Recipes
Beer-style: Amber Ales & Lagers Family
Gordon Strong’s Munich Dunkel
This recipe is somewhat of a compromise in mash techniques. Traditionally, this is a decocted style, but we’re going to use a step mash and a little extra character malt instead. If you want to use a decoction, I’ll describe that as well.
Parti Like It’s 1700
Parti-gyle is an under-utilized technique in the brewing world, which is capable of producing multiple beer types during a single brew day. Here is a recipe from Aaron Hyde outlining a parti-gyle recipe which uses a 1⁄3 and 2⁄3 split of the mash, with the smaller volume Wee Heavy collected first and the larger volume Scottish Export being collected second.
Oskar Blues Brewery’s Beerito clone
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.
Starr Hill Brewery: Jomo clone
This year-round offering from Starr Hill is fermented with Southern German lager yeast, its crisp, clean taste, and noticeable hop aroma are effectively balanced with a slight malty sweetness. Jomo has won multiple awards, including two gold medals (2004, 2011) at the Great American Beer Festival.
Brooklyn Brewery: Brooklyn Lager clone
Brooklyn Lager is Brooklyn Brewery’s flagship beer. It is loosely based on the old Vienna lager style, derivations of which were popular in parts of the United States in the late 1800s. Its bitterness is snappy, with a firm malt core, and the beer is dry hopped.
Resurgence Brewing Company: Oktoberfest clone
This upstate New York Oktoberfest is a traditional Marzen style beer. It features biscuit, caramel, and toffee notes.
Occidental Brewing Company: Dunkel Lager clone
This smooth, malty beer based on the classic Munich style features an assortment of noble hops.
Kodiak Island Brewing Company: Oktoberfest clone
This traditional Oktoberfest is a classic take on the German style, featuring an amber color and sweet, malty notes.
Brauhaus Faust-Miltenberger: Faust Schwarzviertler clone
This dark brown amber lager features a solid caramel flavor and a great mouthfeel.
Short’s Brewing Company: Magician Ale clone
“The Magician is a lustrous, dark-red, London style Red Ale with a rich grain bill. The grain combination lends complex notes of toasted caramel, raisins, chocolate, and roasted toffee. Very light hop additions let the true malt characters show throughout this beer.”
Ninkasi Brewing Company: Racin’ Mason Irish Red Ale clone
This classic Irish red pours a dark red/copper color and features a sweet caramel and toasted malt profile.
John Courage Amber clone
John Courage has an unusual twist for a British beer: It used to be labeled “amber lager” and is still brewed as a lager. It is malty and sweet, with a dry grainy aftertaste.
