Fast turn around beer for BMC'ers

sonex · February 22, 2012, 4:09am

just trying to get some feed back here. I was just asked to bring beer to a get together but its only 5 weeks from now. most of the people will be BMC crowd so need a fast lager type beer. I know that there is no way I can make a true lager in that time frame so I was thinking a quasi lager with ale yeast would be my best bet. I was thinking a fake sam adam type beer b/c its a highly hopped beer that might hide the ale yeast some. so here is the recipe I’m going to go with. Let me know if this sounds like a winner.

batch size 6 gallon
efficiency 75%
OG 1.050
FG 1.013
IBU 29.1
ABV 4.91

92.1% american 2-row
7.9% crystal 60

tettnanger 1.60 oz @ 60
haller mittlefrueh .5 oz @20
haller mittlefrueh .5 oz @ 10
tettnanger 1 oz @ flame out
tettnanger .25 oz @ dry hop

mash temp 153f
mash length 60 min
boil length 60 min
yeast I was thinking s05 or notty what do you guys think no time for a starter gonna have to use a dry yeast.

tealblue · February 22, 2012, 5:19am

Sounds like a great beer but maybe not for a bmc crowd. Your recipe looks like a sierra nevada pale ale with noble hops. A cream ale would get you closer to a quasi lager type. White labs has a cream ale yeast that is supposed to be an ale/lager hybrid.I have used it before. Not too bad of a yeast.

sonex · February 22, 2012, 5:38am

I thought about a cream ale but I’m not a cream ale fan and I’ll be doing a 15 gal. batch, anything not drank I’ll be stuck with so I dug up this old recipe that I have not brewed in years. Of coarse I have never brewed this with ale yeast before. Generally most of the lager drinkers I know seem to accept sam adams, so I am hoping it will be a compromise that they can drink and still something I can bring home if there is some leftover.

nighthawk · February 22, 2012, 12:49pm

I like to mash at 150. Make the beer a little less malty that way.

onthekeg · February 22, 2012, 5:31pm

If you so desire, you could make my Swiller Lite recipe. The secondary with the Amylase enzyme really dries it out and raises the ABV.
I have made this a bunch of times and its one that people like. Fast and cheap. It will end up around 1.000 FG with the amylase enzyme addition.
A ProMash Recipe Report

Recipe Specifics

Batch Size (Gal): 5.00 Wort Size (Gal): 5.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 5.50
Anticipated OG: 1.030 Plato: 7.68
Anticipated SRM: 2.3
Anticipated IBU: 17.0
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Pre-Boil Amounts

Evaporation Rate: 18.00 Percent Per Hour
Pre-Boil Wort Size: 6.85 Gal
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.022 SG 5.64 Plato

Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM

83.3 4.00 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) America 1.036 2
16.7 2.00 lbs. Flaked Corn (Maize) America 1.040 1

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.

Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time

20 gr. Willamette Whole 5.00 17.0 60 min.
10 gr. Willamette - Whole 5.0 5min.
20 gr. Willamette - Whole 5.0 0.0 Dry Hop 1 week

Extras

Amount Name Type Time

1.00 Tsp Amylase Enzyme 14 Days Secondary

Yeast

Fermentis US-05 Safale or 830 Lager Yeast

stormybrew · February 22, 2012, 7:48pm

Try NB’s Innkeeper ale. BMC’ers usually love mine. It’s a 4-5 week brew-to-drink beer. Just make sure you condition it in a warm (70-75F) place so they are fully carbed in 10-14 days. If not, it will not be ready.

cheers

sonex · February 22, 2012, 8:58pm

[quote=“StormyBrew”]Try NB’s Innkeeper ale. BMC’ers usually love mine. It’s a 4-5 week brew-to-drink beer. Just make sure you condition it in a warm (70-75F) place so they are fully carbed in 10-14 days. If not, it will not be ready.

cheers[/quote]

carbing is not a problem, I keg so I’ll force carb to save time.

loopie_beer · February 22, 2012, 10:42pm

How about a Kolsch? This could easily be ready in 5 weeks especially if you keg/force carb. Its a light beer that many BMCers like.

