AmeriCAN Revolution: Oskar Blues Brewery Clone Recipes

“I was thinking that all of the people who told me I shouldn’t open a restaurant in a town of 1,400 people in the Rocky Mountains might be right,” he says. But Katechis wasn’t ready to give up. An Alabama native, he’d grown up in the restaurant business (his grandfather founded Chris’ Hot Dogs, a Montgomery, Alabama institution that counts presidents and movie stars among its fans), eating Southern specialties, and he wanted to honor that heritage in Colorado.

“We decided that we needed to become more of a destination spot in order to get people in the door,” he says. So Katechis added live music and then looked to a hobby he’d started nearly a decade earlier in college after he got a homebrewing kit for Christmas.

“The first beer I ever brewed in 1990 was a dry Irish stout. My friends named it Dale’s Pale Ale as a joke. We knew it wasn’t a pale ale,” Katechis recalls. Later, though, he did brew pale ales at home, so when he started making beer at Oskar Blues, too, Katechis took his recipe and refined it, eventually settling on a 6 percent ABV Centennial-hopped pale ale.

“We started selling it as Dale’s Pale Ale at the bar, and it turned out that the marketing plan for the restaurant worked. That’s how it all got started,” he says.

Today, Katechis oversees a sprawling collection of businesses that dwarf the original Oskar Blues Grill & Brew. Although the company still has a seven-barrel pilot system there, it also runs three enormous production breweries in Longmont, Colorado; Brevard, North Carolina; and Austin, Texas, turning out more than 200,000 barrels of beer per year.

In addition, Oskar Blues operates a ranch and farm, seven restaurants in Colorado, a burger stand inside Coors Field (home of the Colorado Rockies), a coffee company, a soda maker, and a custom bike shop. And Dale’s Pale Ale, which Oskar Blues began canning in 2002 is now the bestselling craft canned six-pack in the country.

Named by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest growing private companies in the United States in 2014, Oskar Blues is now the 18th largest brewery in the US, according to the Brewers Association, and one of only a few craft breweries to distribute beer in all 50 states.

In 2015, Boston-area private equity firm Fireman Capital Partners took a major stake in Oskar Blues, which powered the company even further. Katechis and the board of directors for Oskar Blues Brewery Holdings now oversee four other craft breweries: Perrin Brewing in Michigan; Florida’s Cigar City Brewing, and Utah’s Squatters and Wasatch breweries.

Katechis couldn’t have imagined any of it in 1999 when he was staring at an empty restaurant, but with 1,200 employees in 2017 and unusually irreverent culture, it’s an empire he feels a tremendous amount of responsibility to maintain and protect.

“Doing things in an authentic way is part of our DNA, whether it’s beer, or bikes, or burgers, or coffee, or soda,” he says. “We believe we have something that is important to people, something that resonates. So, if we can keep doing things in a way that is fun and exciting to us, in a way that is relevant to people, then customers will continue to want to be associated with that. It will give them a reason to reach in that cooler door and grab an Oskar Blues beer.”

THE BEGINNING

Katechis has always had a knack for getting out ahead of things. When he was just 16, he started dating his now wife, Christi, while they were in high school. Later, as a finance major at Auburn University, he started homebrewing in his rented trailer.

After graduation in 1992, Dale and Christi decided to move west. Although they were headed for Montana, they stopped in Boulder, Colorado on the way — and never left. Katechis got a job at Madden Mountaineering, a backpack manufacturer, during the day and began bartending at Old Chicago, a pizza and beer joint, in the evenings.

He also joined the legendary local homebrewing club, Hop Barley and the Alers, and continued making the hoppy ales he loved to drink. Red Seal Ale, from California’s North Coast Brewing, was one of his favorites, and it was what he tried to emulate in his own beers.

Along the way, Katechis met a number of beer-loving locals, including Paul Gatza, a homebrew shop owner who later became director of the Brewers Association (BA), and Gordon Knight, who had founded High Country Brewing in Boulder in 1993 and three other breweries in the area. Knight, who loved hoppy beers as well, died in 2002 when the helicopter he was in crashed while fighting a forest fire near Lyons. Katechis later named a beer after him.

In April 1997, Katechis took a risk and opened Oskar Blues. He didn’t make beer at the beginning, but the restaurant was designed with “a brewpub theme,” he says. It turned into a real brewpub in 1999 when Katechis bought “a glorified homebrew system” from Santa Clarita Brewpub, which had gone out of business in California. The system was so ugly, he remembers, that “we had to hide it in the basement.”

And although Katechis loved to homebrew on the weekends, he recognized right away that he’d need a full-time brewer to man the kettles. For that, he turned to Craig Englehorn, who Katechis had been trading beers with for years. After a little while, his homebrewing days ended as well. “This became a commercial brewing experience,” he explains.

