My 1554 recipe X-File

[HopRunner]

So... I took a shot at this "clone". I'm calling it Black Pearl Ale.

OG 1.064 - Measured

10.0 American Two-row Pale
2.00 Munich Light
0.50 Belgian Carapils
0.25 German Carafa Special III
0.25 American Victory
0.25 American Chocolate

.6 Magnum @ 60
.6 Saaz @ 60
.5 Saaz @15 - 'cuz I felt like it!

Yeast - WLP029 German Ale/ Kölsch Yeast

Black Pearl Ale just after the yeast was pitched:

[BDawg]

Last night the 1554 clone I brewed smelled like farts...bad. This was the first time I had this smell from a fermentation. I am hoping it is from the lager yeast and not a bad bacteria.

Temp is still around 62* and it is bubbling away. Hopefully the smell will be eaten away by all of the little yeasts!

RDW-
Lager yeast always smells way worse than ale yeast. Think of it this way- all that sulphur is going OUT of your beer.

[BayouBrew]

I wonder if Jamil would take this on as a Can You Brew It challenge?

+1 This one of my wife's favorites

This is also my wife's favorite. She actually encouraged me to start the hobby so that I could brew it for her since we can't get it here. Please keep us posted about how close it is to the original everyone, and here's to hoping the Jamil and Juicy will give it a shot on CYBI.

[wheelerc6]

Type: All Grain
Date: 06/12/2009
Batch Size: 5.25 gal
Boil Size: 7.23 gal
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: Brew Pot (15.5 gal) and Cooler (50 qt)
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00
Taste Notes:

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
7.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.0 SRM) Grain 62.22 %
3.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 26.67 %
0.75 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 6.67 %
0.25 lb Carafa III (525.0 SRM) Grain 2.22 %
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM) Grain 2.22 %
0.50 oz Magnum [15.10 %] (60 min) Hops 25.8 IBU
5.25 gal Denver, Colorado Water
1 Pkgs Bavarian Lager (Wyeast Labs #2206) Yeast-Lager

Below is a picture after 10 days in the primary. The fart smell finally dissipated after the 5th day fermenting. I have kept the carboy covered with a wet towel and the temperature has stayed between 64 and 58. Within the last 2 days the yeast have fallen from the top to the bottom of the carboy. This morning I did notice that the top of the beer was forming more bubbles. Have never used lager yeast but I have read they take longer to ferment because of the lower temps. I am going to keep the beer in the primary for another 11 days. Hopefully this will allow for the lager yeast to fully ferment the beer and allow for the yeast to eat all of the bad stuff. I don't think I will rack over to a secondary. Will go straight from primary to bottle bucket and then bottle. If this turns out anything like the 1554 I will be happy.

[HopRunner]

So... I took a shot at this "clone". I'm calling it Black Pearl Ale.

OG 1.064 - Measured

10.0 American Two-row Pale
2.00 Munich Light
0.50 Belgian Carapils
0.25 German Carafa Special III
0.25 American Victory
0.25 American Chocolate

.6 Magnum @ 60
.6 Saaz @ 60
.5 Saaz @15 - 'cuz I felt like it!

Yeast - WLP029 German Ale/ Kölsch Yeast

Black Pearl Ale just after the yeast was pitched:

Gott'er kegged last night. FG was 1.010 which was lower than I expected. It smelled and tasted very roasty and at this point seems to be blacker than the 1554. I'm going to give it a couple of weeks to chill in the keg and then transfer some to bottles for a couple of months of aging. At this point I don't know how close I got to 1554 but the sample was tasty so I'll have something good to drink while I redo and rebrew the recipe.
Next update in two weeks...

[wheelerc6]

7/5/2009
Racked to secondary.

7/12/2009
Bottled
1.016 FG. Little bitter taste. Over all taste not that great. Did add 5 oz of corn sugar and will bottle condition at 64 degrees (room temp).
After 2 weeks will place in fridge for 1 month.

7/26 - Placed in fridge. Had a bottle that was conditioned @ 56 degrees for 2 weeks and tasted nice. Not sure if it is a match for 1554 but it was definitely drinkable! All other bottles were bottle conditioned @ 64 degrees. I have now placed all bottles in fridge to lager. Hopefully I can keep my hands off of them for a month. After a month I will compare to a 1554 to see what adjustments need to be made to the recipe.

[HopRunner]

7/5/2009
Racked to secondary.

7/12/2009
Bottled
1.016 FG. Little bitter taste. Over all taste not that great. Did add 5 oz of corn sugar and will bottle condition at 64 degrees (room temp).
After 2 weeks will place in fridge for 1 month.

7/26 - Placed in fridge. Had a bottle that was conditioned @ 56 degrees for 2 weeks and tasted nice. Not sure if it is a match for 1554 but it was definitely drinkable! All other bottles were bottle conditioned @ 64 degrees. I have now placed all bottles in fridge to lager. Hopefully I can keep my hands off of them for a month. After a month I will compare to a 1554 to see what adjustments need to be made to the recipe.

Interesting.

I have been drinking the heck out of mine. I have passed out a bunch of bottles and have gotten feedback.

The general consensus it that my recipe tastes very good but is more like a lighter flavored, or less than full flavored, stout than a 1554 clone. I had to explain to everyone that I wasn't trying to make a stout, and that in its self means I failed. The 1554 doesn't taste at all like a stout.

Fortunately is was still good and a good dark beer for hot weather.

Back to the drawing board.

I wonder if it is stupidly simple, like 2-row + a little Munich and 1/4 Lb Carafa special, German Lager yeast and 1 oz total of Magnum and Saaz? I am going to go that simple for my next batch.

[wheelerc6]

Did a taste comparison to 1554 and my clone and here is the results...

Color:
Perfect. Both appeared black but showed a nice red color when light was shown through the glass.

Taste:
The clone was a little bit more bitter but I knew this was going to happen because I goofed up and put 1 oz of fuggle hops in vs 1/2 oz. The 1554 had a slight more residual sugar on the palet vs the clone. Next time I will mash @ 154 instead of 152. Overall I would say this is very close to 1554.

Anyone wanting a good 1554 clone then they should try this recipe (see previous post). With a few modification I think this would be perfect. Don't be afraid to use the Bohemian Lager yeast at higher temps (64*). I also bottle conditioned at room temp (65*) then cold conditioned for as little as a week. I have another case in the fridge which I will leave in for at least a month before touching (if that is possible). I will give another update at that time.