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Can you really make the beers using those recipes? (The answer is no)

by rplnt 11y ago

dan1234 11y ago
Actually, yes (though good luck getting Bizmark down the required temperatures). All the information you need is there and they’ve kindly converted the units into home brew friendly quantities. Some of the more exotic hops could be hard to find but they can be substituted.
- masklinn 11y ago
  > Actually, yes (though good luck getting Bizmark down the required temperatures). Bismarck (Sink The)[0] :) I'm impressed they specifically noted the tactical nuclear penguin could be made in a standard domestic freezer, and I love the cheeky note on the End of History > You'll have to get this one all the way down to -70°C. Taxidermy is not optional. [0] after the WWII battleship, as part of their "feud" with german brewery Schorschbrau over the "world's strongest beer"
  - dan1234 11y ago
    Yes, you’re correct. I do know the story, but I took a risk in not looking up the spelling before posting. It’s not a good drink, I think they only made it for the bragging rights.
    - davedx 11y ago
      Hah! I found those two surprisingly palatable considering how freaking strong they are. The bar I was in served them in shot glasses...
    - masklinn 11y ago
      Never had the occasion to try the Bismarck, I did try the Penguin, approached it as a liquor and I enjoyed it. Given an occasion (and if they restarted production) I'd see myself ordering it again.
deutronium 11y ago
What other information do you think they should provide, for people to clone their recipes? Sure people won't have the same conicals etc, which might alter the taste somewhat but surely following the recipes will give a fairly close approximation.
- rplnt 11y ago
  So you can make a beer, not the beer. More information.. I feel like they leave out a lot of timing from the recipes. Just two temperatures for each beer? How do they add the stuff from twist? For how long? How do they kill fermentation? etc...
  - soundwave106 11y ago
    The two temperatures are enough for the basics. Like many homebrewers they probably use single mash infusion for all of their beers. So the first temperature would be the temperature you hold the mash at and they provide the mash length as well. The second temperature is the fermentation temperature. They are vague on boil time. The homebrewing standard is 60 minutes (as that is a good length for extracting bitterness out of hops). In some recipes, it's good to boil longer to get extra kettle caramelization. So, yes, it would've been nice for them to provide that. Generally speaking, homebrewers don't "kill fermentation". Instead they let the yeast naturally settle after bottling (often adding a little sugar so that the yeast naturally carbonates the beer in the bottle as well). Kegging and force carbonating is also an option (most homebrew stores sell old style 5 gallon soda kegs for this purpose). If so, people may use finings in the secondary to help clarity. A few even filter but it's not very common from what I see. Pasteurizing at a homebrew level is unheard of. If Brewdog is a typical craft brewery, they probably don't pasteurize either, but they filter. There are a few things that Brewdog leaves out that will lead to a slightly different tasting beer. There's no alpha acid percentages marked for the hops for instance, or an overall bittering standard (which means that variations in the hop crop might lead to slightly different bittering levels). They don't provide specifics on their water profile that I see, which will make a subtle difference. Their hop addition timing is a little vague ("beginning", "middle", etc. -- it may not be clear to a non-homebrewer, but these describe when in the boil to add the hops) Even something trivial like not providing the names of the maltsters mean an exact clone is not possible (a crystal malt from one company is not the exact same thing as a crystal malt from another company). Still, you can get in the ballpark I'm sure, and if one was dedicated enough could adjust the brew on their system to come close.

Can you really make the beers using those recipes? (The answer is no)

by rplnt 11y ago

Can you really make the beers using those recipes? (The answer is no)

Actually, yes (though good luck getting Bizmark down the required temperatures). All the information you need is there and they’ve kindly converted the units into home brew friendly quantities. Some of the more exotic hops could be hard to find but they can be substituted.

masklinn 11y ago
> Actually, yes (though good luck getting Bizmark down the required temperatures). Bismarck (Sink The)[0] :) I'm impressed they specifically noted the tactical nuclear penguin could be made in a standard domestic freezer, and I love the cheeky note on the End of History > You'll have to get this one all the way down to -70°C. Taxidermy is not optional. [0] after the WWII battleship, as part of their "feud" with german brewery Schorschbrau over the "world's strongest beer"
- dan1234 11y ago
  Yes, you’re correct. I do know the story, but I took a risk in not looking up the spelling before posting. It’s not a good drink, I think they only made it for the bragging rights.
  - davedx 11y ago
    Hah! I found those two surprisingly palatable considering how freaking strong they are. The bar I was in served them in shot glasses...
  - masklinn 11y ago
    Never had the occasion to try the Bismarck, I did try the Penguin, approached it as a liquor and I enjoyed it. Given an occasion (and if they restarted production) I'd see myself ordering it again.

deutronium 11y ago

What other information do you think they should provide, for people to clone their recipes? Sure people won't have the same conicals etc, which might alter the taste somewhat but surely following the recipes will give a fairly close approximation.

rplnt 11y ago
So you can make a beer, not the beer. More information.. I feel like they leave out a lot of timing from the recipes. Just two temperatures for each beer? How do they add the stuff from twist? For how long? How do they kill fermentation? etc...
- soundwave106 11y ago
  The two temperatures are enough for the basics. Like many homebrewers they probably use single mash infusion for all of their beers. So the first temperature would be the temperature you hold the mash at and they provide the mash length as well. The second temperature is the fermentation temperature. They are vague on boil time. The homebrewing standard is 60 minutes (as that is a good length for extracting bitterness out of hops). In some recipes, it's good to boil longer to get extra kettle caramelization. So, yes, it would've been nice for them to provide that. Generally speaking, homebrewers don't "kill fermentation". Instead they let the yeast naturally settle after bottling (often adding a little sugar so that the yeast naturally carbonates the beer in the bottle as well). Kegging and force carbonating is also an option (most homebrew stores sell old style 5 gallon soda kegs for this purpose). If so, people may use finings in the secondary to help clarity. A few even filter but it's not very common from what I see. Pasteurizing at a homebrew level is unheard of. If Brewdog is a typical craft brewery, they probably don't pasteurize either, but they filter. There are a few things that Brewdog leaves out that will lead to a slightly different tasting beer. There's no alpha acid percentages marked for the hops for instance, or an overall bittering standard (which means that variations in the hop crop might lead to slightly different bittering levels). They don't provide specifics on their water profile that I see, which will make a subtle difference. Their hop addition timing is a little vague ("beginning", "middle", etc. -- it may not be clear to a non-homebrewer, but these describe when in the boil to add the hops) Even something trivial like not providing the names of the maltsters mean an exact clone is not possible (a crystal malt from one company is not the exact same thing as a crystal malt from another company). Still, you can get in the ballpark I'm sure, and if one was dedicated enough could adjust the brew on their system to come close.