Fat Tire Clone Recipe Wanted

[LorenzoJ]

Have seen references to "Fat Tire" recently and can't remember where. Being a mountain biker the name is appealing. Is it good ? I do mostly extract with specialty grains>

[GunNut76]

Don't know how this one tastes, but I got it from BYO so it should be decent enough:

Fat Tire Amber Ale
(5 gallons, extract with grains)


Ingredients:



o 5 lbs. Laaglander plain extra-light DME
o 0.50 lb. crystal malt (20° Lovibond)
o 0.50 lb. crystal malt (40° Lovibond)
o 0.50 lb. carapils malt
o 0.50 lb. Munich malt
o 0.50 lb. biscuit malt
o 0.50 lb. chocolate malt
o 3 AAUs Willamette pellet hops (0.66 oz. at 4.5% alpha acid)
o 1.33 AAUs Fuggle pellet hops (0.33 oz. at 4% alpha acid)
o 2 AAUs Fuggle pellet hops (0.50 oz. at 4% alpha acid)
o 1 tsp. Irish moss
o 2/3 to 3/4 cup corn sugar to prime
o Wyeast 1056 or BrewTek CL-10

Step by step:

Steep specialty grains in 3 gallons of water at 154° F for 45 minutes. Remove grains and add dried malt extract. Bring to boil and add 0.66 oz. Willamette pellet hops. Boil for 60 minutes and add Irish moss. Boil 10 minutes and then add 0.50 oz. Fuggle hops. Boil another 20 minutes, add remaining Fuggles and remove from heat. Cool to about 70° F and transfer to fermenting vessel with yeast. Ferment at 64° to 68° F until complete (7 to 10 days), then transfer to a secondary vessel, or rack into bottles or keg with corn sugar. (Try lowering the amount of priming sugar to mimic the low carbonation level of Fat Tire.) Lay the beer down for at least a few months to mellow and mature for best results.

[LorenzoJ]

Thanks for the recipe...... do you happen to remember which issue of BYO it was ?

[S.F.B.]

Originally posted by LorenzoJ
Thanks for the recipe...... do you happen to remember which issue of BYO it was ?

I don't know which issue it was in but here's the link to the site and recipe.

http://www.byo.com/recipe/685.html

[toneyc]

Austin Homebrew sells this kit:

AHS American Amber Ale

Similar in style to Fat Tire, with a mild caramel flavor. Popular amber ale recipe.

I've been thinking about trying it, but have not, yet.

:)
Toney.

[LorenzoJ]

Thanks for the lead to AHS American Amber. Any other extract with specialty recipes of theirs to recommend. Like to get the order up to the free shipping minimum. Wish their online catalogue was a bit more detailed.

[toneyc]

Their Steamroller Stout is very good, but I think my favorite is probably the Texas Pale Bock, A Celis Pale Bock clone. Their Ordinary English Bitter was very good, too. The West Coast Pale Ale is an SNPA clone, also very good, and I think the American IPA II is a SN Celebration Ale clone. Wait..... Let me just say that I have not made bad beer from an AHS kit.

:)
Toney.

[GunNut76]

I thought FT was a belgian? Or am I wrong?

[fretlessman71]

Fat Tire is made by the New Belguim Brewing Co. in Ft. Collins, Colorado. Maybe that's where the confusion is for you. To make matters even MORE confusing, they make at least TWO belgian style beers year round - the Abbey and the Trippel.

Amazing beer company... and Fat Tire, somehow, is both their best selling and least interesting beer. At least the success of Fat Tire lets them explore other obscure styles of beer for us to sample and enjoy, and Fat Tire is a great start-up microbrew for those who cut their drinking teeth on BMC crap. I suppose I ought to shut up about Fat Tire so they don't stop making it... it certainly serves it's purpose.

[Tweek]

agreed. Fat tire is not one of my favorites but it is nice to see people drinking it. Always better than seeing them drink some fo those other beers Richard is always bashing on. :p

[brewmonkey]

Fat Tire is to craft brewing as what White Zin was to the wine craze.

[Tweek]

lol yeah that is a pretty good summation. I like that.

