Furphy Clone

[kunfaced]

My brother asked if I could attempt something similar to Furphy because he loves it so much. I know it's cheap as chips to buy but this could be the gateway into getting him crafting himself. He's a microbiologist with a plant fetish, and has started growing his own hops from seed. He's got equipment for yeast activities too, soo it's important for my sake to get this down good. :lol:

http://beersmithrecipes.com/viewrecipe/919038/furphy-clone

That's where I'm starting. I plan to chuck a brew down on Saturday, so if any of you have some ideas lets hear them.

Cheers

 

[desitter]

Can't offer much assistance, as it's not really something I've been interested in brewing myself, and only had a pint of the stuff to see what it is like (very typical C.U.B in character if I remember correctly). But I do have an article from 'The weekly review' June 25 - July 1 2015 about the beer in front of me. Just re-reading it now, a lot of fluff; not much for the homebrewer. They do mention Vic Secret and Topaz (as you have listed in your recipe) as the hop varieties used, as well as the use of a hop-back. The beer is meant to be inspired by Kölsch, so that explains the yeast. They mention the use of Vienna malt sourced from Barrett-Burston as well, so maybe something to add.

While giving a 101 of brewing, the article states that "...The resulting liquid is call wort; this is boiled and transferred into a whirlpool. For Furphy, the hops are added at this stage." This makes it sound like their is no 'boil' additions, but I doubt its all whirlpool hopping, and take the authors familiarity of the process with a grain of salt.

I can transcribe the article here if you think it would help?

 

[kunfaced]

hey thanks for that, should be ok on the scribe that was more info than I found. I actually have a Kölsch bottled at the moment, where the only hop additions were post boil, and there were 300g of them. I can sort of see the resemblance in the way the flavours come across so you might be on to something there. I might try and keep the bitterness around the same but move them all to flame out.

As for yeast, I was thinking of getting some out of their bottles but I wasn't sure if it would be the fermenting yeast or priming yeast. Maybe on a second attempt.

cheers

 

[chrisluki]

Hey guys, the beer is definitely designed to be very similar to a Kolsch.

The idea was to create something totally Victorian, only sourcing ingredients locally (Vic Secret & Topaz Hops) and have it not be too far of a step up to craft from Carlton Draught for all of those brainwashed drinkers of that product.

A not too bitter step into the world of craft...i think it does its job nicely. The next beer in the Lion stable (after Tooheys New/Dry, hahn Super Dry and Boags Draught) to try and unseat CD as the main beer in Vic...might be a while until it reaches its goal.

 

[kunfaced]

I updated the recipe with the whirlpool only hop additions. Also only had three options for Barret-Burston malts, so subbed in Galaxy Ale as it seems the closest to a Vienna style malt. I've never actually used their malts before, my normal store doesn't stock them.

I've also attempted to contact a brewer at Little Creatures Geelong to see if they would like to have any input. Fingers crossed.

 

[super_simian]

Personally, I'd drop the RB. And possibly the wheat? Seems like it'd be a very simple grist.

 

[Brewman_]

Clicked the link and the recipe is in lbs and Oz's. Is there a setting to switch to metric? It's probably a silly question. And yes I should be able to convert in my head to Metric...

 

[kunfaced]

Clicked the link and the recipe is in lbs and Oz's. Is there a setting to switch to metric? It's probably a silly question. And yes I should be able to convert in my head to Metric...

here

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/64992-beersmith-cloud-recipes-saving-in-metric/

 

[kunfaced]

Personally, I'd drop the RB. And possibly the wheat? Seems like it'd be a very simple grist.

From all sources I have read Furphy has Barley and Wheat. I adjusted the style of the beer back to kolsch (was set to ordinary bitters) to keep it in the style they stated, but when I'm trying to keep it in the right SRM it needs just a tad of RB to get it there. If I ignore this part of it, do you think it will come out in a similar colour? I've never used galaxy malt before so I can work out what shade it is. I have a brew in front of me which was a smash with vienna malt in it. The colour in it is nice bright orange, and a little too pale for a Furphy. If I chuck wheat in too I'd imagine it would stretch the colour out a bit.

Other ways I was thinking of darkening it was by collecting a litre or two of wort and boiling it down until the sugars caramelise a tad then add it back to the wort, a longer boil time in general or using the sucrose and cooking it into dark toffee with some citric acid. The only thing I can fault in these is the fact that they will all add a certain extra sweetness to the Furphy, from memory it doesn't really have that taste to it and that is far straying from Kolsch style. Is there any other easier ways of adding colour/no flavour?

 

[DU99]

Midnight wheat. about 1-2%.

 

[kunfaced]

Midnight wheat. about 1-2%.

I didn't think of that, but the only downside is they say they only use ingredients from victoria. Could I bake the Barrett-Burston wheat malt until it is dark enough to sub in as a midnight? Then I could remove the large quantity of wheat in the recipe and the RB.

 

[Brewman_]

here

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/64992-beersmith-cloud-recipes-saving-in-metric/

Ah ha.

Cheers

 

[TheWiggman]

There may be some roast barley in there but it's not uncommon for the large brewers to use sinimar / brewer's caramel to adjust colour. With a beer of this ilk I think on the home brew scale having a handful of roast malt is neither here nor there. Other simple alternative is to extend the boil.

