Which BYO Fat Tire Clone is more accurate?

[NeeDlzdos]

I brewed the Fat Tire Clone (March/April) recipe as well only omitting the chocolate malt (which seemed wrong to me). While it produced a decent beer, it was not anywhere near fat tire. I would say the malts all blended together and nothing stood out very well. Tasted sorta like a confused amber ale.

 

[Airborneguy]

I did a side-by-side tasting last night of my version of the December recipe and the real thing. It definitely is not a clone; I look at it as a starting point.

Needlzdos, we actually decided last night that the missing link is chocolate malt. The Dec recipe didn't have any, but when comparing them side-by-side, the real thing had just a hint of roast to it. I added 1/10lb of chocolate to my recipe last night as soon as I got home. I also adjusted the hops because my friend feels that mine had more nose to it and slightly less bittering.

I'm fairly confident that with the changes I made last night, the recipe should come very close to the real thing.

 

[jlgroves1]

Doing a modified version of the March/April clone. I wanted a bigger bodied, maltier/sweeter but with strong similarities to FT.

7# American pale 2 row
2# Crystal 40
1# Crystal 60
8oz Carapils
8oz Biscuit malt
2oz chocolate malt
8oz honey malt
1oz Willamette 60min
1oz Willamette 15min
Wyeast 1056(because that's what I had on hand)

Don't know how close it will be, but it will be a big sweet beer.

 

[Airborneguy]

3lbs of crystal with only 7 lbs of base malt is a TON. That beer might not be drinkable honestly. I'm a malt guy and that's way too much for me.

 

[jlgroves1]

I know, I'm a bit worried, I originally wanted 1 # each of 40 and 60 but accidentally ordered 2# of 40 on the same grain bill as the rest so it was irreversible. Made a very similar recipe a while back with .5# each of 40 and 60 crystal and it was actually very good (not a great clone of FT but still pretty similar). I wanted to step up the malty characters by a factor of 2 but instead I ended up probably tripling it. We'll see how it turns out, probably a bit on the malty side It'll have to be pretty bad to be undrinkable though.

 

[Accidic]

You can hit the 40 in the oven for a short stint and get it to 60ish. Taste is only slightly off but adds a dash of nutty.

 

[Plankton]

Here is the a 6 Gal batch I made for this clone. For me and my buds, it was a pretty good match. Before bottling, it was pretty darn close. The color was a bit darker than fat tire but the taste was almost spot on. I just cracked open my first bottle after bottle conditioning and it has lost a bit of the nutty flavor. However, it is very good. I think I will increase the biscut malt slightly for my next batch. If anyone brews this, I hope you get the same great results I have achieved. Enjoy!

8lb 6oz of US 2-Row Malt
2lb 6oz of US Aromatic Malt
1lb 3oz of German Munich Malt
1lb 3oz of US Rice Hulls
9.60 oz of Belgian Biscuit Malt
4.80 oz of US Caramel 10L Malt
4.80 oz of US Caramel 40L Malt
4.80 oz of US Special Roast Malt

154F for 60 Min
Sparge to 7.2 Gal

0.90 oz of German Northern Brewer (60 Min From End)
0.60 oz of US Willamette (30 Min From End)
0.60 oz of US Willamette (15 Min From End)
0.60 oz of US Willamette (5 Min From End)

Original Gravity: 1.048 SG (12.2 Brix)
Final Gravity: 1.012 SG


Wyeast 1272-American Ale II

 

[Rockindaddy]

I brewed the December version but substituted the Target with Centennial because I couldn't get Target at my LHBS. Mine came out a little lighter in color then Fat Tire but the flavor is kinda close. My gravity started at 1.051 and ended up at 1.010. It has been a big hit with my friends and wife. Overall, this is the best all grain beer I have made to date, so it will definitely be on regular rotation. I think I'll try upping the Crystal a little bit and maybe mash for 60 minutes instead of 45. :rockin:

 

[PilotCline]

Looks like I will try the December version for my next batch.

 

[signpost]

Looks like I will try the December version for my next batch.

I might be trying this, too. I've done Northern Brewer's Phat Tyre, and it was close. The hops didn't quite seen right to me, though. And it was malty, but not quite the right blend of biscuit and crystal.

Thanks for bumping this thread up. I've looked for Fat Tire clone recipes before, but I must've missed this thread in my searches.

 

[signpost]

Looks like I will try the December version for my next batch.

I might be trying this, too. I've done Northern Brewer's Phat Tyre, and it was close. The hops didn't quite seen right to me, though. And it was malty, but not quite the right blend of biscuit and crystal.

Thanks for bumping this thread up. I've looked for Fat Tire clone recipes before, but I must've missed this thread in my searches.

 

[martinlarosa]

I'm brewing yours Permo in a few minutes. But with the ingredients that I can find here in Argentina.

National malts, Safale US-05 and Fuggles 5,5%

 

[user 70770]

I've been trying to figure out the recipe for Fat Tire

The website claims their grain bill is Pale, Munich, C-80 and Victory. And the hops used are Nugget, Willamette and Golding

So I'm planning on going for the following recipe

8.5# American 2-row
1# Munich 10L
0.75# Victory
0.5# Caramel 80

The recipe claims the hops used are Nugget, Willamette and Goldings so I'm gonna try the following hop schedule.

