Little Creatures Rogers Beer

[Lachy]

I'm currently enjoying a bottle of Little Creatures Rodgers' Beer with lunch, and I'm thinking that this may be a good midstrength beer to brew. Has anyone made anything that approximates this brew? I'm looking for kit/extract recipes as all-grain is beyond my equipment. Cheers!

Edit: Spelling fixed.

[WSC]

I'm a fan of this beer too, not sure how to reproduce exactly.

Here is what they say on their site:
"Velvet smooth, Rogers’ weaves the best of hops and malt into a silky session ale in the laid-back Little Creatures style. Light, citrus hop notes roll gently into toasted hazelnut, toffee and caramel malt flavours to deliver easy-drinking ale of flavour and finesse. The perfect ‘go anywhere, do anything’ beer."

Maybe use Coopers Bitter as the base with some cascade hops (but not too much) and 500g of malt? Might need to add something for body too?

[Lachy]

Hmm... I like the idea of using the Coopers Bitter, however I reckon with limited malt additions the IBUs in the can plus anything gained from the Cascade might push the level of perceived bitterness a bit high. Would the Real Ale be a better starting point, or should I just go with something bland like the Lager and add crystal malt, liquid amber malt and hops to the appropriate levels?

[Bizier]

Sounds good Lachy. I know people are opposed to it, but maybe carapils to thicken it up a bit and counter a low final gravity.
I haven't used it yet, but on order, some carared, or some caraaroma?

BTW I am not a Weyermann rep.

[drsmurto]

Hmm... I like the idea of using the Coopers Bitter, however I reckon with limited malt additions the IBUs in the can plus anything gained from the Cascade might push the level of perceived bitterness a bit high. Would the Real Ale be a better starting point, or should I just go with something bland like the Lager and add crystal malt, liquid amber malt and hops to the appropriate levels?

Rogers (note the correct spelling ) is a very nice lower abv beer.

I make a few different beers in the 2.8-3.5% abv range. Relatively speaking, its an easier task to do well at AG level as we can adjust the mash temps to increase the body of the beer. Whilst carapils will do this for you it adds nothing in the way of flavour and as such, i dont use it.

For a kits and bits version start with the lowest IBU tin you can get. I dont know what that is anymore, i was a fan of coopers lager as a base. Use amber malt extract to get the colour and malt flavour and maybe even steep a touch of chocolate malt. Despite my dislike of carapils, its probably needed in an extract copy of this beer.

As for hops, its most likely cascade or cascade/chinook. My attempt used cascade, amarillo and nelson sauvin. The latter as it was in the freezer and open. Make sure you dont boil the hops for very long as you dont want too many additional IBUs to the tin. This is a low IBU beer, 25 to my taste. A decent amount steeped should do the job. By decent i mean 50g for a 20L bacth. Maybe spilt it half and half and boil 25g for 5 mins and steep the rest.

i used US-05 but when i do it again i will be using a lower attenuating yeast to leave more body in the beer.

Cheers
DrSmurto

edit - had to almost repeat myself on another forum re: Rogers but this time AG. Must be a popular drink at this time of the year! I dont have 1 on tap at the moment but i do have a 6 pack of the real deal in the fridge. My Deuchars IPA which is also a low abv beer but english hops is almost ready!

[Lachy]

Cheers for the advice, Doc.

Coopers Lager is my guess as a good starting point too. Some quick calculations suggest that the can-o-goo, 500g liquid malt and no more than a couple hundred grams of grain should give me the right ABV in a 23l brew.

I'm thinking of putting down the following, based on the advice in this thread and my own gut feeling:

Coopers Lager
500g liquid amber malt
???g carapils
100g chocolate malt, steeped
25g cascade @ 5 min
25g cascade dryhopped
US-05

Made to 23l.

So, my next question would be how much carapils would I need, and how would I treat it. I'm a carapils newbie... is the stuff mashed or just steeped? Also, does this recipe look okay?

Also, Doc, care to share that Deuchars IPA recipe with us? I polished off the last of a case of it some months ago, and I wouldn't mind having a crack at making something similar. Just keep in mind that I'm a kit and extract brewer... please don't hurt me!

[drsmurto]

Not sure how much carapils you need as i dont use it - 100-200g at a guess.

Other than that, recipe looks fine

Be careful dry hopping with cascade and particularly with that much. I would be more likely these days to add it at flameout than dry hop.Its just a little too grassy for me.

For a Deuchars IPA i would use the same recipe and replace the cascade with Fuggles at 5 mins and Styrian Goldings at flameout/dry hop and the yeast with S-04.

[Lachy]

Cheers for that, Doc. I've got to get another batch of my lemon myrtle wheat beer on the bubble before I do the LCRB, but you can rest assured this one will be put down soon. The Deuchars will likely follow it.

I agree with your comment about cascade being a bit grassy in dry hopping - although I find chinook to be a worse offender.

[Rob C]

DrSmurto, You mind posting your AG version?

Cheers
Rob

[drsmurto]

One day i will stop being so nice and sharing my recipes......

Who am i kidding, i like having people give me bottles of DrSmurto's Golden Ale to try or referring to my recipes online. Its the only fame i will ever know... virtual!

Anyway, here 'tis.

