# Two birds taco beer



## Beamer (7/1/16)

Hey all,

Just tried Two birds taco beer, quite interesting and I found it very sessionable, lucky I only had the two free stubbies from work. Got lovely hits of coriander and lime, guessing the corn was in the wheat grain. Not a bad drop would do it again, interested to hear anyone elses thoughts!!!!

Cheers

Oh and I have heard some spicy food will enhance in the flavour more too!!!!


----------



## danestead (8/1/16)

Yep I rate it. Full of flavour and quite complex. My favourite of their brews.


----------



## Beamer (8/1/16)

First brew I ever tried of theirs, only heard of the brewery recently from another website which I wont mention, unfortunately the bottle shop this was purchased from is 45 mins away, I will have to wait for the boss to bring me some more back to taste.

I think he did mention maybe a golden ale that two birds have out???


----------



## danestead (8/1/16)

Beamer said:


> First brew I ever tried of theirs, only heard of the brewery recently from another website which I wont mention, unfortunately the bottle shop this was purchased from is 45 mins away, I will have to wait for the boss to bring me some more back to taste.
> 
> I think he did mention maybe a golden ale that two birds have out???


A golden and a 'sunset ale', a sort of red ale type beer. Its been a while since ive had them but I didnt think they were out of this world great. Might be time for a retry.


----------



## Beamer (8/1/16)

Please let me know if worth trying!!!


----------



## huez (8/1/16)

I'm pretty close to a clone of this beer, first attempt was probably better than my second attempt. Both good beers but! It's a bit of a prick to make though. I'm keeping it under lock and key until i get it perfect!


----------



## Kumamoto_Ken (26/1/16)

huez said:


> I'm pretty close to a clone of this beer, first attempt was probably better than my second attempt. Both good beers but! It's a bit of a prick to make though.* I'm keeping it under lock and key until i get it perfect!*


Let us know when you're happy with it.

I had a few pints on tap on the weekend and really enjoyed it.


----------



## Ferg (5/9/16)

huez said:


> I'm pretty close to a clone of this beer, first attempt was probably better than my second attempt. Both good beers but! It's a bit of a prick to make though. I'm keeping it under lock and key until i get it perfect!


Digging up an old thread as I am trying to plan some summer beers and think this one would be a cracker. Did you have any joy in cloning the recipe?


----------



## nosco (5/9/16)

I had one yesterday at the brewery. Pretty tastey on tap. Its probably the best thier bottled beers. The golden and sunset ales are nothing special. You can definitely taste the lime. It does have flaked corn in it. Citra and Amarillo.


----------



## huez (5/9/16)

Ferg said:


> Digging up an old thread as I am trying to plan some summer beers and think this one would be a cracker. Did you have any joy in cloning the recipe?


Haven't brewed this for awhile but here was my first attempt at it with a few modifications. Upped the lime zest a bit and hop additions. You can obviously change the base malts to what you have. Pretty sure i added a pinch of dark choc to get the colour up a bit, not necessary though
If people brew it i'd like to know how you go with it. I wouldn't say its completely cloned but a excellent summer beer.

Huez' TACO Beer 23litre 75% efficiency 

Barret Burston Pale Malt 2kg
Wheat Malt 1.7kg
Flaked Corn 1kg
Carafoam 260g
Caramunich II 100g (just use an equivalent)

12g warrior @ 60mins
10g citra @ 20mins
7g amarillo @ 10mins
7g citra @ 10mins
20g lime zest @5 mins (get as little of the white pith as possible, its bitter. Could probably go up to 30g on it.)
7g amarillo @ 1min
7g citra @ 1min
30g amarillo in whirlpool

Dry hop
25g citra
15g amarillo
15g columbus tomahawk
60g coriander leaf (I just wash the coriander and then use one of those salad spinners to get as much of the water off as possible.)


----------



## Beamer (5/9/16)

Awesome! I will be brewing that in 2-3 weeks and give it a taste before summer see how much I need on hand. I dont have citra in the hop freezer, I got some equinox Ill chuck in instead.


----------



## huez (5/9/16)

Let me know how you go! I'd personally sub out the Columbus for something else as well. I've since grown to dislike it quite a bit. Used to put it in everything


----------



## Beamer (5/9/16)

I have just fallen in love with columbus, but in saying that I have only used it in two brews and tasted it in a commercial beer which was kick arse. 

Then again my last 6 or so months has been alot of smash beers learning more about malts hops and yeast.

