Recipe Starting Point Advice

Extract/Partial Mash Brewing
1

New brewer with questions:

I would love to brew a beer similar to one that is sold in Canada. It is called Okanagan Springs Pale

Ale.

The actual recipe is not that important to me, although it would be great if anyone has tasted it and

could give me further guidance.

What I want to create is the finish the ale has. I can add this finishing taste to different pale ales

and adjust as needed, I would think.

I would describe it as a balanced flavor with a grainy,slightly sweet finish.

Moderate hop taste, and alcohol of around 5 % when finished. The big

standout in this beer for me is the clean, grainy,mildly sweet finish.

I don’t know if that gives enough information for anyone to give advice on or not. I realize this would

only be a starting point and further recipe modification would need to occur,but any advice on a

starting recipe would be GREATLY appreciated. Thank you for any help you can give.

2

Start by googling Okanagan Springs Pale Clone.
It will give you a starting point to work from.

3

I would think that to achieve anything as delicate as you describe, you’d need to design the entire recipe around that - not something you could “add” to various recipes. Both grainy and slightly sweet would come from the grain bill, and it would be key to not put other things in there that would overwhelm them.

Try using pils malt instead of pale for your base grain. That’s where I would start. You might want to consider using some corn as an adjunct to get the sweet finish.

4

Thank you! I will look into that…would crystal grains be a good place to start for the sweeter finish? If so, how much?

5

How would you describe the color of this beer? I’m assuming it is very pale in color

6

It is copper colored: http://okspring.com/pale-ale/

a bread-like after-taste?

7

I did a little bit of searching and founding someone making a clone of it with 2 row and munich malt. I am not as knowledgeable as some of the other guys but i would just set it up in brewsmith with 2 row and then add munich until my color is achieved. Brew it and see how it tastes and then make whatever adjustments you think you need. Since it has been brewed since 1989, I’d assume it is made with something like cascade since a lot of the current hops were unavailable back then.

8

Thank you for the help!

9

[quote=“Cain”]It is copper colored: http://okspring.com/pale-ale/

a bread-like after-taste?[/quote]

For this you might want to consider a base malt like golden promise rather than 2 row.

10

Have you tried contacting to the brewery? Although many will not give the exact specs, some may give a basic idea on what’s used to experiment with.

11

A very good suggestion. A lot of craftbrewers are very open about their beers, and will often share info with homebrewers.

12

A very good suggestion. A lot of craftbrewers are very open about their beers, and will often share info with homebrewers.[/quote]
While true this has always struck me as slightly odd. I would think they’d want to keep their recipes to themselves. Kinda like grandma’s mac n cheese recipe.

13

Mp, although I get what your saying there are so many variables that they could give you the entire recipe and it would still be difficult to clone. There’s mash temps, mash techniques, boil techniques, ferm temps, etc that all contribute to the final product.

14

True but your still not getting my grandma’s recipe!

15

Do you have the link to the clone recipe, I tried googling it as well, and I couldn’t find a recipe…I also tried contacting the brewery and did not receive a reply.(wasn’t really surprised by that, but thought it was worth a shot.)

Further research has suggested using Vienna malt at around 20-25 total grain bill would provide a bread-like finish.Does anyone have any thoughts on that ?

I will look into the malt extract suggestions given as well…thank you for all your responses, I appreciate it!

16

Sorry man, i went searching for it again and could not find it. I’m no pro hear but i think munich and vienna may be fairly similar based on a couple things that i have read. Admittedly I have yet to brew with either.

17

Vienna is going to produce a drier, toastier flavor, while Munich is going to be richer, maltier and a bit sweeter.

18

Another beginner here. If you figure out a recipe a moron like me can follow, I’d sure like to try it. Canadian beers (Labatt’s Blue, Molson Golden) are some of my favorites and I’d love to be able to make something like that.

19

There are a few clone recipes to be found on the internet. Most use Northern Brewer hops, but German Perle or US Perle might be more true. Found a couple comments on the original beer using Bavarian (maybe meant German) hops.

This is a decent site for descriptions/substitutions for hops.
https://www.hopunion.com/hop-varieties/

20

Hey Tommy,
I just did a Canadian Blond Ale kit from Cooper’s for a party we were having. I was looking for something middle of the road, that most people might enjoy.
A very simple kit, I used 1 pound of corn sugar and a pound and a half DME and followed the instructions on the can .
My exact comment was"This tastes like Molson Golden" . I don’t particularly like Molson Golden, but apparently everyone else does, because that keg went QUICK !!!
You might want to try that kit to get started, like I said everyone loved it and it was fast, easy,and cheap to make.
Check out “Revolutionary Brewer” on youtube. He reviews this kit and a bunch of other Cooper’s kits and you may find that helpful as well.Cheers!