Red Hook Autumn Ale Clone Recipe

[Redbeard5289]

Can anyone direct me to a clone recipe for Red Hook Late Harvest Autumn Ale.

Bought a 12 pk on a whim for Labor Day weekend and, not only myself, but a few of my neighborhood home-brewers would love to make a version of this.
I tried searching this site and the web and found nothing. All I could find for a Red Hook clone is the ESB recipe.

Any help would be great. I just brewed up a Honey Brown Ale last weekend and would like to make an Autumn Ale clone this upcoming weekend.

Thanks
Redbeard5289

 

[humann_brewing]

I would suggest emailing redhook. I emailed for info on copperhook and they went as far as telling me percentages of their malts used, I constructed a clone that is pretty darn close to me. I would just email saying you know the malts used but were wondering the percentages of each and what times do they put in each hop. Also, I know from other readings that they do a 75 minute boil and they use great western 2-row as their base malt. Also WLP041 would be the yeast to use.

Anyways, the info on their site is:

REDHOOK : ARE YOU OVER 21?

Style: Autumn Ale
ABV: 5.9%
Malts: Pale, C60, C70/80, C Vienne, Smoke
Hops: Willamette, Saaz, Chinook
Color SRM: 19.0
Bitterness Units: 32.0 IBU
Original Gravity: 1.0595
Calories / 12 oz.: 199.8
Brewed Since: 2005

 

[Redbeard5289]

humann brewing,

Thanks for the weblink to Redhook and the information you found. That is so awesome!

I did put in a email to Redhook to see if they could enlighten me as to the precentages of the malt and hops and the hops times. I'll let you know when I hear back from them.

Thanks again for all your help.
Redbeard5289

 

[BlackHat]

Redbeard - did you ever hear back from Redhook?

I'm a big fan of this beer, but I couldn't find it anywhere this year. I decided I would attempt to clone it without first looking up any recipes or emailing the brewery. So I remembered what I could, worked off of the stats on their website, and tweaked the recipe in Beersmith until the numbers matched. Here's what I came up with:

5 gal / all-grain / 70% efficiency

8# US 2-Row
1.25# Crystal 60
1# Crystal 75
1# Caravienne
0.25# Smoked Malt
0.75oz Chinook @60
0.5oz Willamette @10
0.5oz Saaz @10
1qt starter of WLP002

60 minute mash at 152 with a water to grist of 1.5 qt/#
Just racked to the fermenter, now sitting at 65F

I couldn't find any Crystal 75 so I blended C60 and C80 until I felt it would be a 75ish malt mix. I boiled for a little over 90 minutes. I felt this would help build up some melanoidins.

I'll let you know how it turns out!

 

[Redbeard5289]

Hey BlackHat,

Sorry the delayed response, got real busy with the holidays and b-days that I kinda forgot about this forum posting...

I did hear back from Redhook, and they unfortunately could not give me any precentages for their malt bill. They did enlighten me a bit to their hops and hops schedule.
Thy told me that they did not add Chinook hops to their 2009 batch. So they replaced the chinooks with willamettes. The hops schedule they used was Willamette for Bittering, Saaz for Flavor and Willamette for Aroma.

I like your recipe you posted, it looks tasty. I would probably go with what you formulated but replace the hops with the data that Redhook emailed me.
Looks like I have something new to brew up this summer.

Thanks BlackHat and humann brewing for the help and info.
Much Appreciated.

Redbeard5289

 

[BlackHat]

I contacted Redhook as well and they gave me bupkis. Oh well. My beer ended up pretty tasty, although certainly not a clone. If I were to brew it again - which I most likely will - I'll cut down on the Crystal 75. My beer was way too dark and had too much of that dark fruit flavor the high crystals are known for. I'd also cut the smoke malt down to an ounce. I'd kick up the carbonation as well - the actual beer has a definite carbonation bite that really affects the flavor. The Saaz seemed out of place in the aroma too.

I hit all the numbers spot on though and made a beer that although not a clone, could maybe be considered a sibling or at least a close cousin.

 

[Redbeard5289]

Hey BlackHat,

Thanks for the response. I will put your input to good use when I brew this up this summer.
I agree that the Saaz seems a bit out of place in the Aroma Category.

What carbonation value did you use on your beer?

Redbeard5289