In those days, Colorado brewery pioneers like Katechis, Left Hand Brewing Co-Founders Eric Wallace and Dick Doore; Avery Brewing Founder Adam Avery and his father Larry; and Mountain Sun Pub’s Kevin Daly and Ian Blackford used to stop off at the What’s Brewin’ Homebrew Supply shops in Boulder and Longmont on a regular basis for supplies, for camaraderie, and to talk about beers and homebrew recipes.

“All startup craft brewers at the time came through the homebrewing ranks,” says Paul Gatza, who was a partner and general manager at the stores from 1993 through 1998. “That was a great time for brewing innovation in Boulder County.” There’s a “strong connection between homebrewers and professional craft brewers, who have risen to become leaders of companies, employers, and key community participants.”

Gatza rose to become a leader himself. After getting a job at the BA, founded in 1978 by homebrewing guru and craft-industry visionary Charlie Papazian, Gatza sold his stake in the shops and is now the director of the trade group.

Gatza used to see Katechis fairly frequently in the late ‘90s and recalls him dropping off a bottle of Reverend Sandi’s Sinful Stout for him at one point; the beer later won a bronze medal at the Great American Beer Festival (GABF). “At the time, a brewery in Lyons was pioneering for the location,” Gatza says. “Could it work in such a small town, when craft had a two percent share of the beer market and there wasn’t much beer drinker awareness and understanding? That answer has become clear.”

OSKAR BLUES GROWS UP

Tim Matthews moved to Colorado in 2008 because he wanted to be at the center of the craft brewing universe. A homebrewer originally, he became a professional in 2006, working short stints at John Harvard’s Brewhouse in Pennsylvania and Mt. Begbie Brewing in British Columbia. But he was seeking a different atmosphere than what he had. Atmosphere is something he got plenty of when he started working there as a cellarman.

Six years earlier, Oskar Blues had defied convention by becoming the first craft brewery to can its beers and inspiring a major change in the brewing landscape. In fact, by the time Matthews got there in 2008, Oskar Blues was more of a brewery than a restaurant and had just leased what seemed like a comically enormous 35,000-square foot warehouse in an office park in Longmont, 12 miles southeast of Lyons. Katechis built a tasting room up front called the Tasty Weasel, and installed a big new canning line and a new brewing system in the back — along with a skate ramp, batting cage, and Skee-Ball machine. “I loved the culture,” Matthews says about his first visit. “I loved the passion.”

At the time, Oskar Blues was canning four beers: Dale’s, Old Chub, Gordon, and Ten Fidy, but it was still trying to figure things out. “We built the business early on by making mistakes, creating bottlenecks, solving problems, and moving on to the next one. I think that is what has made the company work, fundamentally,” Katechis says. “All we could do is blindly go into something. We didn’t have all the info we needed at our fingertips.”

And Oskar Blues made plenty of mistakes. At one point Katechis re-mortgaged his home to afford an automatic canning line that he never ended up using. Another time, the brewery canned hundreds of pallets of Dale’s to send to Georgia, where it had just started distribution, and realized the next day that the seams were all leaking.

“We had to throw it all away. It almost broke us,” Katchis says. “But all those mistakes, and I remember them all like it was yesterday, we apply them all to what we do today.”

In 2009, Oskar Blues opened its second restaurant, Oskar Blues Homemade Liquids and Solids in Longmont. After that, it added a food truck; Hops & Heifers, a farm where it raises beef and grows hops (see page 66); a burger joint called CHUBurger, a bike shop, and a cantina.

At the same time, the company was gathering accolades and attention. In 2011, Oskar Blues took home three medals at GABF and in 2012, the New York Times named Dale’s as the best pale ale in the country. The company has also become well known for its live music, the ganja jokes on its cans, and its bling (empty cans attached to Mardi Gras beads), which it distributed at any and all events as a nifty marketing gimmick.

In 2011, Oskar Blues packaged 59,000 barrels of beer. That grew to 85,750 in 2012. As a result, it faced growing pains. Over the years, several key team members, some of whom had been there since the beginning, left because they didn’t like the quickness with which Oskar Blues was growing.

One of those was Head Brewer Dave Chichura, who had taken over for Oskar Blues’s second Head Brewer, Brian Lutz. But his exit was an opportunity for Matthews, who had moved up in the ranks over the years. In 2012, Matthews became the Head Brewer, overseeing recipe development for the entire company, managing the brewery and its staff, buying raw materials, and making sure that quality standards were met. In 2014, he took on the additional title of Head of Brewing Operations, overseeing Oskar Blues’s breweries in Colorado, North Carolina, and Texas.

BREWING PHILOSOPHY

Matthews is an honest-to-god beer geek. If you get him alone, he’ll talk your ear off about hop creep, attenuation rates, and what happens if you increase Munich malts by 15 percent in a recipe. He’s traveled the world to select hops and sent them home on ships.

