Spotted Cow Extract Clone Help / Challenge...Will Donate $25 to HomeBrewTalk

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Just finished brewing this up, extract.

Really fun experience, first time doing a cereal mash... first time working with flaked corn and barley. The guy at my HB store sold me a grain bag a bit to big for my setup, I wanted one that would fit around my kettle perfectly... this one was massive. And it's a disaster to clean.

Anyway, I ended up having to top off at 5.5gal to get my OG down to 1.05. But I am happy with it... what affects might this have on the beer? Does this mean I got more sugars out of my grain than expected? Or my boil off was greater then expected?

Excited to try this. I don't know if I will be able to cold crash it. I did filter the wort through the clean grain bag when I poured it into my primary... thinking that might help clear it up. Something I started doing last batch, who knows if I should be or not.

Thanks for the recipe, I will let you know how it turns out.
 
a tip on cleaning the bag is to turn it inside out and shake off, rinse off what you can. Hang it up and let it dry, then flap it outside a couple times. Fold it up and put it away.
 
So, 6 days in the primary and so far I'm sitting at 1.022 (ambient 63 degrees). I was hoping to move to my secondary to cold crash tomorrow... but I assume I need to let it sit for another couple days? The krausen hadn't fallen yet.

Haven't been in this situation yet. Since I overshot my SG, is it going to take longer to get to my FG? There is minimal airlock activity, but I know not to judge that.

The sample pulled from my thief did NOT look appealing! Cloudy greenish yellow liquid, and thick. But don't judge a book by it's cover.

So what are my next steps, let it sit longer?
 
I brought it up to my main level to raise ambient temp a few degrees. If I let it sit another couple weeks, would I forgo the seconday and cold crashing? That's my initial plan at time of brewing. Primary for 7, seconday for 14 with 4-5 days of cold crashing at the start.
 
So when I moved the pale up last night I also gave it a light swirl.

Checked it this morning, ambient temp 68 and it's bubbling away again!
 
Good move. You did the right thing. I would just leave it in the primary at the warmer temps and cold crash after 2-3 weeks. 4-5 days of cold crashing is good. Then transfer to bottles/keg.
 
Bottled this last Saturday...had great color (until my auto syphon sucked up some of the crud at the bottom).

Anyone think 2 weeks of bottle conditioning is too short to pop the first one? Waiting is the hardest part of homebrewing for sure....
 
Nice, I'm moving mine to the secondary to cold crash this weekend, then bottling the next.

What OG/FG did you end up with?

I used to sample all my beers at 2 weeks... but now that I have a few kinds in my fridge I let them sit 3 or 4. No sense in drinking a flat beer if you don't have to!
 
OG was 1.052, FG was 1.012...slightly higher than target.

I typically will check around the 2-3 week mark as well, depending on style of beer (some are good less carbonated). I recently did a hefe that was good to go after just 2 weeks, just didn't know if anyone else had tried this right away.
 
Spot on with my FG of 1.052!

However, I wasn't able to get my FG down that low. It's been in the primary for 1 day short of 2 weeks. I checked it Sunday and i was sitting at 1.02. I don't think it's gone much lower. Oh well.

What temps did you ferment at?
 
I don't have it all in front of me, but I think it started near 67° then I moved it downstairs to get it colder - I think around 60°. I don't have the means to cold crash so I just bottled after fermentation, and now it's conditioning in the basement right around 57°.
 
So I have a question on the logistics of Cold Crashing.

It's been in my fridge since Friday afternoon, and I'd like to take it out so I can move a batch in that has been bottled for a few weeks. But I won't be able to bottle the cow until this coming friday.

Is it ok to take the carboy out of the fridge now, and let it warm back up to room temperature before I bottle it friday? Or am I supposed to bottle it cold and put the bottles back in the fridge? There will be enough yeast left to carbonate correct?
 
You are fine to take it out and let it sit. Basically, cold crashing just precipitates different proteins and crap out of the beer. Once they are out, they are out.

Bottle as usual, allow to carbonate, chill, and enjoy.
 
Bottled it up yesterday. FG dropped down to 1.016, still a bit high but better then 1.02!

Color looked outstanding, chilled a small sample to taste which I try to avoid... seemed tasty but was really tart. Sure that will mellow out with conditioning.

Really excited about this one.
 
Not yet, really tempted to this weekend. But I am always disappointed with the 2 week bottle check. Might just wait until the 4th!
 
