Making Pabst Blue Ribbon

[Donasay]

I am thinking of doing a pabst blue ribbon clone, does anyone know what hops and malt are used to make PBR. Also do they use any adjuncts such as corn or rice.

 

[Cheesefood]

I am thinking of doing a pabst blue ribbon clone, does anyone know what hops and malt are used to make PBR. Also do they use any adjuncts such as corn or rice.

Some two-row and some rice solids. As for hops, show the wort a picture of Hallertau for about 20 seconds. Then lager.

 

[WortMonger]

Some two-row and some rice solids. As for hops, show the wort a picture of Hallertau for about 20 seconds. Then lager.

LOL, that was the first beer I ever had a taste of. Yuck, way back when, and yuck now. I think I would appreciate one more if it wasn't bought in an Oklahoma liquor store hot.

 

[rdwj]

PBR is pretty cheap; why not just buy it and brew something more high-end? Besides the cost, those light American beers are tough to reproduce

 

[Donasay]

I have a bad habit of making insane drunken bets. One of my friends wants to see if I can make some PBR for him. It is more about practicing my skills at lagering than anything else.

My american lagers are fairly good, but they are made with all malt, and I think they are more hoppy and more malty than they should be. I am getting ready to try and make some with some adjuncts and get them super light, it should be a worthwhile thing to try.

 

[z987k]

How about this:
2.5lbs 2-row
3lbs flaked rice
.1oz Cascade 60mins
wyeast 2035
before bottling, piss in the bottling bucket to taste.
should be about right

 

[SenorWanderer]

How about this:
2.5lbs 2-row
3lbs flaked rice
.1oz Cascade 60mins
wyeast 2035
before bottling, piss in the bottling bucket to taste.
should be about right

that's hilarious! exactly what i was thinking! i'm just a little ashamed to admit i have a bit of an affinity for the PBR. the past few years in a row i've been a ski instructor in the winter and there's a great BBQ place right above our locker room that all the instructors congregate at after a long day of teaching. the second best thing about the place (first is of course the amazing pulled pork sammys) is the $2 24oz PBR tallboy cans. now every time i ski, regardless of whether or not i'm teaching, i always crave a PBR afterwards!

good game today, z987k. I'm an alum.

ILL. . .

 

[z987k]

Sweet, a skiing alum!

In high school I was an instructor at Chestnut in Galena, if you've ever skied at that....I'll call it a bluff.


...INI

 

[McCall St. Brewer]

I haven't had any PBR for years, and certainly not since Pabst ceased to exist. I remember, though, that at the bar I used to hang out at in college back in the early 80's a lot of the older regulars there swore by it. They said it had more "beer taste" than the other beers. So, at least back when it was actually brewed in Milwaukee by Pabst, it must have been a more robust beer than some of the other American lagers that were popular at the time.

I don't know, though. The thing that I always marveled about back then is how people were so passionate about "their" brand of beer when, to me, they all tasted pretty much the same. And back then there were a lot of different beers to choose from-- Old Style, Bud, PBR, High Life, Stroh's, Blatz, Schlitz...-- and those were just the "premium" beers. Of course there also were the economy brands like Red, White & Blue, Old Milwaukee, Busch. Yet, with all those brands to choose from, in those days, at least when it came to American beers, I thought that beer was beer.

So, making PBR, as opposed to any other big brewery American Lager, would be pretty tough, since the difference in the tast of PBR compared to other brands is very, very subtle IMHO.

 

[Donasay]

How about this:
2.5lbs 2-row
3lbs flaked rice
.1oz Cascade 60mins
wyeast 2035
before bottling, piss in the bottling bucket to taste.
should be about right

I put that into my brewery software, unfortunately there isn't a setting for piss, and according to the internet piss does not contain any extra fermentables. Why exactly would I want to add this to my beer? I don't think it would add anything to the taste, if anything it might detract from it.

 

[cheezydemon]

I have a bad habit of making insane drunken bets. One of my friends wants to see if I can make some PBR for him. It is more about practicing my skills at lagering than anything else.

My american lagers are fairly good, but they are made with all malt, and I think they are more hoppy and more malty than they should be. I am getting ready to try and make some with some adjuncts and get them super light, it should be a worthwhile thing to try.