Although brewing has been his calling since the beginning, things changed for him in 2014 as Oskar Blues began working on a recipe for a session IPA. Until then, the brewery had been primarily known and loved for its high-alcohol beers and hop bombs. The only exception at that point was the 5.3% ABV Mama’s Little Yella Pils, which had debuted in 2009.

For Pinner Session IPA, “we didn’t just want to create Dale’s light,” Matthews says about the impetus for the new beer. “We wanted to go in a completely different direction.”

And that’s what Matthews and his staff did, working with a wider variety of hops and malts and new processes that they tested incrementally at the original brewery in Lyons. It was a learning experience that has informed everything Matthews has done since.

After that, Oskar Blues came out with Oskar Blues IPA, a beer made exclusively with hops from the Southern Hemisphere. Then came Beerito, a 4% ABV Vienna-style Mexican lager with a complicated malt bill sourced from specific barley breeders and maltsters.

“Beerito is near and dear to my heart,” Matthews says. While he acknowledges that it may be underwhelming for some people, it is endlessly fascinating to him. “It is so complex, but it’s a complexity of subtleties,” he says. “I look at hops and barley as my arsenal.”

Katechis is still involved in the brewing process as well — “He likes to talk about the abstracts, the back story, what are the flavors doing,” Matthews says — but Matthews and his team handle the execution. For example, “one day Dale walked up to me and said ‘coffee IPA.’ After that, it was my journey.” That beer became Hotbox Coffee IPA, which combines the piney citrusy notes of Simcoe® hops with a cold brew made from Ethiopian beans.

Katechis says Matthews gives him more credit than he deserves. “I was a mediocre homebrewer at best. From day one, Craig Englehorn, Brian Lutz, they knew that craft better than I did. And Tim is one of the best of the business.”

Oskar Blues’s most recent wide release was Fugli, a light-tasting IPA made with yuzu and ugli fruit. Matthews says it might be the last big release for a while. But that doesn’t mean the experimentation and recipe development have stopped. In fact, that program, located at the original brewery in Lyons, is getting stronger.

“We redesigned our approach in Lyons in June,” Matthews says. Our goal is for Lyons to brew five new beers every month, just 15 kegs each. We want to make them and to make sure they are being consumed quickly and are out of the market.” The beers include Bwahahaha Double IPA, a series of rotating single-hop double IPAs, and Interstate SMASH Express: A rotating single-hop, single-malt series, along with a Kölsch series.

Although Matthews still maintains the vision for what gets brewed, he isn’t always involved in the day-to-day execution. Instead, he is overseeing a massive operation. But he still answers every email he gets from customers, the bad and the good.

“I get some weird ones,” he says. One person didn’t know how to remove ice from the top of a frozen can. Another accused him of “dumbing down” Dale’s Pale Ale by making it less hoppy. “We haven’t changed it,” he says. “I have archives full of brew sheets.” If anything, the beer has gotten hoppier as the company’s brewing equipment has become more efficient. “I tell them, ‘the beer isn’t less hoppy. You are more hoppy.’”

That’s what happens when the rest of industry catches up with the pioneers.

INTO THE FUTURE

In March of 2015, Fireman Capital Partners bought a controlling interest in Oskar Blues and created a holding company that has allowed Oskar Blues to buy other breweries as well. Fireman raises money by putting together investor groups to purchase promising businesses (many in the retail sector), then pumps cash into them in hopes of seeing a big return on their investments one day if those companies are successful.

At first, Oskar Blues refused to acknowledge the change: Independence is particularly valued in the craft brewing industry, so being owned by a bunch of suits doesn’t exactly fit the brewery’s image. Some of Oskar Blues’s peers, along with beer drinkers and fans, were quick to criticize the move, even as the company hid the details. But Oskar Blues has more recently embraced the change and the support that Fireman has given it. After all, it’s not the first time Oskar Blues has made a decision that went against the grain.

“Four years ago, we started looking at our options — strategic plays, employee stock ownership plans, everything,” Katechis explains. “What really started driving me was when I turned 40 and said, ‘what am I going to do with this thing?’ Every company is different but for us, we needed to build a platform that we could capitalize on.” To Katechis, that meant competing with big breweries that have the financial clout to drop their prices significantly in order to soak up market share and squeeze out the little guys. “I didn’t want to get squeezed out. I didn’t want to be a casualty.”

While the culture of the company still reflects Katechis’s personality, it is now run by a board of directors that includes the heads of Oskar Blues, Perrin, and Cigar City, as well as the top brass at Fireman. And Katechis is happy to share the responsibility that had solely been on his shoulders
for years.

As for the future, Katechis says he wants to grow the business, but he’s not sure yet in what way. “Things change almost hourly in this business. It wasn’t always that way. But now it is, so we try to find fulfillment and success by holding onto our roots.”

Oskar Blues is getting ready to open another restaurant/taproom in Denver. It is also growing its new business making and selling machines that seal 32-ounce Crowler cans behind the bars of breweries across the country. And Oskar Blues has said it is still in the market for other small breweries.

