Blue Moon Clone

Extract/Partial Mash Brewing
1

I have been brewing almost year the date and have 10 beers under my belt. All Extract so far all but two were NB kits. I have had some successes and a couple ok beers and one I had to pour out. I have worked through the problems I had, mostly water related, and starting to venture out on my own a little. All this time my wife has been pretty supportive of my new hobby(passion or obsession) but does not drink much of my beers. She’s not much into darker or hoppy beers, so to keep in good graces I want to do one of her favorites Blue Moon. As any of you married brewers can understand, I have to get this one right. I have been doing a lot of research to come up with want I think will work good for me and was wondering if anyone had any tips or see any flaws in what I am going to put together.

For starters I decided to do a partial Mash due to using Flaked Oats.

Grains/Extract

3.15# Wheat Liquid Malt Extract
3# Briess Golden Light Malt Extract
(had 4# LME but knock down when I added the Partial Mash ingredients)

Partial Mash

1# Briess Two Row
1# Flaked Oats

I planning to do a full boil.

1 oz Hallertauer (German) at 60 min.
1 oz Fresh Orange Zest 5 min
0.75oz Crack Coriander 5 min

Using Wyeast Labs 1056

My question is this, When I plug this into Beersmith I get the following

Est. OG 1.059
Bitterness 12.1
Color (SRM) 6.8
Est ABV 5.9

All except IBUs are way high for a Witbier. Am missing something or is this on par with Blue Moon.

Any thoughts or advice highly welcomed. Also any recommendations around the use of orange peel also welcomed. I have used Dried Orange Peel that came with my Brickwarmer Kit, but thought I would try to use fresh orange to try and get the flavor.

2

There’s a great recipe for Blue Moon on the HBT forum, put up by a brewer who helped develop the recipe for Sandlot brewing back in day(he’s retired from there now).
The basic recipe is 50% 2row barley, 40% wheat malt and 10% flaked(rolled) oats. Coriander and sweet orange peel in the last 10 min boil with the ratio (I think) of 2 parts coriander :1 part orange. Lightly hopped with hallertau or other noble hop to between 10-15 IBU.
And the key is they use an American neutral yeast like US-05(or WY1056) instead of a Belgian or a Witbier yeast. No esters. ABV may come in around 5.5-6% but it doesn’t seem like it.
So, to me your PM recipe looks like it’s correct.
When doing it I’ve used 1tsp. coriander and 1/2 tsp.dry orange peel in the boil and then an additional 1/4 tsp. coriander and the zest from 1 orange boiled together with the priming sugar. It’s a big hit.

3

Your clone looks pretty close…well done. But, FWIW, have you checked out the Synchronisity Extrodinair kit? All my friends whom like blue moon raved over this one. I used the dry yeast, so I didn’t get as much of the esters as One would get from the liquid. Just a thought. Again…you clone looks pretty good!!!

It’s always a good idea to keep SWMBO happy, so brew on!!

4

Have you checked out NBs Blue Moon clone recipe? I’ve brewed this one a few times and it is always better than Blue Moon.

5

I didn’t realize NB had a BM clone. What do they call it?(a ‘Bluemoon’ search didn’t yield anything)

6

Search Witbier.

7

I have read this text and this is where I got some of my info. Using Wyeast 1056 and basing my grain bill on the original. Some of the particular details where not always there so I will improvise.
Most I’m not sure how to make sure to get the orange flavor come through and have not used Oats yet.

Have not seen this one, where is it available? Blue Moon is not my favorite, but I could drink a few. The wife sure enjoys it and so do many of my not so craft brew enjoying friends. Want something to have them say Wow you brewed this. Most my buddies drink domestics.

Is this the NB Witbier, I wasn’t sure the was a clone or just a Witbier. I also have been spreading my wings a bit in these last to brews. Kind of thought I would try to do the same with this one. I am also about one order away from going All-grain. I have a couple of Extract kits to brew in the next of couple weeks, then its all-grain.

8

[quote]I have read this text and this is where I got some of my info. Using Wyeast 1056 and basing my grain bill on the original. Some of the particular details where not always there so I will improvise.
Most I’m not sure how to make sure to get the orange flavor come through and have not used Oats yet.[/quote]
Add your planned coriander and orange zest at 5-10 min. left in boil. Then taste at packaging time. If you don’t think there’s enough orange flavor add more coriander and orange zest then.
Mashing the 1 lb. of rolled oats with 1lb of 2 row, as you suggested, will work. Mash it at around 150* for 30-45 minutes will probably be enough. Use 3-4 qts water.

9

Thanks JimRMaine, that is helpful. Really been researching this one. Plan to brew this week.

10

Disclaimer: wits are one of my favorite styles to brew by far, and some of my comments below are not DIRECTLY related to replicating Blue Moon. The good news is, if you follow my advice, you will make a beer that you can TELL your wife is just like Blue Moon, but she will love it even more. I would go with the kit or at least get ingredients similar to it (see below).

