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Fat Tyre Amber Ale Clone - First All-Grain Beer Experience

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GrantLee63

NewBee
Registered Member
Feb 19, 2006
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Clarkston, MI
First of all, get rid of any thoughts you may have about all-grain brewing is difficult as it is definitely not! If you can make mead, wine, a cake, cookies, etc., you will have NO PROBLEM with making beer using an all-grain procedure.

Secondly, invest in a high-quality thermometer. I have a Thermapen and can whole-heartedly recommend it. It's not cheap, but it is accurate as hell, and accuracy is what you need with all-grain brewing. Check out the link:

http://www.thermoworks.com/products/thermapen/index.html

Thirdly, check out BeerSmith. I was absolutely amazed at how accurate the calculations are using BeerSmith as this batch came out just about 'dead-nuts' on everything! You can download a 21 day full-feature trial here:

http://www.beersmith.com/

Fourthly, either buy and READ the John Palmer book or go online and READ it here:

http://www.howtobrew.com/sitemap.html

Here is the recipe I made today:

Fat Tyre Amber Ale Clone
American Amber Ale

Type: All Grain
Date: 9/16/2006
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Brewer: GrantLee63
Boil Size: 7.03 gal Asst Brewer: GrantLee63's Son-In-Law
Boil Time: 90 min Equipment: Northern Brewer Deluxe All-Grain Setup and 10 gallon Polar Ware Kettle.
Taste Rating(out of 50): TBD Brewhouse Efficiency: 78.0
Taste Notes: TBD

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
7.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 52.8 %
4.00 lb Amber Malt (22.0 SRM) Grain 30.2 % (Roasted @350F for 25 Minutes)
1.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 7.5 %
0.50 lb Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) Grain 3.8 %
0.25 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 1.9 %
0.25 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 1.9 %
0.25 lb Special Roast (50.0 SRM) Grain 1.9 %
0.75 oz Northern Brewer [8.50%] (60 min) Hops 19.5 IBU
0.50 oz Williamette [5.50%] (30 min) Hops 6.5 IBU
0.50 oz Williamette [5.50%] (15 min) Hops 4.2 IBU
0.50 oz Williamette [5.50%] (5 min) Hops 1.7 IBU
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs American Ale II (Wyeast Labs #1272) Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.067 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.063 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.017 SG Measured Final Gravity: TBD
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.6 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: TBD
Bitterness: 31.9 IBU Calories: 274 cal/pint
Est Color: 14.3 SRM Color: Looks like Killian's Red

Mash Profile

Mash Name: Single Infusion, Full Body, No Mash Out Total Grain Weight: 13.26 lb
Sparge Water: 3.90 gal Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 170.0 F TunTemperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE Mash PH: 5.4 PH

Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Mash In Add 19.89 qt of water at 172.5F and hold mash at 154.0F for 60 min

Simple single infusion mash. Fly sparged with a Phil's Sparger for 65 minutes. The key is to go S.L.O.W.

My comments:

I had just a tad over 5.50 gallons and my SG was within .002 of what BeerSmith estimated on both my pre and post boil! Also, I did make a starter with my yeast and less than 3 hours after pitching, I have airlock activity! I WAS VERY, VERY PLEASED WITH MY EFFICIENCY! I have a standard JSP Maltmill without the ability to adjust the crush, and it appears as if it works .... and works very well indeed! BTW, I crushed my grain moments before starting my mash.

Stay tuned for updates ..... :cheers:
 
11:55 PM EST - Not quite 12 hours since I pitched the yeast and I'm getting 75+ bubbles per minute coming out of the airlock. The wort looks like it's boiling! There is about an inch of Krausen on top and about an inch of trub on the bottom.

I've NEVER had a fermentation kick off like this one ..... Stay tuned ..... :wave:
 
For sure AG brews fermentation starts faster than anything else I have fermented. Except pouring a must on a cake.