porterman · February 22, 2012, 11:38pm

I was reading reviews on NB kits and a lot of people said the Patersbier was a big hit with the BMC crowd. I brewed a batch and a guy at work who is nothing but a BMC drinker wanted to try it. He told me it was the best beer he had ever had.

the_professor · February 23, 2012, 12:59am

If you’re going for the BMC crowd, you really need to get the hops down to 10 or 12 IBUs at the most. If you use a neutral yeast like 1056/05 (or even something like WY1968 or WL002,either of which would leave a bit more maltiness) you really won’t need to hop it up to “hide” any ale yeast character.
Actually, Budweiser is kind of known for having a bit of sweetness to it…so if you make a beer that is bone dry after the ferment, I think you will have actually missed the mark a bit.

As far as your yeast situation…for what it’s worth, it is said that Ballantine’s “lager” beers (light, dark, and Bock)… top selling brands in years gone by… were evidently actually originally made with an ale yeast. A different strain than used in their signature ale, but an ale yeast nonetheless.
And no one was any the wiser.
If genuinely true, it certainly had me fooled.

If you keep it all fairly light, keep the hop rate on the low side, and allow a slight sweetness to make it through, you’ll pull it off.
And if past experience is any indicator, you’ll probably also get quite a few people curious about homebrewing too once they taste it.

sonex · February 23, 2012, 2:41am

thanks for all the advice, just went with my recipe and used s-05 its in ferm chamber now @60f. I’m sure it will be fine. If it turns out any were as good with ale yeast as it does with 830 I’ll be a happy camper. While sam adams is higher hopped than most lagers most BMC people will drink it if that is whats available.

thirsty_monk · February 23, 2012, 3:01am

Now Sonny there is one thing to consider.
Miller is triple hopped.
Bud platinum is triple filtered.
If you want to go with BMC theme you beer should be triple boiled.
That will give you some edge.

Ahh and as I would not forget:
Stay thirsty my friend :lol:

sonex · February 23, 2012, 6:12am

[quote=“Thirsty_Monk”]Now Sonny there is one thing to consider.
Miller is triple hopped.
Bud platinum is triple filtered.
If you want to go with BMC theme you beer should be triple boiled.
That will give you some edge.

Ahh and as I would not forget:
Stay thirsty my friend :lol: [/quote]

really good to here from ya, I sure will. “and you too stay thirsty my friend”

edawgwv · February 23, 2012, 4:13pm

My 2 cents:

Use american 2-row and maybe a touch of C40 for color. Shoot for 1.042 -1.045 OG
Add 1/2 pnd flaked corn in mash.

Mash at 148 -150, one hour.

Hop to 20 - 25 IBUs with a single 60 minute addition American hop like Cluster.

Yeast: 1056 or 1272

:cheers:

djt17 · February 23, 2012, 4:37pm

[quote=“edawgwv”]My 2 cents:

Use american 2-row and maybe a touch of C40 for color. Shoot for 1.042 -1.045 OG
Add 1/2 pnd flaked corn in mash.

Mash at 148 -150, one hour.

Hop to 20 - 25 IBUs with a single 60 minute addition American hop like Cluster.

Yeast: 1056 or 1272

:cheers: [/quote]
I do something very similiar to this; except for C40, I use 1# Victory & bitter with Magnum to 22 IBUs. My BMC friends love it, heck I can drink this all day!

dcbc · February 23, 2012, 7:52pm

I brew a batch for my wife’s family reunion every year. Ever since the year I took a Helles down there, they never want me to bring anything else (the complained the year I didn’t). I have had plenty of batches of Helles on tap within 5 weeks of brewing. Yes, they are better at 8 weeks, but I’d suggest brewing a Helles, crash that fermenter a few days before you need to leave and it it with some gelatin a day or so before kegging it and you will have them begging for more. Don’t try to rush it by ramping up the temperature during fermentation. Keep it steady at 48–50 and you’ll have a great beer by the time the party starts.