SAB clones

[AlexBrew]

Anyone has a recipe for say a Castle Lite or Amstel ?
I know they contain lots of corn and SAB hops.. and the question may still be why would I want to brew a SAB clone?
Answer is just to replicate one and having the knowledge of this is how it is done.
.. and I have a buddy that only likes sab .. but regardless, Iwould still like to give it a go.
Thanks

[Dewald Posthumus]

Last thing I want is for someone to tell me my beer tastes like SAB beer!

I think it has been discussed on here before (do a search), you should be able to look for something like an American Light Lager and substitute the hop bill with SA Hops?

[Toxxyc]

Anyone has a recipe for say a Castle Lite or Amstel ?
I know they contain lots of corn and SAB hops.. and the question may still be why would I want to brew a SAB clone?
Answer is just to replicate one and having the knowledge of this is how it is done.
.. and I have a buddy that only likes sab .. but regardless, Iwould still like to give it a go.
Thanks

I've been formulating an SAB clone in my mind as well, because I have friends who love it. Amstel is a bit different, but let's stick to Castle Lite for now.

They use malt, corn sugar (dextrose) and rice in the recipe. The combination of rice and dextrose boosts the ABV without boosting the mouthfeel and texture of the beer, which is why it's often described as "watery".

The main reason I haven't done it myself is because you need to cook the rice beforehand, and it's apparently a thing. See you need to "gelatinize" all grains before you can mash them. Malted barley, luckily, gelatinizes at around mash temp, so it happens "automatically". Whenever you add stuff like rice or corn though, it'll also happen at mash temps, but VERY slowly, so it's recommended to cook it beforehand.

So I did a corn cook before. Yes, it smells amazing. But it's a damn nightmare. Because once cooked, it draws up so much fluid that you end up with a tiny yield and and and. I think making a beer with some rice sounds a lot nicer.

Anyway, also keep in mind the IBU should be very low. Like 8~12 in a Castle Lite clone. There's not a lot of hops in there at all.

It also seems like this recipe might be worth trying: https://www.wortsandall.co.za/showth...ll=1#post15217

I'd just swap out the flaked maize's gravity contribution with corn sugar or syrup. Maybe that's what I should attempt next...

[Langchop]

I think Toxxyc can chip in here. I think he had a big project to recreate a caste lite for his father in law, or something to that effect.

[jakeslouw]

Having spoken to Danie Odendaal over this subject: as Toxxyc mentions, there are HUGE industrial processes behind the pre-gelatinisation, gelatinisation, individual mashing with and without enzymes, and then the combination of the rice, maize and barley worts in the right ratios. We're talki9ng steam machines, pressure cookers, vacuum extraction, and then precise gravity measurements done in a lab.

All I can say: good luck, you won't even come close. Just brew a nice simple light American lager and be done.

[Toxxyc]

Having spoken to Danie Odendaal over this subject: as Toxxyc mentions, there are HUGE industrial processes behind the pre-gelatinisation, gelatinisation, individual mashing with and without enzymes, and then the combination of the rice, maize and barley worts in the right ratios. We're talki9ng steam machines, pressure cookers, vacuum extraction, and then precise gravity measurements done in a lab.

All I can say: good luck, you won't even come close. Just brew a nice simple light American lager and be done.

Yeah I also had a short chat with him over it. It's just not worth it on a small homebrew scale. That's why I said I'll rather swap out any grain bill involving corn and rice with simple sugars for the same gravity points contribution. I've got partially invert syrup (Huletts Puratex) and corn sugar here. They should work just fine.

The syrup even contains small amounts of sulfites (as a preservative) that should give it a sulphur note during brewing (that one's a joke).

[AlexBrew]

Thanks for the feedback. Interesting. I've already learned something here.
Lots of effort 'they' go trough here to save some bucks overall - or do they brew like this for the taste?
I will still try it as a challange.
I can get cheap (cheaper than LHBS) dextrose from a equestrian shop in Montagu Gardens. Think last time bought a 5kg tub for R170 = R34/kg (BG = R100/kg)
Then I get a bag of cheap preboiled rice - cook it up till porridge, then mash it.
Any idea of a hop schedule ? and type of hop. SAB blend? surely not SPassion.
How much percent malt ? - pilsner malt I presume.
50% pilsner, 30% dextrose, 20% cooked rice?
When you open a castle lite it does have quite a hoppy smell coming out the bottle - what does this mean? maybe no bittering hops - only late additions? Say SABlend @15 and 5 ?

EDIT:
The enzimes from the malt should be enough to convert the starches from the cooked rice - yes?

[jakeslouw]

Not pilsener. SAB Pale. Southern Star or African Queen hops. Do NOT boil for more than 30 minutes otherwise they get grassy. Although that is maybe what you want in this case? You need corn flakes as well. Drop the dextrose and only use that (as per Black Label) to increase your ABV.

[JIGSAW]

Thanks for the feedback. Interesting. I've already learned something here.
Lots of effort 'they' go trough here to save some bucks overall - or do they brew like this for the taste?
I will still try it as a challange.
I can get cheap (cheaper than LHBS) dextrose from a equestrian shop in Montagu Gardens. Think last time bought a 5kg tub for R170 = R34/kg (BG = R100/kg)
Then I get a bag of cheap preboiled rice - cook it up till porridge, then mash it.
Any idea of a hop schedule ? and type of hop. SAB blend? surely not SPassion.
How much percent malt ? - pilsner malt I presume.
50% pilsner, 30% dextrose, 20% cooked rice?
When you open a castle lite it does have quite a hoppy smell coming out the bottle - what does this mean? maybe no bittering hops - only late additions? Say SABlend @15 and 5 ?

EDIT:
The enzimes from the malt should be enough to convert the starches from the cooked rice - yes?

Apparently SAB is allowed to use up to 49% maize and rice in their recipes ?

[Toxxyc]

50% pilsner, 30% dextrose, 20% cooked rice?

Remember we're talking 30% dextrose in terms of fermentable sugars here, not weight. You can do 2.5kg pale malt, 1kg rice and 1.5kg dextrose in a 20l batch because you're going to end up with a damn strong, flavourless swill. Run it through a calculator first