Ag Tried And True Heineken Clone

[Brown_hound]

Gday all.


Was just wondering if all you AG buffs can come to a consensus on a tried and true recipe for cloning Heineken?

Put down my first AG the other day thanks to Nick JD's stove top how to, and am now beaming with confidence? overconfidence? haha.

Thanks buffs.

This forum saved my life..... Sort of.

 

[Bribie G]

Heineken, Grolsch, Bavaria (the Liquorland One) Hollandia etc all much of a muchness. Heineken is very well known for not insisting on much quality control when BUL - note the slop that passes for Heineken in the UK, so I wouldn't even bother about cloning the Lion Nathan version. However for the Dutch Heineken you would be looking for

• Pale continental style lager
• Bland maltiness
• Nice hop nose on opening but not particularly bitter
• around 5% ABV

I'd be looking at

5000 pale pilsener - Weyermann premium Pilsener would be the ducks nuts as it's made for very pale lagers.
500 wheat malt (says so on the Hollandia and Bavaria bottles - I can't tell the difference between them and Dutch H)

Single infusion mash 65 degrees 90 mins

20 German Magnum 60 mins
30 Saaz 30 mins
30 Saaz 10 mins
30 Saaz flameout

Wyeast Danish Lager yeast built up to a good starter, or just S-23 (three packs rehydrated)
11 degrees for a couple of weeks
Lager at fridge temperature for another couple. Add polyclar a couple of days before bottling or kegging. :super:




Edit: for a completely true and faithful clone:

Obtain several hectares of industrial land outside Amsterdam
Employ the preliminary services of 150 German and Canadian Engineers
...................

 

[MHB]

Not a fan then Bribe?

Try
97.5% Pilsner Malt (Weyermann Pils would be my first choice)
2.5% one of the light German Caramalts (I would use CaraHell)
If you want to keep it simple isothermal mash at ~65 for 90 minutes
Bittering Northern brewer
Taste Hersbrucker at about 0.75g/L @10 minutes
Bitterness to ~25 IBU
Colour ~7-10 EBC
Target OG ~1.051-1.053
Yeast-34/70 or one of the other clean lager yeasts

Mostly cribbed from Clone Brews, but I have a customer who orders this regularly have brewed it once with him and it comes in fairly close
MHB

 

[Bribie G]

I like the Dutch lagers - drank heaps when I was cycling round the country years ago and toured the old H brewery - but they are so well made that it's hard to find anything to hide behind if you don't do it spot on
I was also wondering about the Hersbrucker as well.

 

[kenlock]

I put one in the recipe DB that I've brewed regularly. Link
Great beer in summer. In fact, I think I'll go and pour one now. :beer:

 

[jonocarroll]

To get that distinct Heineken 'imported' taste, don't you need to slightly sour the beer? Can't recall where I heard that, but apparently it's done on purpose by the brewery.

 

[kenlock]

To get that distinct Heineken 'imported' taste, don't you need to slightly sour the beer? Can't recall where I heard that, but apparently it's done on purpose by the brewery.

They use their own speciality yeast "In 1886 in Amsterdam, Dr.Elion, a student of Dr. Louis Pasteur, discovered the famous Heineken A-yeast, a strain that is still used today only by Heineken.", which obviously imparts that slight sourness. I've had good results using the Danish Lager Wyeast #2042.

 

[argon]

Perhaps it's the skimming from the green bottles?? IIRC have head that on EKG the euro breweries employs green bottles for this... Could be Heineken, but not certain.

 

[schooey]

Not a fan then Bribe?

Try
97.5% Pilsner Malt (Weyermann Pils would be my first choice)
2.5% one of the light German Caramalts (I would use CaraHell)
If you want to keep it simple isothermal mash at ~65 for 90 minutes
Bittering Northern brewer
Taste Hersbrucker at about 0.75g/L @10 minutes
Bitterness to ~25 IBU
Colour ~7-10 EBC
Target OG ~1.051-1.053
Yeast-34/70 or one of the other clean lager yeasts

Mostly cribbed from Clone Brews, but I have a customer who orders this regularly have brewed it once with him and it comes in fairly close
MHB

Surely Heineken has some corn in it?

 

[Nick JD]

If you're using your 19L pot, try this:

16L

3.2kg Pils Malt
0.3kg Vienna Malt

Mash at 66C for 90min

30g Cz Saaz for 60min
30g Cz Saaz for 10min

S189 @ 12C

Best ... Lager ... EVA.

 

[Brown_hound]

If you're using your 19L pot, try this:

16L

3.2kg Pils Malt
0.3kg Vienna Malt

Mash at 66C for 90min

30g Cz Saaz for 60min
30g Cz Saaz for 10min

S189 @ 12C

Best ... Lager ... EVA.

Hey all, and thanks for all the great advice.


Nick, this recipe you've just listed. Is it 16Lt in the fermenter? or 16Lt Water for the Mash?

Sorry mate, not quite sure what that was meaning.

If you meant 16Lt Brew, how much water would you suggest to begin with in the pot?

Also, what ingredients would be needed to step your recipe up to a 20 Lt batch? (If you meant 16)?

Good on you guys,

Have found the info useful and all posters very helpful.

 

[Nick JD]

16L in the fermenter. If you want to make it a 20L batch then divide 20 by 16 (1.25) and multiply all the ingredients by that.

 

[reviled]

• Nice hop nose on opening but not particularly bitter
• around 5% ABV

a hop nose?!?!?! on Heineken??

Bribie have you gone mad?!?! Skunk on the nose is all I have ever got from Heineken :lol:

 

[Bribie G]

Well from the NZ version maybe, I think they do it as part of the Export Gold production run?

 

[Nick JD]

Well from the NZ version maybe, I think they do it as part of the Export Gold production run?

I hate to say it but I fear the Kiwi beer drinker to be a little better versed in what is, and what isn't a good beer.

In Dan Murphys the other day I guy looked down his nose at me because I was buying Oetingger Pils while he was paying 1/3 extra for his XXXX Bitter. Joke's on him.

 

[Malted]

Oetingger Pils

Good mega swill. Handy 500ml can too!

 

[Malted]

Caveat: I have a very uneducated beer palate. To my untrained mouth, I detect a slight smokiness to Heineken. What could it be?