But Katechis wants to think small, because thinking small means remaining true, he says. “It’s like having class outside every day when you were in school. That is the day you liked the most and it’s the day you learned the most. My job day-to-day is to provide an environment where people want to come to work every day.”

OSKAR BLUES BREWERY’S DALE’S PALE ALE CLONE

(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.061 FG = 1.012
IBU = 65 SRM = 8 ABV = 6.5%

Dale’s Pale Ale is an iconic American pale ale, balancing caramel and biscuit malt and fruity, citrusy, piney hops. The first craft beer in a can comes with a little extra oompf at 6.5% ABV — just enough to cap off a solid day in the mountains!

INGREDIENTS

11 lbs. (5 kg) North American 2-row pale malt (1.8 °L)
11.5 oz. (326 g) Munich malt (10 °L)
13.1 oz. (372 g) Simpsons Premium English Caramalt (25 °L)
2.3 oz. (64 g) Simpsons dark crystal malt (80 °L)
13 AAU Columbus hops (80 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 13% alpha acids)
2.3 AAU Cascade hops (25 min.) (0.4 oz./11.2 g at 7.2% alpha acids)
7.2 AAU Columbus hops (10 min.) (0.55 oz./15.4 g at 13% alpha acids)
15.2 AAU Centennial hops (0 min.) (1.6 oz./45 g at 9.5% alpha acids)
1 tsp. yeast nutrient (Servomyces recommended) (5 min.)
1⁄2 Whirlfloc tablet (5 min.)
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale), Wyeast 1056 (American Ale), or Safale US-05 yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)

STEP BY STEP

Mill the grains and dough-in targeting a mash of around 1.3 quarts of water to 1 pound of grain (2.7 L/kg) and a temperature of 155 °F (68 °C). Hold the mash at 155 °F (68 °C) until enzymatic conversion is complete. Sparge slowly with 168 °F (76 °C) water, collecting wort until the pre-boil kettle volume is 6.5 gallons (24.6 L).

Total boil time is 90 minutes, adding hops according to the schedule. Add Whirlfloc and yeast nutrient with 5 minutes remaining in the boil.

After the boil is complete, give the wort a long stir to create a whirlpool, add the flameout hops and let settle for 10 minutes. Chill the wort to 65 °F (18 °C) and aerate thoroughly. Pitch rate is 1 million cells per mL per degree Plato.

Regulate the fermentation temperature at 68 °F (20 °C). At the end of fermentation activity, ~5 days, rack the beer into a secondary vessel and let rest for 7 more days at 68 °F (20 °C). Then lower temperature to 32 °F (0 °C). Once beer is clarified, rack the beer and carbonate to around 2.55 volumes of CO2. If bottling conditioning, you may consider pitching fresh yeast at bottling.

OSKAR BLUES BREWERY’S DALE’S PALE ALE CLONE

(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.061 FG = 1.012
IBU = 65 SRM = 8 ABV = 6.5%

INGREDIENTS

6.6 lbs. (3 kg) golden liquid malt extract
1 lb. (0.45 g) Munich dried malt extract
13.1 oz. (372 g) Simpsons Premium English Caramalt (25 °L)
2.3 oz. (64 g) Simpsons dark crystal malt (80 °L)
13 AAU Columbus hops (80 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 13% alpha acids)
2.3 AAU Cascade hops (25 min.) (0.4 oz./11.2 g at 7.2% alpha acids)
7.2 AAU Columbus hops (10 min.) (0.55 oz./15.4 g at 13% alpha acids)
15.2 AAU Centennial hops (0 min.) (1.6 oz./45 g at 9.5% alpha acids)
1 tsp. yeast nutrient (Servomyces recommended) (5 min.)
1⁄2 Whirlfloc tablet (5 min.)
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale), Wyeast 1056 (American Ale), or Safale US-05 yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)

STEP BY STEP

Place the crushed grains in a muslin bag and submerge bag in 5 gallons (19 L) water as it heats up to 160 °F (71 °C). Remove the grain bag and allow to drip back into the kettle. Add the liquid and dried malt extract as well as the first wort hops and stir until extracts are fully dissolved. Bring wort to a boil.

Total boil time is 60 minutes adding hops according to the schedule. Add Whirlfloc and yeast nutrient with 5 minutes left in the boil.

After the boil is complete, give the wort a long stir to create a whirlpool, add the flameout hops and let settle for 10 minutes. Chill the wort to 65 °F (18 °C) and aerate thoroughly. Pitch rate is 1 million cells per mL per degree Plato.

Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C). At the end of fermentation activity, ~5 days, rack the beer into a secondary vessel and let rest for 7 more days at 68 °F (20 °C). Then lower temperature to 32 °F (0 °C). Once beer is clarified, rack the beer and carbonate to around 2.55 volumes of CO2. If bottle conditioning, you may consider pitching fresh yeast at bottling.

