Clone Brews

[Zuma]

Just bought this book and Im stoked.

If you don't have it get it!

[jadk42]

Been thinking about getting it - where did you get it? What extract brews are in it?

[Zuma]

150 styles.

All grain, Partial and Extract for all.

Looking forward to having a crack at the Urquell.

[Zuma]

p.s got it from my local HBS in Perth.

[James L]

wheres your local HBS zuma? Its not TWOC by any chance cos i remember you talking about deliverance kits in another thread and i know that TWOC sells them, and another store in Maddington i think....

[Zuma]

Yeah its TWOC mate

[MOFO]

Fancy sharing the Urquell recipe? I drink so much of this - and would love to know what they recommend as an extract...

[drsmurto]

Fancy sharing the Urquell recipe? I drink so much of this - and would love to know what they recommend as an extract...

Urquell fan?

Have a read of this - Link

Triple decoctions in the modern brewing world, as if we needed proof of the reason why aussie beer is shite and the europeans still show it the respect it deserves! You can feel the love in this beer........

Key points to note (other than the triple decoction)

Soft water - rain water is best for this, even melbourne water is harder than the water used in this beer.
2 hour boil, now this is much less important with extract, in fact, i would suggest ignoring it and sticking to 60 mins.
Last hop addition is at 25 mins. No flameout, no dry hopping no matter how much you want to.

Ive attempted a budvar clone, similar to urquell, it was 100% weyermann pils, 100% saaz. Unfortunately, current saaz is only 2.2% AA so requires a metric shedload to bitter with an prob easier to use northern brewer for bittering. I find the 60/40/20 schedule very popular so you could do 60/40/25.

Ok, so a quick play in beersmith for you MOFO, assuming a 23L batch

2.90 kg Extra Light Dry Extract (5.9 EBC) Dry Extract 100.00 %
30.00 gm Northern Brewer [9.10 %] (60 min) Hops 29.8 IBU
25.00 gm Saaz [2.50 %] (40 min) Hops 6.0 IBU
20.00 gm Saaz [2.50 %] (25 min)

Wyeast 2001 is the only choice obviously since its the urquell strain. They claim to ferment at 4C warming to 9C. I would be aiming at 10-12 for practical reasons! Lager for 3 months. If you can maintain a temp of about 0C you could get away with one month.

How does that grab you?

Cheers
DrSmurto

[MOFO]

Sensational thank you.

Yes - forgot to add - My favourite beer is actually Budvar, but then Urquell after that. I like Urquell due to the fact that it is only 4.4% also... its good for a "lighter" beer. I also have been enjoying Trumer Pils recently too. Overall, a good crisp Pils, with its lovely bitterness, and slight grapey flavours makes me want to buy a big beer fridge to make lagers all year around.

But, for now - its ale time...

I am intending on going to Eastern Europe this year - and I am going to spend a lot of time (and money) on going all around the Czech republic... I do hear that it isn't that pricey for the beer... so I may be a while

[Zuma]

Crush and steep in 1.9L 65.50c

.230kg German Light Crystal
.057kg German Munich malt

Strain into brew pot. Sparge the grains with 1.9L of water (65.50c).
Top up with water to 5.7L and bring to the boil.

Remove from heat.

Add..

2.7kg extra light dry malt extract
104g Czech Saaz hops

Top up to 9L and boil for 45 minutes.

Then add..
28g of Saaz
5ml Irish Moss

Boil for 3 minutes then remove from heat.
Strain into fermenter and top up with cold water to 18.9L.

Pitch Wyeast Czech Pilsner Lager Yeast 2278 or 2007 Pilsen Lager Yeast when temp is 26.5 or under.

Ferment at 6-11oc 5-7 days.

Rack onto 14g Saaz.

Leave to Cold Condition 2-3 weeks.

Prime with 300ml Extra Light Dry malt extract.

Serve at 7oc

Sounds good to me

[lethaldog]

Yep i have this one myself and so far have done the AG versions of the heineken and SNPA and both turned out awesome, cant wait to try more

[jadk42]

Thanks Zuma for another recipe. What is this one for? Cant wait to try them both. Please keep the recipies coming. I dont get the book till my birthday in July.

[Kevnlis]

104g Czech Saaz hops

This is silly! I would just decrease the boil gravity and use much less of a clean bittering hop.

[Zuma]

104g Czech Saaz hops

This is silly! I would just decrease the boil gravity and use much less of a clean bittering hop.

Whether you think it's silly or not this is the clone recipe from the book as requested.

I for one would be happy to try the recipe first before tweaking it.

[KEG]

104g works out to what, $8? $10? big deal.. i bet it'd taste decent.

[Zuma]

Saaz is the only hop used in Pilsner Urquell.

[Kevnlis]

First off Munich is not steepable, so you have to do a mash, which is fine if you have the ability.

Current Saaz hops are 2.5% AA, so with 104g in that boil you get 19 IBUs. Which is fine for a Pils Urquell, but I think the beer would turn out better if you added the extract after the boil and used 45g of Saaz. This would give the same IBUs, would use far less hops, and would leech far less tannin and grassy flavour into the wort. Not sure you are going to get any Saaz flavour from a 45 minute boil anyway, so there is no reason not to sub in a higher AA clean hop (8g Super Alpha for instance) to do the bittering IMHO.

[drsmurto]

Saaz is the only hop used in Pilsner Urquell.

If you want to be pedantic, pilsner malt is the ONLY malt used in urquell. NO crystal malt is added. Never have as crystal malt is a relatively recent addition to the brewing industry and urquells recipe hasnt changed in yonks.

I see no problem as Kev suggested in using another bittering hop and for mine, northern brewer, a german hop, would be ideal. Its a clean bittering hop in my limited experience and saves the low AA Saaz for flavour. Its not just amount the $ its just silly added so much saaz to do the same thing as somehting with a higher AA when you arent getting any flavour/aroma contributions.

And to reiterate what Kev said, Munich is a base malt, it cannot be steeped. It must be mashed.

I realise Zuma that you are simply telling us what the clone mag says so i am not attacking you personally, i just think if you want to clone a recipe a little research goes a long way.......

And one last comment - urquell is not dry hopped! Read the link from my previous post, the last additon of Saaz is at 25 mins!

Cheers
DrSmurto

[Zuma]

Cheers for all that info guys!

[Kevnlis]

Cheers for all that info guys!

Sorry if it seemed like I was attacking you personally. I realised you got it from a book, and I was merely saying the book was silly for giving such advice.

Saaz is a great hop, do not get me wrong. It was at one point guarded so heavily by the Bohemians that a law was passed by “Good” King Wenceslas introducing the death penalty for anyone who exported hop cuttings from Bohemia!

This is a quote on the use of hops which I think sums it up quite well:

There is an increasing tendency to classify hops into two categories: aroma
hops and bittering hops. In reality they are merely variations on a theme. All
hops are capable of providing both bitterness and aroma. Some hops, however,
such as the Czech variety Saaz, have a relatively high ratio of oil to
resin, and the character of the oil component is particularly prized. Such
varieties command higher prices and are known as aroma varieties. They
will seldom be used as the sole source of bitterness and aroma in a beer: a
cheaper, higher alpha-acid hop (a bittering variety) will be used to provide the
bulk of the bitterness, with the prized aroma variety added late in the boil
for the contribution of its own unique blend of oils. Those Brewers requiring
hops solely as a source of bitterness may well opt for a cheaper variety,
ensuring its use early in the kettle boil so that the provision of bitterness is
maximized and unwanted aroma is driven off.