2.75 kg Pilsner (Weyermann) (3.3 EBC) Grain 66.27 %
0.50 kg Munich I (Weyermann) (14.0 EBC) Grain 12.05 %
0.50 kg Wheat Malt, Pale (Weyermann) (3.9 EBC) Grain 12.05 %
0.30 kg Carared (Weyermann) (47.3 EBC) Grain 7.23 %
0.10 kg Chocolate Malt (Bairds) (1100.0 EBC) Grain 2.41 %
20.00 gm Amarillo [8.90 %] (30 min) Hops 15.0 IBU
20.00 gm Nelson Sauvin [11.00 %] (10 min) Hops 8.8 IBU
10.00 gm Cascade [6.00 %] (10 min) Hops 2.4 IBU
20.00 gm Cascade [6.00 %] (0 min) Hops -
0.50 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs SafAle American Ale (DCL Yeast #US-05) Yeast-Ale

25L (75% efficiency)
OG 1.040
FG 1.016
ABV 3.1%
IBU 26
EBC 26

Beersmith told me FG should be around 1.011 giving me the 3.6% beer i was after. So it ended up lower than i wanted so i know for next time to beef it up a bit.

Mash schedule was 52/69/78.

You may notice similarities in the grain bills of this and my golden ale..... when you are onto a good thing.....

When you taste both the commercial Rogers and my golden ale the reasons become obvious.

Cheers
DrSmurto

[Rob C]

Champion Thanks mate. How will this go with JW Trad Ale Malt, JW Munich and JW Wheat? I have sacks of these instock.

Still yet to brew your Golden Ale but its on the list.

Cheers mate
Rob

[drsmurto]

Havent used JW munich or wheat. I find JW trad a bit boring hence the addition of a healthy whack of munich to most of my beers.

But then i am a munich addict.

I keep telling myself i should do the right thing and buy local malts but i recently bought a few sacks of this

All of the more experienced AG brewers who have tired all of the malts tell me the imported malts are superior so its hard to fork over money for the aussie stuff.

But then i do use JW trad in my golden ale these days. Almost out of wheat and munich so may just give them a go.

[Wags]

Doc, while you've got your Rogers hat on, could i run this extract past you, based on your AG recipe, and what i have on hand.

In a 10 ltr boil....
1.1kg LME
1kg Mogans Liquid Wheat Malt @ FO
500gm LDME @ FO
300gm Carared
200gm Carapils
100gm Chocolate Malt
20gm Amarillo @ 30
20gm NS @ 10
10gm Cascade @ 10
20gm Cascade @ FO
US05
23ltrs

I get 27IBUs and 3.3%ABV.

Im just after a tasty low alcohol ale, the Coopers Lights are getting too expensive.

Cheers, Brent.

[drsmurto]

Assuming you are going to steep the grains, boil the resulting liquor and add the 1.1kg of LME to that then it looks good to me.

Coopers light? Shudders. My partners old man drinks that, tastes like fizzy water to me. He does enjoy my lower abv beer tho, particularly the dark mild.

[Wags]

Dark Mild??? sounds nice. Coopers light, drastic times call for drastic measures. I did read somewhere the coopers was easily the best light in oz, so i thought id give it a go, seeing i need to cut down on the alcohol consumption

[Rob C]

Thanks DrSmurto I may give it a go anyway. I do also have a sack of TF Marris Otter but i though id use a sack of JW trad Ale first as ive only started Ag Brews. Will see how it goes.

Cheers
Rob

[Lachy]

Well, this will be my next brew... as soon as I can empty the fermenter I'm putting this down.

Coopers Lager
500g liquid amber malt
200g maltodextrin
100g chocolate malt, steeped
25g cascade @ 5 min
25g cascade @ flameout
US-05

Made to 23l.

I was unable to source carapils locally but I did find some maltodextrin lurking in the brew supplies that I have in stock already. As I understand it, maltodextrin is mostly unfermentable so is useful for adding body to low ABV brews. However, I'm also aware that excessive maltodextrin can lead to "soapiness" in the finished product. So, is 200g of the stuff going to add body without messing with the taste too much?

[drsmurto]

Carapils is the grain equiv of maltodextrin (IMO) hence the reason i dont use it!

But for a kits and bits beer that is going to be light in alcohol 200g of maltodextrin will prob give you the extra body you need.

The rest looks good. Keep us posted on the results as i am sure there are plenty of kit brewers who would like a lower abv but still tasty drop.

[Lachy]

Ahh... cheers for that.

I too dislike adding adjuncts such as maltodextrin to my brews, however in this case I feel that it is justified. If the recipe works out as a suitable clone, I'll be a happy boy.

[Lachy]

Well, it's a nice recipe - but not quite bang on. The original is a little darker, a smidge higher in alcohol and there's actually a slight PoR tang lurking in there. I'm thinking this version should be closer. Having said that, the beer that I made is really, really nice - possibly even the nicest midstrength that I have tasted - and will likely become my standard brew.

Coopers Lager
500g liquid amber malt
200g maltodextrin
100g chocolate malt, steeped
100g crystal malt, steeped
5g PoR @ 10 min
20g cascade @ 5 min
20g cascade @ flameout
US-05

Made to 23l.

Any thoughts?