Did you get a 3rd edition palmer book or 2nd?
I have a 2nd and wish I would have waited for the third but I felt that I needed what I could get because it is such a great book to start AGing with. It is technical and easy reading at the same time.

I recently picked up Desinging Great beers by Ray Daniels and it is a terrific book, next on my list is radical brewing which I can get on loan when i have time to read it.
 
GL63,
Nice work!!! Keep the notes flowing.

Kace,
I have Ray Daniel’s book as well as radical brewing. Both are great books and nice to read. BTW Daniel’s book has some info on water chemistry.
 
Kace - I have the 3rd edition of Palmer's book ..... thanks for the tip regarding the others. I'm going to have to check them out.

Yabodie - Thanks for the compliment!!! I'll keep this thread updated ..... As of 8:00 AM EST, there are more bubbles than I can count coming through the airlock, and the wort is violently moving in a somewhat circular motion - the yeasties are going NUTS!!!!!

Cool stuff to watch for sure..... :headbang:
 
Palmer's book is great, my buddy and I just put together some nice Christmas recipe's using concepts from the book. Roasting the oatmeal/flaked oats and letting the rest. Also cold steeping seems very nice.

No mash hops in these batches though, as we want the malty sweetness and some additional characteristics to be very much evident in the end product.

I owe some posts on this stuff so as soon as my buddy fires off the promash files I'll get them up there.

Cheers,

Oskaar
 
GL,
Are you going to bottle or keg it? Should be almost ready to sample. Just a little sample, you know you want to... >:D

How do you like your cooler setup? I am thinking that will be my next beer purchase...
 
Yabodie .... I'm planning on bottling this coming Saturday. It will be 2 weeks since I made it. I racked it out of the primary after 4 days, and it's been in the secondary since. I'm probably going to hold off tasting it until its been in the bottle for at least 2 weeks, (yeah right) so stay tuned for updates to this thread sometime on or after Saturday 09/30 .....

The Deluxe AG Brewing System I got from Northern works great! I would highly recommend it to anyone who is thinking about getting an AG system - just make sure to get the 10 gallon version and not the 5 gallon version. You'll be happy you did. The 5 gallon version just does not have the capacity to handle the 'heavy' grain bill recipes. I'm sure you can make a system for less cash, but again, I am very, very happy with this purchase, and don't think it was unreasonable.

Oskaar - The recipes you posted look very, very interesting. Can't say I've ever had a beer with peppermint and vanilla, or ginger in it before! Did you just make these recently for the upcoming Christmas season, or have you made them in the past? How 'bout posting a taste profile - that is, if you've even had the finished product yet! BTW, you don't happen to have BeerSmith in addition to Pro Mash ... do you?

Thanks! - GL63
 
Hey GL,

Sorry dude, it's promash only for me :drunken_smilie:

As far as the taste profile the RIS is more of a chocolate, coffee, malty, creamy stout with a bit of RS and the vanilla and peppermint are there as supporting characters in the aroma and mid, but not on the attack or early finish. They help bind the other roasted flavors and bring a chocolate vannilla mint kind of hint to the overall flavor It has plenty of earthy malt flavor with some nice contribution from the hop, but not in such a way as to overstep the other main flavors, and it actually layers very nicely on top of the hops. I'll be racking to a corny keg in the next couple of weeks and then sticking it in the kegerator.

I haven't cracked into the dubbel yet. But when I do I'll post up a profile for you.

Cheers,

Oskaar
 
GL,
When I bottled the Nanook Ale (primed with honey) and a More Beer Trippel kit, I *had* to try them. A pint each mind you as it had to last through the bottling session. Granted no carbonation, but why take the time to bottle the brew if it is crap. Know what I mean? Come on, you know you are dying to taste it... :evil4:


Thanks for the review on the 10 gallon setup!!

Oskaar,
Thanks for posting the recipes. They do look very inviting!!
 
