Help me clone Fretzy's Unfiltered Ale

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BrewinHooligan

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In honor of Greg Fretz of the Phoenix Ale Brewery who recently lost his battle to throat cancer I am trying to brew a clone of his Unfiltered Ale.

Per the website, the beer is:
5% abv
30 IBU
OG: 12.5P
SRM: 12.5
Malts: 2-row, Caravienne, and Biscuit
Yeast: English Ale
Hops: Nugget for bittering, whole cone Cluster for aroma.

What I have come up with so far:
11 gal batch
OG: 1.049
12.5lbs 2-row
6lbs Caravienne
3lbs Biscuit

1.1oz Nugget at 60 min
1oz Cluster at 10min
1oz Cluster at 5 min

Make a monster starter of WLP007 and ferment at 65f

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. My main concern is getting close to the SRM without it being overpowered by the specialty grains.
 
I've never heard of that beer before, but personally, I would never use that much crystal malt in an 11 gal. batch. I would halve that amount, at least. As for the three Lbs. of biscuit, why not? I've never used much of that malt in my recipes, but I've heard first hand of people using a lb. in a 5 gal. batch with great results. Give it a go man.
 
Thanks for the advice. Somehow the SRM in Beersmith is way off compared to what came up in the Bru'nWater spreadsheet. If I am usign the speciality grains to acheive that srm, would you suggest using The Biscuit primarily? What I have worked up based on that theory is:

16.5lbs 2-row
2lbs Caravienne
3.5lbs Biscuit
 
I would just throw some dark malt in there to darken it up. Try a couple ounces, 2-4, of some de-husked carafa II or III. It will darken the color with little to no noticeable flavor contributions. Another option is to use a darker 2-row malt. Uk pale ale and/ or Marris Otter are typically 2-2.5 and 3 Lovibond respectively and they taste awesome! In my opinion at least. Although, if you go the MO route then I would cut the biscuit back by a whole lot. Say, down to 1-1.75lb. I think the best way to hit a specific color in a beer is easier done by using a Small % of dark malts as opposed to a ton of crystal.
 
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