Any Know Of A Vb Recipe?

[petesbrew]

VB? Piece of piss!
Tooheys lager
Tooheys brewing sugar
kit yeast

make label and add the word "premium", "dry" or "low carb".
Actually, if it's for your old man, don't. A VB drinker would never touch that stuff.

 

[marksy]

To all of you who were helpfull thanks. All is noted and I will see what I can come up with.

and to all of you who made a joke outta of it...

 

[shadowofdarkness]

Hey Marksy, good luck...

Just for my two cents worth, 5% sugar as noted previously is VERY low for VB... Start creeping up around the 20-30% mark, mash higher, and maybe more crystal for colour/body. Also, as mentioned by 4*, brew stronger, and dilute to approx. 4.6% ABV.

Cheers.

 

[benno1973]

Out of interest (and I'm not saying anyone's wrong here)...

Why add sugar and carapils/crystal? Or why add sugar and then mash higher? Sugar is used to lighten body/flavour while still increasing ABV. Carapils and higher mash temps are there to increase body and flavour. Doesn't it seem that the two will cancel each other out? I can understand using both in a belgian tripel, where you're trying to dry out a full bodied beer to make it more drinkable, but not in a VB clone...

 

[Muggus]

Personally I think you're best off keeping this simple, like Bribie mentioned earlier on.
100% Joe White Pilsner in a 90 min mash at low temps.
20% Cane Sugar
90 min boil to get some colour and boil off MOST of the DMS.
Pride Of Ringwood flowers up to 25IBU...maybe just a touch towards the end
Lager yeast...generic not one of the nice Czech/German ones...fermented a bit warmer than normal and no extended lagering.
And if you overstep the OG, abv or flavour at any stage, put the black snake in it and water it down!

Seems simple, but at the end of the day, consistency is the key to these macro lagers. If VB were a couple of IBU higher or lower, old mate down at the local would notice, even after a pack of Winny blues.

Good luck anyway bro...let me know when you're done and i'll come down for some tastings.

 

[hazard]

Out of interest (and I'm not saying anyone's wrong here)...

Why add sugar and carapils/crystal? Or why add sugar and then mash higher? Sugar is used to lighten body/flavour while still increasing ABV. Carapils and higher mash temps are there to increase body and flavour. Doesn't it seem that the two will cancel each other out?

Well the sugar is there becasue most Australian lagers are 30% sugar, so a clone must include it.

But I agree that you could drop the carapils. If grist was just pale malt and sugar it would be very light in colour so maybe a little bit of medium crystal for colour, not enough to make a big impact on taste. Say 100 to 200g.

 

[tipsy]

You'll probably struggle to make something like VB, it has a very...original.... flavour profile. However, from what I can tell a decent standard style beer recipe like that would be as follows;

95% pilsner malt (fairly cheap stuff)
5% cane sugar
18-22IBU worth of POR (mostly bittering, wouldn't worry too much about flavour or aroma hops)
A fairly clean lager yeast (I beleive VB is fermented with a sort of hybrid yeast, kind of like that used at Boags, that can do ales and lagers just with different temperatures)
Ferment lowish, 10-12 degrees.

Mr. Moonshine

This is how I make it, I also add a small amount (30g) of roast barley.
This gets the colour right and helps to give it that dry taste.

 

[Mayor of Mildura]

One of the other members on the forum (awesome fury) makes a mean aussie lager.

Pretty much as the others have said. Mostly base malt, POR to 25 IBU, Wyeast 2024 Danish lager yeast.

Tastes well.... awesome! we drained a couple of his kegs for him last friday night just to make sure :icon_drunk:

 

[technoicon]

One of the other members on the forum (awesome fury) makes a mean aussie lager.

Pretty much as the others have said. Mostly base malt, POR to 25 IBU, Wyeast 2024 Danish lager yeast.

Tastes well.... awesome! we drained a couple of his kegs for him last friday night just to make sure :icon_drunk:

haha was a good night.

the recipe for anyone interested. i modified the aussie gold lager

Aussie Gold Lager
Australian Lager


Type: All Grain
Date: 16/03/2010
Batch Size: 23.00 L
Brewer: Josef A Tamaliunas
Boil Size: 28.19 L Asst Brewer: Awesome Fury
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: My Equipment
Taste Rating(out of 50): 40.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00
Taste Notes: Easy to make, simple infusion mash for a great easy drinking beer

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
5.00 kg Pale Malt (Barrett Burston) (3.9 EBC) Grain 100.00 %
20.00 gm Pride of Ringwood [9.00 %] (60 min) Hops 19.9 IBU
10.00 gm Cascade [5.50 %] (30 min) Hops 4.7 IBU
10.00 gm Pride of Ringwood [9.00 %] (5 min) Hops 2.0 IBU
1.00 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs Danish Lager (Wyeast Labs #2042) Yeast-Lager



Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.048 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.052 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.011 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.012 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.70 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 5.21 %
Bitterness: 26.5 IBU Calories: 487 cal/l
Est Color: 7.1 EBC Color: Color


Mash Profile

Mash Name: BIAB Total Grain Weight: 5.00 kg
Sparge Water: 12.45 L Grain Temperature: 22.0 C
Sparge Temperature: 75.6 C TunTemperature: 22.0 C
Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE Mash PH: 5.4 PH

BIAB Step Time Name Description Step Temp
75 min Mash In Add 15.00 L of water at 74.4 C 68.5 C
10 min Mash Out Add 6.25 L of water at 94.8 C 75.6 C

Mash Notes: BIAG
Carbonation and Storage

Carbonation Type: Kegged (Forced CO2) Volumes of CO2: 2.5
Pressure/Weight: 10.0 PSI Carbonation Used: -
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 2.0 C Age for: 14.0 days
Storage Temperature: 3.0 C

Notes

Can substitute late hops with Cascade or Horizon etc according to taste but you'll be amazed how good P.O.R. can be.

