Category: Breweries

Great Lakes Christmas Ale

Great Lakes Xmas Ale CloneGreat Lakes Xmas Ale Clone

January 8, 2022January 8, 2022| adminadmin| 0 Comments | 1:45 am

I got my recipe from Brewer’s Friend, and it was a recipe posted by Cameron. He also has a YouTube video showing how he went about it.

Well it was that time of year again for the Christmas Ale to come rolling out, and I had my fill of it over the holidays. I’ve never tried brewing a clone of the beer, so this year I thought that I would. I got to it a bit later than I would have liked, but the five gallons I got will carry me through the snowy months as I brew Stout and then, in March, and Oktoberfest.

 Amt Name Type # %/IBU Volume
 12 lbs Pale Malt Grain 1 78.0 % 0.94 gal
 1 lbs 3.2 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt – 40L (53.4 SRM) Grain  2  7.8 % 0.09 gal
 12.8 oz Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 3 5.2 % 0.06 gal
 5.1 oz Special Roast (50.0 SRM) Grain 4 2.1 % 0.03 gal
 1.0 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 5 0.4% 0.00 gal
 1.0 oz Liberty [4.30 %] – Boil 60.0 min  Hop 6 11.6 IBUs  —
 1.0 oz Liberty [4.30 %] – Boil 15.0 min  Hop 7  5.7 IBUs  —
 1.0 oz Ginger Root (Boil 12.0 mins)  Herb 8  —  —
 1.0 oz Cascade [5.50 %] – Boil 11.0 min Hop 9  5. IBUs  —
 4.0 oz Cinnamon Stick (Boil 5.0 mins) Spice 10  —  —
 1 lb Honey [Primary] Honey 11 6.5% 0.08 gal

I had to make some modifications based on the ingredients I had on hand, but this is the recipe I ended up with:

My mash volume was 6.52 gallons with a pH of 5.3 and my sparge volume was 3.73 gallons with a pH of 5.2. My pre-boil volume was 8 gallons (I overshot the 7.4 recommended), but boiled it 75 minutes instead of 60 minutes. I mashed at between 154 degrees and 156 degrees for 60 minutes, the sparge took around the same amount of time at 168 degrees. (I donated my spent grains to a neighbor who has chickens.) My measured pre-boil gravity was 1.056, and my measured original gravity was 1.070. I brew using a Grainfather, so the mash was continually re-circulating. I pitched a California Ale yeast (WLP001), for which I created a starter. The yeast was old (September 2021 expiration), so I hedged my bet and also pitched Safale US-05 into the fermenter. The wort went into the fermenter at 68 degrees, I oxygenated it via O2 and a stone prior to pitching the yeast. The beer finished fermenting three days ago, January 3, 2022, and started fermenting within 24 hours. It was a long fermentation as I brewed the beer on December 23, 2021. I’ll move it into a corny keg tomorrow and take final gravity readings at that time.

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Commodore Perry CloneCommodore Perry Clone

March 24, 2015March 24, 2015| adminadmin| 0 Comments | 9:34 pm

Great Lakes Brewing Co. – Commodore Perry IPA

Just brewed on Saturday. First time in a long time.  Details unnecessary, but back on the hoss. I’ve committed myself to brewing a Commodore Perry clone repeatedly until I get it right.  An homage to a great beer.

Noting meticulously my errors and successes. So this is round one.  In the future, I’ll brew 2.5 gallon increments! =)

Here’s the recipe I went with.  Variations in the future will be noted.

Recipie

IngredientQuantity
Rahr Malt (2 Row) (1.9 SRM)15 lbs.
Caramel/Crystal Malt – 30L (30 SRM)1 lbs.
Honey Malt – (25 SRM)1 lbs.
Simcoe 13.0%1 oz. 60 min.
Cascade 5.50%1 oz. 30 min.
Willamette 5.50%.5 oz. 30 min.
Cascade 5.50%.5 oz. 20 min.
Willamette 5.50%.5 oz. 20 min.
Cascade 5.50%.5 oz. 10 min.
Willamette 5.50%.5 oz. 10 min.
London Ale Yeast (Wyeast Labs #1028)2L starter
Cascade 5.50%.5 oz. Dry Hop.
Willamette 5.50%.5 oz. Dry Hop.

Hit my targets right on the money. It was beautiful. Too beautiful. I’m waiting for the other shoe right now, in fact.

Struck at 171 degrees and got a mash temp of 156.4.
Let it sit for un hora.
Then my seven-year-old son popped in to start helping me and broke yet another hydrometer.
But together we pushed on to triumph.
He helped through all the runs and vorlaufs:

  • 1st Run @ 149 degrees, 3 gallons, 23 brix, 1.094 SG (no hydrometer)
  • 2nd Run @ 143.5 degrees, 2 gallons, 23 brix, 1.094 SG (no hydrometer)
  • 3rd Run @ who cares degrees, 2 gallons, 9 brix, 1.034 SG (no hydrometer)
  • Wort in 8 gallon pot at 7.0 gallons, 17.5 brix, 1.068 SG (no hydrometer)

Boiled for 70 mins, various hop additions, son helping with hop socks and sniffing and considering the differences between hop varietals. While also stirring the 7 gallons of boiling wort and causing me no end to terrible scenarios in my mind, esp while touching the ball valve on the boil pot.

