Which Aldi Beers are good enough that you wish you could clone them?

[beersk]

It has always been in amber bottles. It still looks just like the picture in post #6 above. Are you sure you are looking at Wernesgrüner Pils?

No, now that you mention it, I'm not. I will look again when I go next.

 

[treacheroustexan]

Anyone had this Aldi one yet?

 

[ebbelwoi]

I studied in Germany for a bit in the early 90s, right after the Wall came down. A guy who lived on my dorm floor (who had incidentally spent time in prison for trying to escape the East - twice) brought me a bottle of Wernesgrüner, and I was impressed. I found it at a Midwest Aldi 15 years later, and was a bit disappointed. I suppose it was just old?

 

[VirginiaHops1]

I had Hop Lift, I thought it was average. Definitely nothing special but good value for the price.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Too bad the nearest Aldi is 608 miles from me.

hmmm...my nearest Aldi is 1.8 miles...never been there.

 

[HB_ATL73]

I'm guilty of picking up a 4 pack of this every time I go to Aldi:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29402/217861/

It's nothing crazy, but I think it's good.
View attachment 655154

Not a huge fan. I guess it is an ok beer for a cheap price. That's my only input its the only beer ive had there

 

[HB_ATL73]

I'm guilty of picking up a 4 pack of this every time I go to Aldi:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29402/217861/

It's nothing crazy, but I think it's good.
View attachment 655154

Not a huge fan. I guess it is an ok beer for a cheap price. That's my only input its the only beer ive had there

 

[Clonefan94]

My wife got me the Beer Advent Calendar this year from Aldi. I haven't really dug into the beers yet. I did drink the Wernesgrüner Pilsner since it was the day 1 beer and I also had the Boot Tread, because the Belgian Amber Ale sounded like it would hit the spot last night when I got home from work. I'll report back if anything pops out as needing to be cloned.

 

[mirthfuldragon]

I am a big fan of Aldi in general, Belgian beers, and their Boot Tread is a nice beer. The cascade is a little too much for me, but I grew my own cascade hops for several years so it will be a bit yet before I come back around to it.

I may take a crack at brewing something similar this weekend, an amber ale with Belgian malts and probably 3787 / Omega Belgian W yeast.

10# Pilsner
1# Biscuit
1# Caravienne
6oz Special B
8oz CaraMunich

Bittering hops @ 60min, then Styrian Goldings or Cascade at 10 min to desired IBUs.
I aim for 6.5g to fermentor, for a full keg and a couple of bombers, so OG 1.054, FG around 1.010 to 1.012, 5.5% ABV, 22 IBU. SRM should be around 12.

I may drop the Special B down to 4oz and up the CaraMunich. Might be better to bring up the maltiness and increase the SRM to around 16-18.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

My proposed Boot Tread "like" clone looks like this:

View attachment 666343

 

[mirthfuldragon]

Brewed mine this weekend. We will see how it turns out. Can't find Boot Tread in any of my local Aldis any more.

Ultimately settled on:
9# Pilsner
1# Biscuit
1# CaraMunich II (55°)
8oz C80
8oz Carapils

0.5oz Magnum (15%) at 60, 1 oz Halltertau @ 10. OG 1.051, 13 SRM, 29 IBU.

Revised some 8 month old harvested 3787 in a 1L starter, pitched it warm, and it proceeded to blow the airlock and then the blow-off out of my fermonster in about about 20 hours.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Brewed mine this weekend. We will see how it turns out. Can't find Boot Tread in any of my local Aldis any more.

Ultimately settled on:
9# Pilsner
1# Biscuit
1# CaraMunich II (55°)
8oz C80
8oz Carapils

0.5oz Magnum (15%) at 60, 1 oz Halltertau @ 10. OG 1.051, 13 SRM, 29 IBU.

Revised some 8 month old harvested 3787 in a 1L starter, pitched it warm, and it proceeded to blow the airlock and then the blow-off out of my fermonster in about about 20 hours.

Be sure to follow up and let us know how it turns out.

 

[mirthfuldragon]

Be sure to follow up and let us know how it turns out.

Pet my Tilt, it is at 1.010 and still going. 3787 is a beast. I will follow-up in a couple of weeks.

 

[mirthfuldragon]

Brewed mine this weekend. We will see how it turns out. Can't find Boot Tread in any of my local Aldis any more.

Ultimately settled on:
9# Pilsner
1# Biscuit
1# CaraMunich II (55°)
8oz C80
8oz Carapils

0.5oz Magnum (15%) at 60, 1 oz Halltertau @ 10. OG 1.051, 13 SRM, 29 IBU.

Revised some 8 month old harvested 3787 in a 1L starter, pitched it warm, and it proceeded to blow the airlock and then the blow-off out of my fermonster in about about 20 hours.

FG stabilized at 1.009. Kegged on Sunday @ 20psi, so carbonation is still coming. The color is nice, but as I expected, 3787/Belgian W is almost certainly not the yeast they used originally. Between the warm fermentation temperature and the minimal IBUs, this thing is full of fruity esters. Caramel notes and malt is a bit more subdued, so bumping the C80 or going to something darker might be appropriate. Looking forward to full carbonation.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

FG stabilized at 1.009. Kegged on Sunday @ 20psi, so carbonation is still coming. The color is nice, but as I expected, 3787/Belgian W is almost certainly not the yeast they used originally. Between the warm fermentation temperature and the minimal IBUs, this thing is full of fruity esters. Caramel notes and malt is a bit more subdued, so bumping the C80 or going to something darker might be appropriate. Looking forward to full carbonation.

