All-grain · 20 L (5.3 gal)
1906 Red Vintage Clone Recipe
BJCP 9A · Doppelbock
An 8% reddish-amber lager, with lots of malt and a firm Nugget bitterness: the homebrew recipe to get close to 1906 Red Vintage, "La Colorada".
1906 Red Vintage Clone recipe by the numbers
- Batch size
- 20 L (5.3 gal)
- Original gravity
- 1.078
- Final gravity
- 1.017
- ABV
- 8.1%
- Bitterness
- 26 IBU
- Color
- 10 SRM (20 EBC)
- Mash
- 66 °C (151 °F) for 60 minutes
- Boil
- 60 minutes
- Fermentation
- 10 °C (50 °F) for 14 days and 8 weeks at 2-4 °C (36-39 °F)
- Bottling
- 5.0 g of sugar per liter (0.7 oz/gal)
About 240 kcal per 330 ml (11 oz) bottle, worked out from its original and final gravity.
1906 Red Vintage Clone recipe: ingredients and steps
Batch size
Recipe for 20 liters (5.3 US gallons) into the fermenter.
Malts
| Malt | Amount | % |
|---|---|---|
| Pilsner malt4 EBC (2 °L) | 5.30 kg (11.68 lb) | 74.1% |
| Munich malt15 EBC (6 °L) | 0.90 kg (1.98 lb) | 12.6% |
| Crystal malt120 EBC (46 °L) | 0.50 kg (1.10 lb) | 7.0% |
| Flaked corn1 EBC (1 °L) | 0.45 kg (0.99 lb) | 6.3% |
Hops
| Hop | Amount | When |
|---|---|---|
| Nugget13.0% alpha acids | 16 g (0.56 oz) | 60 minBittering |
| Nugget13.0% alpha acids | 14 g (0.49 oz) | 15 minFlavor |
You will also need
Yeast: Dry lager yeast, such as W-34/70: three 11.5 g (0.4 oz) packets. At a gravity this high, underpitching leaves off-flavors and a fermentation that won't finish.
Water: About 31 L (8.2 gal): 21.5 L (5.7 gal) for the mash and 9.5 L (2.5 gal) for the sparge.
Priming sugar: 5.0 g of white sugar per liter bottled (0.7 oz/gal): about 95 g (3.4 oz) for 19 L (5.0 gal). Lively carbonation, like a commercial lager.
Hops: pellets, kept in the freezer until brew day.
Step by step
- Heat 21.5 L (5.7 gal) of water to 72 °C (162 °F), add the crushed malt and flakes and stir until there are no lumps. It should settle at about 66 °C (151 °F): hold that temperature for 60 minutes, covered. This temperature leaves some body, which a beer this strong needs so it doesn't taste watery.
- Lift out the grain and sparge it with 9.5 L (2.5 gal) of water at 76 °C (169 °F). You should collect about 24 L (6.3 gal) of wort at 1.065.
- Bring to a boil and boil for 60 minutes, uncovered and vigorously: pilsner malt gives off a cooked-corn smell (DMS) that leaves with the steam. At the start of the boil, 16 g (0.6 oz) of Nugget. With 15 minutes left, 14 g (0.5 oz) of Nugget.
- Chill as fast as you can down to 10 °C (50 °F), transfer about 20 L (5.3 gal) to the sanitized fermenter and take a gravity reading: it should be around 1.078. Aerate well.
- Pitch the yeast and ferment at 10 °C (50 °F) for about two weeks. At the end, raise it to 16-18 °C (61-64 °F) for two or three days so the yeast can clean up the diacetyl (the buttery flavor).
- Once the gravity sits at 1.017 for three days in a row, drop the beer to 2-4 °C (36-39 °F) and leave it there for eight weeks: that cold storage is the lagering, which leaves it clean and rounded. Without a fridge with a temperature controller, you're better off brewing an ale.
- Bottle with the priming sugar and let it carbonate for two weeks at 18-20 °C (64-68 °F) before chilling it again. Serve it very cold.
The brewery describes it as a Doppelbock-style lager: at 8% and with its color, it fits the BJCP Doppelbock (9A), which is the style this recipe is calculated for.
Hijos de Rivera and retailers give 8% ABV and 27 bitterness units, with pilsner and toasted malts, corn and Nugget hops. They don't publish the color: the recipe's 20 EBC (10 SRM) comes from its description (old gold, reddish amber). The proportions, yeast and temperatures are a homebrew approximation, not the brewery's recipe.
With this much grain, the mash is the hard part: if your pot can't take 7 kg (15.4 lb), take out 1 kg (2.2 lb) of pilsner malt and add 0.7 kg (1.5 lb) of light dry malt extract at the start of the boil.
If your Nugget isn't 13% alpha acids, use 16 × 13 ÷ your percentage and 14 × 13 ÷ your percentage, in grams.
The style: Doppelbock (BJCP 9A), with its history, its numbers and other ways to brew it.
Different setup? Recalculate with the water calculator, the IBU calculator and the priming sugar calculator.
Rating recipes and keeping a brew log need an account, which is only available in Spanish for now. English accounts are coming soon.
Frequently asked questions
How strong will this 1906 Red Vintage Clone be?
About 8.1% ABV: it starts at 1.078 and finishes at 1.017, and (OG − FG) × 131.25 gives that percentage.
How long until it is ready?
One brew day, fermentation at 10 °C (50 °F) for 14 days and 8 weeks at 2-4 °C (36-39 °F) and about two weeks in the bottle: give it a little over a month.
Can I use a different bittering hop?
Yes. What matters is keeping the bitterness: if you use another hop instead of Nugget at 13.0% alpha acids, work out the grams from its alpha acids (or with the IBU calculator) to stay at about 26 IBUs.
What if my system does not get 72% efficiency?
Your gravity will come out different. Scale the base malt up or down (or add a little dry malt extract to the boil if you fall short) and recalculate the water with the calculator.
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