OSKAR BLUES BREWERY’S BEERITO CLONE

(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.045 FG = 1.012
IBU = 16 SRM = 12 ABV = 4.5%

Inspired by the clean amber lagers of Mexico and melded with malt flavors in Munich dunkels, this lager shows off what a maltster can do, and packs it in an easy-drinking 4.5% beer. Beerito is all about a complexity of subtle flavor with underlying tones of chocolate, caramel, walnuts, and toasted grain.

INGREDIENTS

6.6 lbs. (3 kg) Vienna malt (3 °L)
12.5 oz. (355 kg) North American
2-row pale malt (1.8 °L)
5.1 oz. (144 g) aromatic or dark Munich malt (20 °L)
4.4 oz. (126 g) Simpsons Premium English Caramalt (25 °L)
16.8 oz. (477 g) Carabelge® malt (12 °L)
8.9 oz. (251 g) melanoidin malt (25 °L)
0.95 oz. (27 g) Carafa® Special III malt (500 °L)
2.5 AAU French Aramis hops (55 min.) (0.37 oz./10.2 g at 6.7% alpha acids)
3 AAU French Aramis hops (10 min.) (0.45 oz./12.6 g at 6.7% alpha acids)
2.7 AAU Hallertauer Mittelfrüh hops (0 min.) (0.61 oz./17 g at 4.5% alpha acids)
2 tsp. yeast nutrient (Servomyces recommended) (5 min.)
1⁄2 Whirlfloc tablet (5 min.)
Wyeast 2352 (Munich Lager II), White Labs WLP835 (German X Lager), or Mangrove Jack’s M76 (Bavarian Lager) yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)

STEP BY STEP

Mill the grains and dough-in targeting a mash of around 1.3 quarts of water to 1 pound of grain (2.7 L/kg) and a temperature of 152 °F (67 °C). Hold the mash at 152 °F (67 °C) until enzymatic conversion is complete. Sparge slowly with 168 °F (75.5 °C) water, collecting 6.5 gallons (24.6 L) or wort.

Total boil time is 75 minutes. Add hops as indicated in the ingredient list and Whirlfloc and yeast nutrient with 5 minutes left in the boil. Give the wort a long stir after the boil is finished, add the last hop addition and let settle for 10 minutes.

Chill the wort to 50 °F (10 °C) and aerate thoroughly. Pitch rate is 1.5 million cells per mL per degree Plato. Begin fermentation at 53 °F (12 °C) and raise to 56 °F (13 °C) on day 4. At the end of fermentation, rack into a secondary and let rest 8 more days at 56 °F (13 °C). Lower temperature 5 °F (3 °C) every day until reaching 32 °F (0 °C). Lager at 32 °F (0 °C) for 1–2 weeks under pressure at 3–4 psi, or longer, to clarify. Once clear, rack and carbonate to around 2.55 volumes of CO2.

OSKAR BLUES BREWERY’S BEERITO CLONE

(5 gallons/19 L, partial mash)
OG = 1.045 FG = 1.012
IBU = 16 SRM = 12 ABV = 4.5%

INGREDIENTS

4.4 lbs. (2 kg) GoldPils® Vienna liquid malt extract (3.5 °L)
12.5 oz. (355 kg) North American 2-row pale malt (1.8 °L)
5.1 oz. (144 g) aromatic or dark Munich malt (20 °L)
4.4 oz. (126 g) Simpsons Premium English Caramalt (25 °L)
16.8 oz. (477 g) Carabelge® malt (12 °L)
8.9 oz. (251 g) melanoidin malt (25 °L)
0.95 oz. (27 g) Carafa® Special III malt (500 °L)
2.5 AAU French Aramis hops (55 min.) (0.37 oz./10.2 g at 6.7% alpha acids)
3 AAU French Aramis hops (10 min.) (0.45 oz./12.6 g at 6.7% alpha acids)
2.7 AAU Hallertauer Mittelfrüh hops (0 min.) (0.61 oz./17 g at 4.5% alpha acids)
2 tsp. yeast nutrient (Servomyces recommended) (5 min.)
1⁄2 Whirlfloc tablet (5 min.)
Wyeast 2352 (Munich Lager II), White Labs WLP835 (German X Lager), or Mangrove Jack’s M76 (Bavarian Lager) yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)

STEP BY STEP

Place the crushed 2-row pale, dark Munich, and melanoidin malts in one grain bag and the caramalt, Carabelge®, and Carafa® in a second bag. Heat one gallon (4 L) of water to 163 °F (73 °C) then submerge the first grain bag in the water. Temperature should stabilize around 152 °F (67 °C). Hold the mash at that temperature for 45 minutes, then submerge the second bag of grains in the water. Hold for 15 minutes, then remove both grain bags and place in a colander. Slowly wash the grains with 1 gallon (4 L) hot water.

