Trans Canada Brewing Co.’s MisBEEhavin’ clone
This is a beer I made along with a local brewery, Trans Canada Brewing Co. called MisBEEhavin’. I won a contest in 2020 that the brewery put on in which they hid a golden ticket in one of their mixed packs. The prize was to participate in the brewing process at the brewery from start to finish with a recipe of my choice. I chose an ESB with local buckwheat honey and first did three different trial beers at home to hone in the final recipe to be scaled up.
With Trans Canada, the process included creating and brewing a beer of my choice, designing the label (with help from their graphic artist), packaging it, then putting the cans for sale in their store and on tap in their taproom. The proceeds of the sales went to a charity of my choice and I chose one that helps low-income people get small businesses up and running named Local Investment Towards Employment (LITE) here in Winnipeg. We made a 264-gallon (1,000-L) batch that produced 1,750 12-oz. (355-mL) cans and a keg for the tap room (plus a 5-gallon/19-L keg for myself). The entire batch sold out in three weeks. They still get asked occasionally when they are going to brew the “honey beer” again.
Trans Canada Brewing is a mid-size brewery here in Winnipeg that has been going for eight years. They produce a wide variety of core, seasonal, and limited edition beers that range from a light lager to barrel-aged and foeder-aged beers. So they are not afraid to try something a little out of the ordinary — like giving some stranger access to their brewery! That said, they were thrilled to have a homebrewer win the contest. The brewmaster, Scott Sawatzky (who did the brew with me), and all the staff were fantastic to collaborate with. They helped a lot with my brewing skills and took my brewing up a big notch. I still bring homebrews in for them to critique. Trans Canada has not re-run the contest; I guess I was their perfect winner! I still enjoy this beer and brew it at home occasionally. Below is the recipe.
Trans Canada Brewing Co.’s MisBEEhavin’ clone
(5-gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.063 FG = 1.017
IBU = 55 SRM = 12.5 ABV = 6%
Ingredients
9 lbs. (4 kg) Maris Otter malt
1.25 lbs. (0.57 kg) crystal malt (40 °L)
10 oz. (285 g) crystal malt (15 °L)
10 oz. (285 g) crystal malt (80 °L)
1 lb. (0.45 kg) buckwheat honey (15 min.)
14.3 AAU Northern Brewer hops (60 min.) (1.5 oz./43 g at 9.5% alpha acids)
2.4 AAU Northern Brewer hops (15 min.) (0.25 oz./7 g at 9.5% alpha acids)
1 Whirlfloc tablet
½ tsp. yeast nutrient
Wyeast 1469 (West Yorkshire) or SafAle S-04 yeast
¾ tsp. corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Mash the grains at 152 °F (67 °C) with 3 gallons (11.5 L) of water for 60 minutes. Then raise the temperature to 168 °F (76 °C) to mash out and sparge with enough water to collect 6 gallons (23 L) of wort. Boil for 60 minutes, adding hops and honey at times indicated. Add Whirlfloc and yeast nutrient, if you choose, with 15 minutes remaining.
Chill wort to 75 °F (25 °C), aerate, and pitch yeast. Ferment at this temperature until complete. Keg and force carbonate or bottle condition as usual.
Extract with grains option:
Replace the Maris Otter malt with 5.5 lbs. (2.5 kg) Maris Otter liquid malt extract. Bring 6 gallons (23 L) of water up to 170 °F (77 °C) while steeping crystal malts in a muslin bag. After 15 minutes, remove the grains and stir in the malt extract with the heat off. Once dissolved, return to heat and bring to a boil. Follow the remainder of the all-grain instructions.
