Samichlaus - Clone?

[LBussy]

I've been kicking around the idea of making a Samichlaus clone. I am having a tough time finding facts about the beer in order to back into a recipe.

Here's what I know:

• 14% ABV

... that's it. I can't seem to find any other firm information. I have not even HAD one of these in months so my guesses are no doubt flawed.

Here's what I think:

• Base - 2 row Pilsner
• Some Munich malts
• Noble hops
• Decoction mash
• WLP885- Zurich Lager Yeast

Here's what I guess:

• Magnum/Perle for bitterness
• ~55-60 IBU?
• Some Hallertau for flavor (low)
• No aroma hops
• I'm going to have enough grain left when I am done to make a big beer out of second runnings

Based on that I've come up with the following:

• 17# 2-Row Pilsner
• 2# Munich
• 1oz Magnum 14% @ 60 mins
• 1oz Perl 8% @ 60 mins
• 1oz Saaz 4% @ 30 mins
• 3.5# Honey @ Flame-out

Thinking a 122F 154F 168F decoction mash schedule, with a 90 minute total boil.

This gets me:

• OG 1.126
• FG 1.019 (if I am pure of heart)
• ABV 14.4%
• IBY 62.1 (probably lower)
• Color 6.9 (this HAS to be wrong)

It's definitely "make a new mash tun form a 48 qt cooler" time but other than that I can probably use some help. Anyone have any good info/experience?

 

[LBussy]

Nobody? Guess I'll go hunting/begging at different liquor stores today on the off chance they have some tucked away. It's for science after all.

The IBU is where I'm for sure stuck. I need to sample some again.

 

[WesleyS]

I'm reluctant to help anyone clone this beer because I think it was the second worst beer I've ever had but tastes differ so I dug through my BYO back issues and found their clone recipe.

5 gallons all grain
OG 1.139 FG 1.034
IBU 28. SRM 15
ABV 14.2

21 lbs Pilsner Malt
2 lbs Vienna Malt
1.5 lbs Carahell dark malt
2 lbs cane sugar
12.75 AAU Northern Brewer hops (60 min)
(1.5 oz of 8.5% alpha acids)
2.25 AAU Tettnang hops (15 min)
(.5 oz of 4.5% alpha acids)
.5 oz Hallertauer Mittelfruh hops (2 min)
Zurich Lager Yeast

Step mash with rests at 104, 122, 140, and 158 or you can just do a single infusion at 148.
120 min boil.
Ferment at 52.
After fermentation and diacetyl rest, secondary and lager at 38.
Carbonate to 2.2 volumes CO2.

With this beer you'll definitely want to aerate thoroughly and pitch a ton of healthy yeast. You might even want to make a batch of low gravity lager first and pitch the Samichlaus clone with the slurry.
Also plan on lagering for atleast six months.
This grain bill is formulated for 65% efficiency like all of BYO's recipes so your actual amounts may vary.
Hope this helps. Cheers!

 

[LBussy]

Appreciate the assist Wesley.

Samichlaus is a beer that is best aged, and sipped, sharing the bottle (IMHO). There are some wonderful flavors which can be had with a well-aged bottle. All that being said it is not an every-man's beer for sure. It reminds me of some of the "oh you want a STRONG doppelboick?!" beers I had while stationed in Germany so maybe some of my desire to make it is nostalgic.

Not sure about that recipe though - BYO is a "new" magazine since my sabbatical so I know nothing about their reputation really. The Hallertau at the end is inconsistent with what I remember, 0 hop nose. I also don't think the cane sugar is right. Granted this is brewed in Austria but one would think the roots of this beer lie with it's northern neighbor and the Reinheitsgebot would have some influence.

They are probably closer than my original guess for IBUs though, the color and gravity's all work. The crystal probably makes up for the lack of a decoction mash. Granted a decoction is not something to be taken on lightly but I'm just not sure one could get the same qualities out of a beer that was not decocted.

Study is in order!

 

[looneybomber]

I tried making this beer this winter, but couldn't find WLP885 anywhere - it's a seasonal release. It will be released again next winter.

That said, the only reason I wanted to clone this is because one of my local liquor stores had a few cases of this tucked away they found from 2009 and after 3yrs of aging, there is ZERO hop aroma.

I think I am the only person buying the stuff because it is not moving at all. It was the first time I had the beer and would put it up there as one of my top 4 favorite beers along with Bourbon County stout, The Beast grandcru, and Mephistopheles' stout.

 

[WesleyS]

Appreciate the assist Wesley.

Samichlaus is a beer that is best aged, and sipped, sharing the bottle (IMHO). There are some wonderful flavors which can be had with a well-aged bottle. All that being said it is not an every-man's beer for sure. It reminds me of some of the "oh you want a STRONG doppelboick?!" beers I had while stationed in Germany so maybe some of my desire to make it is nostalgic.

Not sure about that recipe though - BYO is a "new" magazine since my sabbatical so I know nothing about their reputation really. The Hallertau at the end is inconsistent with what I remember, 0 hop nose. I also don't think the cane sugar is right. Granted this is brewed in Austria but one would think the roots of this beer lie with it's northern neighbor and the Reinheitsgebot would have some influence.

They are probably closer than my original guess for IBUs though, the color and gravity's all work. The crystal probably makes up for the lack of a decoction mash. Granted a decoction is not something to be taken on lightly but I'm just not sure one could get the same qualities out of a beer that was not decocted.

Study is in order!

The Samichlaus I had was almost three years old when I drank it. It was cloyingly sweet for my tastes. Maybe it needed a couple more years, I don't know. I'm a huge fan of big and unusual beers, but this was one I just couldn't get behind. Certainly not for everyone. This would certainly be an interesting and challenging beer to make. If you do decide to brew it, definitely update with details.

What I've learned from years of reading BYO is that not all their clone recipes strictly stick 100% to what is in the original beer. Their recipes are designed to get you as a hombrewer as close as possible.
The real Samichlaus does indeed adhere to the Reinheitsgebot, so malt makes up all the extract in it.
The brewery uses a single decoction mash process and they use runnings from a previous mash as the mash water for the main mash.
Also, they use more than one yeast strain throughout the fermentation process by one or more additions of kraeusen to encourage full attenuation.
I think the reason the clone recipe calls for cane sugar is to help bring the final gravity down, but if you want to go strictly by the original, then you'll want to subtract it and make up for it with more malt.
With such a big beer I would probably keep some malt extract on hand just in case you don't hit your target OG. Efficiency can suffer sometimes with such a high gravity mash.
Expect primary fermentation to last around four weeks at around 50 degrees.