I can’t get Fat Tire in Oklahoma. The archaic beer laws here are so restrictive that it is impossible to get some of the best craft beers on the market. The one law that really keeps good beer out of Oklahoma is the refrigeration law. In Oklahoma it is illegal to sell beer that is over 3.2 ABW that is refrigerated. That means that the good folks at New Belgium cannot sell Fat Tire here. Insane.
The part of this story that really gets me is that the liquor stores want to keep things just the way they are. If the law changes then they will have to spend the money to install refrigerators, so selling warm beer is just fine with them. The liquor store lobby has the the state legislators in their pocket, so I don’t imagine that this situation will change very quickly.
All that being said, if I want to drink Fat Tire without driving out of state I have to make it myself. I’ve made two clones. The first was from Northern Brewer, and didn’t really taste like Fat Tire. It wasn’t a bad beer, but it wasn’t a clone.
The following recipe is in my keg right now, and is close enough. I found it online. It has the distinctive biscuit malt flavor and a nice hop character that will tide me over until I can get the real thing.
Here it is:
Brew Type: All Grain
Style: American Amber Ale
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Volume: 6.5 gal Boil Time: 90 min
Ingredients
6.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3 SRM) Grain 58.5 %
2.00 lb Amber Malt (22 SRM) Grain 19.5 %
1.00 lb Munich Malt (9 SRM) Grain 9.8 %
0.50 lb Biscuit Malt (23 SRM) Grain 4.9 %
0.25 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt – 10L (10 SRM) Grain 2.4 %
0.25 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt – 40L (40 SRM) Grain 2.4 %
0.25 lb Special Roast (50 SRM) Grain 2.4 %
0.75 oz Northern Brewer [8.5%] (60 min) Hops 22.8 IBU
0.50 oz Williamette [5.5%] (30 min) Hops 7.6 IBU
0.50 oz Williamette [5.5%] (15 min) Hops 4.9 IBU
0.50 oz Williamette [5.5%] (5 min) Hops 2.0 IBU
American Ale II (Wyeast Labs #1272) [Starter 1000 ml]
Beer Profile Estimated Original Gravity: 1.058 SG (1.045-1.056 SG) Measured Original Gravity: 1.059 SG
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.014 SG (1.010-1.015 SG) Measured Final Gravity: 1.012 SG
Estimated Color: 12 SRM (11-18 SRM) Color [Color]
Bitterness: 37.2 IBU (20.0-40.0 IBU) Alpha Acid Units: 2.4 AAU
Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 5.7 % (4.5-5.7 %) Actual Alcohol by Volume: 6.1 %