White Rabbit Dark Ale Clone

[dougsbrew]

if it wasnt so early id pour one and post a pic for you, it is quite dark, maybe will post a pic this arvo at beeraclock.

 

[carniebrew]

Cheers Doug...but go on...it's always beer o'clock somewhere!!

 

[Screwtop]

I realise the colour's not the most important component here, but if you want something that looks like WRDA, wouldn't you need it a lot darker than 22 SRM? I believe WRDA is 65 EBC, so more like 32 SRM. My (yet to be brewed) 25 litre recipe has 150gm Dark Crystal 270 (ebc) & 350gm Carafa Special III to get an EBC of 64.3.

The actual colour is very close, the SRM is from Beersmith based upon whatever figure has been entered for the type of malt in the Beersmith Database. I boil for 90 min which for me always results in a darker colour than what BS estimates.

Play around with the recipe..............thats what brewers do!!

Screwy

 

[Damien13]

Thanks Screwy,
Appreciate your recipe and recommendations... This beer will be making a friend of mine extremely happy if it turns out like I hope!

 

[super_simian]

In clone threads on this forum, Kai has confirmed the yeast in the bottle is the primary strain.

You could be right that it has changed as that was a year or two ago now.

This has changed, I think, pretty early on in fact (although this quote is from 2011, which may predate the change?**). The bottle conditioning strain is no longer the primary.

My best recipe for a WRDA-esque (I don't really bother cloning readily available beers...or readily unavailable beers for that matter*) has been with Coopers dry (not bottle) ale yeast. The kind K+Bits brewers tend to chuck out. 2 packs per 19-23L batch, 18C. Pretty damn good, got that woodsy, bready taste. Worked better than Nottingham, S04, 1099 and 1332. Although the true yeast was said to be Essex Ale, if memory serves.

*I prefer to be inspired by great beers, and do tributes, not clones. Leave that to the hair-splitters on the US boards.

**Edited after I realised how old the quote was. Apologies manticle.

 

[dougsbrew]

Cheers Doug...but go on...it's always beer o'clock somewhere!!

ok, here you go .

 

[Damien13]

that pic got me excited....
ok ok... both pics... but especially the beer...
ok ok... it was the boobs...

 

[Screwtop]

ok, here you go .

Thats a fantastic pic Doug. Great composition, look at the focus on the beer and the condensation on the glass, short depth of field with the Aussie bush out of focus for a background.......................... Then what about the bucket full of earth and the beer balanced on a tine.

Screwy

Oh and the other pic has great detail also, if you look really close

 

[dicko]

That's a top pic.

Diggin' up rabbit burrows in search of the "White Rabbit"

Excellent.......

And then there's BOOBS....

 

[spog]

bugga the beer,boobs,tines and bush,half way down the glass in the far right of the pic i see...jesus.
hang on got my glasses on now...yep he's still there..umm sorry too many beers....cheers....spog.....


go on, have a look, you know you want too.....

 

[TheWiggman]

Some extended relatives of mine are HUGE WRDA fans so I intended to make a clone from the advice in this thread. I bought a 6 pack for the hefty price of $24 with the logic of "the yeast costs $13, so $11 for the beer is good value". I decanted veeeery carefully and was impressed at the clarity. Seemed a little too clear. Checked the base of the bottle and yep - zero yeast.
Beware the White Rabbit bottles from the Geelong brewery are no longer bottle conditioned.

 

[AJS2154]

Hi Wiggman,

I have made it a mission to try WRDA on tap when the opportunity arises......I am trying to find the reason so many people have said this is a good drop. To me, it lacks any substantial roasty dark ale flavour, but does have a wonderful hop flavour. The essence of the beer will be to get the hops right when you brew it. The hops are the star of the show in my opinion.

Good luck with it mate, Anthony

 

[super_simian]

Beware the White Rabbit bottles from the Geelong brewery are no longer bottle conditioned.

Haven't been for a long time. Pre-Geelong.

 

[TheWiggman]

This was the first time I'd tried it. Not bad, but not the wonder-beer I'd been led to believe it was. It had a lot in common with Mountain Goat Hightail Ale to my tastes, though better than the Hightail (which I think it very bland and oddly watery despite the pleasant aroma). I think it's intended to sit in that happy category where it's got much more going on than your standard tap lager but not enough to get the beer snobs raving.

 

[Liam_snorkel]

It's changed a bit since this thread was started

 

[Gardenman1]

re culture

 

[technobabble66]

Bandicoot !









... we're free word associating here, right?

 

[Weizguy]

Bandicoot !









... we're free word associating here, right?

Potoroo !

 

[Weizguy]

Potoroo !

Sorry, looked again. It IS a bandicoot.

So, final assessment. Is this beer really worth replicating. From my memory of it, no...

 

[AJS2154]

For what it's worth, I think the Dark Ale serves as an inspiration as much as anything.......a good starting point for a home brewer to improve on. I have made it a mission to try it on tap where I can, and I think the hops are great, but it needs significant help with the flavour department. More roast and some chocolate flavour would produce something nice.

I will have a swing at Screwtop's recipe, use it as a good starting point. By all accounts that is a good brew.

All the best, Anthony