Help with Founders Rubaeus Clone

[loeks]

I haven't had any luck finding any info on this on HBT, so I thought it would be a good reason to do my first ever post on here. Has anyone else given this any thought? Any help would be much appreciated.

I have a feeling the base is kinda hefe-ish, and here is what I am thinking so far:

5.7 target abv
15 target ibus

Maris Otter (47%)
Torrified wheat (47%)
Munich (5%)
Special B (1%)

Fuggles at 60 min
A lot of raspberries (crushed) at flameout
A lot of raspberries in secondary

S-04

 

[stompbox]

My wife loves this beer.

 

[loeks]

My wife loves this beer.

Mine too! That's why I wanted to brew it. I just had a sip of it this weekend, and I'm starting to think it's more along the lines of a cream ale or BMC as the base, rather than a Hefe.

Anyone with thoughts or experiences like this? Has anyone made a beer that tastes pretty much just like Raspberry jam?:cross:

 

[Roadie]

I'm trying to find a clone recipe for this as well since SWMBO loves this beer and it's season is about over; availability is from May - August. Can't believe no one has a recipe for this stuff. Anyone... anyone...

 

[loeks]

I'm trying to find a clone recipe for this as well since SWMBO loves this beer and it's season is about over; availability is from May - August. Can't believe no one has a recipe for this stuff. Anyone... anyone...

I meant to post this earlier in case someone else came across this later on. I did find a recipe on another website. Haven't brewed it, and prob not planning on doing so for a while now:

https://www.brewtoad.com/recipes/rubaeus-clone

 

[Roadie]

I saw that but have it on good authority that the grain bill in that recipe is wrong. August is the last month that this beer will be available until next May so plan on brewing this relatively soon.


Almost Famous Brewing Company

 

[loeks]

I saw that but have it on good authority that the grain bill in that recipe is wrong. August is the last month that this beer will be available until next May so plan on brewing this relatively soon.


Almost Famous Brewing Company

I live about a half hour away from Founders, so we have been getting there a lot lately so my wife can have Rubaeus a couple more times before its gone.

Best of luck on figuring out the grain bill. The last time I had it, I recall thinking that it didn't taste like too complicated of a base grain bill FWIW. Just a crap load of Raspberries.

 

[loeks]

Another thought on how to get all that fruit flavor: Lower attenuating yeast + more sugar than the yeast can consume = residual fruit flavor?

 

[Roadie]

I live about a half hour away from Founders, so we have been getting there a lot lately so my wife can have Rubaeus a couple more times before its gone.



Best of luck on figuring out the grain bill. The last time I had it, I recall thinking that it didn't taste like too complicated of a base grain bill FWIW. Just a crap load of Raspberries.

Thanks. Think I'll try something like 60% 2 row; 20% Maris Otter; 15% wheat malt and 5% carapils then adjust as necessary. Thinking 4 - 5 lbs of raspberries per 5 gallon batch in secondary.


Almost Famous Brewing Company

 

[Roadie]

Double post

 

[loeks]

Thanks. Think I'll try something like 60% 2 row; 20% Maria Otter; 15% wheat malt and 5% carapils then adjust as necessary. Thinking 4 - 5 lbs of raspberries per 5 gallon batch in secondary.


Almost Famous Brewing Company

Sounds legit. I would probably do rasperries in primary as well as secondary too. Let me know how it turns out.

 

[Roadie]

Will do. I sanitized 4.5 lbs of raspberries yesterday and they are in the freezer until needed.


Almost Famous Brewing Company

 

[Roadie]

Brewing this tomorrow! Hopefully it comes out good as the real thing is about to go into hibernation.

 

[UncleRusty]

Pretty excited to hear how this turns out. I'm looking to brew a similar batch soon. What strain of yeast did you end up settling on for this, just good ol S04?

 

[loeks]

Brewing this tomorrow! Hopefully it comes out good as the real thing is about to go into hibernation.

