Yuengling challenge

[LarMoeCur]

Well, I got challenged to brew a Yuengling clone. I've aways been pretty good at sniffing out recipe clues from brewery's websites. Yuengling keeps their data under lock and key! There is almost nothing available to even generate a starting point. I know a few data points. Cluster and Cascade hops, a blend of crystal and Cara-amber malts, a blend 2 and 6 row malts, they use corn not rice, cereal mash no decoction.

Anyway, here is the recipe I pieced together. From multiple sources of information. Any knowledge of processes or ingredients would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

11 Gallon batch (4.5% abv 12 IBU)

7# 2 Row
7# 6 Row
2# corn meal
1# Cara-Amber
1# English Crystal 60-80
1oz Cluster hops (60 min)
.5 Cascade hops (5 min)
Wyeast Bohemian Lager (2124)

Processes:

Cereal mash 100% corn meal, 1# 2 row, 1# 6 row at 205ish for 2 hours.

Main mash 120F for 20 minutes. Adding in Cereal mash to raise temp to 148F. Hold for 30 minutes. Raise mash to 158F for 20 minutes. Mash out at 168F. Lauter and 90 minute boil.

Ferment at 54F for 14 days (yeast starter 600B cells). Lager at 40F for 4 weeks. Keg, carbonate, and condition for 2 weeks at 34F.

I've got just over 10% crystal/cara malts in there. I'm thinking it may finish too sweet. But, I remember Yuengling being slightly malt sweet. I know the 2/6 row blend in most likely not 50-50.

Long post but figured I'd work out the details here instead of in the keg!

 

[LarMoeCur]

Brewed it Saturday. Here's a pic of the cereal mash (2# corn grits and 1.5# 2-row). Boiled it for 2 hours. I hit the numbers perfectly! 11 gallons at S.G 1.044. If the yeast do their thing correctly. It should finish right around 1.010 (4.5% abv). The color going into the fermenter was a nice copper color. Just, how I remember it looking. Currently, it's chugging away at 50F.

I can't get the real McCoy. Here in Las Vegas unless, I mail order it. But, I'm not paying $69.00 for a 12 pack of Yuengling! So, I've got 5 Pennsylvanians coming over the first week of June to taste it fresh off the tap. I'll post, any recipe changes and recommendations in 6 weeks.

 

[Kickass]

I went down this rabbit hole a few years ago. My end result was close but I tend to get a little lazy.

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/1468598/my-yuengling

I’ll have to dig for my water profile, I don’t use brewersfriend for water adjustments.

My beer was slightly maltier than Yuengling but in the ballpark and VERY good.

Keep us posted!

 

[z-bob]

I went down this rabbit hole a few years ago. My end result was close but I tend to get a little lazy.

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/1468598/my-yuengling

I’ll have to dig for my water profile, I don’t use brewersfriend for water adjustments.

My beer was slightly maltier than Yuengling but in the ballpark and VERY good.

Keep us posted!

That link doesn't work; it says it's private.

 

[Kickass]

Here are screenshots

 

[LarMoeCur]

15 day ferment is complete. FG was right at 1.010. Next step is into the lager tank for 30 days. Hard to say, what a young flat Yuengling taste like but I think it's going to be very good beer. Not sure how close of a clone but we will find out.

 

[Kickass]

Looks good. Do you live somewhere you can buy yuengling to do a side by side comparison?

 

[LarMoeCur]

Looks good. Do you live somewhere you can buy yuengling to do a side by side comparison?

Las Vegas. No Yuengling for me.

 

[kylewag]

Here’s my Yuengling clone from last fall. My mash efficiency was lower than expected due to using a new HBS mill with a wider gap than I was used to. The IBUs were a bit high at 16 and the foam stability and lacing was MUCH better than on the real thing. A bit maltier too, but I actually liked it better.

 

[LarMoeCur]

Kylewag,

Color and clarity are excellent on your beer!

 

[kylewag]

Kylewag,

Color and clarity are excellent on your beer!

Thanks!

