Mikkeller - American Dream Lager ?

[oljimmy]

This is honestly one of my favorite beers of all time, if you haven't had it, do yourself a favor and pick one up. Crisp as all hell, gorgeous lemony aroma and thirst-quenching hop bitterness. Anyone have any thoughts on a clone recipe? Here's what I've got so far:

-Measured FG 1.010, ABV 4.6%, which translates to OG 1.045, 78% apparent attenuation
-Big lemony aroma and long-lasting american-hop bitterness, est IBU 50. Maybe centennial for 40 IBUs of bittering and late citra for aroma.
- Crisp lager mouthfeel, I'm guessing a strain similar to WLP830 German Lager Yeast (Attenuation is right in the middle of that strain's 75-80% rating)
- Maybe 80-85% Pilsner malt mashed near probably mashed around 152, no sugar additives
- ...adjuncts.... no idea. Color is strangely dark, 9 SRM. Not sure how to get that in a lager without making it sweeter.

 

[Pappers_]

Hi Jimmy. I haven't tasted this beer, so can't speak from experience. A quick search though shows that it is definitely amber in color. Two ideas - use significant amounts of 10L or 20L Munich to move it towards amber, or use very small amounts of debittered roast grains to add color. Neither of those would add sweetness.

 

[oljimmy]

Right on, thanks Pappers. I might try those carafa grains, though it's always baffled me as to why anyone would want darker color just for the sake of it.

 

[madscientist451]

Thanks for the post, Never had the beer, but heard about it then forgot.
The recipe for the beer you mentioned might be in this book:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1909342882/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[oljimmy]

Thanks MS, I'm afraid it isn't. But I think it should be too hard to get close, at least by making a standard Pilsener Lager and cranking up the USA hops. I'm trying a recipe now and will update on the results.

 

[oljimmy]

So, I put together the following recipe and just kegged it. Preliminary tasting results are very positive, though I don't think it counts as a clone yet. I absolutely NAILED the OG and FG, attenuation and ABV are spot-on, and there's obviously lots of lemony USA-hop aroma from the Citra. We will see.


Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 6.86 gal
Boil Time: 60 min
End of Boil Vol: 5.99 gal
Final Kegging Vol: 5.00 gal
Fermentation: Lager, Brulosophy
Mash: 151F, no sparge.
Est Mash Efficiency: 71.6 %
IBU: 44.6

Ingredients Amt Name Type # %/IBU
9 lbs 4.0 oz Pilsner (Weyermann) (1.7 SRM) Grain 1 94.3 %
8.0 oz Munich 10L (Briess) (10.0 SRM) Grain 2 5.1 %
1.0 oz Blackprinz Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 3 0.6 %
1.00 oz Centennial [9.30 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 4 34.0 IBUs
1.10 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 5 -
1.00 oz Citra [14.10 %] - Boil 3.0 min Hop 6 6.4 IBUs
1.00 oz Citra [14.10 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 45.0 min Hop 7 4.3 IBUs
2.0 pkg Saflager Lager (DCL/Fermentis #W-34/70) [50.28 ml] Yeast, rehydrated -
2.00 oz CTZ [14.20 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Days Hop 9 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Citra [14.10 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Days Hop 10 0.0 IBUs

Fermentation: 10 days at 60 F, 4 days at 65F, then slow 10-day ramp-down to 35F before kegging.

Gravity, Alcohol Content and Color
Measured Original Gravity: 1.045 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Actual Alcohol by Vol: 4.6 %
Calories: 148.2 kcal/12oz
Color 6.6 SRM

Will post pics and tasting results as soon as it's carbed.

 

[oljimmy]

So the first clone wasn't a great success, though the beer was. Here's a blurry photo, mine on the left, Mikkeller on the right:

The American Dream is not only redder, but it has a distinct tart/tangy aroma (not sweet) that the simple Pilsner Malt+Saflager34 combination couldn't emulate. The tang is ONLY in the aroma, not in the taste of the Mikkeller. The bitterness is close, and the body/mouthfeel is about right, but there's something distinctly Belgian going on in the Mikkeller. Either they're using a yeast that throws a moderate amount of sour/tartness, OR something like Special Roast is imparting a sourdoughy tang to the beer. If anyone has any advice on how to reproduce a tangy aroma in a lager, let me know!

 

[giraffe]

MFB Special aromatic? Just a guess. Try subbing out 30-40% of the pils for that.

 

[oljimmy]

Thanks Giraffe, I might give that a go. I don't see anywhere in the description about a tart or tangy aroma with MFB, but it might be part of the solution.