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Mack and Jacks African Amber Clone Recipe

This recipe comes to us from a good brewing friend of mine, Lauren.  He loves this beer from the Seattle area.  He originally posted his recipe for this on the Brewing KnowledgeBase website, and its become one of the most viewed recipes on the site.  Furthermore, at least a dozen folks over there have brewed the recipe.  I know this is a popular beer for folks that can get it.  So I thought I’d pay homage to Lauren and his brewing success with this one, and also publish his great recipe here to reach out to an even larger audience.
Brew it in good health and enjoy!

10 gallon batch
90 minute boil
1.060 OG
1.018 – 1.013 FG

18lbs Marris otter
2lbs munich
1lbs crystal 80
2oz centennial 60 min
1oz dried sweet orange peel 30 min
2oz cascade 2 min
2oz cascade dry hop
White Labs WLP005 (British Ale) or Wyeast 1098 (British Ale) yeast or Fermentis Safale 04

Mash at 155F for 60min.
Lauren recommends adding the dry hops in primary after 5-7 days of primary.
He also isn’t very particular about the type of orange being used for the peel.  He has also used the peel from 2 fresh oranges if you can’t find dried peel.
Lauren doesn’t use any finings in this brew (Irish moss) because the original has a slight haze to it.
Dryhopping is a MUST for this beer to get the profile right.
Lastly, this beer does well to sit for 30 days in the bottle or keg.

For his original write-up on the official recipe, click here.

A word from the man himself:
“If you ever get to Seattle try it, it’s fantastic.  My brother just sent me some, and this clone tastes exactly like the original, the original is just a bit sweeter, but I contribute that to the house yeast.  Use the WLP005, and it’s exactly like the original in flavor profile, and esters.”

BREW ON!

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3 Comments

  1. Jerry van West

    Trying to load this into BeerSmith however I do not see a Marris Otter malt listed. Do you have the specifics on this ingredient?

  2. My Beersmith has it. Its called ‘Pale Malt, Maris Otter’.
    Marris Otter is an english 2 row. If you can’t find it just select Pale Malt (2-row), UK. The malt stats are close enough generally. Furthermore, unless a brewer actually gets the malt analysis sheet for the specific lot of malt they buy you wouldn’t be any more accurate then just using the presets (which are averages anyway).
    I hope that helps.

  3. Lauren

    Thanks for the post Mike. As you know this clone took about 2 years to get right. It was mostly getting the yeast right, and I used about 10 different types, before I settled on the wlp005.
    For the people out there that are planning to make this, I know the orange peel is tough to get past, but believe me it will give you a nice light barely noticable citrus flavor. The flavor is so light, that a few people have begun to add it in other recipes to jack the hops up a bit, as that is all the orange peel does is accentuate the hop flavor.
    For all his words of praise Mike has yet to make this one, and it’s kinda giving me a complex, Ha ha.
    I’m sure everyone who makes this will be very satisfied, and suprised with the results, it’s a very drinkable beer that appeals to everyone.

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