AG corona clone - feedback!

[fletcher]

hey guys,

wanting to make a corona clone this monday for the hot months - even though by the time it lagers it'll probably be the end of summer but who cares haha.

* the rice is pre-cooked rice and the corn is instant polenta (thanks bribie for showing me about this). this is for ease and because i don't want to cook it up beforehand etc.

* i know i can make a cream ale instead for faster turnaround and everything, but i'm interested in making a lager, not an ale.

* 45 minute addition of galena is because i don't have fermenter room so can't chill. i'll be no-chilling it. aiming for about 17-22ish IBU. haven't bought the lager yeast yet but if i can't get this, are there any other ones that would suit?

* grist %s are from an earlier thread where Ross talked about this grist make-up being one he's used

* making an extra litre for a starter

* aiming for about 3.6ish% abv as it's being bottled and i'd like to keep it about 4.1 to 4.3% abv

any feedback is appreciated.

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 30.48 l
Post Boil Volume: 25.48 l
Batch Size (fermenter): 21.00 l   
Bottling Volume: 20.00 l
Estimated OG: 1.034 SG
Estimated Color: 4.5 EBC
Estimated IBU: 17.5 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 69.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 80.5 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt                   Name                                     Type          #        %/IBU         
0.70 kg               Rice, Pre-cooked (Minute Rice) (2.0 EBC) Adjunct       1        20.5 %        
1.90 kg               Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (3.9 EBC)            Grain         2        55.9 %        
0.80 kg               Corn, Flaked (2.6 EBC)                   Grain         3        23.6 %        
12.00 g               Galena [12.50 %] - Boil 45.0 min         Hop           4        17.5 IBUs     
1.00 Items            Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins)        Fining        5        -             
1.0 pkg               Mexican Lager (White Labs #WLP940) [35.4 Yeast         6        -             


Mash Schedule: BIAB, Light Body
Total Grain Weight: 3.40 kg
----------------------------
Name              Description                             Step Temperature Step Time     
Saccharification  Add 32.56 l of water at 66.9 C          64.0 C           90 min

 

[adryargument]

Way to many ingredients.

4.5 kg malt
12g galena
any lager yeast

Then simply filter it 8 times to remove all flavour, bottle it, wait until carbed then place all bottles in oven at 80'C for 30 minutes.

 

[fletcher]

Way to many ingredients.

4.5 kg malt
12g galena
any lager yeast

Then simply filter it 8 times to remove all flavour, bottle it, wait until carbed then place all bottles in oven at 80'C for 30 minutes.

I wanted the subtle corn flavours characteristic of a Mexican style lager. not sure if you're being sarcastic, I realise a lot of people bash this kind of beer but i'd be proud to say I'd made a decent clone

 

[Bribie G]

Corona uses rice not corn, it's not a tortilla
It gets a bad name as it's deemed to be in the same camp as Bud or other US beers. In fact Mexican beers came from a different tradition, as Mexico was at one stage part of the AustroHungarian empire due to a big real estate deal and the original breweries were set up by Viennese brewers. I don't mind it, actually has some malt and hops as opposed to abominations like Tooheys New.

OK here we go again: this is really a bit more malty than Corona, but hits the same spot... the rice is dry weight, cooked to a runny mush. Also you don't absolutely have to use Galena, other North American hops such as Chinook do a good job, but don't go over 20 IBU.

Cerveza
Premium American Lager

Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 23.0
Total Grain (kg): 4.600
Total Hops (g): 12.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.046 (°P): 11.4
Final Gravity (FG): 1.012 (°P): 3.1
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 4.52 %
Colour (SRM): 2.8 (EBC): 5.5
Bitterness (IBU): 18.9 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 75
Boil Time (Minutes): 60

Grain Bill
----------------
4.000 kg Pilsner (86.96%)
0.600 kg Rice (13.04%)

Hop Bill
----------------
12.0 g Galena Pellet (12.5% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.5 g/L)

Misc Bill
----------------

Single step Infusion at 64°C for 60 Minutes.
Fermented at 17°C with US-05


Recipe Generated with BrewMate

 

[hooper80]

Corona uses rice not corn, it's not a tortilla
It gets a bad name as it's deemed to be in the same camp as Bud or other US beers. In fact Mexican beers came from a different tradition, as Mexico was at one stage part of the AustroHungarian empire due to a big real estate deal and the original breweries were set up by Viennese brewers. I don't mind it, actually has some malt and hops as opposed to abominations like Tooheys New.