Keep us updated on how it's going if you think of it

 

[Roadie]

Racked base beer over raspberries yesterday. Smelled awesome! Next time I do fruit though I'll be secondarying in a bucket. I basically had a 1" - 2" thick blob the size of a book to get into a carboy neck. Messy!


Almost Famous Brewing Company

 

[loeks]

Racked base beer over raspberries yesterday. Smelled awesome! Next time I do fruit though I'll be secondarying in a bucket. I basically had a 1" - 2" thick blob the size of a book to get into a carboy neck. Messy!


Almost Famous Brewing Company

Good call on using a bucket in secondary next time. Did you use any raspberries in primary at all?

 

[Roadie]

Good call on using a bucket in secondary next time. Did you use any raspberries in primary at all?

No, just in secondary.


Almost Famous Brewing Company

 

[UncleRusty]

Brewing this over the weekend here. What temperature did you mash at? I'm thinking around 154-155 would be a good target for this type of recipe.

 

[Roadie]

I mashed at 152. SRM of my beer was way to light. It's carbing now but already SWMBO tried it before I racked to keg and informed me that I'm going to be unable to pour it at a festival in a couple weeks because she already likes it too much and wants to keep it for herself.


Almost Famous Brewing Company

 

[Roadie]

The carb'd beer is tasty. VERY light colored but SWMBO really likes it. Have not done a taste testing yet vs Rubaeus but that will be happening soon. I will probably use a couple cans of puree and a couple pounds of frozen raspberries next time and I think the puree will give it a much darker color, otherwise happy with how this came out for a first try.

 

[Roadie]

Pretty excited to hear how this turns out. I'm looking to brew a similar batch soon. What strain of yeast did you end up settling on for this, just good ol S04?

Sorry just saw this. I used WLP001 (White Labs - CA Ale) which we use a lot and like it's neutral profile.

 

[loeks]

The carb'd beer is tasty. VERY light colored but SWMBO really likes it. Have not done a taste testing yet vs Rubaeus but that will be happening soon. I will probably use a couple cans of puree and a couple pounds of frozen raspberries next time and I think the puree will give it a much darker color, otherwise happy with how this came out for a first try.

I'd love to see pics if you think of it

 

[Roadie]

I'd love to see pics if you think of it

It has a pinkish color that may be hard to tell in photos. Definite raspberry aroma/taste.



Almost Famous Brewing Company

 

[loeks]

The head looks awesome. You're right about the color, but who cares if it tastes great, eh?

 

[Roadie]

Yep tastes great. I think Founders uses juice concentrate which gives it a darker color. Still need to do a taste test between the two.


Almost Famous Brewing Company

 

[theoracle]

I brewed this 3 weeks ago and I'm working on it in the secondary fermenter. I used one pound frozen raspberries in the primary that were pureed. I used 3 lbs whole raspberries in secondary and 2 pounds pureed raspberries. The flavor really comes through when the raspberries are able to sit for a bit. I noticed the color was not spot on as well so I added 32 oz of black cherry juice. Now it has that good wine like color and more of a complexity. I also brewed the recipe on brewtoad, but was able to tweak in the secondary. Keep you posted when its in the bottle.

 

[theoracle]

 

[Roadie]

I brewed this 3 weeks ago and I'm working on it in the secondary fermenter. I used one pound frozen raspberries in the primary that were pureed. I used 3 lbs whole raspberries in secondary and 2 pounds pureed raspberries. The flavor really comes through when the raspberries are able to sit for a bit. I noticed the color was not spot on as well so I added 32 oz of black cherry juice. Now it has that good wine like color and more of a complexity. I also brewed the recipe on brewtoad, but was able to tweak in the secondary. Keep you posted when its in the bottle.

Sounds great! I will change my percentages a little next time on the grain bill but according to Founders those are the grains so just a matter of tweaking. Mine is a little more tart but has more raspberry aroma than the original so all-in-all a good beer though not cloned yet.


