Becks Clone - What Hops?

[OzBrewer]

Sorry about using English. I hope google translate will help.

I'm from Australia, lived in Europe for 12 years, and have been homebrewing for 21 years.

I'm trying to find out what hops are used in Becks? In my opinion it has a distinct (late) hop flavour. Henninger beer seems to have a similar hop profile but not as obvious as Becks.

Does anyone have any thoughts? I think they must be using a large amount of late hops to get the flavour.

Do you also see Becks as a Helles or a Pilsner?

Thanks in advance. I can use google translate for replies in German.

[chaos-black]

Becks is definitely a Pilsner. One of the core flavor aspects is that it has gone through photooxidation resulting in light struck skunky aroma (that I personally enjoy!). I don't know what kind of hops they are using, but I would restrain from anything too floral. To me it is mostly herbal and grassy. I have just recently done some experiments with 9 classic German hops and Saazer to find hops with a mostly grassy and less floral aroma. The winner is Hersbrucker Pure with Hersbrucker spät coming in second. Just don't go too heavy on the late boil additions.

Cheers,
Alex

[Eowyn]

Sorry about using English. I hope google translate will help.

I'm from Australia, lived in Europe for 12 years, and have been homebrewing for 21 years.

I'm trying to find out what hops are used in Becks? In my opinion it has a distinct (late) hop flavour. Henninger beer seems to have a similar hop profile but not as obvious as Becks.

Does anyone have any thoughts? I think they must be using a large amount of late hops to get the flavour.

Do you also see Becks as a Helles or a Pilsner?

Thanks in advance. I can use google translate for replies in German.

I used to like Beck's as a go to when no Augustiner was available while I was still living in Germany.

It's a Pilsner not a Lager and if I was trying to re-create it (here in the US) I'd go with Hersbrucker and maybe domestic (as in US domestic) Hallertau since it is more earthy/grassy than the original German one.

Hence I am seconding what Chaos-Black said.

[tauroplu]

Zitat: "It's a Pilsner not a Lager". Please explain because Pilsner is of course a Lager (not vice-versa).

[Eowyn]

Zitat: "It's a Pilsner not a Lager". Please explain because Pilsner is of course a Lager (not vice-versa).

ich wollte Helles schreiben, lol...
sorry, mea culpa... das kommt davon, wenn man *Helles* kontinuierlich mit Lager übersetzt, weil man dem Amerikaner, der fragt, erklären möchte, was ein Augustiner ist.

[die kleine bierschau]

One of the core flavor aspects is that it has gone through photooxidation resulting in light struck skunky aroma

I'm not sure I would agree with that. I don't get that lightstruck character when I have Beck's from a can or on tap, so I wouldn't include it as part of the core flavor. Don't get me wrong, I like it (sometimes) too!

The only time I've had skunk from a can is here in Japan. Asahi Zero Dry is a non-alcohol beer that's not brewed from a wort.

[OzBrewer]

Ok. I'm not convinced on the light struck as well, or this photooxidation. Perhaps they are doing it prior to bottling, kegging or canning?

I was of the opinion it was Pilsner, but just wanted to confirm.

I also think the Augustininer Helles Lagerbier is one of the best, along with Tegenseer Helles. I have recipe that has gotten me very close to those two that I regularly brew.

I was thinking on the Becks, not flowery hops, but earthy/grassy hops as well. I thought maybe some late Magnum or Tettnanger.

[die kleine bierschau]

I suspect the lightstruck flavor can be done chemically, without any actual sunlight exposure.

Late Magnum sounds a bit unusual to me. I've always thought it was just for bittering. But if you come up with a good recipe, please share!

Best of luck!

[tauroplu]

@Eowyn: danke, sowas Ähnliches hab ich mir schon gedacht, bin aber nicht drauf gekommen, was Du wirklich gemeint hattest. Wollte Dich auch gar nicht irgendwie kompromittieren, war wirklich nur Neugier.

[Eowyn]

@Eowyn: danke, sowas Ähnliches hab ich mir schon gedacht, bin aber nicht drauf gekommen, was Du wirklich gemeint hattest. Wollte Dich auch gar nicht irgendwie kompromittieren, war wirklich nur Neugier.

lol - nee... das passiert mir am tag ungefähr 20 mal mit diversen Vokablen.. all good.
Am schlimmsten ist es im Reitsport/Pferdepflegebereich... ich bin das total gewohnt, dass ich in einer von beiden möglichen Sprachen Schmarren rede... :)

[Eowyn]

Ok. I'm not convinced on the light struck as well, or this photooxidation. Perhaps they are doing it prior to bottling, kegging or canning?

I was of the opinion it was Pilsner, but just wanted to confirm.

I also think the Augustininer Helles Lagerbier is one of the best, along with Tegenseer Helles. I have recipe that has gotten me very close to those two that I regularly brew.

I was thinking on the Becks, not flowery hops, but earthy/grassy hops as well. I thought maybe some late Magnum or Tettnanger.

