Looking to clone the worlds greatest beer

[AngryAndy]

In my ne k of the woods, Niagara Falls Canada, my absolute favorite beer is from a local craft brew house in Niagara on the Lake. The company's name is Silversmith. Theyre Flag Ship brew is a Black Lager. It looks ans smells like a stout. It's amazing. I would love to recreate it some who. Anyone have any thoughts on how this could be done at home with a extract? Just making the brew close would be amazing. Here's what they've written on their website?


BLACK LAGER
Introducing our German style Black Lager {Schwarzbier} that will teach anyone to speak the language of great beer. Brewed in Niagara using classic East German black lager recipes dating back to the late 1300’s this local lager is simply a reminder of what good enjoyable beer should taste like.

Beer:LagerAppearance:BlackSize:650mL bottles, kegs, imperial pints

Availability:Our staple, always availableShelf Life:Alc./Vol.:5%Brewers

Notes:This lager, with its strong dark malty character, is described as having the appearance of a stout, yet giving you a refreshing crisp clean finish. Can you say lecker?
Tasting Notes:To brew this‚ ”beer of the people”, we used typical American 6 row lager malt in conjunction with smaller amounts of extremely dark roasted German malt which gives the beer its black character. In addition, Munich malt was used to provide the beer with its unique balanced flavour. We used Northern Brewer hops to achieve a bitterness level typical of a European lager and added the noble Saaz hop which can be noted in the mild yet distinct aroma of the beer.

 

[KepowOb]

You probably could pull off a nice Schwarzbier with extract (a google search will get you a bunch of recipes for it)... but if you're new to brewing, you might not have the equipment to pull it off... Lagers need good temperature control as fermentation takes place in the low to mid 50s (usually with a very gradual increase in temperature as time passes), followed by a D-rest, and then a crash into the 30s to lager the beer for at least 3-4 days (or weeks, depending on who you talk to).

 

[fantomlord]

You probably could pull off a nice Schwarzbier with extract (a google search will get you a bunch of recipes for it)... but if you're new to brewing, you might not have the equipment to pull it off... Lagers need good temperature control as fermentation takes place in the low to mid 50s (usually with a very gradual increase in temperature as time passes), followed by a D-rest, and then a crash into the 30s to lager the beer for at least 3-4 days (or weeks, depending on who you talk to).

that's not necessarily true...I made an excellent Schwarzbier without any real temperature control. I simply fermented in my basement (mid 50's) until it was mostly attenuated (85% or so), then moved to my first floor for D-rest (~70°) for around a week, then bottled. It ended up very clean, and even took a blue ribbon at state fair.

 

[andy6026]

Call or write them and ask them for the recipe. Tell them you're a smale scale homebrewer and you'd love to try and replicate your favorite beer - theirs. They probably won't give you an exact read out, as their recipe will be to a larger scale, but they may well tell you what malts and hops they use. You can then take a guess at the proportions, convert it to an extract and brew it. Adjust to taste after that.

I've written two breweries for recipes. One ignored me while the other gave me everything but the exact recipe.

 

[AngryAndy]

NICE, I didn't think to try that. Worth a shot. Thanks

 

[GuldTuborg]

Definitely write. If it tastes like a stout, it may not be a typical Schwartzbier. But if you do want to make something along those style lines, there should be a number of good recipes out there on the net. Just look for ones that won awards or are by brewers that seem to know what they're doing.

 

[AngryAndy]

SO I did what you fellas said to and I emailed the company, SilverSmith. Heres, what I got back. If anyone could draft up a little extract (with or without steeping grains) I would be sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo happy.
HERES WHAT THEY WROTE:
______________________________________________
Well Andy, we don’t usually give away top secret company information to just anybody who asks.
But since it’s your favourite beer ever and you asked so nicely I’ll tell you.




There is some Sazz in there along with some Northern Brewer. The malt bill is a mix of a number of malts including Munich and Pilsner, maybe some Carabohemian…




As for fermentables, those all come out of the malted Barley.




Cheers

Matt

 

[WayFrae]

I realize this is off topic, but I can't be the only one that came to this thread for this. I thought that this thread was a response to the "What do you do after you brew the most amazing beer ever?" thread. Honestly, I am a little disappointed that it isn't.

And now back to your regularly scheduled thread.

 

[Heavywalker]

I realize this is off topic, but I can't be the only one that came to this thread for this. I thought that this thread was a response to the "What do you do after you brew the most amazing beer ever?" thread. Honestly, I am a little disappointed that it isn't.

And now back to your regularly scheduled thread.

Yep me too.

 

[rskelhorn]

This is interesting...

Hope you get some more response, I'd be up for attempting a batch once someone who knows what they are doing posts a recipe!

Cheers

 

[kaconga]

K, I have not made a Schwarzbier yet but here is what I inferred from the description and the reply. Obviously this is just a starting point since I have never had this beer.

7 lbs Munich LME
12 oz caramunich
8 oz carafa 3

1 oz northern brewer @60
1 oz saaz @5

This should produce a stout colored beer with the IBUs and flavors of a schwarzbier. I intentionally didn't say a yeast since this will be entirely dependant on what temps you can manage. A lager yeast would be ideal but a clean ale yeast at lower temps wouldn't be bad either.

If you want to truly clone it then the first step is to degas a sample of the beer and take a hydrometer reading of it. This will give you a working final gravity and from there you can work out what your OG should be based on their 5% abv. Also you can work out the srm from a chart and use that to approximate how much carafa and what type to use. I would adjust the caramunich based on taste. Hope this helps you start. Best of luck.