Well, I filled 39 Grolsch bottes with my Fat Tyre Amber Ale Clone this afternoon. Sorry guys, but I'm pretty disciplined and the taste test will not occur until 4 weeks from today - 10/28/2006, so stay tuned. I will say that it finished at 5.7 % ABV which is smack in the middle of the range BeerSmith calculated it out to be.

My son-in-law and I did make another AG beer today as well - an Oatmeal Stout. I pitched the yeast about 2 1/2 hours ago, and fermentation is ramping up as I type this to about 4 bubbles per minute. We did not get as high of an efficiency with this one as we did the Fat Tyre - 69% vs. 78%, but we're not complaining! We met our estimated OG of 1.062.

This AG stuff sure is fun! Just wished I lived in a rural area so I could fatten up all the future trophy bucks with the spent grain! :cheers:
 
CRAP ! I sampled a bottle and, although I am very pleased with the taste and color, there is almost NO CARBONATION to my Fat Tyre Amber Ale !

My primary was 4 days, with 10 more days in the secondary. The temperature in my basement has been between 64 and 70 degrees since I made this batch on 09/16/2006.

I used 4.7 ounces of priming sugar that was boiled in a pint of water which I placed in my bottling bucket (after cooling) then racked the beer into. It has been almost 4 weeks since bottling and like I said: CRAP ! Almost NO CARBONATION !

I've been researching other sites including BeerSmith, Northern Forums, MoreBeer, HomeBrew, BrewBoard, etc., and my conclustion is that there was not enough yeast suspended in the beer when I bottled it. Evidently quite a few brewers out there deliberately stir up the yeast when bottling to ensure adequate counts for bottle fermentation.

As I'm planning on bottling a batch of Orange Blossom Amber Ale this coming Saturday, I think I'll put a 'wee bit' of yeast from that batch into each bottle and let it condition for a couple more weeks.

Anybody have any other thoughts and / or ideas ?
 
You should have still had a lot of yeast in suspension, considering your fermentation/ racking times. You can verify this by holding the bottles up to a bright light. If you see any haziness or sediment, you probably have viable yeast. Unless you still had a lot of suspended CO2, the fact that there is some carbonation may also indicate good yeast.

You may want to check the basement temp. The optimum temperature for your yeast is 67F. If you are a ways below that, fermentation can be sluggish or stop altogether. You can check by taking a bottle or two upstairs to a warmer temp for a week or two...Chill and taste. As long as the temp is not above 73F, you should not have any ester problems. Be sure to invert the bottles once when you bring them up to rouse any sleepy yeasts. If you have better carbonation after a week or two and the taste is good bring the rest up.

If bottles look crystal clear and/ or warming them up doesn't work..Then you can try adding more yeast as a last resort.

Peace.
 
Thanks HomeBrew .... the beer in the bottles is a little hazy PLUS there is a very small layer of sediment on the bottom of them, which confuses me even more. Visually, there is every indication that bottle fermentation took place .... which of course there wasn't - at least in the two that I tried.

I'll bring a few up and try again in a couple weeks ...
 
Hey GL,
If you see sediment in the bottles, are the seals on the Groelsh bottles still good? Are they new ones? Seems that after 4 weeks you should have carbonation. I have had carbonation in three batches after about a week with caps, all with 1 cup honey, 4 oz corn sugar and 4 oz DME. Maybe put a balloon over one of the bottles you bring up to a higher temp and see if the balloon fills up? Just seems that you have a leaking seal...
 
Yabodie - I don't know .... something weird is going on .... I replaced ALL the seals on every Grolsch bottle I have which is 96, so these seals are all brand new. The Braggot that I bottled on 09/04 was beautifully carbonated when I popped a few on 09/30, and those are in Grolsch bottles with the same new seals. Perhaps something will happen when I move them upstairs and let them 'bottle condition' a few more weeks.

Jeph - Glad you found the link. The info that John Palmer provides is definitely worth the time to read. I can't believe the guy posted the entire book - word for word - on the internet! That generosity compelled me to actually go and purchase his book as a token of my appreciation for him posting it .... go figure !
 
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