Stir in the liquid malt extract until dissolved. Top off kettle to 6 gallons (23 L) and boil for 60 minutes. Follow the remainder of the all-grain recipe.

OSKAR BLUES BREWERY’S DEATH BY COCONUT CLONE

(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.067 FG = 1.017
IBU = 25 SRM = 40 ABV = 6.5%

This porter is packed full of intense malt flavor and then infused with pure liquid cacao and loads of dried coconut. A balance of intensities!

INGREDIENTS

12 lbs. (5.4 kg) North American 2-row pale malt (1.8 °L)
4.6 oz. (132 g) Munich malt (10 °L)
12.5 oz. (354 g) Simpsons extra dark crystal malt (175 °L)
7.4 oz. (209 g) Simpsons coffee (brown) malt (200 °L)
7.7 oz. (218 g) chocolate malt (400 °L)
4.7 oz. (132 g) Carafa® Special III malt (500 °L)
7.8 AAU Columbus hops (80 min.) (0.6 oz./16.8 g at 13% alpha acids)
1 tsp. yeast nutrient (Servomyces recommended) (5 min.)
1⁄2 Whirlfloc tablet (5 min.)
1.3 lbs. (0.59 kg) dried coconut
750 mL Cholaca Original pure liquid cacao
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale), Wyeast 1056 (American Ale), or Safale US-05 yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)

STEP BY STEP

Mill the grains and dough-in targeting a mash of around 1.3 quarts of water to 1 pound of grain (2.7 L/kg) and a mash temperature of 153 °F (67 °C). Hold the mash at 153 °F (67 °C) until enzymatic conversion is complete. Sparge slowly with 168 °F (76 °C) water, collecting wort until the pre-boil kettle volume is 6.5 gallons (24.6 L).

Total boil time is 90 minutes. Add hops at times indicated, and the Whirlfloc and yeast nutrient with 5 minutes left in the boil.

After the boil is complete, give the wort a long stir to create a whirlpool and let settle for 10 minutes.

Chill the wort to 65 °F (18 °C) and aerate thoroughly. Pitch rate is 1 million cells per mL per degree Plato. Regulate the fermentation temperature at 68 °F (20 °C). At the end of fermentation activity, ~5 days, let rest for 5 more days at 68 °F (20 °C). Then lower temperature to 32 °F (0 °C). Once beer is clarified, rack the beer into secondary. Add the pure liquid cacao and dried coconut (bag the dried coconut). Hold for 1 week at 32 °F (0 °C) and then rack and carbonate the beer to around 2.55 volumes of CO2. If bottling conditioning, you may consider pitching fresh yeast at bottling.

OSKAR BLUES BREWERY’S DEATH BY COCONUT CLONE

(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.067 FG = 1.017
IBU = 25 SRM = 40 ABV = 6.5%

INGREDIENTS

6.6 lbs. (3 kg) golden liquid malt extract
1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) Munich dried malt extract
12.5 oz. (354 g) Simpsons extra dark crystal malt (175 °L)
7.4 oz. (209 g) Simpsons coffee (brown) malt (200 °L)
7.7 oz. (218 g) chocolate malt (400 °L)
4.7 oz. (132 g) Carafa® Special III malt (500 °L)
7.8 AAU Columbus hops (80 min.) (0.6 oz./16.8 g at 13% alpha acids)
1 tsp. yeast nutrient (Servomyces recommended) (5 min.)
1⁄2 Whirlfloc tablet (5 min.)
1.3 lbs. (0.59 kg) dried coconut
750 mL Cholaca Original pure liquid cacao
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale), Wyeast 1056 (American Ale), or Safale US-05 yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)

STEP BY STEP

Place the crushed grains in a muslin bag and submerge bag in 5 gallons (19 L) water as it heats up to 160 °F (71 °C). Remove the grain bag and allow to drip back into the kettle. Add the liquid and dried malt extract and stir until extracts are fully dissolved. Bring wort to a boil.

Boil for 80 minutes, adding hops as the wort comes to a boil. Add Whirlfloc and yeast nutrient with 5 minutes left in the boil. After the boil is complete, give the wort a long stir to create a whirlpool and let settle for 10 minutes.

Chill the wort to 65 °F (18 °C) and aerate thoroughly. Pitch rate is 1 million cells per mL per degree Plato. Regulate the fermentation temperature at 68 °F (20 °C). At the end of fermentation activity, ~5 days, let rest for 5 more days at 68 °F (20 °C). Then lower temperature to 32 °F (0 °C). Once beer is clear, rack into a secondary vessel. Add the pure liquid cacao and dried coconut (bag the dried coconut). Hold for 1 week at 32 °F (0 °C) and then rack and carbonate to around 2.55 volumes of CO2.

If bottle conditioning, you may consider pitching fresh yeast at bottling.