 

[Dazza_devil]

What is the contributing factor in this beer that gives off the foul odour when you crack one, makes me reach.
The yeast?

 

[Muggus]

What is the contributing factor in this beer that gives off the foul odour when you crack one, makes me reach.
The yeast?

Probably lager yeast fermented too warm.
Possibly, also, some DMS from the pilsner malt not being boiled long enough...not sure, been a while since i've had a VB.

 

[geoffi]

I had one for the first time in years the other day, out of politeness. First impression was the foul stench. Yes, lager yeast fermented too warm might be the culprit. Second impression, the cloying sweetness. That could be down at least in part to the almost complete lack of bitterness in this laughably misnamed 'bitter'.

Anyway, different strokes for different folks. If it appeals to you, hey, go for it. But as for me, if I never drink another VB it will be too soon.

 

[tazman1967]

As for the yeast... I use Wyeast 2042 Danish Lager for my Cascade Premium recipe. Imho I heard that the Fosters group use this yeast ??

 

[Tony]

What is the contributing factor in this beer that gives off the foul odour when you crack one, makes me reach.
The yeast?

Mmmm that calton smell. I notice it on a schooner of Kent brown at the bowling club. I tried it a couple times but cam to the conclusion its VB with a bit of colour.

Dont they boil the wort with no hops and add extract at bottling or something?

Mmmmm

I have an aussie ale on tap ATM and its very close to tooheys new..... but a tad more bitter as was my want. Used GOlden promise, some Pils and a bit of wheat and POR flowers. US-05 and its great. Nice crisp, easy to drink POR character they is evident in megaswills and no stink

good luck on your quest mate

cheers

 

[Batz]

Some good information here and the usual dribble about peeing in a bottle etc. V.B. is no easier to duplicate then any other beer. If you don't agree just try to do a clone with a side by side tasting and tell me if yours is the same.
OK, next we hear why bother, mine would be better, I won't lower my standards etc etc.
To clone any beer is not all that easy, but clone a V.B. , hey why bother just drink cats pee :lol:



Batz

 

[chug!chug!]

Tony and Batz have great aussie ale recipes on the board. Make something based on these recipes first then adjust to taste. You will have a much better result.

 

[jakub76]

Years ago I heard from a guy that worked at the Brisbane Carlton brewery that the only difference between Fosters and VB was a bag of salt. Now I have no idea why anyone would add salt to their beer, it inhibits yeast and tastes...well salty.
That unmistakable taste and aroma from VB is something I would consider an off flavour in my own brews. I would be interested to see if someone sent a couple of VB bottles to a competition and received judge's notes. That would clear a lot of questions up for me.
Better still - if there are any BJCP judges reading this thread, perhaps you could do a tasting of VB and give the rest of us some idea of what is going on with it.
Not something I'd be striving for but I completely understand the desire to clone a beer. My advice would be to broaden your horizons, taste some internationals and decide what you like best. Don't be bullied into saying IPA either, if it ends up that VB is your drink of choice then that is your decision and power to you.

 

[shazzam]

Unless you can pasteurise the beer @ 60 degress you aren't going to get close to VB - apparently it tastes quite Ok pre-pasteurised !

 

[BjornJ]

After reading some threads from ThirstyBoy who actually is a brewer, my understanding is that Australian Lagers taste the way they do (or at least partially because of):
-lager yeast started out low then ramped up to more ale-like temperatures
-beer fermented high-gravity then diluted with 30% oxygen-free water AFTER fermentation
-up to 20-30% cane sugar as this is the cheapest sugar in Australia (probably as some kind of syrup?)

And that this is why Australian Lagers have that easy-drinking, ice-cold not-very-malty kind of thing going that makes them easy to drink while the Swans are getting slaughtered yet again


I have made a couple of versions of "aussie lager" but understand I won't be able to make them taste like the normal pub lagers as I probably use too much malt, not the "right" temperature, don't ferment high-gravity, etc.

thanks
Bjorn

 

[chappo1970]

Some good information here and the usual dribble about peeing in a bottle etc. V.B. is no easier to duplicate then any other beer. If you don't agree just try to do a clone with a side by side tasting and tell me if yours is the same.
OK, next we hear why bother, mine would be better, I won't lower my standards etc etc.
To clone any beer is not all that easy, but clone a V.B. , hey why bother just drink cats pee :lol:



Batz

:lol: I was thinkin' exactly the same Batz as I was scrolling thru this one