I recently brewed Jamil's West Coast Blaster from Brewing Classic Styles. The beer is great--one of the best I have made--but strong enough that I don't want to have more than a couple at a time. I was wondering if anyone had developed a session version of this beer?
West Coast Blaster--Session Version?
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tonyolympia
Well-Known Member
IIRC, the traditional american amber that precedes West Coast Blaster in JZ's book has the same types and quantities of specialty grain, or very close, and just reduces the base malt. I recall seeing both that recipe (called "Amber Waves") and West Coast Blaster in a BYO article by JZ. Google should help you find it.
I'm on the third week of primary fermentation of West Coast Blaster right now, and planning to bottle this weekend. It's my first time making this recipe, and the hydro samples have tasted great. I switched the hops up, going with Columbus and Cascades, and loaded everything toward late additions--less than 10 IBU from the 60 minute addition. I fermented with 1450, Denny's Favorite 50. I'm planning to carbonate to 2.65 volumes, to emulate the carbonation of my favorite amber, Mad River Brewing's Jamaica Red Ale. (I got some info from the head brewer.)
I'm pretty excited about this beer!
I'm on the third week of primary fermentation of West Coast Blaster right now, and planning to bottle this weekend. It's my first time making this recipe, and the hydro samples have tasted great. I switched the hops up, going with Columbus and Cascades, and loaded everything toward late additions--less than 10 IBU from the 60 minute addition. I fermented with 1450, Denny's Favorite 50. I'm planning to carbonate to 2.65 volumes, to emulate the carbonation of my favorite amber, Mad River Brewing's Jamaica Red Ale. (I got some info from the head brewer.)
I'm pretty excited about this beer!
tonyolympia
Well-Known Member
BeerPaul said:
I purposefully didn't ask for the whole recipe, just for some details of the process they employ--mashing, hop schedule, and carbonation. Here's what Dylan Schatz, Mad River's head brewer, had to say:
(quote)
Hi Tony,
Thanks for your high opinion of our Jamaica Red Ale and your passion for brewing. In answer to your questions, I can provide the following information.
Our mash schedule is a single step infusion @156 F for 45 minutes, sparged with 168 F H2O. Total run-off time for 17 Bbls kettle volume is 90 minutes.
Hops are added at start of boil (Colombus), at 40 min (Chinook), at 70 min (Cascade & Willamette), at 80 min (Amarillo), kettle off at 90 min, 5 min rest, hops added to hop back (Cascade & Willamette, steep 5 min) then cast out to whirlpool vessel/wort receiver.
As per carbonation, we force carbonate to 2.65 volumes of CO2 in our bright beer tank.
Hope this information helps you, good luck and happy brewing. Thanks again for supporting our Madness!
Cheers,
-Dylan
(end quote)
Based on the hydro samples, I'd say West Coast Blaster is reminiscent of Jamaica Red Ale, but the latter beer has a much more complex hop profile, with different citrusy and spicy flavors layered on top of one another. And the malt bill is definitely different. To really emulate Jamaica Red Ale, I need to find the malt that gives a maximum dark dried fruit / burnt sugar flavor. I don't know whether that will mean more C120 (I already upped it in my recipe), or something else--like one of the "cara" malts (caraaroma, carared, etc.). Maybe Special B? Extra Special Malt?
If anyone has ideas on that front, I'd love to hear them.
Hey man. This is an old one but I’ve got a family member requesting I brew a mad river Jamaica red ale. Might need to jog your memory but did you ever get any further with this?
