Negra Modello Clone

[sundog14]

Hello HBer's,
I am in the process of brewing my first lager-style beer and want to do at least one more before my Summer brewing break....assuming that this first one turns out OK. So after considering a few different lager styles, I have my sights set on attempting to clone Negra Modello. Initially, my research on doing this indicated that this beer is in the Vienna style. But I went to the Negra Modello site yesterday and it states that this beer is in the Munich Dunkel style. Seems as though these two styles are quite different. Any input on which style or styles I should follow, or will I just be winging it here?
Regards, Tom

 

[BigEd]

Negra Modelo is Vienna influenced but I would describe it as a hybrid, with some Vienna, some Dunkel, along with a pinch of Schwartz bier and North American lager. Negra is a bit darker and drier than an honest-to-goodness Vienna and almost certainly has some maize/corn adjunct.

Try this to get started:

50% domestic pale malt
20% Vienna malt
15% Light Munich malt
12% flaked maize
3 % Carafa II

Hop to ~20 IBU with some decent European hops (Hallertau, Spalt) or domestic takes like Mt. Hood.

Your favorite lager yeast will suffice but the White Labs Mexican Lager strain is actually very good and does a nice job here.

 

[dpeters]

Someone had this recipe on here somewhere and I made it. This beer is really good and will be one I keep making.
I was a little worried about pitching a single pack for a lager but I did and all worked well.
My wife and I compared it to the real Modelo and this one was much better!

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Saflager s-23
Yeast Starter: Nope
Batch Size (Gallons): 5
Original Gravity: 1.050
Final Gravity: 1.015
IBU: 28.1
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Color: 18
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 14 days at 50 F
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 21 @ at 34 F
Tasting Notes: Very smooth, slightly malty, with hints of noble spice and roasted malts
This beer has been carefully designed to be like a much, much better version of Negra Modelo. People who like Negra Modelo and the BMC beers, in general, like my brother, will likely discover this beer is everything they could ever want in a beer and more. (ETA: This is NOT a clone brew, but tries to take what is good about the NM and enhance it.) I could make this every week and send it all to Matt, and he'd drink it all. I'm about to make it again for his birthday coming up. It comes out very smooth and drinkable, with hints of hop and caramel, all balanced by the clean lager fermentation and flavorful, toasty base malts. It's pretty close to a Vienna Lager, but a little darker and a little richer.
3 pounds of American 6-Row
3 pounds of Vienna Malt (US)
3 pounds of Munich 10l (US)
8 ounces of American Caramel/Crystal 80l
4 ounces of Briess Chocolate Wheat Malt
1/2 ounce of Magnum @60
1/4 ounce of any noble-heritage, low-alpha aroma hop @30 and @15 (Mt. Rainier, Liberty, Santiam, and Crystal all work great, but my brother is partial to Mt. Rainier, while I'm partial to Tettnang)
A single pack of Saflager S-23 : No starter, just pitch the packet and aerate.
A multi-step mash with an (optional) protein rest at 122 degrees F for 20-30 minutes, to the mandatory Alpha Rest at 146 F for 30 minutes, followed by a Beta Rest at 156 F for 30 minutes
Boil for an hour, minimum.
Drop the temperature quickly down to about 40 degrees before pitching, and sprinkle in the yeast and aerate. Then, let it ferment at the low end for Saflager for about two weeks. Diacetyl rest is strongly recommended. I usually just pull it out of the fridge and let it sit next to the fridge for a few hours, checking to see if the temperature is up above 60, then hold it there overnight. Then, I transfer to secondary and start lagering.
Requires the ability to lager. After a low, slow primary, lagering is critical to push off sulfur notes and improve smoothness of the finished beer. It's very nearly a Vienna Lager, if a little dark. They don't need to be lagered quite as long as other styles, but the lowest I'd go is about 21 days. Keeping the primary fermentation on the low end makes a shorter fermentation possible, I've found, with fewer off-flavors in the glass.

 

[Horseflesh]

Glad to see this thread. Tackled a Negra Modelo-ish recipe recently and struck out--my first lager, made some fermentation errors, but the recipe was off too. The recipe using dry yeast above looks appealing...

 

[jmcquesten]

Fermentables 10 lb Vienna Malt
7.5 oz American - Caramel / Crystal 60L
3.5 ozAmerican - Chocolate
2 lbFlaked Corn

12.69 lbTotal

Hops

0.5 oz Magnum 13% 60 min
1 oz Saaz 3.5% 10 min

Yeast

White Labs - Mexican Lager Yeast WLP940

Just made this and it came out very nice and it's pretty close to Negra.

 

[dmtaylor]

Vienna lager the Munich dunkles are not very different styles, and Negra Modelo is in the overlap zone and actually fits both styles. I think it's closer to a Vienna, but just a darker version of it.

My recipe linked here that was inspired by Modelo (but not a "clone" of it) scored highly in competition and won a silver medal.

https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=26517.msg346783#msg346783

 

[AkTom]

I’m not typically a lager fan... I do like NM. Hmmmm. I will have to think about this.
Thanks

 

[sundog14]

Thank you to all that have replied!....even Alaska.
Well, now I will certainly be brewing this beer.
I do not claim to know the beer styles very well but, yes, it does seem to be a hybrid of Vienna and maybe a Munich Dunkel. Whatever style it is, it will be interesting and a challenge to "improve" on NM. The recipes are very helpful and I will consider them when I make my recipe. I tend to make my grain bills too complicated and will try to keep it simpler for this one. I will definitely have some Vienna malt in there and am thinking about some chocolate (chocolate originated in Mexico,didn't it?), a bit of Special B (a little caramel....and I like Belgian malts). I also tend to try to use up some malts that have been hanging around for awhile, so I may add 0.5# of flaked maize that need s to be used up. I'll stick to noble-type hops, German varieties. A tentative grain bill?
- American 2-row (organic)
- Vienna
- Chocolate
- Soecial B
- Flaked maize (once again, form Mexico, right?)
- maybe some Munich?

Thanks again!

 

[BigEd]

Thank you to all that have replied!....even Alaska.
Well, now I will certainly be brewing this beer.
I do not claim to know the beer styles very well but, yes, it does seem to be a hybrid of Vienna and maybe a Munich Dunkel. Whatever style it is, it will be interesting and a challenge to "improve" on NM. The recipes are very helpful and I will consider them when I make my recipe. I tend to make my grain bills too complicated and will try to keep it simpler for this one. I will definitely have some Vienna malt in there and am thinking about some chocolate (chocolate originated in Mexico,didn't it?), a bit of Special B (a little caramel....and I like Belgian malts). I also tend to try to use up some malts that have been hanging around for awhile, so I may add 0.5# of flaked maize that need s to be used up. I'll stick to noble-type hops, German varieties. A tentative grain bill?
- American 2-row (organic)
- Vienna
- Chocolate
- Soecial B
- Flaked maize (once again, form Mexico, right?)
- maybe some Munich?

Thanks again!

I would try and restrain yourself from adding too many ingredients to the recipe; unfortunately a common homebrewing error perhaps propelled by over-enthusiasm and the desire to use up left over ingredients. This should be a relatively simple beer. A little of this, some of that, and maybe some of this too won't necessarily make it any better and likely the opposite. You said you wanted a "clone". My outline and jmcquesten's recipe will certainly get you in the ballpark. Dave's recipe (dmtaylor) will make a better beer than Negra Modelo. I like Speical-B too but an aggressive, very dark crystal is an intrusion here.