My brewing operation is changing from 5G extract to a 10G Breweasy all grain setup. One of the first brews I want to make is a Bell’s Two Hearted clone. I feel that I wasn’t able to get close enough using extract and I tried three times. Once with the NB dead ringer and twice with my own recipes.
I’ve found the following clone recipes and would like advice regarding which one I should go with.
They’re close to each other, but the base grains are a bit different.
[quote=“Ravenous0001”]My brewing operation is changing from 5G extract to a 10G Breweasy all grain setup. One of the first brews I want to make is a Bell’s Two Hearted clone. I feel that I wasn’t able to get close enough using extract and I tried three times. Once with the NB dead ringer and twice with my own recipes.
I’ve found the following clone recipes and would like advice regarding which one I should go with.
They’re close to each other, but the base grains are a bit different.[/quote]
The recipie’s all look good. If I could take a poke though, what was the difference you saw with the extract dead ringer?
I’ve done the AG Dead Ringer twice now. (3-gallon BIAB kit) we did a side-by-side between the latest batch and bell’s. Our Dead ringer just was slightly darker in color. Bell’s had more aroma of hops, but ours has more in the flavor. (Assuming dry hop process/amount could be tweaked there) For a clone, I’m amazed at how close we got. I’m presuming the issues with the extract DR were extract-related, and if you’re doing AG now anyway, it may be worth having on your list…
My issues with the dead ringer were the following.
Here is my second attempt recipe for my own extract clone:
http://beersmithrecipes.com/viewrecipe/ ... -on-top-v2The issues I have with this:
Surely someone has made an excellent clone. Please send your advice. I’m leaning towards the recipe in #1.
My attempt at All-Grain NB Dead Ringer was almost exactly like Bell’s. It was also my first all grain recipe ever. I’ve never brewed the extract version but I assume you will get lower attenuation leading to a sweeter beer which could be perceived as too malty maybe.
If you want to thin it out, brew the NB recipe and add a 1lb of sugar per 5gallons.
Comparing your experiences with an extract recipe to an all-grain recipe and entirely new system is like comparing apples to space ships.
Your recipe #2 has been on my to-brew list for a long time. I picked up some extremely fresh cans of Oberon last week, and there’s a tremendous amount of fresh, healthy yeast in the bottom so now I’m inspired to grow up their yeast for this recipe.
It probably won’t be for a few more weeks, but I’ll try to get to this one soon and provide some feedback once it’s done. If you go with #1, let us know how it turns out!
