Moose Drool Clone

When my dad came back from a ski trip in Montana he was raving about this one beer that was a local favorite in the area.  They called it "Moose Drool",  and a couple months later I was pleased to find out that Big Sky brewing company started distributing this beer in St. Louis.  As far as brown ales go this is one of my favorites and the specific style, "American Brown Ale", I had not even heard of until this beer came along.

American Brown Ales are described as having a malty, sweet aroma with hints of chocolate, caramel, and/or nutty scents.  The hop aroma can range from low to moderate, typically using American style hops that give the beer a citrusy aroma.  The appearence has a wide range of color going from light to dark brown, clear, and the head ranges from off-white to dark tan.  The flavor consists of nice balance of medium to high malt and hop flavor slightly favoring the malty side.  The aftertaste should be dry with chocolate or caramel flavors as well as and equal balance of the citrusy hop flavor (depending on the amount used).  Mouthfeel should be medium to medium-full body.  Alcohol content is on the lower side ranging from 4.3-6.2% ABV (Alcohol by Volume).

So needless to say, I had an urge to clone this beer.  Unfortunately, I can't say that I came up with this recipe myself, I researched clone recipes and came across one that I thought would work.  I stumbled across a website called Brew365 and I'm pretty impressed with the number of great beers along with their homebrew clone recipes on the site.  If you're looking to brew a clone beer I'd recommend checking them out (listed in the sources).

Moose Drool Clone (Brew365 Recipe)

Grains

9.0 lbs                   Rahr 2-row pale                

1.0 lbs                   Briess Caramel Malt 60L           

0.5 lbs                   Breiss Caramel Malt 20L         

0.5 lbs                   CaraPils Malt                       

0.5 lbs                   Flaked Oats                         

0.33 lbs                 Chocolate Malt                         

0.13 lbs                 Black Patent Malt                    

Hops

1 oz. East Kent Goldings (First Wort Hop)          4.5% AA

1 oz. Liberty (30min)                                           4.3% AA

1 oz. Willamette (5min)                                      4.7% AA

1 oz. Liberty (0min – flameout)                        4.3% AA

Yeast

White Labs English Ale Yeast – WLP002 (Optimum Temp: 66-68F) – 1800mL Starter (Light DME)

Brew Stats                               

Brewed:  11/20/10

H2O/grain ratio:  1.15 qt/lb 

Mash Temp (Time):  155-151F (60min)

Mash Out Temp:  161F

Pre-boil Volume: 6.6 gal

Pre-boil SG:  1.050

Boil Time:  60min

Post Volume Boil: 5.7 gal

Mash Efficiency:  78%

Secondary:  None

Bottled:  12/11/10

OG = 1.060

FG = ?? Forgot to check! (Estimated Range: 1.018-1.022)

IBU = 26.1

BU:GU = 0.44

Apparent Attenuation = 63-70%

ABW(%) =  3.9-4.3%

ABV(%) =  4.9-5.5%

Yeah, so big fail by not checking the FG, it's the first time that's happened!  Oh well, I guess it just teaches us to be more prepared next time.  The estimated range comes from the White Labs yeast website, where they give ranges for percent Attenuation of all their yeast.

A technique we tried for the first time was not transferring to the secondary carboy.  I believe this to be the cause for the hazy appearance of the beer but I can't be certain until our next brew is done.

Overall, I was pretty pleased with the outcome, although after taste testing both the actual Moose Drool and our clone I noticed a few differences.
Appearence:  The actual Moose Drool is very clear when held up to a lamp, but our beer is so dark and cloudy you can hardly see light, even when held directly in front of  a bulb.  Along with that our head was a slightly darker tan, but I'm proud to say that the head retention is roughly same.
Aroma: The clone has a very subtle, barely noticeable chocolate/toasty aroma, whereas the actual Moose Drool has a very noticeable aroma of roasted nuts (and it is delightful).
Taste: I would say the actual Moose Drool has a more full body character when compared to ours, which tasted slightly thinner.  The first taste you notice with both beers is malt, but the finishing taste for the actual Moose Drool is much dryer than ours.  I would say ours has a bit more bitter taste in the end.

Sources:
Brew365
BJCP 2008 Beer Style Guidelines