Carlsberg ‘clone’?

[RustyV8]

Hi guys...
Please don’t shoot the messenger But a buddy of mine has his 40th birthday coming up soon and asked if I could make him some larger that is close to Carlsberg (It’s one of his favorites from home and not that readily available here)

I haven’t tasted it in years also so can’t really remember the taste. Does anyone have an easy recipe (DME or LME based) for something close to this?

all help appreciated

 

[GhostShip]

You need a new friend.

(Joke - I have no idea but hopefully someone will be along soon who is able to help).

 

[RustyV8]

Haha... I’ll make sure to pass that on to him

 

[Braufather]

Mod, can you move this to correct thread please?



https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/joke-of-the-day.85542/

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Is your friend real or imagined.

 

[RustyV8]

Very real! I tried to talk him out of it, I gave him samples of the Pilsner and Amber Ale I have made trying to educate his palate. But he still wanted Carlsberg as the other 2 were a bit bitter.....
...... slowly, slowly, catchy monkey... I’ll keep working on him

 

[Braufather]

Maybe try a kolch. I was really unhappy with mine, it tasted thin and tiny and everyone agreed it tasted like carlsberg!

 

[GhostShip]

I'm nowhere near as experienced as many brewers on here, but I'd imagine if you pi*s into a bucket, add some sugar and yeast, you'll be pretty close?

 

[MmmBeer]

I had a quick look in Brewers Friend and this came up Carlsberg. It is designed for extract brewing (with some steeping grains), but I was a liitle curious about the choice of yeast, I would have expected something like Saflager 34/70, or a Pilsner yeast instead. Also they recently changed the recipe, this one is dated 2015, which may be based on the old recipe, but its a start.

 

[jMac]

This doesn’t look like a bad start:

https://brewgr.com/recipe/91900/clone-of-clone-of-carlsberg-style-lager-american-light-lager-recipe

83% - Pilsner
2% - Acidulated Malt
10% - Flaked Corn
4% - Carapils

Magnum at 60 to 20IBU
Hallertauer Mittelfrüh at 10mins to 2.5IBU

W-34/70 yeast

I think the inclusion of non-malt adjunct (in this case, corn) will be key in creating the right mass produced lager taste. You could even use cornflakes (and I’m not joking!)

 

[jMac]

The GW book ‘Brew Classic European Beers At Home’ has much the same recipe, though lacks the acid malt and substitutes sugar for the corn. Also has a 90 min boil with all Hellertau in a single charge to 23IBU. ABV 4.7%.

If you’re into liquid yeasts, Wyeast 2042 Danish Lager yeast, might be a good call.

 

[Galena]

I'm nowhere near as experienced as many brewers on here, but I'd imagine if you pi*s into a bucket, add some sugar and yeast, you'll be pretty close?

Don't be ridiculous, that would have a flavour

 

[Manners]

I'm nowhere near as experienced as many brewers on here, but I'd imagine if you pi*s into a bucket, add some sugar and yeast, you'll be pretty close?

You beat me to it! A lot of the guys in my local drink it- wet, cold and fizzy. Nothing else about it is good, I dont get it!

Op- sorry, nothing constructive to say other than good luck and its nice of you to help out your pal!

 

[Jim Brewster]

I somehow ended up with an ale that was like Budweiser last year.. small amount of pale malt, sugar, small amount of fuggle and Wilko ale yeast, using soft tap water. It was OK for the summer

I think the key with these mass produced cheap lagers is not adding too much of anything, lots of carbonation and serve at freezing point. You can make them for pennies

 

[-Bezza-]

Old Carlsberg or New Carlsberg though?

https://www.thesun.co.uk/money/8873318/carlsberg-beer-probably-best-in-world-changes-recipe/

 

[Scrattajack]

Old Carlsberg or New Carlsberg though?

Is there a difference? Same old tasteless rubbish to me.

Shame, as Carlsberg gives a lot to the brewing industry, pity its standing is so poor.

 

[chillipickle]

You could always brew a nice hoppy pale, stick a carlsberg label on the bottle.Tell him it's the new lock down exit brew, he will probably fall for it

 

[RustyV8]

@MmmBeer tha is for that... it’s a good place to start

@mclaughlinj , thanks but I haven’t progressed to all grain, so I may take the easier extract route here. Plus, you know, I wouldn’t want to waste all those nice ingredients on him

 

[An Ankoù]

In all seriouslness, while we might not approve of the Carlsberg that was ladled out in the 70s and 80s, making a reasonable copy is no easy matter and takes as much skill, if not more, than cloning some other beers. I racall there was something called Carlsberg Hof, which had a bit more flavour, and the bottled Special Brew of the day was nearly a decent beer.

 

[lukey_brews]

For what it's worth I saw a program the other night where Greg Wallace did a tour of a carling factory... They did a 45 minute boil