Grolsch clone

[Frothy]

I must admit I do like Grolsch
Having come across a couple of recipes on the net I wonder has anybody got any others, recommendations, comments etc??? This will be my first lager brew and another old freezer is getting the PID treatment for a lager fridge:)

Grolsch Clone I

This is all grain
4 oz 2.5 L german light crystal malt
2 oz german munich malt
10.25 german 2 row pilsner malt
1 oz northern brewer bittering 30 min
.25 german Hallertau hersbrucker flavor
1 teaspoon irish mossboil for 15 min then add
.50 Czech Saazfor 10 min then cool

yeast 1choice Danish lager #2042
second choice is Danish lager 2 #2247

Mash all grains for 90 min at 150 f
bitter 90 min. flavor and irish moss for 15 min. second flavor for last 10 min


http://forum.northernbrewer.com/viewtop ... a5f0ef055b

Yeast suggested is as noted by Misfit6 in the all grain recipe. IMHO, you also would be in good shape with White Labs WLP 830. Just try to keep it under 50 F for the secondary.

Danish Lager Yeast

Grolsch Clone II

our best bet, in my opinion,
would be WLP800 Pilsener Lager or WLP940 Mexican Lager but
my favourite for the task would by WY2042 Danish Lager.


As for Grolsch we know it is a 12ºP, 27IBU lager with 15% flaked
maize.
So:
ProMash Recipe Printout

Recipe : Grolsch Premium Lager

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (LTR): 23.00 Wort Size (LTR): 23.00
Total Grain (kg): 5.15
Anticipated OG: 1.048 Plato: 11.8
Anticipated EBC: 6.5
Anticipated IBU: 26.2
Brewhouse Efficiency: 68 %
Wort Boil Time: 90 Minutes


Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Potential EBC
----------------------------------------------------------------------
-------
85.4 4.40 kg. AMC Pale Malt 308.8 3
14.6 0.75 kg. Flaked Corn (Maize) 334.1 0

Potential represented as IOB- HWE ( L / kg ).


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
----------------------------------------------------------------------
-------
30.00 g. Saazer Pellet 4.30 16.1 60 min.
20.00 g. Hallertauer Pellet 3.80 10.1 60 min.


Extras

Amount Name Type Time
----------------------------------------------------------------------
----
1.00 Tsp Irish Moss Fining 15 Min.(boil)


Yeast
-----

WYeast 2042 Danish Lager

Mash Schedule
-------------

Mash Type: Single Step

Ltr Water Per kg Grain: 3.00 Total Ltr: 15.45

Saccharification Rest Temp : 67 Time: 90



http://new.craftbrewer.org/Digest/messa ... 0662.shtml

This second recipe for example only states hop additions at 60minutes
surely there should be flavour / aroma additions especially for a lager?

Matt

[tubby_shaw]

Dave Line has a recipe for Grolsch in BBLTYB but its a bit stronger than whats on offer today, it has an OG of 1068 which could give an abv of 7.5%
His recipe is for 15 litres
3750g lager malt
100g crystal malt
100g Halertau hops

Mash in 15 litres of water at 55 C for 30 minutes then raise to 66 C for 90 minutes.
I would assume that as we can't get near to the efficiencies that Dave Line expected if you brewed 20 litres you may get something closer to the 5% abv you would expect

[tubby_shaw]

Ignore the post above
I knew I had a Grolsch recipe
The Real one was in Brew classic european beers at home
25 litres
4480g lager malt (pilsen)
790g flaked maize
30g Saaz hops
25g Hallertau hops
Mash schedule 50ºC 20 min, 62ºC 45 min, 70ºC 45 min
Boil 90 min

Lager for 10 weeks

[steve_flack]

Apparently Grolsch have changed their recipe in recent years and don't use the flaked maize any more. Or so I have read.

[Frothy]

Can of worms!