Almost Famous Brewing Company

 

[theoracle]

Well, we know they use 3,000 lb of raspberries for each batch, I'd like to find out their batch sizes. I don't think they use any juice, because then it would be less expensive beer. I think the color comes from black raspberries mixed with red from Oregon.

 

[Roadie]

Well, we know they use 3,000 lb of raspberries for each batch, I'd like to find out their batch sizes. I don't think they use any juice, because then it would be less expensive beer. I think the color comes from black raspberries mixed with red from Oregon.

Funny because their brewmaster is the one who said they now use juice concentrate.



Almost Famous Brewing Company

 

[theoracle]

Rubaeus clone is finished. This was my first attempt at a fruit beer. The beer is in the keg but I had to tweak it a bit. I used 7 lbs of raspberries, frozen , half puréed half whole, 3 different times in fermentation. I also threw in a bottle of black cherry juice for complexity and color. I know their raspberries come from Oregon, which has a lot of black raspberries, which is why Rubaeus is darker and the flavor is better than red raspberries. I used American 2row, in which the recipe calls for Maris otter which is exactly right, I would double the honey malt because just like the founders website says 'a hefty malt bill' is needed to balance the fruit. After I kegged I had to add a mixture of honey and water syrup in the bottle filled from the keg and now it tastes like rubaeus instead of raspberry tart. I just keep the bottles extra cold and the honey does not ferment out, it's perfectly back sweetened. Cheers.

Ps, they may use a concentrate but they also posted that they use 3000 lbs of raspberries per batch. I don't see Founders lying about something like that.

 

[UncleRusty]

I thought I'd share my version of the Rubaeus Clone. Here's a picture of it side-by-side with the actual Rubaeus for comparison. Clone is on the left, actual Rubaeus is on the right.

The clone is definitely good, though I'd say the actual Rubaeus is quite a bit sweeter with a little bit heavier body and slightly maltier profile.

The main differences in my take on the recipe was that I used S04 Yeast which is probably why it's a bit drier, and I also bumped up the Special B Malt slightly to make the color a little darker. Lastly, I simply used 7.5lbs of boiled raspberries in the secondary. I think the color came out great this way as I didn't end up needing to add cherry juice or anything else to get a deeper red hue.

I posted my 5.5 Gallon recipe if anyone's curious. I think if I brewed this again, I'd use a slightly less attenuating yeast, and probably mash a bit higher at say 154-155 or so. I would also puree instead of boiling the raspberries, but I had pounds of boiled/frozen raspberries in the freezer from months ago that I'd been saving to make beer/cider with.

Oracle, I like your idea of backsweetening with a honey/water solution. I think I might try this in a single glass to see how it is, as the Raspberries in my version definitely overpower the malt presence since it is quite tart in overall.

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
1 lbs Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 1 8.6 %
5 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 2 43.1 %
5 lbs Wheat, Torrified (1.7 SRM) Grain 3 43.1 %
8.0 oz Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 4 4.3 %
1.6 oz Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 5 0.9 %
1.00 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 14.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) Yeast 7 -


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 11 lbs 9.6 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperature Step Time
Mash In Add 17.70 qt of water at 164.1 F 152.0 F 60 min

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (1.31gal, 4.35gal) of 168.0 F water
Notes:

 

[theoracle]

I had the owner of Highland Brewing Co try it and loved it. I found out that traditional Lambic is served with a lump of sugar, which makes me feel better about backsweetening in the glass. I mashed at 158 with my new batch and also double the honey malt because I like having that mead smell. The black cherry juice I added it for color but I wanted a little more complexity.Might also look into adding citric acid in the fermenter.I just made a 10 gallon batch yesterday because everyone kept asking about it. I may do a mixed berry black cherry version with some of this batch

 

[UncleRusty]

Right, kind of like how a Berliner Weisse is commonly served with woodruff or raspberry syrup to counteract the sourness. Let me know how it turns out with the higher mash temp, I think this will get it closer to the real thing... I like the idea of bumping the honey malt up as well.