Samichlaus Clone

Marc Sedam (marc_sedam@unc.edu) contributed this Samichlaus clone to the HBD

I've spent a goodly deal of time, effort, and energy trying to clone this bad boy and I recently came very, very close. It's my pet beer since I'm born on the day it's brewed and released, so I always toast myself with my stash of them each year. The only problem with my version is that I left the beer of the yeast for several months and now have a very nasty yeast bite that makes the beer nearly undrinkable. Anyhoo...here's how I did it.

RECIPE FOR SEDAMICHLAUS

GRIST

20lbs of 2-row

3.5lbs honey added to the wort after removing from heat

***note: based on Michael Jackson's recent article, I would replace 2lbs of the 2 row with 2lbs of Munich malt***

MASH

I used a very laborious mash suggested to me by Jim Liddl. I got very good efficiency and an attenuation of 85.2% (calculated with StrangeBrew) using this mash method and a 1.25 qts/lb water/grain ratio. I feel this mash method is necessary to get the final beer down to a reasonable gravity and not have a cloyingly sweet taste.

a) mash in at 37 C, hold 20 minutes;

b) over the course of 20 minutes raise to 49 C and hold 30 minutes;

c) over the course of 10-15 minutes raise to 60 C hold 30 minutes;

d) raise to 63 C and hold 25 minutes;

e) raise to 65 C and hold for 30 minutes;

f) raise to 70C for 10 minutes

HOPS

90 minute boil total. Add bittering hops at 60 minutes.

mash hop with 3oz Ultra, bitter with 1oz Chinook and 2oz Bullion

Jackson suggestions: bitter with German Magnum (NOT Yakima Magnum) and Perle --I'd suggest around 60IBU total, flavor with Saaz--I suggest 2oz.

YEAST

WLP885- Zurich Lager Yeast (WhiteLabs Platinum Series)

This is the yeast used to brew Samichlaus with. I know...I cultured it up from a 1996 vintage and gave it to WhiteLabs to clean up and use. It's a very slow fermenter and, like most big beers, could use some rousing to keep the fermentation moving. The flavors associated with this yeast are critical to getting the Samichlaus taste in your version. It also makes a pretty kickass Belgian Ale--lots of spicy notes. It will ferment quickly down to 1.040, but needs to be roused regularly to finish the job.

HOWEVER...if I had to do it again I might consider fermenting at 60F with an enormous amount of EDME dry yeast or fdry Danstar Nottingham (some antifoam agent is very helpful) to get the gravity down in the 1.040s, then crash cool and pitch a very healthy starter of the Zurich Lager yeast. I recommend a gallon starter of the Zurich yeast and pitch around 52F to get the good flavors of the yeast in your beer. I really liked my version done solely with the Zurich yeast, but it took quite a while to attenuate.

Make sure to aerate/oxygenate the hell out of the wort. I did a one minute blast of pure oxygen at pitching and another blast 12 hours later. Stuff took off like a rocket. I would also suggest a heapin' helping of yeast nutrient in the cooled wort. With a beer this big, you need all the help you can get.

So that's it. My version went from 1.115 to 1.017. The starting gravity was a bit low due to the amount of wort I could boil. I wound up making a separate 5 gallons of mild from the grist. With a big boiler and plenty of fuel and time, the recipe should give a starting gravity around 1.130 when you add the honey.