Thanks t-shaw for the recipe I like the looks of the 2nd one..... the anomalies concerning this recipe certainly revolve around wether or not it should have crystal malt and or maize in it. It's just a basic European pilsener with some relatively strong Saaz flavours. I'm pretty sure most lagers use rice or maize to thin out the malty flavour & up the alcohol content (it's much cheaper than malt.) I think I'll give this assortment a whirl->

As per Grolsch Clone II recipe

4.40 kg. AMC Pale Malt 308.8 3
0.75 kg. Flaked Corn (Maize) 334.1 0
with the addition of a small amount of crystal ~ 100g+

Hallertauer - bittering 60min
Saaz - flavour / aroma 15 & 5 minutes

adjusted to suit: 5% & 26IBU's

Step mash would be great for the lager but until I get the HERMS going I don't fancy it. I've only got Marris otter not Lager malt.

Lager ferment schedule:
8oC for 2weeks
rack
2oC for 6weeks+

[tubby_shaw]

The flaked grains are in there for a couple of reasons, 1. To thin out the malt flavour and 2. To reduce the Nitrogen bearing, chill haze forming constituents of the malts.
Go ahead and use an infusion mash, no one will be able to tell the difference
Just use a lager yeast obviously and ferment at around 14ºC in the primary. No aromatics from the yeast to spoil the lager flavour

[steve_flack]

'm pretty sure most lagers use rice or maize to thin out the malty flavour & up the alcohol content (it's much cheaper than malt.) I think I'll give this assortment a whirl->

Flaked Maize isn't that much cheaper than malt - for homebrewers it sometimes costs more than malt but on a bulk scale it probably is a bit cheaper but 10% in a recipe isn't going to make a huge difference to production costs. What might make more of a difference is the brewer can use cheaper grades of malt when large quantities of adjuncts are used.

Traditionally a lager doesn't contain any adjuncts and most Czech and German ones still don't. Admittedly they are very common in British and American mass produced lagers. I actually quite like a little bit of corn in beers. I think it adds a nice flavour.

According to Roger Protz in his '300 beers' book Grolsch has phased out Flaked Maize in it's recipe - at least in the Dutch version. The version brewed by Coors in the UK may still have it in. If you're drinking it in the UK it all came from Coors unless it's in the swing top bottle.

[Vossy1]

Flaked Maize isn't that much cheaper than malt

I use flaked maize as a bulking agent when fishing in Europe and it costs me £5 for a 25kg sack from a local farm shop

Where you getting your's from SF

[steve_flack]

How much do you reckon malt costs your average big brewer? It definately isn't the £1 a kilo we pay. It's a lot less. I wouldn't be surprised if it was around 25p a kilo or less.

[Vossy1]

I wouldn't be surprised if it was around 25p a kilo or less.

I wonder what the HBS pay for it

[steve_flack]

Probably the same as the micros - around £12-15 a sack for pale.

[NzDan1]

I would have thought malt prices in the U.K would be dirt cheap!
I pay about $2.00 (less than a pound) a kg for maris otter if Im to buy a 25kg bag, direct from the importers, imported specialties roughly $2.50 a kg.
$6 a kg for Maris from the brewshop,
I get my malt from a local brewery now for about $1.30 kg or roughly 50 pence I guess, its New zealand malt but it seems alright!

[mysterio]

Yeah, I can't taste any maize in Grolsch but it doesn't do any harm. I think it's great in an ESB. I don't mind the idea of using rice or corn in lager to make it easier to drink in the hot weather... that's not a problem in Scotland though so my lagers are all malt.

Good point about the malt. I wonder how much it costs, and how much of it is tax - I wonder if I could get away with replacing the back lawn with a crop of Golden Promise?

[NzDan1]

Good point about the malt. I wonder how much it costs, and how much of it is tax - I wonder if I could get away with replacing the back lawn with a crop of Golden Promise?

I was just this morning thinking of doing the same to my lawn, sick of mowing them every week!

[NzDan1]

Only if you can set your lawn mower cutting height really high

Scissors and alot of spare time