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Mack and Jacks African Amber clone
It has been four weeks today since I bottled this. And all I can say is, WOW"! We had graduation last weekend and I got thumbs up from everyone that tried it. And it is even better now!
I have never had the original, so I don't know what it is supposed to taste like, but this is really good beer. Now that I am set up for all grain, the next time around I am sure it will be even better, as the Marris Otter should add a dimension that the DME I used in the partial mash I did for this batch doesn't have.
I know you have received numerous kudos for developing this recipe, and here is one more. Thanks for your feedback, and thanks for the great recipe.
Finally tried this on draft at Vinno Rosso in Idaho Falls. Pretty damn fine beer. Not near the orange citrus as was in my home brew version but a very good beer.
This beer brings back alot of memories of being 25, and ripping it up in Seattle. Grunge was king, and the guy to girl ration was 1:10. i'm not kidding, there where so many women in Seattle, I thought they where dropping them off by the boat load.
That's probably what I like most about this beer, everytime I have one, i'm 25 again. At least for as long it takes to finish a pint.
Ahh, memories.
But somehow I don't have the same fond memories of Old Style and La Crosse.................
Oh yea, that's right, it was Old Style. And La Crosse.
I just discovered I have a crisis. Checked the fridge and I only have two bottles left! Someone has been drinking all my beer. Those bastards! Oh, wait, that's me. I best take a trip to the LHBS, looks like I need to squeeze a brew session in ASAP.
Time to brew another Mac & Jack's.
I've now lost track of how many batches of this marvelous elixir I've brewed & consumed.
bruguru- I've not been religiously dry hopping. This time I'm going to.
Using Cascade 7.5% AA pellets in a sack.
Better in the fermenter, secondary, or keg?
I don't use a secondary, I just throw the hops in the fermenter after about a week, then I just put a hop sack on the end of my bottling spigot, and drain into my keg. I just like to make it easy, and the less you screw around with your beer the better ha ha.
I thought I read a post where you put a hop sack into the keg.
Sounded weird, but 
Hey rural-
I also have memories of Old Style, and La Crosse.
Something about summer camp in Ft. McCoy, wearing olive drab fatigues, the juke box blaring out "Smoke on the Water", waking up in great pain at 4:30AM.
Maybe I'll remember someday, maybe not. Maybe that's better. Yeah.
But we digress from the topic of this thread.
Too damn hot to brew this week, cold front coming through tonight.
Mac & Jack's on Monday.
Brewski, Ah yes, Camp McCoy, the home of the Thirsty Reservist. Back in the days when the cops used to stop us to make sure we weren't too drunk to drive. Old Style might not have been the best beer, but it still hit the spot after a long day in the haymow or tobacco field.
Was hoping to pick up ingredients today, not sure if I will have time and still get some shuteye before work tonight. Been busy putting together a wort chiller this afternoon. And a steam manifold for my 5 gallon cooler/mash tun. Going to hook it up to an old pressure canner and use steam to raise the mash temperature. And when I get done with the steam I will have plenty of heated water for sparging and rinsing the mash tun after the sparge. That's the plan, anyway.
Going to brew two batches this weekend. Some more Mac and Jack's and a 1554 clone. My oldest daughter loves that beer and asked if I could make her some for her birthday party this year. Figured I better do a dry run and get ahead of the game. Might have to pick up another plastic bucket. SWMBO wants me to start another batch of wine too. Gonna be lots of fermenting going on around here.
I have my second batch of Mac and Jack's in a carboy. I did learn a couple things today. One is that a 5 gallon round cooler is not big enough for a mash tun. The second is that wort chillers are wonderful things.
I had some problems mashing, probably related to the cooler being too small. I couldn't keep the SS braid down on the bottom of the cooler so I couldn't get a good grain filter bed. I ended up with a very cloudy wort, and I already have a couple inches of trub settled out on the bottom of the carboy. I was thinking of adding some extra water to make up for all the solids that settled out but am not sure if I should. My OG came in at 1.062 and the sample tasted nice and sweet and citrus-hoppy. One way or the other it will still make beer, and I am sure it will be good.
SWMBO's wine kit came yesterday, so I got it started today too. By tomorrow night there should be lots of bubbling in the back of the basement.
I just finished the next-to-the-last bottle of my first batch, and I can hear the last one calling my name. But I am going to be strong and wait until I bottle this batch to have it.
don't worry about the extra trub, this beer is supposed to be cloudy. Unfilterd, and dry hopped right on the tap handle. You hit your OG right on, and sounds like you have the right taste for a green beer. let the yeast do it's thing, and it will come out great.
Sometimes I think I worry too much. I think it was just settling around the edge of the carboy. I checked it this morning and it doesn't look like there is nearly as much trub as I had originally thought. Fermentation has started, on both the M&J and SWMBO's Chenin Blanc. So things are looking up. 
Heading north to mow at the cottage today. I'm going to appropriate the big cooler we have up there for my mash tun. It only gets used a couple times a year as it is, so this will be a more value added use than having it sit there. And in a pinch I can always turn it back to a cooler.
Now my only problem is I only have one Mac and Jack's left until this batch gets done. I'm going to try and be a little more patient with this batch. You are right, that 30 days in the bottle seems to be the magic number with this beer. I think that is the one thing that has surprised me the most about home brewing, how much the beer changes when left to condition in the bottle. I'm not sure what processes are going on in there, but it is pretty amazing. Now all I have to do is get ahead on my brewing so I have enough in the pipeline so I am not drinking it too green.
________________________________________________________
Primary: Mac and Jack's, Chenin Blanc
Secondary: empty
Bottled: Cream Ale, Mac and Jack's, Northern English Mild, Chardonnay
I haven't taken a gravity reading on my latest batch yet, but I think it is about close enough to dry hop it. I was thinking having an IPA ready to dump on to the yeastcake of the S-04 after I empty the carboy. The hop residue shouldn't hurt anything should it? Might even be a good thing with an IPA.
Hello!
Found thread this while searching for a M&J recipe on google....
After 21 pages I have some questions for my (going to be 3rd ever home brewed) beer...
SAFEALE-04 is that the preferred yeast now?
I still don't have a setup for all grain but I did just setup a Keezer... should I dry hop in the primary and skip 2nd or dry hop in 2nd.... OR drop a bag of hops into my ball lock keg at some point?
Should I just cut the recipe (posted on the first page) in half for 5 gallons?
Clarifier or no?
If I don't bottle it, how long should it sit around in the keg before I should pour it (I haven't kegged anything before)?
My goal is to lock down a "close enough" simple recipe to make once a week (we drink a lot of M&J by the keg). I won't be tweaking it unless there is a flavor I can't handle (to much orange)..
Thanks!
JasonOdd wrote:
My goal is to lock down a "close enough" simple recipe to make once a week (we drink a lot of M&J by the keg). I won't be tweaking it unless there is a flavor I can't handle (to much orange)..
Thanks!
this I think answers your own questions.
Brew it, keg it drink it, in that order, THEN kick back and decide how you feel about it. I Personally have brewed this enough times where it fit in my rotation for proper timing. However if you are chomping at the bit, I would recommend 1. brew it 2. ferment it for 3 weeks. 3 dryhop in some muslin bags and add fresh orange peel right into the keg.4. Carb it and drink it once you are happy with the carb level- about 10 days later. Just about a month after brewday you will be enjoying and then decide if you want to change things up for your own tastes.
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