My sister in law is from Virginia and she brings up cases of Yuengling when she comes back from visiting her family. They (she and my brother) had a party last weekend and I had a few as I usually do when I am there and there is no homebrew around.
As I was drinking, I got to thinking: I wonder if I could reverse engineer the recipe to brew a clone. I found it to be a test of my tastes informing me what I know about homebrewing ingredients.
I read some boards and I went to the official Yuengling site to get some clues. I found some interesting stuff:
- They hop the brew with Cluster and Cascade hops. I didn’t taste any Cascade flavors in that beer, maybe they don’t use that much or they add it in early in the boil.
- Corn is the adjunct they use, not rice. I read that they use corn grits. If I were to use them too, I will need to learn how to do a cereal mash.
- The amber color comes from caramel malt. I was thinking it was Munich malt because of the cereal graininess/lack of sweetness in the taste, but that flavor must be coming from the grits. They must use just a little bit.
So here’s my first attempt at the recipe. I will need to throw it through a recipe generator to get color finalized.
5.0 lbs American 6 row malt
3.5 lbs American 2 row malt
1.5 lbs Corn grits
0.5 lbs 60°L Caramel malt
Mash for 60 min at 149° F
1 oz Cascade Hops 60 min
1 oz Cluster Hops Boiled 15 Minutes
WLP800 Pilsner Lager Yeast
What do you think? This is more of an exercise in setting a target and trying to hit a target. I could try to make a Sam Adams clone, but I guess that’s too predictable for a Boston guy.
We have presented other clone recipes. Take a look at the Allagash White and the Mack and Jacks clones.
Jorge
I haven’t had that beer, but it sounds like you are on track… figuring out which bittering hops they used will probably be the hardest to find out…
Brewski
I would love to hear how this turns out. I grew up drinking Yuengling when I lived up in Delaware. Now I live in Tampa Florida very close to the Yuengling brewery. Many fine local establishments have it on tap in Tampa. Who knew?
Jimmay's Own Brew
I like the idea; In Virginia now and easier to buy Yeungling- being from Oregon try:
sub more carmel malt for little less corn
the “willamette hop” for bittering (pretty mellow) the last 15min see what that does( maybe a pinch of either saaz or hallertauer for some kick)
sounds like your on the right track! thanks for the info on the topic