OK here we go again: this is really a bit more malty than Corona, but hits the same spot... the rice is dry weight, cooked to a runny mush. Also you don't absolutely have to use Galena, other North American hops such as Chinook do a good job, but don't go over 20 IBU.

Cerveza
Premium American Lager

Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 23.0
Total Grain (kg): 4.600
Total Hops (g): 12.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.046 (°P): 11.4
Final Gravity (FG): 1.012 (°P): 3.1
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 4.52 %
Colour (SRM): 2.8 (EBC): 5.5
Bitterness (IBU): 18.9 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 75
Boil Time (Minutes): 60

Grain Bill
----------------
4.000 kg Pilsner (86.96%)
0.600 kg Rice (13.04%)

Hop Bill
----------------
12.0 g Galena Pellet (12.5% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.5 g/L)

Misc Bill
----------------

Single step Infusion at 64°C for 60 Minutes.
Fermented at 17°C with US-05


Recipe Generated with BrewMate

Just wondering can you sub out the rice for rice hulls?

 

[MHB]

No, Rice Hulls are used to aid lautering but contain no (zero) extract potential.
Personally I suspect Corona uses a fair bit more rice than the 13% in the recipe above. Closer to 30% if you don't want to do a "Cereal Mash", you will need to pre cook the rice or use pregelatinized rice (flaked rice...)
I also suspect the bitterness is closer to 14-16IBU and would choose a very flavour neutral hop, Magnum, Target, Northern Brewer even POR or some of the Kiwi hops like super Alpha would do the job - from what I hear Corona use hop extract made from whatever is cheapest (think Iso Hop) which is the main use for Galena, or more likely one of the UV stabilised hop extracts like Tetra Hop.
It is also brewed as a Lager, SW-34/70 would be a good call.
Mark

 

[hooper80]

No, Rice Hulls are used to aid lautering but contain no (zero) extract potential.
Personally I suspect Corona uses a fair bit more rice than the 13% in the recipe above. Closer to 30% if you don't want to do a "Cereal Mash", you will need to pre cook the rice or use pregelatinized rice (flaked rice...)
I also suspect the bitterness is closer to 14-16IBU and would choose a very flavour neutral hop, Magnum, Target, Northern Brewer even POR or some of the Kiwi hops like super Alpha would do the job - from what I hear Corona use hop extract made from whatever is cheapest (think Iso Hop) which is the main use for Galena, or more likely one of the UV stabilised hop extracts like Tetra Hop.
It is also brewed as a Lager, SW-34/70 would be a good call.
Mark

Ok cool, so In beer smith which rice selection would I use?

 

[MHB]

what do you think, given rice hulls are out, leaving 2 out of the 3?

 

[hooper80]

what do you think, given rice hulls are out, leaving 2 out of the 3?

Thinking that since the rice is boiled into a sloppy type syrup first before the mash, I’d have to go with the first one.

 

[hooper80]

what do you think, given rice hulls are out, leaving 2 out of the 3?

Please let me know as I only have tomorrow to source the rice, rice extract or the flaked rice. Cheers.

 

[bbqzookeeper]

Seeing as the stars align in "New Posts":

https://aussiehomebrewer.com/threads/lowan-rice-flakes.99009/

This would be the third option from the beersmith list, and would be what I would choose (easiest).

 

[MHB]

You want the Flaked Rice.
If you cant get flaked rice, just use common white rice, cook it and let it cool. If you add some milled malt (about 10% of the weight of the rice) and heat the rice/malt mix slowly the enzymes in the malt will help liquify the rice, this is called a cereal mash.
Then just use the cooked rice/cereal mash as part of your grain bill.

Rice extract syrup is like liquid malt extract just made out of rice rather than malted barley (or wheat/rye/sorghum...) you could use it if you could find it, but that requires a fair bit more information and its bed time for me.
Mark