OSKAR BLUES BREWERY’S IPA CLONE

(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.059 FG = 1.010
IBU = 70 SRM = 6 ABV = 6.4%

Pleasant and drying bitterness brings citrus, melon, pepper, and wine grape aromas and flavors alive in this exclusively Australian-hopped, West Coast style IPA.

INGREDIENTS

11.4 lbs. (5.2 kg) North American 2-row pale malt (1.8 °L)
1.32 lbs. (600 g) pale wheat malt (2 °L)
0.33 lb. (152 g) Simpsons Premium English Caramalt (25 °L)
4.5 AAU Vic Secret hops (first wort hop) (0.25 oz./7 g at 18% alpha acids)
10.8 AAU Vic Secret hops (80 min.) (0.6 oz./16.8 g at 18% alpha acids)
4.5 AAU Vic Secret hops (25 min.) (0.25 oz./7 g at 18% alpha acids)
8.6 AAU Vic Secret hops (10 min.) (0.48 oz./13.4 g at 18% alpha acids)
13 AAU GalaxyTM hops (0 min.) (0.9 oz./25 g at 14.5% alpha acids)
6.5 AAU Ella hops (0 min.) (0.45 oz./12.6 g at 14.5% alpha acids)
1.2 oz. (34 g) Enigma hops (dry hop)
1 oz. (28 g) Galaxy hops (dry hop)
0.8 oz. (22.4 g) Ella hops (dry hop)
1 tsp. yeast nutrient (Servomyces recommended) (5 min.)
1⁄2 Whirlfloc tablet (5 min.)
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale), Wyeast 1056 (American Ale),or Safale US-05 yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)

STEP BY STEP

Mill the grains and dough-in targeting a mash of 1.3 quarts of water to 1 pound of grain (2.7 L/kg) and a temperature of 156 °F (69 °C). Hold the mash at 156 °F (69 °C) until enzymatic conversion is complete. Sparge slowly with 168 °F (75.5 °C) water, collecting wort until the pre-boil kettle volume is 7 gallons (25.6 L). Add the first wort hops as soon as wort covers the bottom of the kettle.

Total boil time is 90 minutes, targeting 5.5 gallons (20 L) hot wort at the end of boil. Add hops as indicated and Whirlfloc and yeast nutrient with 5 minutes left in the boil. After the boil, give the wort a long stir to create a whirlpool then add the flameout hops. Let the wort settle for 10 minutes.

Chill to 65 °F (18 °C) and aerate. Pitch rate is 1 million cells per mL per degree Plato. Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C). At the end of active fermentation, rack the beer onto the dry hops in purged secondary vessel. Let rest for 9 days at 68 °F (20 °C), longer if showing fermentation activity. Then lower temperature to 32 °F (0 °C). Once beer is clear, rack and carbonate to around 2.55 volumes of CO2.

OSKAR BLUES BREWERY’S IPA CLONE

(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.059 FG = 1.010
IBU = 70 SRM = 6 ABV = 6.4%

INGREDIENTS

6.6 lbs. (3 kg) golden liquid malt extract
1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) wheat dried malt extract
0.33 lb. (152 g) Simpsons Premium English Caramalt (25 °L)
4.5 AAU Vic Secret hops (first wort hop) (0.25 oz./7 g at 18% alpha acids)
10.8 AAU Vic Secret hops (80 min.) (0.6 oz./16.8 g at 18% alpha acids)
4.5 AAU Vic Secret hops (25 min.) (0.25 oz./7 g at 18% alpha acids)
8.6 AAU Vic Secret hops (10 min.) (0.48 oz./13.4 g at 18% alpha acids)
13 AAU GalaxyTM hops (0 min.) (0.9 oz./25 g at 14.5% alpha acids)
6.5 AAU Ella hops (0 min.) (0.45 oz./12.6 g at 14.5% alpha acids)
1.2 oz. (34 g) Enigma hops (dry hop)
1 oz. (28 g) Galaxy hops (dry hop)
0.8 oz. (22.4 g) Ella hops (dry hop)
1 tsp. yeast nutrient (Servomyces recommended) (5 min.)
1⁄2 Whirlfloc tablet (5 min.)
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale), Wyeast 1056 (American Ale),or Safale US-05 yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)

STEP BY STEP

Place the crushed grains in a muslin bag and submerge in 5 gallons (19 L) water as it heats to 160 °F (71 °C). Remove the grain bag and allow to drip back into the kettle. Add the liquid and dried malt extract as well as the first wort hops and stir until extracts are fully dissolved. Bring wort to a boil.

Total boil time is 60 minutes adding hops according to the schedule. Add Whirlfloc and yeast nutrient with 5 minutes left in the boil. Follow the remainder of the the all-grain instructions

(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.045 FG = 1.008
IBU = 40 SRM = 6 ABV = 4.9%

Pinner targets quaffability on multiple fronts – with smooth but apparent bitterness, just enough mouthfeel and an array of hop flavors that are not only supported by the malt, but married to it. Tropical citrus, light pine with a toasted malt accent.