 

[kunfaced]

There may be some roast barley in there but it's not uncommon for the large brewers to use sinimar / brewer's caramel to adjust colour. With a beer of this ilk I think on the home brew scale having a handful of roast malt is neither here nor there. Other simple alternative is to extend the boil.

By brewers caramel do you mean something similar to dark candi syrup? If so it sounds like a standard aussy trend, like a majority of CUB beers containing sucrose. I understand the idea behind inverted sucrose, and being able to replicate it with sucrose and acids. If this is what you are talking about I could up the amount of sucrose in it, and pre cook it into some dank toffee. Down some of the other malts. Makes sense, it drops the costs overall, especially on a commercial scale. Most times I've added sucrose to brews, I add it with 15 minutes left in the boil. I'm for the idea that the ph of the wort is sufficient in which to complete the inversion. Food for thought for anyone wanting to bump up the gravity of their wort a few points. Allows for better hop utilization earlier on in the boil too, as per lower gravity. I've never encounter 'off' cider flavours or the like. I even cheated on a munich/Columbus smash by adding in 15% sucrose during the boil. From what I've heard from people it was pretty good.

Sorry for the rant, it just helps me get it out to justify crap. I like the cut of your jib. Thanks for your help everyone, I'll settle on a final recipe by morning and let you know. Happy Friday.

 

[manticle]

Brewer's caramel is really just for colour so I wouldn't be making candy syrup or wort reductions to replicate it.
Sinnimar might do it. Longer boil will but it will also change the flavour.

Does it need to be an actual clone (as in identical) or a homage/close to/highly similar?

I reckon get flavour close, then adjust colour if you have to. Might take you more than one attempt too.

 

[kunfaced]

I'm trying to get it as close as possilbe becuase I normally only give it a half assed thought and never comes out great. Mostly ok. Trying to get myself to think about beer composition more too.

I found what you meant by brewers caramel. Maybe I could just skip on the colour this time and see how the flavour comes out first.

 

[kunfaced]

I heard back from Lion, owners of Little Creatures.

RE: Enquiry: General Enquiries

[SIZE=11pt]Good afternoon Joshua,[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12.8px]Thank you for your enquiry.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]I have been advised by the Little creatures team that unfortunately we can’t pass on any more information than what’s on our websites.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]I’m extremely sorry I could not be of further assistance in your enquiry.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]However I do wish you all the best with your brew.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12.8px]Kind regards,[/SIZE]

Still wasn't happy with the recipe I had, but had a couple Furphys on tap the other day at a wedding. I am now sure that the advice of keeping it simple is key for this brew. It isn't as dark as I thought, so the colour should be close with just Galaxy malt. I'll add maybe half a pound of wheat for head retention, but the head on a Furphy is dismal. Flameout hops only. Just not sure on the yeast. I've used wyeast 2565 before and I don't think it quite fits the bill. Has anyone tried the different strains and possible have a recommendation?

cheers

 

[super_simian]

Maybe I could just skip on the colour this time and see how the flavour comes out first.

I'd always do it that way round. Chasing a mega-brewery brewed beer for colour is a losing game IMHO; adding ingredients like RB or Midnight wheat, even in very small amounts, will have some influence on the taste. Even brewers caramel changes flavour, although Sinamar claims minimal taste impact.

 

[hoppinmad]

I have been asked by work mates to brew up something similar to furphy for the end of year chrissy do so have been contemplating the recipe for a while. I find the beer quite hazy and light in colour, fairly dry tasting with a subtle tropical fruit finish, particularly when fresh.

From what I have read, Vic Secret only gives you fruity character when used in a whirlpool or when dry hopping, so I will probably be using that as a flameout addition at the earliest. Topaz in the boil is supposed to give off tropical fruit characters so I will probably add that at about 20 or 30 mins to get to around the 10IBU mark. Problem is both hops are so high in alpha acids that you can't use them in any significant quantities during the boil if you want to get around the 16-18IBU mark. So my guess would be, for a 21 litre batch about 10g Topaz at 30mins and 30g Vic Secret in the whirlpool. Grain bill perhaps 92% JW Ale malt and 8% flaked wheat. Mashed low.

Never used Wyeast's Kolsch yeasts but will probaby go with 2565.

Will try it out and let you know how close I get

 

[fraser_john]

I have been asked by work mates to brew up something similar to furphy for the end of year chrissy do so have been contemplating the recipe for a while. I find the beer quite hazy and light in colour, fairly dry tasting with a subtle tropical fruit finish, particularly when fresh.

From what I have read, Vic Secret only gives you fruity character when used in a whirlpool or when dry hopping, so I will probably be using that as a flameout addition at the earliest. Topaz in the boil is supposed to give off tropical fruit characters so I will probably add that at about 20 or 30 mins to get to around the 10IBU mark. Problem is both hops are so high in alpha acids that you can't use them in any significant quantities during the boil if you want to get around the 16-18IBU mark. So my guess would be, for a 21 litre batch about 10g Topaz at 30mins and 30g Vic Secret in the whirlpool. Grain bill perhaps 92% JW Ale malt and 8% flaked wheat. Mashed low.

Never used Wyeast's Kolsch yeasts but will probaby go with 2565.

Will try it out and let you know how close I get

Yeah we are lucky in Geelong to have Little Creatures right here and always fresh at their bar, it is my beer of choice when there. Be good to find a decent clone of it.