Got a post boil volume of around 6 gallons at 1.079 OG, pitched the yeasties, and …

The fermentation is sluggish. Smells bad. May have effed up the starter. Sour Commodore anyone? I could be pessimistic, too. Stuck my nose in the fermenter and had my eyebrows burned off.  Loving life. If this one is bad, I’ll do another.

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Conway CloneConway Clone

February 12, 2013February 12, 2013| adminadmin| 0 Comments | 7:04 pm

conway

My last brew session was a Conway’s Irish Ale clone of the Great Lakes Brewery beer. I chose this one at my wife’s behest and the thought that my dad would enjoy this one as well.

The clone is not precise for a few reasons, the first being that I don’t have a whole lot of money to throw around right now and I had a backlog of ingredients on hand. As I pursued a clone recipe for Conway I learned that Great Lakes uses Harrington 2-row as the base for most of its brews. This is good to know, as I have a desire to try a few clones: for instance, my Christmas ale this year used a Nosferatu clone as the base–again, however, I didn’t know about the Harrington 2-row. I learned about the base characteristics of Great Lakes brews from a nice post on The Beerists blog site.

In looking around, the only places I’ve seen that carry Harrington are Midwest Supplies and Northern Brewer.

Additionally, Great Lakes uses quite a bit of Cascade.

Regardless, here is the clone that I used:

  • 11 lb Maris Otter
  • .75 lb Crystal 80
  • .10 lb Crystal 40
  • 1 oz Northern Brewer (30 min)
  • 1 oz Hallertauer (10 min)
  • .75 oz Fuggle (5 min)
  • WLP002 British Ale yeast

We’ll see how this compares, although I expect significant differences. In the future, I aim to try this again with a more precise version that uses Harrington 2-row, Cascade, and Wyeast London Ale 1028.

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Brew DayBrew Day

January 22, 2012January 22, 2012| adminadmin| 0 Comments | 6:05 pm

Two Brews and Some Crazy Notions

Recently brewed two clones: Founder’s Breakfast Stout and Stone Cali-Belgique. I’ve put the recipes in below, including the BeerXML files. 

Founder's Breakfast Stout BoyI just moved the two to the secondary last night. I added 2oz of Grand Cru to the Breakfast Stout and .5 oz of Cascade and 1.0 oz of Centennial to the Cali. Tasted both out of the primary and they were delicious. I used both a refractometer and hydrometer to see the gravity progression and to continue to test the comparison between the readings. Each seems to be on target coming in at around 1.018 and 1.016 respectively–and there’s still a bit more time in the secondary where some action will take place. I’ll bottle the Cali-Belgique for a wedding but keep some back for the All-American Homebrew Competition; a part of the Cincy Winter Beerfest.

I’m planning my next brew, which will be a Hopslam clone, and I may try to get it in before the All-American Homebrew Competition deadline, but it will be a very tight squeeze on this one. I went out to JW Dover’s homebrew store in Westlake yesterday to fill some of the holes in my inventory and had one fortuitous encounter and learned one thing I didn’t know–so it was worth the trip. First, I met the owner and proprietor Jerome Welliver and Tom ? one of the brewers who offered to provide me with yeast slurry from one of their brews. All I have to do is bring in a sanitized mason jar and they’ll fill it up. That kicks ass. I was looking for the 1056 in their yeast cooler and then I got to talking with Tom and he offered. For me this means several things: first, the slurry will be a big pitch, meaning energetic and complete attenuation/fermentation; second, it is second generation from a professional brewery; third, I hope it’s a connection that I can maintain. Second, in the grand scheme of things, what I learned is that Jerome is not only the owner and proprietor of JW Dover, but Black Box Brewing Company, which now owns the label for Crooked River and is brewing up their old recipes.

This also sparked in me two notions, one tempting the other possibly stupid. First, to brew one beer a week for the year. Don’t know if I can pull it off. But I’d like to try. I’m behind right now, but have the ingredients to brew the Hopslam and a Flanders Red, which I could so this coming week and it would put me on track for January. Second, I’m considering the Lenten trial of drinking only beer until Easter. I would be hoping to drop some pounds and let’s face it, beer tastes better than the Almased liquid diet. And besides: it’s beer! Three times per day.

We’ll see. I’m looking forward to heading out to Black Box Brewing this week to pick up the slurry and brewing up a Hopslam clone.