I'll be checking back.. I have 4 bottles of the cow left in the fridge. I am saving them until I hear about how this turned out... then I am going to brew and do a side by side. Since I can't get it out here I have to conserve the best I can.
 
I tried a bottle at 2 weeks, couldn't resist. Tasted pretty good, slight fruit taste. A friend whom was over (BMC drinker) said their initial thought was a bit of a skunk flavor. That just tells me it needs to mellow out a bit. But I was impressed. It's been way to long since I've had a bottle of the real stuff though. But it turns out I have a sixer coming to me this weekend. Will do a side by side in a week or 2.
 
I had a couple after 2 1/2 weeks, a little lighter but still good flavor. It worked for me, and my friends enjoyed them too so I'll call it a success. Thanks for the recipe!
 
I've been told wheat beer its important to get the right yeast. Don't ferment or sparge too hot. What do you have for containers? Bottles? Don't use too much hops either. WB drinkers like them fairly sublime.

I made a big batch of wort and split it and tried two different yeasts. It's amazing how different the two turned out. The WB-06 has a citrus flavor and so far everyone has liked it.

3,800 views on this topic already. :)

Were's my $25?

;-)
 
Dynachrome said:
I've been told wheat beer its important to get the right yeast. Don't ferment or sparge too hot. What do you have for containers? Bottles? Don't use too much hops either. WB drinkers like them fairly sublime.

I made a big batch of wort and split it and tried two different yeasts. It's amazing how different the two turned out. The WB-06 has a citrus flavor and so far everyone has liked it.

3,800 views on this topic already. :)

Were's my $25?

;-)
Click to expand...

Apparently you aren't too familiar with spotted cow. It's not a wheat beer.
 
Doh!

Thanks for pointing that out. I drink it once in a while. It's cloudy and yeasty - I just assumed. Please excuse me while I wpe this egg off my face.
 
I don't know enough about brewing to suggest any changes! And my sixer never showed up this weekend so I have no comparison.

I will be heading up to Spooner this coming weekend however, and will be picking up a sixer on the way. I'll be better able to compare the two at that time.

I do seem to recall it having more of a fruit flavor then what I created, but maybe that will be a bit more pronounced once it mellows out.
 
wookiemofo said:
I do seem to recall it having more of a fruit flavor then what I created, but maybe that will be a bit more pronounced once it mellows out.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I would really like to know what temperature (actual beer temperature) you fermented at? That yeast is very temperature temperamental, so increasing the fermentation temp affects the fruit ester production.
 
Ambient was 63 degrees for a week, stalled out at 1.022 and moved it up stairs and fermentation resumed for another day or two.

Then cold crashed.

I'll give a better diagnosis after the 4th.
 
Way more fruit flavor in week 3. In fact it's been over 2 years since i've had the real deal, and this reminded me of it.

Heading to spooner tomorrow, might bring one for a side by side.
 
Happy to say I found the clone to be very similar to the real thing! Mine was actually more cloud then the New Glaurus version. Theirs was a lot clearer than I remember.

My clone also tasted a bit thin when compared to theirs... not sure how to describe that. Not as complex... but still really good.

Glad I found this, thanks a ton for providing it. I would love to be looped in on any variations/changes made to this recipe.
 
Here is the all-grain Spotted Cow Clone I am going to try next week. I'll let you know how it goes.

Batch Size: 2.5 gallon
3.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 55.25 %
1.00 lb Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM) Grain 18.42 %
0.75 lb Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 13.81 %
0.50 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 9.21 %
0.18 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 3.31 %
0.53 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [4.60 %] (60 min) Hops 18.2 IBU
1 Pkgs Kolsch Yeast (Wyeast Labs #2565) Yeast-Ale

Est Original Gravity: 1.047 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.011 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.60 %
Bitterness: 18.2 IBU
Est Color: 4.8 SRM Color: Color
 
I'm brewing this tonight, and I'm questioning not having any finishing hops. Does this look right, or should I add a little of the Saaz?

Batch Size: 2.5 gallon
3.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 55.25 %
1.00 lb Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM) Grain 18.42 %
0.75 lb Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 13.81 %
0.50 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 9.21 %
0.18 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 3.31 %
0.53 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [4.60 %] (60 min) Hops 18.2 IBU
1 Pkgs Kolsch Yeast (Wyeast Labs #2565) Yeast-Ale

Est Original Gravity: 1.047 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.011 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.60 %
Bitterness: 18.2 IBU
Est Color: 4.8 SRM Color: Color
 
I can't answer that, but I can say I just had another bottle last night. It's improved a lot in the last week... pretty spot on at this point!
 

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