So anything with three hops is oh so welcome


----------



## Ferg (5/9/16)

Cheers Huez,

With the grain bill I was thinking along the lines of the Stone & Wood Pacific Ale (60/40 pale/wheat) but I had no idea how much flaked corn to add...


----------



## huez (5/9/16)

Ferg said:


> Cheers Huez,
> 
> With the grain bill I was thinking along the lines of the Stone & Wood Pacific Ale (60/40 pale/wheat) but I had no idea how much flaked corn to add...


Yeah it was a complete and utter guess to be honest. You could leave it out or i would probably use less, i don't think it adds a whole lot.


----------



## Ferg (6/9/16)

Comparing the two beers with what I presume is a somewhat similar grain bill, the taco beer is definitely a bit darker. Also, from what I have read about flaked corn (flaked maize?) it lightens the colour & body of the beer so adding something to up it a bit makes sense.


----------



## huez (6/9/16)

Yeah i definitely added some dark choc to up the colour a bit, it would have come out a similar colour to the pacific ale otherwise. I remember reading up on flaked maize additions and i went on the lower side of what people were saying.

I've just seen that i didn't include any kind of gravity numbers or yeast info in my recipe. Starting gravity was 1.052 and and final gravity was calculated at 1.012 but i ended up getting 1.010 using wlp001. IBUs were 32 which i think is slightly higher then the real taco.


----------



## Ferg (7/9/16)

I noticed you used coriander leaves as opposed to seeds. I must admit when I saw there was coriander in the recipe I assumed it was seeds as I've seen it in a few Belgian recipes. Any thoughts?


----------



## huez (11/9/16)

Seeds are going to be a completely different flavour, I find the leaf comes off more fresh and almost citrus like. 

On the two birds website it says they use coriander leaf, so I ran with it. Wasn't sure if they used it in the boil or fermenter but opted for the fermenter. Makes for an interesting clean up!


----------



## Mardoo (11/9/16)

Yep, second that big time, leaf coriander and seed coriander are not interchangeable in Mexican cooking.


----------



## Ferg (28/9/16)

Gave this a crack at the weekend. Hopefully it turns out well. The recipe doesn't show the lime zest added at 5 mins and the coriander leaf added at dry hop.
I seriously underestimated how many limes I would need - cue a mad scramble to reach over the fence and grab as many citrus fruits from the neighbours trees as I could... They may or may not have been limes - time will tell!


----------



## ScottyDoesntKnow (29/9/16)

Haha they were probably unripe lemons!


----------



## pist (16/10/16)

Another nod here. Its a good beer full of flavour


----------



## huez (16/10/16)

Nice one ferg! Let me know how it goes! It's definitely a beer to brew when limes are in season, can turn into quite the expensive beer when limes are ridiculously priced.....


----------



## Ferg (28/11/16)

Sorry this has taken me so long to reply to.
Colour: Mine on the right which is clearly a bit too dark.
Aroma: Lacking that hop hit which I cannot get with any of my beers - hard to describe, while this beer is certainly hoppy it just doesnt smell as clean (hop wise) as the commercial. Kind of like when you try to brew a west coast IPA and its just not quite there. Perhaps more late or dry hops..
Taste: Pretty bloody close. I had to go another round of "dry hopping" with the lime peel as I thought that was lacking a bit and the beer was dominated by the coriander - I was a little concerned by this at first but I gave it an extended period at 1deg which helped.

All in all a really refreshing, enjoyable summer beer. With a bit more attention to detail on my part (limes, coriander, fresh hops) it could be very close.

Cheers to Huez for the recipe.

Edit: on second thoughts I think I might be smelling more of the malt, lime & coriander with mine whereas the commercial is much more hop dominated.


----------



## Jrrj (28/11/16)

Thanks for sharing your progress Ferg. I really enjoy Taco beer and recently bought a case when Two Birds had the Dan Murphy's special.

I've also been working my standard summer beer recipe off the S&W PA clones that people on the forum used. For me Taco's darker colour (when compared to S&W PA) is not essential, so I'm keen to add the lime peel and coriander leaf treatment to the 50/50 pale malt / raw wheat galaxy ale I've been refining. If/when I finally nail that, I'll share a recipe and comparison here.


----------



## huez (2/12/16)

Nice one ferg. With a little bit of tweaking for your system and process you should be able to get closer.
Interesting that the colour came out so dark with very little carafa in there. My estimated colour for my recipe is 15.6ebc and comes out quite close to the original taco beer.