A lot of beer nerds thumb their noses at ShockMoon, but they are actually pretty well-made beers. The problem I have with them is that they are, by comparison, virtually flavorless when compared to some of the best craft examples, such as Allagash White, Celis, Hitachino, or even Hoegaarden (now made by AB Inbev, like Shock). This includes homebrewed examples if done right. The beer you will make will be way more flavorful and will sure as hell not require an orange wedge to boost its flavor.

The best thing about wits is that you can really experiment with non-traditional spice/herb additions. Lavender, hibiscus, all sorts of crazy stuff just works in the style. Bonus points if you find some ingredient your wife loves and incorporate it into this beer (I did it once for mine with blood orange and my stock went through the roof).

If you are into brewing this style of beer (and given that your wife likes it…you should be :mrgreen: ), I HIGHLY recommend checking out The Brewing Network’s Jamil Show episode on witbier. Doc actually does the show instead of Jamil, and it is a GREAT resource on brewing this style. The wit I brew is a riff on Doc’s recipe, and it is simply fantastic if I do say so.

Wits are hard to do with extract, but your fermentables looks right on.

DO NOT use 1056 or any other Cal Ale for this beer. It will not taste right. WLP 400 is the only way to go, otherwise its not a wit. I’m not sure if Shockmoon actually uses a neutral ale yeast, but I would still avoid them. Pitch at 60*, then ramp up to 65* after 3-4 days.

I would mash at 154, no lower. You want dextrins and body in the beer.

On the orange/coriander additions: 1.) Great move using fresh zest. Use the freshest oranges you can find, and even consider mixing up the types of citrus. For mine, (5 gallon batch), I’ve used up to 5 pieces of citrus, including an orange, tangerine, tangelo, grapefruit. 2.) Try to find Indian Coriander. Its just way more aromatic. I would toast it prior to adding and crack the seeds. 3.) I also find chamomile tea leaves indispensable. 4.) Move the additions to 1 minute or later. Haven’t tried this yet, but I plan to: try doing a ‘hopstand’ with your spice/zest additions. That is, instead of adding them during the boil, chill down to 180 or so, add them, cover the kettle, and let it sit for 30 minutes. You garage/deck will smell GREAT when brewing a wit with all these additions added to the boil, but the trick is to keep those aromas in the beer, not in your garage.

To JimR’s point, if this does not impart enough flavor from the spice additions, you can supplement. I like to make a tincture with more zest/coriander (immerse in just enough vodka to cover, cover the container for 1-2 weeks), then add that at packaging.

Best of luck! Sorry for the long (and maybe somewhat unrelated) reply, but 1.) This style does not get nearly enough love and 2.) I’m trying to avoid work on monday AM!

:cheers:

11

I believe the style doesn’t get enough love because of the likes of blue moon and shock top. I never had a blue moon when it was brewed as a small batch at sand lot. I’m wondering if the coors example is a good replication. As Pietro says do your wife a favor and make a better example of the style. You should really try to ween her off that stuff she’ll love you for it. It’s more fun brewing something you both like.

12

The SynchExtrordinair is from our host. And I agree with the others here. Do a wit of some sort, and spruce It up. She WILL love it. I know my wife does. :cheers:

13

Well I had considered 1056 because I was trying to stay true to the type of yeast used in the originaI, think the original is a more Americanized witbier, if that makes sense at all???. With that being said I would rather make a tastier beer, so I believe I am going to get some WLP400.

Also all the info around the additions were much appreciated, just the kind of info I was looking for.

I do want to thank all of you again for all the great info. It was the sound advice, from which I have come to enjoy at this forum and the others. Can’t wait to get this one brewing and make the Ms. smile. From this advice I feel confident I can make something she will like even more, and I might just become more of a Witbier fan myself.

14

yeah, it definitely makes sense. I mean look, you could definitely try it, and some of the clones probably suggest it and maybe MillerCoors even uses Chico or another american ale yeast. I will also say that I haven’t tried it. I just know the research I’ve done on wits (including the podcast I mentioned), say its a no-no.

Either way, for me, beer in summer equals wit or saison!

15

As Wayne points out in the HBT thread, Bluemoon is not supposed to be a traditional witbier which is why they use a neutral ale yeast like US-05 or WY1056. Granted, using that yeast you won’t get the esters prevalent in a traditional witbier, but that’s actually his point. It makes it a little more acceptable to the general public(like my wife). However you do it, it makes for a refreshing summer lawnmower beer, IMO.
Now, when I make it, I do add 1lb of Vienna malt, and generally increase the coriander and orange zest. and once I did add Apricot extract at bottling(trying to match a Magic Hat #9). So, I guess this is a style/brew that’s open to plenty of interpretations. Reading Pietro’s post, I think next time I’ll try blood orange.
I love the respectful give and take in this forum! :cheers: