually drink BMC.

Exactly! I've moved to Indiana and have a couple of friends who are BMC drinkers that really enjoy this beer. I'd like to have a fairly similar recipe to this to have around for when they come over.

 

[HomemadeSauce]

I don't have much input on this topic other than to say since I've moved out West I often miss CBB and West Sixth, although I realize there's tons of excellent beer out here. Was missing Cocoa Porter recently and brewed up a batch - turned out well, though not necessarily close to the original.

Cheers! (and Go Cards)

 

[michael1983]

I would've guessed aging Cougar Bait into Jaguar Bait.

I thought it would be sabre tooth tiger bait &#129315;