----------



## Crusty (2/12/16)

huez said:


> Nice one ferg. With a little bit of tweaking for your system and process you should be able to get closer.
> Interesting that the colour came out so dark with very little carafa in there. My estimated colour for my recipe is 15.6ebc and comes out quite close to the original taco beer.


Mine comes in @12.43 EBC
No Carafa in mine but 700g of crunchy corn flakes.
Screw US-05. 1056 for me.


----------



## rude (2/12/16)

Crusty said:


> Mine comes in @12.43 EBC
> No Carafa in mine but 700g of crunchy corn flakes.
> Screw US-05. 1056 for me.


Whats youre take on us05 Crusty

I have only used wyeast 1056 once in my Jannet Brown & it came out really nice had me thinking about the 2


----------



## Crusty (2/12/16)

rude said:


> Whats youre take on us05 Crusty
> 
> I have only used wyeast 1056 once in my Jannet Brown & it came out really nice had me thinking about the 2


I don't know what it is about 05 but I get a plasticky after taste in my beers every time I use it.
Other people cant taste it but I can pick it. I've brewed with it about 5 or 6 times & every beer had that taste.
I brewed the same beer with 1056 & it's not there. I really like 1056 & with fruity hops like cascade, Amarillo & Citra, it really pushes the fruit dominance especially fermenting at 17-18°C. With the lime zest in the Taco, it really brings the fruitiness to the fore & the hop aroma is fantastic.
If using crushed coriander seed, be very careful as a couple of grams too much will over power it. The leaf is a far better option.


----------



## huez (9/12/16)

The old us05 twang. I only use it in desperate cases as a backup. 

I like the idea of the corn flakes, how does it turn out crusty?


----------



## Lyrebird_Cycles (9/12/16)

Crusty said:


> If using crushed coriander seed, be very careful as a couple of grams too much will over power it. The leaf is a far better option.


Anyone tried using coriander root? I use it in my green curry, the flavour is different from both leaf and seed (but obviously related). Might have to give it a try in beer.


----------



## Crusty (11/12/16)

huez said:


> The old us05 twang. I only use it in desperate cases as a backup.
> 
> I like the idea of the corn flakes, how does it turn out crusty?


Corn flakes is more true to the original Taco beer recipe for me.
Get the good brand though, don't go using that Coles brand shit.


----------



## slcmorro (11/12/16)

US05 is literally the dry version of 1056.


----------



## Crusty (11/12/16)

slcmorro said:


> US05 is literally the dry version of 1056.


It may well be but believe me, it's nothing like 1056.


----------



## huez (11/12/16)

I've never been able to find a reputable source that says us05, wlp001 or wy1056 are all exactly the same yeast strains. Do you have info saying that are all exactly the same chico strain? I personally believe they all behave differently and prefer wlp001. Although i can rarely source 1056.


----------



## slcmorro (11/12/16)

There's no particular company media release or similar stating they're identical, but this article and it's subsequent references should suffice.

http://saltcitybrew.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/white-labs-001-wyeast-1056-or-safale-us.html

I've used both in a split batch of beer, fermented in the same ferm fridge at the same time, same temp and kegged and served all from the same kegerator. A handful of people both experienced and inexperienced to brewing and craft beer in general couldn't pick either. Every single one of them said it was the same batch of beer - in fact, the drinkers with brewing experience thought I was crazy for suggesting that they had different yeasts.


----------



## huez (11/12/16)

And so the war begins! Thats just another blog with someones opinion. Everybody has their own personal preference, Crusty likes 1056, i like 001, you like us05. Who really cares at the end of the day. They all make beer.


----------



## Crusty (11/12/16)

huez said:


> And so the war begins! Thats just another blog with someones opinion. Everybody has their own personal preference, Crusty likes 1056, i like 001, you like us05. Who really cares at the end of the day. They all make beer.


I don't get that plastic taste with wlp001. It's just the US-05. I've had a hint of it too with S-189 & was starting to think about pitching rates & poor yeast health.
I'm aerating with pressurized O2 now & still get it with 05. Others can't pick it but I'm perceiving it as a plastic taste & I don't like it.
Dry yeast is certainly convenient but I'll stick with liquid yeasts where possible.


----------



## GABBA110360 (11/12/16)

us-05 fever


----------



## slcmorro (13/12/16)

huez said:


> And so the war begins!


No need to start a war over a preference for one or the other. All power to the people who want to spend money on a liquid version of what's available as a dry version, more stable and cheaper with increased longevity


----------

