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Hey guys,

My mate is after a clone of this sucker, if you haven't tried it please ignore the "Dry" part of the name because unlike most of the current yuppie "Dry" beers on the market this one actually tastes quote good (you can tell it has Saaz in it & it isn't like a bloody shandy), but still does so with less than 100cal per stubbie, which is important for people with an over 30 BMI trying to correct it (I'm at about 35BMI, "dangerously obese", my mate is at about 32BMI)

Anyway, the bottle/website mention "Munich grain" and "Saaz hops" which are the starting points I'm working from...

I don't have the gear for a mash, so I was going to go with CaraMunich instead of actual Munich grain.

Regarding the Saaz, should I use it exclusively? Consider it a watered down (less bitter) czech pilsener? Or can I use something else to bitter it? (Given Saaz has a ballpark of 4%AA)

Malt/fermentable wise, I was going to use...

1.5kg extra pale extract
500gm LDME
500gm Dex (for dryness/calories)
250gm of the caramunich steeped
250gm of honey

...to get the required alc content(approx 4.5%)/dryness.

I don't have really super spot on temp control for lager yeast yet (just an ice box, no fermentation fridge unfortunately) so I was going to use a more temp tolerant & higher attenuative Ale yeast (Morgans 514, it's quite dry especially fermented at 18-20*c, even though it is fine upto 25*c for normal ales) and dry ensyme (I can sense the imbalance in the force typing this) to try & achieve the dry finish, along with the dextrose of course.

So hop schedule I was thinking...

40gm Saaz @ 60min
15gm Saaz @ 20min
15gm Saaz @ 10min

To get an IBU of 25.5


Constructive criticism?

I've got till the weekend to flesh this sucker out (freeing up a fermenter then)

Cheers
Ash

Ash, you could use US-05 (US-56), it has a tendancy with honey or fruit to finish off a bit dry! Cheers

I don't find Hahn Super Dry to be all that dry,and I find it had quite a fuirty finish

Hrm, I might go US05/56 then as I'm quite a fan of it...


So no comments on the fermentables/hop schedule?

Ash wrote:Hrm, I might go US05/56 then as I'm quite a fan of it...


So no comments on the fermentables/hop schedule?

Looks OK to me Ash, give it a go.

I was going to suggest Dry Hop for aroma but the Hahn Super Dry has little aroma IMO.

I was thinking more honey instead of the Dex but I think this looks pretty balanced.

Cheers

Boonie

what, more honey? I can do that, I'm not scared

I did a kilo once, too much IMO

Bought a case of this for a party on the weekend. Not a bad drop at all, IMO. A touch nicer than Pure Blonde, and how sad is it when u chose what to buy cos they come in brown bottles not green? haha

ok, I'm making this sucker tomorrow & was thinking about a few things....

Should I cheap out & use a different higher alpha bittering hop?

If I was to go partial mash for this & replace the 500gm LDME with base grain, what grain should I use & how much?

I could go real Munich I suppose & switch the caramunich to caramalt, or Pilsener malt or just base malt seeing as the extract is "extra pale".

Ideas lads?

I fiddled with it a little, with help from the HBS guy....

500gm LDME
1.5kg Morgans Extra pale
1/2 arsed mini-mash of 50gm of Munich grain
750gm Dextrose

36gm of Spalt @ 60min for 17.6IBU
20gm Saaz @ 15min for 2.9IBU

514 dry ale yeast + 3ml liquid dry ensyme

OG: 1.046
FG: 1.000

Tastes OK out of the fermenter, should be kegging/bottling tomorrow or the next day.

The dry ensyme theoretically knocked off 10 points from what Beersmith had calculated, could have used more malt/less dex - oh well.

Will see how it is & report back with a test against the original.

Ash wrote:I fiddled with it a little, with help from the HBS guy....

500gm LDME
1.5kg Morgans Extra pale
1/2 arsed mini-mash of 50gm of Munich grain
750gm Dextrose

36gm of Spalt @ 60min for 17.6IBU
20gm Saaz @ 15min for 2.9IBU

514 dry ale yeast + 3ml liquid dry ensyme

OG: 1.046
FG: 1.000

Tastes OK out of the fermenter, should be kegging/bottling tomorrow or the next day.

The dry ensyme theoretically knocked off 10 points from what Beersmith had calculated, could have used more malt/less dex - oh well.

Will see how it is & report back with a test against the original.

G'day Ash - I'm not so sure that 50g of Munich is going to contribute anything that registers on your flavour palate...was that a typo and should have read 500g?
Cheers,
TL

I thought it was a weird idea too, the HBS guy suggested it because he thought it might be overpowering in a brew with so little base malt.

Dont a lot of euro lagers use munich & vienna half half?


I was thinking 500gm myself, can't say I taste much of anything except saaz in it tasting in the hydrometer tube

You're suspicions are right....in any partial mash recipe, more grains is better. You'd be overpowering the concentrated malt extract with fresh grain aroma and malted sugars!

Munich malt is one of my favourite malts - a half munich / half vienna makes an excellent amber lager, which is one of my favourite beers! Munich malt is the base malt for Bocks, Doppelbocks and Dunkelbocks and those magnificent beers are an excellent change from the 3C driven APA's that we tend to brew so often nowadays, but I digress!!

I use a kilo of munich in my SNPA clone and it gives a wonderful lightly toasted aroma and malty grain filled flavour profile that many brewers strive to deliver in their all grain beers not unlike how some brewers like their beers to be hop driven brews...

Go on, use 500g of Munich and enjoy the flavours and fresh grain aroma! You won't regret it!!

Cheers,
TL

Note: 3C commonly refers to Cascade, Chinook and Centennial hopped American Pale Ales and IPA's!