Fin Du Monde clone

[GordonT]

This is still in primary so no tasting notes

14 lbs. Canadian Pils
1.5 lbs wheat
.5 lbs Aromatic
2 lbs Clover honey

1.2 oz Hallertauer 90 min.
.75 Haller - 20 min

1/2 cinnamon stick - 10
.4 oz crushed coriander - 10
1/2 orange peel - 0
2 lbs honey - 0

Mashed at 135 for 15, 140 for 15, 148 for 30 and 158 for 30. Great yield on this one. Honey was added after I turned the heat off to retain all the honey aromatics.

No problem with the honey being added with the heat off. It dissolved nicely and thoroughly. Cooled and popped into a 6 gallon carboy, added the yeast starter and waited 3 hours. Divided into 2 carboys and good thing. The Ardennes yeast is a vigorous fermenter and even in a half carboy almost hit the top. Yes I know this is the 'wrong' yeast for this beer. I like it though and think it will produce a nice spicy clone of this delicious beer.

 

[GordonT]

Here's photo showing the vigour of the ferment, although the head has already dropped a bit.

 

[GordonT]

I had the first taste of this last night. Slightly under carbonated at this point and still very young but it was amazingly good and very close to Fin Du Monde. A great starting point.
My OG is higher than it should be so the mouth feel is off a bit.

Basically though this is fantastic and very close to the original. When it has aged and carbonated correctly I will start doing side by sides and share my notes.

 

[lebucheron]

Cool! Thanks for sharing. Unibroue makes some great Canadian beer!

 

[wolfareno]

Thanks for posting this; it looks great! I'm curious if you could harvest Unibroue's yeast from a bottle of La Fin Du Monde. A friend at work keeps raving about this beer (I've never had it), so I thought I would do some research and see about making some for him. This is a good starting point.

Cheers,
Wolf

 

[emjay]

I believe Wyeast sells the actual Unibroue strain (called Canadian Belgian, or something like that).

Good stuff though. Trois Pistoles was my first beer purchase ever, and is definitely responsible for my interest in craft beer. And I wouldn't be homebrewing if I wasn't into craft beer. So one might say that Unibroue is the reason I'm even replying to this thread!

 

[GordonT]

Thanks for posting this; it looks great! I'm curious if you could harvest Unibroue's yeast from a bottle of La Fin Du Monde. A friend at work keeps raving about this beer (I've never had it), so I thought I would do some research and see about making some for him. This is a good starting point.

Cheers,
Wolf

I have had success harvesting from Unibroue bottles, but I haven't done so in a long time. Easier and surer to go buy a packet of yeast.

Unibroue has some great beers but Fin du Monde is my favorite by far.

This one is still aging and settling down but all the taste tests indicate it will be stellar and close to the original.

 

[springtime]

I am a big fan of La Fin Du Monde had a 750ml tonight. I am also a fan of Austin Homebrew. They have supplied me with some very good clone recipes i.e avery maharaja (great). I recently completed a Tripel Karmeliet. This is one of my favorites that includes La fin Du Monde and La chouffe. We all know we are not getting the exact, but I can tell you the Triple Karmeliet is pretty damn close. Bit darker, but certainly the same characteristics. Any thoughts on a La Fin Du Monde or La Chouffe kit?

 

[GordonT]

I am a big fan of La Fin Du Monde had a 750ml tonight. I am also a fan of Austin Homebrew. They have supplied me with some very good clone recipes i.e avery maharaja (great). I recently completed a Tripel Karmeliet. This is one of my favorites that includes La fin Du Monde and La chouffe. We all know we are not getting the exact, but I can tell you the Triple Karmeliet is pretty damn close. Bit darker, but certainly the same characteristics. Any thoughts on a La Fin Du Monde or La Chouffe kit?

A La Chouffe kit would not be difficult to put together, grains are basic, yeast is available, hops are great but common also, coriander available at most grocery stores or asian specialty stores. Yep, should be easy to do.

Fin Du Monde kit my style a bit more difficult but also should be doable. But I really don't have much experience with kits, haven't worked with any since 1985

 

[thewinechik]

Someone asked if you can culture the yeast of the fin du monde!!! Absolutely! I have done it. The bottle indeed contain live yeast. What I have done is drink about 2/3 of a bottle and then retain the last bit, where you notice the yeast had settled. I do this with two bottles. Then to revived you will have to "feed " it with some dme dissolve into boiled water. Cover it lightly with an aluminum foil and watch it grow. You might Need to do this a few times , depending on how much you need. Also you can re- refrigerate in order to save it for future use ( that's what I do). I hope this helps. I can be more specific with dme measurements etc etc if you need. Oh Chimay is another great yeasty beer you can culture.

 

[DirtyD69]

I think the yeast in LFDM is not the same yeast they ferment with. But you can get the yeast from Wyeast .. it's currently one of their Private Collection ( I got 2 packs )

 

[thewinechik]

Good to know. I haven't used it. But the Aventinus clone I made called for the same strand. Ummm

 

[tellyho]

Always looking for a good version of this. Sad we can't reliably get unibroues yeast from wyeast