Recipe Review: Deschutes River Ale Clone

[thepudgeman]

I am trying to formulate this recipe before I brew. Deschutes gives the list of ingredients here... http://www.deschutesbrewery.com/recipe/deschutes-river-ale ... but doesn't give the amounts or times. So here is what I have come up with. It has a bit higher OG: but I am ok with that. I am mostly concerned about the hop schedule. It seems like a low amount for the flavor that comes across in the real thing.

 

[pikeman94]

Did you ever brew this beer? How did it turn out?

 

[thepudgeman]

I brewed this last Wednesday 5/7. Most of the fermentation has finished and everything is starting to settle out. I will likely Keg on 5/21.

Here is a picture, pre active fermentation

 

[thepudgeman]

Pulled the first one this evening. Mine is on the right, Deschutes on the left. Color is there. Mine is a bit maltier, there's finishes a bit dryer. More of the hop flavor comes out in the real thing. My local brew club says if I start doing some water additions like adding gypsum I should be able to get the full hop profile out of my beers.

Full recipe.
10 lbs UK golden promise
1 lb caramel crystal 20L
.25 lb carapils
.25 Munich light 10L
.5 oz nugget alpha 13.5% 45 min
.5 oz cascade alpha 7.1% 10 min
.25 oz crystal alpha 3.4% 0 min
Harvested So4 yeast

Mash at about 152 F
Boil 60 min

OG: 1.061
FG: 1.020
Eff: about 84%

 

[thepudgeman]

I also used the alcohol content... This is normally a 3.2/4% beer finished at 5.5%

 

[pikeman94]

I just had a few bottles of this over the weekend. I would agree with your dryness comment. I so want to brew this when I get the chance.

 

[thepudgeman]

I had some other people try this over the weekend. When I try this one again I will likely mash a bit lower, probably like 150F, and i will likely double the hops to really get them to stand out against the higher alcohol content.

 

[pikeman94]

I will give this a run through my setup and let you know how the ABV turns out. I think a lot of times my ABV goes higher because my mash can get too efficient. I have noticed that when I got with 1.25 qt per pound of grain I miss my pre-boil OG and then my SG. However, when I went to 1.5 qt per pound of grain I would hit or overshoot my gravities. Some what maddening. I do have some spare gypsum on hand so I might try treating the water with a little out of the gate. I will keep you posted.

 

[fosaisu]

I am trying to formulate this recipe before I brew. Deschutes gives the list of ingredients here... http://www.deschutesbrewery.com/recipe/deschutes-river-ale ... but doesn't give the amounts or times. So here is what I have come up with. It has a bit higher OG: but I am ok with that. I am mostly concerned about the hop schedule. It seems like a low amount for the flavor that comes across in the real thing.

I've tried and really enjoyed River Ale, and definitely plan to take a hack at it sometime.

Just curious, but is there a reason you bumped up the ABV so significantly? I haven't experimented with it myself but I would guess that cutting back on your grain bill to closer approximate the commerical brew might let the hops shine through more (of course if you're shooting for a non-session session beer, then upping the hops is probably the way to go!)

[EDIT: Not meaning to bust your chops if what you meant was that you were shooting for 4% but hit 5.5% by accident -- I took it to mean you were intentionally stepping up the ABV]

 

[thepudgeman]

I intentionally upped the ABV to get more alcohol out of it. I was interested to see if i could make the same beer but at a more "standard" alcohol level.

 

[thepudgeman]

Update on this recipe.

I tried doubling all the Hops at the same time intervals. It didn't work. I just ended up with a bitter Blonde Ale. I tossed 1 oz of Styrian Golding that I had on hand into a hop sack and added it to the Keg to see if I could save it. It helped A LOT.

Maybe for the next attempt, don't double the Hops for the Boil, but Dry Hop with the other 1/2 oz of the Cascade to get that Grapefruit aroma that the River Ale has.

 

[astein46]

I'm new to all grain brewing, so please forgive my stupid question. I'm curious, with the grains listed. Do you place all of them into the mash and boil for 60 min? thepudgeman, maybe you could give me a more detailed breakdown of the process for this specific brew? Thanks!

 

[thepudgeman]

There is nothing special to this batch from any other all grain batch. You can find many sets of instruction on-line for how to preform an all grain brew day. They vary slightly but the basics are the same. Here is an example of one... http://www.homebrewing.org/All-Grain-Homebrewing_ep_47-1.html

I would suggest reading up a bit and watching a few videos. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=all+grain+brewing

It isn't as scary as it sounds, just remember your basic. Temperature, sanitization, and timing.

 

[RoosterBrew]

Sorry to bump this old thread. I am going to attempt this but I am doing extract. Could anyone update their attempts at this or critique my recipe below?

3.5 lbs Muttons Light DME
2 lbs Muttons Extra light DME
Steeped with Carapils
Safale US-04 yeast

.5 oz Nugget @ 60 min
.5 oz Columbus @ 20 min
.5 oz Nugget & .5 Columbus @ 5 minutes
1 oz Crystal at flame out

I don't brew alot and will need to buy an ounce of each hop so I wanted to use them all. Let me know what you think.

 

[fosaisu]

Sorry to bump this old thread. I am going to attempt this but I am doing extract. Could anyone update their attempts at this or critique my recipe below?

3.5 lbs Muttons Light DME
2 lbs Muttons Extra light DME
Steeped with Carapils
Safale US-04 yeast

.5 oz Nugget @ 60 min
.5 oz Columbus @ 20 min
.5 oz Nugget & .5 Columbus @ 5 minutes
1 oz Crystal at flame out

I don't brew alot and will need to buy an ounce of each hop so I wanted to use them all. Let me know what you think.

May be a bit late, but I updated my recipe thread with the as-brewed version and some tasting notes:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=7526441&postcount=4

.5oz Nugget at 60 mins may make the beer a bit too bitter (depending on the AA% of your Nugget). Maybe move .2 oz of the Nugget up to the 20 min. addition, and then bump half of the 20 min Columbus to flame out or use it for dry hopping? You're shooting for 28 IBUs, and if you're not using software for the recipe, an online IBU calculator like this one: http://www.brewersfriend.com/ibu-calculator/ can help you figure out how to best utilize your hops (if you want to use up full ozs, you're best off using the "remainder" at flameout or as a dry hop to avoid unwanted extra bitterness).

Hope you enjoy this brew!