Recipe help, Lemon

[kristiismean]

Trying to reproduce a beer from the 90's

One Eyed Jack by JLBC Wilkes-Barre PA.

produced in the 90's and then disappeared, and mainly was sold on the west coast..

Figuring pale 2 -row and flaked wheat, but to get the right taste with hops and how to get the right lemon in.

For those looking it up, it's totally disappeared. there is a bottle on ebay for 20 dollars (empty) which is no help

 

[BrewNaked]

Resurrecting a *very* old post here, but a group of friends and I have been searching for the name of this beer for over a year now and *FINALLY* managed to Google it up last night. This was our go-to beverage (along with Hornsby cider) in the early days of college and now I'm curious about what a recipe for it might look like.

I've done a little bit of web-scouring to find anything about the "beer(?)" to get hints toward a clone recipe and came across this bit cut from a short industry article from 1996. It talks about how it was distributed by Thick Head Beverage Company, brewed by The Lion Brewery Inc. in Wilkes-Barre, PA.

Leo Orlandini, head brewmaster and director of brewing operations for The Lion, said the beverage starts off with a beer base that is specially treated to remove all color.

It then goes on to mention what probably doomed the product:

“A clear base is receptive to flavoring,” he said. One-Eyed Jack has an alcohol content of 5 percent by volume which is consistent with most domestic beers, Orlandini said.
One-Eyed Jack is a “very expensive” product to make because the cost of the flavorings is “astronomical,” Covert* said.

* Bob Covert, VP of Logistics at The Lion

Having not consumed it since <cough> 1999, I imagine that "close enough to the original" will be a pretty low bar. Maybe something with a very light-colored wheat base, and citrus-leaning hop, but then add some additional light extract sugar and a high attenuating yeast to dry it out and bump ABV (maybe up into the 9-10% range) then add pasteurized lemonade like a shandy?

Maybe start with a base that looks something like (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/lemon-wheat.512837) but bump up the DME?

 

[BrewNaked]

...for the nostalgia:

 

[mashdar]

How did the lemon compare to modern products, e.g. Mike's?

 

[BrewNaked]

Maybe someone with a better memory could contribute here, but as I recall it had a slightly more malty flavor to it. More sweet than sour and quite hazy.

In all likelihood, if you were to pull one out of your time machine fridge and hand it to me today, I'd probably politely tell you to take the rest back and get something else... but this is for posterity.

 

[Rish]

Sounds like maybe skeeter pee recipe but use DME to replace some (or a lot) of the sugar?

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

Would Amarillo hops be of any help?

 

[Bramling Cross]

How did the lemon compare to modern products, e.g. Mike's?

If I had to guess, I would suggest that this pale ale from the 90's and queried in 2016 was made with domestic Sorachi Ace, back when it was a Lemon Pledge machine. It has changed markedly during the past two decades.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

I would look at the thread here for Raspberry Hard Lemonade. Leave out the raspberries.

When I brewed it I used a base of extra light DME and the lemonade concentrate. I didn't use any hops either.

I think this would give you a better starting point than a wheat base.

Back in the 1990's or so "malt beverages" were very popular. Some of you might remember Bartles and Jaymes. They introduced a whole line of flavored malt beverages and wine coolers in 1985.

 

[DuncB]

I'd try a ginger beer recipe or hard lemonade recipe, in the UK would have been called an alcopop I reckon.
Was it very sweet?

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

I'd try a ginger beer recipe or hard lemonade recipe, in the UK would have been called an alcopop I reckon.
Was it very sweet?

The raspberry hard lemonade does have a little sweetness but more tart from the lemons. Even the raspberries are a slight flavor. Great drink in a hot day, or a cold snowy one. A bunch of those coming real soon to Wisconsin.

I think adding a little ginger to the recipe would give a flavorful twist.