Cedar Rapids Brewing Society

So a brew buddy and I brewed this weekend out in the cold. It was very fun to scratch the brewing itch again, and we even used the snowbank as a chiller. I made a Phat Tyre clone, which is bubblin' nicely, but Northern Brewer said that US-05 was fine, instead of that super special yeast that I believed you had to use for Belgians; so my hopes are a little low for the final. My basement's 62 degrees, so my wort should be right in the range.

At any rate, it was still really fun.

Fat tire isn't really a Belgain, it's an American Amber. The US-05 should do a great job. Bring in a taste when it's done.
I can't wait to get out and brew myself. I already have the first few brews lined up.

Very true on all counts Tom.  But... I think you should try the Fat Tire recipe with a Belgian yeast strain (any one will do , then bring me five or 10 gallons and we'll sit down and sample!  

On Sun, Feb 21, 2010 at 1:52 PM, tompb <brew-brewing@crbeernuts.org (brew-brewing@crbeernuts.org)> wrote:

Fat tire isn't really a Belgain, it's an American Amber. The US-05 should do a great job. Bring in a taste when it's done.
I can't wait to get out and brew myself. I already have the first few brews lined up.



Runamok Brewing

Jesus must have been a yeast. Who else could turn water into wine?

--
Prost!
Travis Scheidecker
Head Brewer
Third Base Brewery
500 Blairs Ferry Rd NE
Cedar Rapids, IA 52402
Tel.  319-378-9090  Fax:  319-378-9697
http://twitter.com/3rdBaseBrewery

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Make an amber and load it up on victory malt.

I might have to try it this summer. I don't think it would be to hard to improve on Fat Tire. Not really the best representation of the style in my opinion (lame as it may be). Not that I don't drink it, or any other beer for that matter. Best thing about New Belgium is how they broke into some very sterile markets. It was the first draft beer in many bars besides the big 3. Just shows sometimes marketing is better then taste. Just ask BMC.

Holy Smokes. 40 lashes for me! I actually believed that Fat Tire was a Belgian. That was quote a blow to my beer ego. Jeez. I'll keep my mouth shut about styles at the next meeting for penance.

Ok. So I'm making an Amber. I did use Victory Malt though, so that counts for something, right?

Speaking of Belgians. I made a Trappist Dubbel last fall. High gravity trappist yeast, dark beet sugar, Special B, etc. About 2 months in the secondary. And been in bottles for about another 2 months. I just cracked my first one tonight, to see how it is, and the thing is almost flat. It tastes good, I suppose, (really young) but it may be out of the ABV range for a dubbel. Yes, I primed it. It just barely has a fiz. Is that normal for a high gravity beer? Do I need to wait until Christmas or some garbage like that?

Sorry Brando I didn't mean to sound like a scolding. I think a lot of people go under that assumption because of the company name.

I'm not sure why the Dubbel isn't carbed. It should be ready by now. Maybe it's just an off bottle. I haven't had much luck bottle conditioning big beers. So someone else will have to jump in here.

I have seen plenty of high grav carb issues on the AHA newsletter. The only reason that I and a lot of others in the club don't have it is because we force carbonate.

Lots of time the problem is that the the yeast is exhausted and the AVB is up to the attenuation point for the yeast already. You may want to try rehydrating a yeast with a higher ABV tolerance then repitching a little in each bottle and recapping.

Wyeast released the yeast for making Fat Tire last year. Not sure if it is still available, but you may want to look for it if that is what you are going for. Most of the clone recipes I have seen use 1056. The victory malt is the right path.

I also agree on the carb issue. May need to repitch yeast. Another safe attempt before you do that, which has worked for me is get them in to a warm area, at least 72 F. Then turn the bottles upside down and get the yeast back in suspension. Let sit for at least two weeks and you may even want to roust an additional time. That worked on a barleywine for me once. Then if that doesn't work you may need some new yeast.