INGREDIENTS

2.5 lbs. (1.1 kg) North American 2-row pale malt (1.8 L)
3.4 lbs. (1.5 kg) pale ale malt (3.5 °L)
3 lb. (1.4 kg) dextrine malt (2-3 °L)
14.5 oz. (410 g) aromatic or dark Munich malt (20 °L)
0.8 AAU Centennial hops (80 min.) (0.07 oz./2 g at 11% alpha acids)
0.8 AAU Centennial hops (5 min.) (0.07 oz./2 g at 11% alpha acids)
0.5 AAU Cascade hops (5 min.) (0.07 oz./2 g at 6.5% alpha acids)
0.5 oz. (14 g) Cascade hops (0 min.)
0.5 oz. (14 g) Exp. 07270 hops (0 min.)
1 oz. (28 g) Mosaic® hops (dry hop)
1 oz. (28 g) Citra® hops (dry hop)
1 oz. (28 g) El Dorado® hops(dry hop)
1 oz. (28 g) Azacca® hops (dry hop)
1 oz. (28 g) Calypso hops (dry hop)
1 tsp. yeast nutrient (Servomyces recommended) (5 min.)
1⁄2 Whirlfloc tablet (5 min.)
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale), Wyeast 1056 (American Ale), or Safale US-05 yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)

STEP BY STEP

Mill the grains and dough-in targeting a mash of around 1.3 quarts of water to 1 pound of grain (2.7 L/kg) and a temperature of 156 °F (69 °C). Hold the mash at 156 °F (69 °C) until enzymatic conversion is complete. Sparge slowly with 168 °F (75.5 °C) water, collecting wort until the pre-boil kettle volume is 7 gallons (25.6 L).

Total boil time is 90 minutes, adding hops at the times indicated in the ingredient list. Add Whirlfloc and yeast nutrient with 5 minutes left in the boil.

After the boil, give the wort a long stir to create a whirlpool and let settle for 10 minutes.

Chill the wort to 65 °F (18 °C) and aerate thoroughly. Pitch rate is 1 million cells per mL per degree Plato. Regulate the fermentation temperature at 68 °F (20 °C). At the end of fermentation activity, ~3 days, rack the beer into a secondary vessel on top of the dry hops. Let rest for 9 more days at 68 °F (20 °C), longer if showing fermentation activity. Then lower temperature to 32 °F (0 °C).

Once beer is clarified, rack and carbonate to around 2.6 volumes of CO2. If bottle conditioning, you may consider pitching fresh yeast at bottling.

OSKAR BLUES BREWERY’S PINNER CLONE

(5 gallons/19 L, partial mash)
OG = 1.045 FG = 1.008
IBU = 40 SRM = 6 ABV = 4.9%

INGREDIENTS

3 lbs. (1.4 kg) light dried malt extract
1 lbs. (1.5 kg) pale ale malt (3.5 °L)
2 lb. (0.91 kg) dextrine malt (2–3 °L)
14.5 oz. (410 g) aromatic or dark Munich malt (20 °L)
0.8 AAU Centennial hops (80 min.) (0.07 oz./2 g at 11% alpha acids)
0.8 AAU Centennial hops (5 min.) (0.07 oz./2 g at 11% alpha acids)
0.5 AAU Cascade hops (5 min.) (0.07 oz./2 g at 6.5% alpha acids)
0.5 oz. (14 g) Cascade hops (0 min.)
0.5 oz. (14 g) Exp. 07270 hops (0 min.)
1 oz. (28 g) Mosaic® hops (dry hop)
1 oz. (28 g) Citra® hops (dry hop)
1 oz. (28 g) El Dorado® hops(dry hop)
1 oz. (28 g) Azacca® hops (dry hop)
1 oz. (28 g) Calypso hops (dry hop)
1 tsp. yeast nutrient (Servomyces recommended) (5 min.)
1⁄2 Whirlfloc tablet (5 min.)
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale), Wyeast 1056 (American Ale), or Safale US-05 yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)

STEP BY STEP

Place the crushed grains in a large grain bag and submerge the grains in 6 quarts (5.7 L) of 167 °F (75 °C) of water to stabilize the mini-mash at 156 °F (69 °C). Hold the mash at 156 °F (69 °C) until enzymatic conversion is complete, about 60 minutes.

Remove the grain bag and place in a colander. Wash the grains with 1 gallon (4 L) of hot water. Add the dried malt extract and top off with water until the pre-boil kettle volume is 7 gallons (25.6 L).

Follow the remainder of the instructions from the all-grain version of this recipe.

A special thanks to Oskar Blues Brewery and Head of Brewing Operations Tim Matthews for providing these detailed recipes.