 

[bloombrews]

Brewed it Saturday. Here's a pic of the cereal mash (2# corn grits and 1.5# 2-row). Boiled it for 2 hours. I hit the numbers perfectly! 11 gallons at S.G 1.044. If the yeast do their thing correctly. It should finish right around 1.010 (4.5% abv). The color going into the fermenter was a nice copper color. Just, how I remember it looking. Currently, it's chugging away at 50F.

I can't get the real McCoy. Here in Las Vegas unless, I mail order it. But, I'm not paying $69.00 for a 12 pack of Yuengling! So, I've got 5 Pennsylvanians coming over the first week of June to taste it fresh off the tap. I'll post, any recipe changes and recommendations in 6 weeks.

View attachment 873979

I live in Pennsylvania and Yingyang was a Cult beer, before hazy IPA came along. To me, it has too much of a caramel flavor finish. It is a good lager beer but the specialty grains are a bit too much for me to drink this beer all day, like a Czech or German lager.

 

[LarMoeCur]

I live in Pennsylvania and Yingyang was a Cult beer, before hazy IPA came along. To me, it has too much of a caramel flavor finish. It is a good lager beer but the specialty grains are a bit too much for me to drink this beer all day, like a Czech or German lager.

Bloom, I'm 100% with you. The only thing is, I wouldn't say "was a Cult beer". It's 100% "still a Cult beer". The beer guys, I know from PA talk about it like it's the best beer ever to be brewed. It is not my cup of tea at all.

I do remember it being very sweet for a American Lagerish style of beer. I think it's technically an International Amber Lager but not marketed that way. If it were up to me, I'd dry out the finish and cut back on the crystal sweetness, but a challenge is a challenge.

Two weeks left to lager and then I will know what changes if any to make.

 

[LarMoeCur]

Turned out pretty good. I've got the PA tasting crew coming by tomorrow. I'll let you know what they say.

 

[bloombrews]

@LarMoeCur , do you have any Yingyang to compare it too in Las Vegas?
What does the PA Crew consist of? Looks like you lagered it about 1 month, from last post.
Picture looks like a great clone.. only wish I could taste it. Cheers!

 

[Broothru]

That link doesn't work; it says it's private.

x2

 

[LarMoeCur]

@LarMoeCur , do you have any Yingyang to compare it too in Las Vegas?
What does the PA Crew consist of? Looks like you lagered it about 1 month, from last post.
Picture looks like a great clone.. only wish I could taste it. Cheers!

Bloom,

No Yuengling in LV. My PA Crew is just friends of mine who are from PA or a Yuengling area. They are all devout practitioners of the Cult of Yuengling.

They all loved the beer a lot! It was such a hit that, the 8 of us drank an entire 5 gallon keg. They all said it was very close to Yuengling. The number one comment was that it tasted brighter then Yuengling. They are all non-brewers just beer drinkers. After probing that question more, it came do to tasting fresher. Makes sense coming out of the lager tank one day prior to drinking. That's about as fresh as it gets.

I'm going to brew it again next weekend. The only change, I'm going to make is the 2-row/6-row blend. I thought it could use just a smidgin more malt flavor. Going to 70% 2-row/30% 6-row from 50/50%.

IMO it is spot on to Yuengling.

 

[bwible]

Well done. This is a big part of what homebrewing is for me now - trying to make what I can’t get locally or re-creating old beers that don’t exist anymore. Our club does challenge brews. And like you said, sometimes I just like to take a shot at something.

I’m in PA, I rarely buy Yuengling. We have another brewery called Two Stones Pub (2SP) who makes an amber lager they call Delco Lager. Delco means Delaware County, rumor has it thats where the brewer is from. I tried a Delco Lager clone last year or the year before and also felt I got pretty close though not exactly the same.

 

[VTMongoose]

I want to give this recipe a try sometime. I think I will go with S-189 instead of 34/70. What are you guys going for in terms of water profile on this? I'm thinking a little higher chloride than sulfate, right?

 

[LarMoeCur]

I used the Beer Smith American Lager profile. Ca 12.9, Ma 5.8, So 7.6, Su 37, Ch 12.5, Bic 20.0