Maine Beer Company Dinner Clone

[lilbova3]

For those of you that might not get BYO, this is their shot at Maine Beer Company's Dinner that they put in their recent magazine. All credit to BYO for the recipe. I have not brewed it but wanted to share.

5 gallon/19L all grain
OG: 1.07
FG: 1.007
IBU: 92
SRM: 8
ABV: 8.2%

14 lbs 2 Row
6 oz Dextrine
3 oz Crystal 40L
13 oz Dextrose (15 min)
.75 oz Falconer's Flight (30 min)
.75 oz Simcoe (30 min)
.75 oz Citra (5 min)
.75 oz Falconer's Flight (5 min)
.75 oz Mosaic (5 min)
2 oz Citra (0 min)
2 oz Mosaic (Dry Hop)
2 oz Falconer's Flight (Dry Hop)
2 oz Simcoe (Dry Hop)
Wyeast 1056, White Labs WLP001, Safale 05 yeast

Mash @ 148* for 60 mins
Collect 6.5 gallons
Boil for 60 mins
After boil, turn off heat and begin a whirlpool of wort, let stand for 20 mins
Chill to 65*
There should be 5.5 gallons in fermenter
Aerate wort
Ferment at 67* for seven days
Raise to 72* for three days
Dry hop
Carbonate to 2.5 volumes

Thanks, BYO!

 

[lilbova3]

Maine Beer's website says they dry hop twice with over 6 lbs of hops per barrel! If my math is correct, that's a little over 3 oz of hops per gallon!?

 

[jonnyp1980]

Looks good. May need to double that dryhop to get better results which may still not be enough. I think my friend said by the time he was done he had 4.5 gallons after he dry hopped with 5.25 gallons.

 

[eselocoss]

What issue was this? Was there any other helpful information within the article or was it only the recipe? I've been working on a Maine Dinner clone and would like to pick up a copy of this issue if it has any helpful info.
Thanks!

 

[lilbova3]

What issue was this? Was there any other helpful information within the article or was it only the recipe? I've been working on a Maine Dinner clone and would like to pick up a copy of this issue if it has any helpful info.
Thanks!

September 2015 Issue - Special 20th Anniversary Issue
Nothing else super specific besides what I wrote underneath the recipe.

 

[lilbova3]

What issue was this? Was there any other helpful information within the article or was it only the recipe? I've been working on a Maine Dinner clone and would like to pick up a copy of this issue if it has any helpful info.
Thanks!

Any specific information you were looking for that I could have left out?

 

[eselocoss]

Any specific information you were looking for that I could have left out?

Thanks for the info. I was just curious if there might have been a short article that went along with the recipe that gave final tasting notes or if they compared to a bottle of actual Dinner.

This info helps a lot though and I'll use it in adjusting the recipe I have been putting together.

Thanks!

 

[berley31]

FWIW, here's my attempt from last year. I followed their 6 lbs of hop per barrell for the dry-hop, and surprisingly, the beer came out not great at all.

http://meekbrewingco.blogspot.com/2015/06/batch-100-maine-beer-co-dinner-clone-no.html

I suspect this is one of those times where you can actually have too many hops... if you're not familiar with how to brew a beer correctly with that many, that is!

 

[lilbova3]

Can you remember the off flavors you got from this batch?

 

[lilbova3]

How do you think this would be with 1318 yeast?

 

[Ruckusz28]

How do you think this would be with 1318 yeast?

I've never had Dinner so I can't speak to its FG or yeast profile. When I see 1318 in software, it seems that it'll finish a bit high compared to this recipe. Perhaps with higher wort aeration and temperature control you could get it down to 1.010 or so. There are lots of folks talking that 1318 finishes dryer than the software leads us to believe. If you've had favorable experiences with 1318, go for it. If not, might want to go with Conan.

 

[lilbova3]

I've never had Dinner so I can't speak to its FG or yeast profile. When I see 1318 in software, it seems that it'll finish a bit high compared to this recipe. Perhaps with higher wort aeration and temperature control you could get it down to 1.010 or so. There are lots of folks talking that 1318 finishes dryer than the software leads us to believe. If you've had favorable experiences with 1318, go for it. If not, might want to go with Conan.

I might give it a go just to see. I'm not too worried about the FG. I'm actually just going to do a pale ale with the grain and hops and use 1318. It'll be my first time trying the yeast.

I believe I read somewhere that someone thought Conan and 1318 didn't go as well with hops that aren't tropical. So I'm curious how the Falconers Flight will be in this recipe. My memory may not serve me correctly though. At least there is Mosaic and Citra in the recipe.

 

[Ruckusz28]

I'm going to give 1318 a go tonight. I've had a super fruity ipa from DC brau called under the wings of Armageddon. All falconers flight. Great brew!

 

[lilbova3]

I'm going to give 1318 a go tonight. I've had a super fruity ipa from DC brau called under the wings of Armageddon. All falconers flight. Great brew!

Well that's good to hear then! What are you making with1318?

 

[Ruckusz28]

An APA with 1:1 mosaic amarillo. Smelled promising. I'll be DH with 2:1:1 Citra, Mosaic, Amarillo. My OG came in a little low at around 1.040. Should be a nice ferment with the 1318. Ambient room temperature is about 62-63 degrees.

 

[lilbova3]

An APA with 1:1 mosaic amarillo. Smelled promising. I'll be DH with 2:1:1 Citra, Mosaic, Amarillo. My OG came in a little low at around 1.040. Should be a nice ferment with the 1318. Ambient room temperature is about 62-63 degrees.

How'd this turnout?

 

[vtbasementbrewer]

I harvested some yeast from 2 bottles of Dinner and have it fermenting but with a differnt hop bill.

I'm going to try again with this recipe and see if it comes out better. Will post results.

 

[lilbova3]

I harvested some yeast from 2 bottles of Dinner and have it fermenting but with a differnt hop bill.

I'm going to try again with this recipe and see if it comes out better. Will post results.

What was the previous recipe vs your new recipe? I believe they use a Chico strain. Do you feel that's correct?

I just bottled a rendition of this as an IPA with a slightly different dry hop though. I also used 1318.

 

[vtbasementbrewer]

To be honest I wouldn't know if it is Chico. I had harvested Conan before and it had a distinctive peach aroma - definitely not that. I was curious if Dinner's yeast imparted flavor characteristics so I harvested it. The smell off the carboy is harder pin down and does not seem to lend a distinctive aroma like Conan so I am going to guess that Dinner's flavor was really driven by the hops not the yeast strain, unlike heady. Based on those observations I am guessing it will be easier to clone using a strain like Safale US-05
The hop bill I used was the following:
2 oz columbus 60 min
2 oz columbus, 2 oz pacifica & 2 oz cascade whirlpool 10 mins
Note - the above was done because it was what I had on hand. I'm going to try it all again with the hop bill from this thread tomorrow. Won't know for 6 weeks but will post notes.

Sorry if that didn't really answer your question but I would have to smell them side by side to tell you if it is Chico. I've used US-05 and gotten similar results so I am guessing that even if it isn't, it would be a fine sub.

 

[vtbasementbrewer]

Honestly, I think MBC just used obscene amounts of Mosaic in the dry hop. Just had some Mosaic IPA at Prohibition Pig in Waterbury VT and it reminded me a lot of the fragrance of Dinner.
I have 4 oz Mosaic plus 6 oz of citra on standby for my next batches' dry hop. Can't wait!