LOL, thank God! I made a joke about making a Bud ice clone and a pbr clone, I was afraid you might have taken offense! But you took a bet. OK.

Still, I would buy a bunch of it and put it in some bottles. When you have won the bet, brew something a little better. To each their own!

 

[homebrewer_99]

Is that .1 (1/10th) of an oz? What AA% are they?

The AA% is actually more important than the amount as AA%'s vary.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

Is that .1 (1/10th) of an oz? What AA% are they?

The AA% is actually more important than the amount as AA%'s vary.

That .1 oz might be a bit high. Add 2 or 3 pellets of 4% Hallertaur and call it done.

 

[z987k]

Yeah, 2 or 3 pellets of 4% sounds about right.

As far as the piss goes it adds that special something that you get in those nice American light lagers. Little bit of ammonia and some other generally toxic chemicals that make your next morning feel sooooo great. I think it needs trace amounts of an aldehyde, and maybe some higher carbon alcohols.

I think sause put it best: "Had some Bud Light analyzed once. They told me my dog had diabetes... And was pregnant‽" If you can get that outcome, you got it spot on!

all joking of course, I enjoy the occasional fizzy water especially when it's really hot.

 

[Alamo_Beer]

I brewed www.austinhomebrew.com 's lone star clone and I'm happy with it. SWMBO likes lone star a lot and said it's better so...give that a shot

just my $0.02

 

[polishski]

First question: Are you rich?
Because Liquid Gold is the main ingrediant in Pabst Blue Ribbon.
This is way it's price moves with the price of Gold.

 

[DeathBrewer]

lol, what?

 

[Revvy]

First question: Are you rich?
Because Liquid Gold is the main ingrediant in Pabst Blue Ribbon.
This is way it's price moves with the price of Gold.

whatyoutalkinaboutwillis?

 

[mrkristofo]

boy's been drinkin. blue ribbon on the brain. too many peebers will do that to ya.

 

[RICLARK]

I found this and Plugged it into Beersmith if it will help ya.

PBR CLONE
Brew Type: All Grain Date: 2/9/2008
Style: American Light/Standard/Premium Lager Brewer: Who Knows
Batch Size: 5.50 gal Assistant Brewer:
Boil Volume: 7.00 gal Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 % Equipment: Brew Pot (7.5 gal) and Igloo Cooler (10 Gal)
Actual Efficiency: 16.71 %
Taste Rating (50 possible points): 35.0

Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
10.00 lb Barley, Raw (2.0 SRM) Grain 86.96 %
1.00 lb Rice, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 8.70 %
0.50 lb Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 4.35 %
0.25 oz Cascade [6.00 %] (60 min) Hops 5.2 IBU
0.25 oz Cascade [6.00 %] (35 min) Hops 4.3 IBU
0.25 oz Mt. Hood [4.50 %] (25 min) Hops 2.7 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [6.00 %] (15 min) Hops 10.3 IBU
1 Pkgs American Lager (Wyeast Labs #2035) Yeast-Lager

Beer Profile Estimated Original Gravity: 1.045 SG (1.035-1.050 SG) Measured Original Gravity: 1.010 SG
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.011 SG (0.980-1.012 SG) Measured Final Gravity: 1.005 SG
Estimated Color: 5.2 SRM (2.0-8.0 SRM) Color [Color]
Bitterness: 22.6 IBU (8.0-22.0 IBU) Alpha Acid Units: 10.1 AAU
Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 4.43 % (3.50-5.10 %) Actual Alcohol by Volume: 0.65 %
Actual Calories: 43 cal/pint


Mash Profile Name: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge Mash Tun Weight: 9.00 lb
Mash Grain Weight: 11.50 lb Mash PH: 5.4 PH
Grain Temperature: 72.0 F Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F
Sparge Water: 5.04 gal Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE

Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Mash In Add 3.59 gal of water at 161.4 F 150.0 F 75 min


Mash Notes
Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).
Carbonation and Storage Carbonation Type: Corn Sugar Carbonation Volumes: 2.4 (2.5-2.7 vols)
Estimated Priming Weight: 3.9 oz Temperature at Bottling: 55.0 F
Primer Used: - Age for: 8.0 Weeks
Storage Temperature: 35.0 F

 

[Kai]

I found this and Plugged it into Beersmith if it will help ya.

. . . .

Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
10.00 lb Barley, Raw (2.0 SRM) Grain 86.96 %
1.00 lb Rice, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 8.70 %
0.50 lb Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 4.35 %

. . . .

That's not a mash. That's porridge.

I'm going to say that you should try using malted barley instead of raw barley. And then maybe you'll have better conversion than listed:

Beer Profile
Estimated Original Gravity: 1.045 SG (1.035-1.050 SG) Measured Original Gravity: 1.010 SG Estimated Final Gravity: 1.011 SG (0.980-1.012 SG) Measured Final Gravity: 1.005 SG
Estimated Color: 5.2 SRM (2.0-8.0 SRM) Color [Color]
Bitterness: 22.6 IBU (8.0-22.0 IBU) Alpha Acid Units: 10.1 AAU
Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 4.43 % (3.50-5.10 %) Actual Alcohol by Volume: 0.65 % Actual Calories: 43 cal/pint

EDIT: on second thought, knowing PBR, maye this is intentional.

 

[eriktlupus]

That's not a mash. That's porridge.

I'm going to say that you should try using malted barley instead of raw barley. And then maybe you'll have better conversion than listed:



EDIT: on second thought, knowing PBR, maye this is intentional.

beersmith puts values like that in automatically you have to go in and change em when you actually brew the recipe

 

[RICLARK]

That's not a mash. That's porridge.

I'm going to say that you should try using malted barley instead of raw barley. And then maybe you'll have better conversion than listed:



EDIT: on second thought, knowing PBR, maye this is intentional.

Hey Im not brewing this, Its simply what was listed on a site I found Trying to help him out.

 

[shafferpilot]

There's no conversion from unmalted barley. Is that recipe a joke? or a misprint?

 

[Kai]

There's no conversion from unmalted barley. Is that recipe a joke? or a misprint?

I'm going to say it's probably a misprint. Sorry if I came across as mean-spirited.

 

[RICLARK]

There's no conversion from unmalted barley. Is that recipe a joke? or a misprint?

I have no Idea what Raw Barley is but is and I have never used it. This is a recipe I found when I typed in Pabst Blue Ribbon Clone into Google. Raw Barley has to be used for something because BeerSmith has it in its Ingredients data base. But he wanted a PBR clone So I found one just tryin to help, Sometimes people are little over critical on here.

 

[shafferpilot]

sorry for sounding critical. That's just a strange recipe. I suppose raw barley could be used in addition to 2 or 6 row malted barley since the enzymes in those would convert the raw.

 

[cowgo]

PBR is known for having quite a bit of corn adjunct. I don't know if that would be white or yellow though.

If you want to be true to the style, other than brewing it through a horse (obligatory PBR joke), you should include about 5-10% corn in your grain bill.

 

[Xinf3]

I would have to agree, I taste more corn than rice. try comparing to bud you'll see what I mean.

I was talking to a brew master once, and he was telling me that American light's are a more difficult style because you do not have the strong flavors that can actually cover up a brew that is not perfect. in other words, if you do a good American lager, that would be something to brag about. I personally never have because if I’m putting in the effort I’m going to brew something that satisfies my hop addiction, but kudos to you if you pull it off!

concerning the wonderful comments about Pabst...
compare a Cadillac to a Kia, the caddie will win. compare PBR to DFH 90 IIPA, DFH will win, not a fair comparison IMHO. If you take Pabst Blue Ribbon for what it is, A macro American lager you might realize that it is a great beer within it's own league. compare PBR to any other American macro... besides, it still wins awards (GABF '06 - gold in American-style lager to name one out of many)
I personally love all types of beer and PBR happens to be my favorite American macro. Yes, I keep a keg of PBR on tap (saves on wasted beer when people don’t like my DIPA) and I also collect Pabst antiques.
Just a suggestion, do a blind taste test within the same category. if you don't like this style that fine because then it's a matter of personal taste, but if you are flaming this beer because of the price tag, some stigmata or because you drank this beer when you where in college or better yet high skool, there is a really good chance you don't know what you're talking about. I on occasion have judged a person on their personal tastes based off their macro American choice. you say bud or Coors, you get my homebrew sake, you say PBR, you get the good stuff

CHEERS!!!

 

[hkohl]

EC Kraus.com has the the malt extract. Happy brewing