[LorenzoJ]

Didn't know anything about FT other then the name when I first asked for recipe. Being a avid Mtn Biker the name caught my interest, as in "Fat Tire Racing" etc. How would you describe it as per beer style etc

[fretlessman71]

Fat Tire is an amber ale, and it's not that it's BAD... it's just that it's received so much attention in the microbrew world that you would have thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. It's an okay beer, I might even go so far as to say it's a good beer... but given that New Belgium has so many other beers that kick its butt, why should that one get all of the attention? Because it's got a cool name? It smacks a little of what we're all rebelling against by drinking microbrew in the first place, in my opinion. Popularity ought to be based on what's IN the bottle, and not what's OUT of the bottle. Just my $.02. :)

[brewmonkey]

They have played with the recipe some over the years and it is not the beer it once was. I wont say it is not drinkable as that would be a lie.

[GunNut76]

Originally posted by fretlessman71
Fat Tire is made by the New Belguim Brewing Co. in Ft. Collins, Colorado. Maybe that's where the confusion is for you. To make matters even MORE confusing, they make at least TWO belgian style beers year round - the Abbey and the Trippel.

Amazing beer company... and Fat Tire, somehow, is both their best selling and least interesting beer. At least the success of Fat Tire lets them explore other obscure styles of beer for us to sample and enjoy, and Fat Tire is a great start-up microbrew for those who cut their drinking teeth on BMC crap. I suppose I ought to shut up about Fat Tire so they don't stop making it... it certainly serves it's purpose.

I had no confusion about it fretless...I knew the beer was brewed by NBB. I only asked because my LHBS has that particular clone kit in the "Belgian/Trappist" section, and to quote them "This popular Belgian Ale comes from one of the most respected breweries in the mountain states." Hell...the clone kit comes with WL550 or Wyeast 1214, both Belgian Ale.

[toneyc]

Hmmm, interesting. The Austin Homebrew American Amber Ale kit I picked up this week is supposed to be ala Fat Tire. It uses British Ale yeast. Actually, they list three yeasts on the recipe, one Wyeast, one White Labs, and one dry. I don't have it in front of me, but I'm almost certain that none of them were Belgian yeasts. Might be interesting to try the recipe next time with a Belgian yeast.

:)
Toney.

[Stumptown]

This is the recipe from "Beer Captured"

Extract/5 Gallons:

8 oz 80L Crystal
6 oz German Munich malt
4 oz Victory malt
3oz Belgian biscuit malt
4lb pale syrup
2.5lb light DME

Hops:
.33 oz Yakima Magnum 15AA (60 min)
.5 oz Hallertau (15 min)
.25 oz Wilamette (5 min)

Yeast: Wyeast 1762 -- Belgian Abbey II

For all grain, eliminate the syrup and DME and replace with 8lb Belgian 2-row and reduce the Magnum's 22%

I haven't made this recipe, as I don't like Fat Tire, but happened to have the book with me today.

[fretlessman71]

Originally posted by GunNut76
I had no confusion about it fretless...I knew the beer was brewed by NBB. I only asked because my LHBS has that particular clone kit in the "Belgian/Trappist" section, and to quote them "This popular Belgian Ale comes from one of the most respected breweries in the mountain states." Hell...the clone kit comes with WL550 or Wyeast 1214, both Belgian Ale.

I wonder if New Belgium decided that it was trying to make a Belgian Ale at first, tweaked the recipe, and came out with Fat Tire? Maybe others know much more than we do... I'm getting used to that happening more often than not! :rolleyes:

[LorenzoJ]

I didn't expect to start such a lengthy thread when I posed the original ? re "Fat Tire". Some of the responses have certainly been educational. But I guess that's what this is all about.

[fretlessman71]

Another wonderful aspect of this board. Threads don't always stay on the same garment, you know... ;)

[NewBrewMeister]

Had dinner at Trout Street in Port Aransas, TX the other night and saw a Fat Tire neon sign...with a bicycle...very cool neon sign. Never have set out to try an "uninteresting" beer before....but I'm going to have to give Fat Tire a try now! Good Brewing !

[fretlessman71]

When you get to Fort Collins, CO, and stop at New Belgium, try Fat Tire first... and THEN try the rest of the lot and you'll see what we're talking about! Fat Tire is good... the rest are GREAT!