After searching the web for a 1554 recipe and finding this thread (no doubt, the largest collection of information about brewing this beer anywhere), I decided to try my hand at it last month. It's now on tap here at home, so I wanted to post some info here in the event others may find it useful. Here is the recipe I used (for 5 gallons):
5.0 lbs dark Munich malt (20L)
4.5 lbs Briess pale malt
10 oz Briess dextrine malt (2L)
8 oz Briess Victory malt (25L)
8 oz Briess 60 L crystal
6 oz Dingeman's Belgian carapils (7L)
4 oz Briess 120 L crystal
4 oz Weyerman's Carafa I (~325L, de-husked)
4 oz Weyerman's Carafa III (~525L, de-husked)
0.67 oz Chinook at 12.5% AA (75 min)
1 tbsp of 5.2 buffer powder (I use this in all my brews)
White Labs 833 Bock yeast slurry from previous batch
I used ProMash to hone the color, gravity, and IBU numbers, while trying to follow the handful of advice nuggets posted here from correspondence with NB staff. Mash ran about 60 minutes at 152F, boil was about 75 minutes, and wort was cooled via immersion chiller to 68F. OG in the primary fermenter was 1.056.
I pitched about 500 mL of yeast slurry collected from a batch brewed earlier this year. Following the suggestion to use a lager yeast at ale temp, I fermented the batch in the basement where the ambient was between 65-68F. The fermentation had the vigor and duration characteristic of an ale, with activity quickly peaking and beginning to decline after a few days.
FG after a couple weeks in the primary was 1.018, at which point I moved the batch into a corny keg to chill and carbonate. This FG was a little higher than I expected, resulting in a little lower ABV than planned (about 5%), but the beer did have a nice creamy mouthfeel to show for it.
Following a couple weeks of cold conditioning, sampling reveals the following. Color is blacker than the NB version, more or less like a stout but not quite as opaque. Aroma is dominated by fruity esters and sweet malt, with subtle hints of roasted grain. Flavor is well-balanced between malt and hops with notes of bittersweet chocolate, over a somewhat creamy body, all fading into a smooth finish. One observation is that the de-husked Carafa malt imparted bready chocolate notes (think chocolate muffin) without the familiar coffee-like bitterness typical of grains this dark. This was largely responsible for the smoothness of the finish.
Overall this beer turned out to be something like a nice, lightweight cream stout, but not all that close to NB1554 itself. If I were to attempt a clone again, I would cut back a little on the roasted grains to lighten up the color a bit, and to push the chocolate notes a little further into the background where I feel they are in the NB version. There is also a subtle tartness or twang in the NB version that’s missing here. I thought the unique fermentation situation might produce this, but it didn’t really show up in my version; if anything I think it resulted in the big ester nose. To try to get this tartness, I would consider just using a clean ale yeast and supplement with a few percent acid malt, or alternatively, try a Belgian yeast. Finally, I did not include any grains of paradise or other spice in this version, something I might try next time for additional complexity.
If anyone else brews a clone, please reply with your experiences. In the meantime, here’s to the folks at New Belgium for their unique and tasty beers!
Cheers,
Aron Butler
Ann Arbor, MI