I wonder if they use a British ale yeast as opposed to a Belgian ale yeast. I don't detect any Belgian nature in it, even though I like it as a beer. I'm currently looking at 70% Pilsner, 7.5% Biscuit or Victory, 7.5% C80, and 15% Weyermann Munich II. This is not too far off from your grist. I perceive the SRM of Boot Tread to be around 12 to perhaps 13.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Based upon your observations, I'm considering a grist change as follows for my attempt at a Boot Tread/Fat Tire "type" ale:

83% Pilsner
7.5% Victory or Biscuit (or my homemade ballpark equivalent)
9.5% Caramel 80L

 

[mirthfuldragon]

I wonder if they use a British ale yeast as opposed to a Belgian ale yeast. I don't detect any Belgian nature in it, even though I like it as a beer. I'm currently looking at 70% Pilsner, 7.5% Biscuit or Victory, 7.5% C80, and 15% Weyermann Munich II. This is not too far off from your grist. I perceive the SRM of Boot Tread to be around 12 to perhaps 13.

I wonder how much the Cascade hops mask any Belgian esters. The label indicates Brouwerij Martens NV, which is Belgian, and I feel like it finishes drier than Fat Tire or British ales generally, but that could be my own preconceptions as I never measured the gravity of the actual. It might be a more mild yeast strain - Westmalle is not subtle.

 

[mirthfuldragon]

Now that the beer is carbed, I am very happy with it personally. The esters from Westmalle come through significantly, leaving a very fruity taste, with the hops in the background, leaving a subdued earthy/herbal note. In terms of being a clone, it really needs Cascade and the IBUs are likely a lot higher. The color is generally correct but it could probably use more biscuit malt and a heavier hand on the caramel/crystal malt to give it a solid malt backbone. I am surprised by how the 1# of C55 and the 0.5# of C80 don't come out stronger.

 

[user 263363]

I’ve been drinking Aldi beers on and off for awhile. I really enjoy the Wernesgruner.

I believe this is a fairly new release, but at 4.5% it’s quite good. Especially for $6/ 6 pack if I recall. It seems to be a bit of an offshoot of SN’s Hazy Little Thing for comparison’s sake.

 

[hopkincr]

Just grabbed this myself. Not much left at the Aldi. Not bad.

 

[Brewbuzzard]

I have two candidates that I find to be very good beers:

1) Wernesgrüner Pilsner

2) Boot Tread Belgian Amber Ale

Of all of the Aldi beer offerings, I find these two to be worthy of attempts at cloning. Call me crazy if you must, but these are solid beers.

Yes they are. I also like the Kinroo Blue it's a nice Wit.

 

[Brewbuzzard]

I studied in Germany for a bit in the early 90s, right after the Wall came down. A guy who lived on my dorm floor (who had incidentally spent time in prison for trying to escape the East - twice) brought me a bottle of Wernesgrüner, and I was impressed. I found it at a Midwest Aldi 15 years later, and was a bit disappointed. I suppose it was just old?

I always pull from the bottom so it may not be skunked.

 

[Bassman2003]

Anybody try the Kinroo Belgian beer in the yellow packaging? Seems like it is billed as more of a true wit, not a Blue Moon attempt.

 

[Robert65]

I always pull from the bottom so it may not be skunked.

Wernesgrüner is in brown bottles, so skunking isn't an issue. But it is a good idea to pull from the bottom and loom at the date. Most imports around here are pretty old.

 

[Brewbuzzard]

Wernesgrüner is in brown bottles, so skunking isn't an issue. But it is a good idea to pull from the bottom and loom at the date. Most imports around here are pretty old.

Beer can still get skunked in brown bottles if left under florescent lights long enough or in direct sunlight. We used to skunk them intentionally for BJCP training.

 

[Brewbuzzard]

Anybody try the Kinroo Belgian beer in the yellow packaging? Seems like it is billed as more of a true wit, not a Blue Moon attempt.

Yes the Kinroo Blue is a nice Wit.

 

[Bassman2003]

This is not Kinroo Blue but a different version which just says Belgian Blonde Ale or something of the like. It has a yellow theme instead of blue.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/3517/410409/

 

[Brewbuzzard]

This is not Kinroo Blue but a different version which just says Belgian Blonde Ale or something of the like. It has a yellow theme instead of blue.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/3517/410409/

I'll have to check it out. How long have they been selling it? I'm in the Dallas area and haven't seen it.

 

[ebbelwoi]

Wernesgrüner is in brown bottles, so skunking isn't an issue. But it is a good idea to pull from the bottom and look at the date. Most imports around here are pretty old.

Beer can still get skunked in brown bottles if left under florescent lights long enough or in direct sunlight. We used to skunk them intentionally for BJCP training.

A few months ago, I bought a single bottle of Warsteiner in a brown bottle, and it was definitely skunked. I think it was on the top shelf of the cooler in the liquor store, right under a fluorescent light.

 

[Bassman2003]

I'll have to check it out. How long have they been selling it? I'm in the Dallas area and haven't seen it.

It seems to come and go. I am in Arlington and only see it from time to time. I only buy beer when my homebrew is out so I thought I might try it out recently. but Aldi did not have any so I bought my usual Bacher lager.