OMG! Nothing happens for no reason...

will you share your recipe with me please?
I am only brewing beer because I can not get Augustiner on tab here :)
I still did not yet dare to brew lager but I have no more excuses now...


And returning to Becks - Those two hops you mentioned were my first ideas - however I would go with the US magnum because it is less flowery.

:)

[OzBrewer]

Pilsner (weyermann or best malz, lightest colour) 77.5%
Carapils (weyermann) 20%
Acid MAlt 2.5%
90 min boil
Hallerftauer Mittelfrueh @60min - 13.6 IBU
Hallerftauer Mittelfrueh @20min - 3.1 IBU
Whirlfloc Tablet @15min
Hallerftauer Mittelfrueh @5min - 1.6 IBU
Overall IBU: 18.3

water: Calcium 19.7ppm, Magnesium 0ppm, Sodium 7.7ppm, Sulfate 15.4ppm, Chloride 35.8ppm; Sulfate to Chloride Ratio 0.4, Effective Hardness 14.1 ppm, Sulfate/Chloride balance = very malty

Mash: 3.5ltr per 1kg of Malt
35c for 15 min (acid rest)
50c for 30 min
62c for 40 min
68c for 15 min
72c for 15 min
Mash out at 76c-78c for 10 min

Yeast: Saflager 34/70 (3 packets, and spin up to yeast count)(Calculate yeast @6billion cells per gram, as per manufacturer numbers)(Use Yeast Starter calculator)
NOTE: Start the yeast starter 2 to 3 days before pitching. Use a stir plate if possible.

Ferment @ 9c until finished.
Crash cool to 0.5c for at least 2 weeks.
Add gelatine at end of 2 weeks (24g of gelatine per 25ltrs of wort. Dissolve gelatine in 1 cup of hot water, when dissolved, add to fermenter and gently stir. Remember to use StarSan to sanitise your stirrer).
Leave for 3 days after adding gelatine.

Carbonation: 2.3 co2 volume.

Any questions let me know. It's a good Helles recipe, close to those in Southern Bavaria. You can drop to 15% carapils and up the pilsner percentage. Don't change the acid malt amount as it's important to the overall beer.

[OzBrewer]

Back to the original topic of this thread. I have done some research on Pilsners, and I think the flavour I'm definitely getting in Becks is a hop flavour.

I believe to achieve this it is important to dry hop for a good pilsner.

I'm in the process of creating the recipe. I will post when done.

[Johnny H]

Just to make sure: you are talking about the "standard" Beck's and not one of the American versions, such as the Beck's Sapphire?

I cannot see "standard" Beck's being dry-hopped. Whether the same applies for anything brewed in licence elsewhere in the world under the same name I'm not sure but it's difficult to see that given that Beck's is internationally renowned as a light lager without too much flavour.

It also seems there are various other versions available abroad which I have never heard of, let alone tried.

[Eowyn]

Pilsner (weyermann or best malz, lightest colour) 77.5%
Carapils (weyermann) 20%
Acid MAlt 2.5%
90 min boil
Hallerftauer Mittelfrueh @60min - 13.6 IBU
Hallerftauer Mittelfrueh @20min - 3.1 IBU
Whirlfloc Tablet @15min
Hallerftauer Mittelfrueh @5min - 1.6 IBU
Overall IBU: 18.3

water: Calcium 19.7ppm, Magnesium 0ppm, Sodium 7.7ppm, Sulfate 15.4ppm, Chloride 35.8ppm; Sulfate to Chloride Ratio 0.4, Effective Hardness 14.1 ppm, Sulfate/Chloride balance = very malty

Mash: 3.5ltr per 1kg of Malt
35c for 15 min (acid rest)
50c for 30 min
62c for 40 min
68c for 15 min
72c for 15 min
Mash out at 76c-78c for 10 min

Yeast: Saflager 34/70 (3 packets, and spin up to yeast count)(Calculate yeast @6billion cells per gram, as per manufacturer numbers)(Use Yeast Starter calculator)
NOTE: Start the yeast starter 2 to 3 days before pitching. Use a stir plate if possible.

Ferment @ 9c until finished.
Crash cool to 0.5c for at least 2 weeks.
Add gelatine at end of 2 weeks (24g of gelatine per 25ltrs of wort. Dissolve gelatine in 1 cup of hot water, when dissolved, add to fermenter and gently stir. Remember to use StarSan to sanitise your stirrer).
Leave for 3 days after adding gelatine.

Carbonation: 2.3 co2 volume.

Any questions let me know. It's a good Helles recipe, close to those in Southern Bavaria. You can drop to 15% carapils and up the pilsner percentage. Don't change the acid malt amount as it's important to the overall beer.

Thank you so much!
I'll try to get brave enough to brew this.
I'll let you know how it went :)

[Neubierig]

A bit OT on the subject of light-struck. That comes apparently from the use of green bottles, which let the UV through. If you're buying it in cans or on tap, you're not going to get that. Coming from a bottle won't necessarily be light-struck - it all depends on how it's transported and stored.

Cheers,

Keith :-)