0.3 oz Nugget 60 mins
0.5 oz Goldings 10 mins
0.5 oz Willamette 10 mins
0.5 oz Goldings 5 mins
0.5 oz Willamette 5 mins

IBU about 22
SRM about 9-10
5.1% ABV

I think part of that legendary biscuit character comes from the grain bill, but I suspect the yeast they use somehow enhances that quality. I'm gonna try Wyeast 1272 my first go at it.

 

[Trillium]

Beerhappy, how did your beer turn out?

 

[user 70770]

Haven't brewed it yet. I just bought a kegging system and I only have one keg which is currently holding a pilsner. I have to wait a bit to finish it before I can start on the next beer. The wife has also been talking about wanting an ESB so I may push the fat tire clone a bit further. Oh the misery.... lol

 

[frank_wood1966]

I've been trying to figure out the recipe for Fat Tire

The website claims their grain bill is Pale, Munich, C-80 and Victory. And the hops used are Nugget, Willamette and Golding

So I'm planning on going for the following recipe

8.5# American 2-row
1# Munich 10L
0.75# Victory
0.5# Caramel 80

The recipe claims the hops used are Nugget, Willamette and Goldings so I'm gonna try the following hop schedule.

0.3 oz Nugget 60 mins
0.5 oz Goldings 10 mins
0.5 oz Willamette 10 mins
0.5 oz Goldings 5 mins
0.5 oz Willamette 5 mins

IBU about 22
SRM about 9-10
5.1% ABV

I think part of that legendary biscuit character comes from the grain bill, but I suspect the yeast they use somehow enhances that quality. I'm gonna try Wyeast 1272 my first go at it.

Interesting. I am going to try the following here in the next few weeks and would like some thoughts on it -- looks like mine is somewhat close to yours:

7.5 lb 2-row
1.5 lb Munich
1.0 lb Victory
10 oz Crystal 80
0.4 oz Nuggett (60)
0.2 oz Goldings (20)
0.4 oz Willamette (flame out)
Safale US-05

IBU 21.9
SRM 11.6
5.6% ABV

Can't wait to brew it!

 

[user 70770]

Finally polished off the pilsner last week. I want to brew this beer next this weekend but the weather is just garbage. But I think I will try it exactly as is with perhaps some minor adjustments to hops depending on available varieties and what AA content they have. I can't wait to brew this and report back.

 

[RLinNH]

I will be brewing a FT clone very soon also. I just need to narrow down which one I'm going with...

 

[kh54s10]

I see this is an old poll and my choice is not an option.

New Belgium beers have only recently become available here. I tried the Fat Tire first because I had heard a lot of good things about it. I thought it was good, but nothing special. I might use one of the recipes as a base for creating something but I would not waste my time trying to recreate it.

I have liked a couple of their other beers much more than the FT. But even those, IMO were nothing special.

 

[Tommydee]

First time I ever brewed beer was a BYO place in freehold NJ. They had me doing a big kettle of a partial mash that yielded 6 cases of bottles. I did a fat tire clone from their recipe book, and it was very good. Now that I can get fat tire, it's not as good as the original in Colorado, and honestly not as good as the freehold partial mash clone I made. Something has gotten lost in the scaleup, I'm afraid. That being said, like their Ranger IPA. Look that place up and call them, they are good folks and will share...if they are still in business.

 

[user 70770]

Well it's been a year since I've been thinking about brewing this fat tire clone and I still haven't gotten around to it :smack:

I bought some fat tire recently for the first time in 2-3 years and got down to sampling it and I came off a bit surprised. I distinctly got a Belgian character out of it I had never picked up before. Now I don't know if they changed their recipe a bit recently or I simply never tasted fat tire carefully enough to pick up Belgian notes, but I'm now convinced a Belgian yeast is the way to go on this beer.

I'm gonna try brewing it in the next month or so with Wyeast 1214 fermented at the bottom of its range just to get a subtle Belgian character.

 

[wsmith1625]

First time I ever brewed beer was a BYO place in freehold NJ. They had me doing a big kettle of a partial mash that yielded 6 cases of bottles. I did a fat tire clone from their recipe book, and it was very good. Now that I can get fat tire, it's not as good as the original in Colorado, and honestly not as good as the freehold partial mash clone I made. Something has gotten lost in the scaleup, I'm afraid. That being said, like their Ranger IPA. Look that place up and call them, they are good folks and will share...if they are still in business.

TommyDee, I was reading up on a Fat Tire clone and saw your post. You said that you did your first brew at a BYO place in Freehold NJ. I also did my first batch of beer there, The Brewers Apprentice. I never heard of BYO before this place and thought it was awesome. If you haven't already heard, they are out of business now. What a shame!

 

[Langerz]

Old thread but just brewed recipe number 2. My color is a lot darker but the flavor is spot on. Was able to find and older case of the original recipe to compare. Mine isn’t as carbed as the real thing and to me actually improves the flavor. The malt flavor comes through a bit better

 

[Airborneguy]

I’m brewing my clone next week. Can’t wait. I had to put it off a month because my taps were moving too slow.