Recipes:

Breakfast Stout

BeerSmith Recipe Printout - www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Breakfast Stout
Brewer: Tom Hayes
Asst Brewer: 
Style: American Stout
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0) 

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.00 gal      
Boil Size: 5.72 gal
Estimated OG: 1.093 SG
Estimated Color: 57.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 64.8 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount        Item                                      Type         % or IBU      
13 lbs 3.2 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)            Grain        74.66 %       
1 lbs 6.4 oz  Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM)                    Grain        7.92 %        
1 lbs         Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)                Grain        5.66 %        
1 lbs         Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM)                Grain        5.66 %        
8.0 oz        Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM)    Grain        2.83 %        
5.3 oz        Carafa III (525.0 SRM)                    Grain        1.87 %        
4.0 oz        Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM)           Grain        1.41 %        
1.10 oz       Nugget [13.00 %]  (60 min)                Hops         37.3 IBU      
2.50 oz       Williamette [5.50 %]  (30 min)            Hops         27.6 IBU      
2.50 oz       Williamette [5.50 %]  (0 min)             Hops          -            
1.50 oz       Chocolate, unsweetened baking nibs (Boil 1Misc                       
2.00 oz       Kona Coffee (Secondary 1.0 weeks)         Misc                       
2.00 oz       Sumatran Coffee (Boil 10.0 min)           Misc                       
2.50 oz       Chocolate, Dark Baker's (Boil 10.0 min)   Misc                       
1 Pkgs        American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056)          Yeast-Ale                  


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Full Body
Total Grain Weight: 17.68 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Full Body
Step Time     Name               Description                         Step Temp     
60 min        Mash In            Add 22.10 qt of water at 170.5 F    158.0 F       
10 min        Mash Out           Add 8.84 qt of water at 196.6 F     168.0 F

Cali-Belgique

BeerSmith Recipe Printout – www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Stone Cali-Belique IPA
Brewer: Tom Hayes
Asst Brewer:
Style: American IPA
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0) 

Recipe Specifications
————————–
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 5.72 gal
Estimated OG: 1.076 SG
Estimated Color: 6.8 SRM
Estimated IBU: 64.9 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
————
Amount Item Type % or IBU
13 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 92.86 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt – 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 7.14 %
0.64 oz Pearle [8.00 %] (90 min) Hops 16.3 IBU
0.43 oz Magnum [14.00 %] (90 min) Hops 19.1 IBU
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (Dry Hop 3 days) Hops –
0.50 oz Chinook [13.00 %] (Dry Hop 3 days) Hops –
2.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (15 min) Hops 29.5 IBU
1.00 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs Belgian Golden Ale (White Labs #WLP570) Yeast-Ale 

Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 14.00 lb
—————————-
Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 17.50 qt of water at 162.5 F 151.0 F

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Brew Day!Brew Day!

October 7, 2011October 7, 2011| adminadmin| 0 Comments | 7:44 pm

Took my floating holiday from work today and am brewing an Arrogant Bastard clone; the wonder work of Stone Brewing Co. (I’ll add some holiday spices in the secondary to give it a proper Christmas kick.)

Using the following recipe, which I picked up at Homebrew Talk:

  • 11.5 pounds pale two-row malt
  • 1.0 pounds crystal 120
  • 0.5 lb Special-B
  • 0.75 lb Biscuit
  • 0.5 lb Aromatic
  • 0.5 lb CaraMunich
  • 1.25 oz chinook pellets (12.5 aa%) (15.6 AAUs) @ 90 min
  • 1.0 oz chinook pellets (12.5 AAUs) @ 30 min
  • 0.5 oz chinook pellets (6.25 AAUs) @ flame out
  • 1 tsp Irish moss
  • White Labs WLP007 or WLP001 (English Ale Yeast)

Preparation:
Mash at 155 degrees for 60 minutes. Boil for 90 minutes, adding the hops according to schedule. Add Irish Moss last 5 minutes of the boil. Cool wort and pitch yeast. Primary ferment at about 68 F for 7 to 10 days. Secondary fermentation optional. 

Specifics:
Style Strong Ale
Recipe Type All Grain
Batch Size 5 gallons
Original Gravity 1.074
Final Gravity 1.018
Boiling Time 90 minutes
Primary Fermentation Glass, ~ 68 F, 7-10 days
Secondary Fermentation optional
Other Specifics 75 IBUs, about 7% abv.

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Get your beer on!Get your beer on!

October 5, 2011October 5, 2011| adminadmin| 0 Comments | 7:40 pm

Cleveland Beer Week is upon us, with dozens of great breweries descending upon Cleveland in a host of locations throughout the city. Jammin’ brews will be available from East to West in our fair City of Cle, from XYZ Tavern to the Cedar Lee–and from North to South.

Love Stone Brewing Co? Great Lakes? Hoppin Frog? Fat Heads? They’re here. 21st Amendment? Dogfish Head? Smuttynose? Sierra Nevada? They’re here. Beer will be flowing and locations will be hoppin–literally in a whole slush of senses.

If you love beer, this coming week is a GREAT week to be in Cleveland. I’m definitely going to find a way to get away from the children, out of the house, and hit a few locations for some frosty pints!

For more information including events, breweries, and locations check out http://www.clevelandbeerweek.org/

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