sorefingers23
Well-Known Member
I'm trying to find a clone for 2 Unibroue beers; noir de chambly, and raftman, does anyone have or know where I can find them ?
Looking for unibroue clones
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Oh, tricky. I've never seen any clone attempts of these beers. They don't get around much. I can find a lot of Unibroue's beers here in MI, but I don't see those ones until I start hitting Toronto at least.
The raftman is probably a blend of wheat and 2-row, maybe some biscuit or aromatic, and a brush of smoked malt.
The Noir is, judging by its taste, fairly wheat-based with more two-row balancing it out with some dark caramel and roasted malts for color and depth.
Low hopping, all noble hops.
The correct use of their proprietary yeast strain is very important to getting anywhere close. It can be recultured from their bottles, but many believe that the bottle yeast is a slightly different strain. The main strain is released occasionally by Wyeast as their platinum strain 'Belgian/Canadian.'
Sorry, this is all rather tricky and obscure. Successfully replicating Unibroue beers is something of a holy grail to some homebrewers. The brewery tends to be pretty secretive. If you're interested, I encourage you to read this thread. They've sent people in the brewery, tried various recipes, etc.
The raftman is probably a blend of wheat and 2-row, maybe some biscuit or aromatic, and a brush of smoked malt.
The Noir is, judging by its taste, fairly wheat-based with more two-row balancing it out with some dark caramel and roasted malts for color and depth.
Low hopping, all noble hops.
The correct use of their proprietary yeast strain is very important to getting anywhere close. It can be recultured from their bottles, but many believe that the bottle yeast is a slightly different strain. The main strain is released occasionally by Wyeast as their platinum strain 'Belgian/Canadian.'
Sorry, this is all rather tricky and obscure. Successfully replicating Unibroue beers is something of a holy grail to some homebrewers. The brewery tends to be pretty secretive. If you're interested, I encourage you to read this thread. They've sent people in the brewery, tried various recipes, etc.
Sciyan
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What I know about the noir de chambly, is that my blind test party between the Blanche and the Noir almost confused everyone that tasted them. So, my guess is that if you use the blanche recipe and try to add some dark caramel and roasted malts like Skyforger suggest, you should have something close.
About the yeast, I think they use the same strain for all there beer. Skyforger was also right about the strain which is the 3864-PC Canadian/Belgian Ale Yeast.
Good luck with the raftman recipe.
About the yeast, I think they use the same strain for all there beer. Skyforger was also right about the strain which is the 3864-PC Canadian/Belgian Ale Yeast.
Good luck with the raftman recipe.
Raftman is only available in the taster 4 Packs in the US, so it's no surprise that you don't see it much in the US. Noire is available once in a while in 750's, but it's usually part of said taster packs in 12oz form.
That said, I've NEVER seen a good clone of Unibroue's beers, and any you do find will include farming yeast out of their bottles.
Good luck, and if you do clone one, post it, please.
That said, I've NEVER seen a good clone of Unibroue's beers, and any you do find will include farming yeast out of their bottles.
Good luck, and if you do clone one, post it, please.
Raftman is a rye beer if I remember correctly--I used to live in Montreal and even did some promor work for Unibroue. Add a touch of smoked malt, some rye malt, 2-row, touch of crystal and wheat and you'd have a decent grain bill to start from.
Chambly Noire is a beer that only came into the market after Unibroue was purchased by Sleeman (and then Sapporo). I wouldn't be surprised if it were just a light Belgian Wit with Patent or Crystal tossed in. Colour me not a fan.
Chambly Noire is a beer that only came into the market after Unibroue was purchased by Sleeman (and then Sapporo). I wouldn't be surprised if it were just a light Belgian Wit with Patent or Crystal tossed in. Colour me not a fan.
From what Unibroue touted about Raftman, it was brewed with "Whisky Malt". What that exactly is, you be the judge. I'd say it's either lightly smoked, or even possibly peated malt.
Whatever he ends up doing, the yeast is going to be one of the most important things to nail. Their yeast is pretty recognizable.
I have to agree, I opened that beer expecting something along the lines of Allagash Black, and was very disappointed.
