Stop any random person on the street here in Toronto and ask them what their favourite beer is. Chances are more likely than not, they will mention something from Mill Street Brewery. In 10 short years, Mill Street has gone from a small craft Brewery to being a symbol of great Toronto brewing. From their flagship Organic Lager, to their award-winning coffee porter, they are sure to brew a style that will suit your tastes. Among the welcome diversity, one brew that stands out above the others is their Tankhouse Ale. Bold and complex, it challenges you to grasp the many different flavours at work in this celebrated brew. Each sip builds upon the last until your taste buds are fully satisfied. It’s generously hopped with the ever popular Cascade, but its the depth of the malts that take it to where other ales fall short. This beer isn’t so bitter as to scare away the under-initiated, yet it is bold enough to stand strong and proud.
I dug around to see if I could find any information on what goes into this one, but understandably, there’s not much. What I do know is:
- 5 different malts
- Cascade hops
- a small amount of chocolate malt
- 5.2% ABV
Armed with that information I’ve come up with the following recipe:
Download the recipe here:
Hoptomology’s Tankhouse Ale Clone – All Grain
Hoptomology’s Tankhouse Ale Clone – Extract
Carbonation and Storage
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Hoptomology’s Tankhouse Ale Clone – All Grain |
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American Pale Ale |
| Type: All Grain | Brewer: Hoptomology | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Equipment: 7.5 Gallon Stainless Steel Pot + 5 Gallon Coleman Cooler Mash Tun | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Est Original Gravity: 1.052 SG | Measured Original Gravity: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Est Final Gravity: 1.013 SG | Measured Final Gravity: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.1 % | Actual Alcohol by Vol: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bitterness: 34.3 IBUs | Bitterness Ratio: 0.661 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Est Color: 11.9 SRM | Calories: 0.0 kcal/12oz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ingredients |
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| Total Grains Used: 9 lbs 11.4 oz | Total Hops Used: 3.648 oz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Mash Profile |
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| Mash Style: Single Infusion, Medium Body | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Sparging: Fly sparge with 2.13 gal water at 168.0 F to achieve 5.96 gal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Boil Profile |
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| Boil Size: 5.96 gal | Boil Time: 60 min | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| End of Boil Volume: 5.46 gal | Estimated pre-boil gravity: 1.046 SG | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batch Size (into fermenter): 5.00 gal | Measured pre-boil Gravity: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Final Bottling Volume: 4.75 gal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Fermentation Profile |
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| Fermentation: Ale, Single Stage | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Primary Fermentation: 10.00 days at 68.0 F | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Secondary Fermentation: 0.00 days at 0.0 F | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Carbonation and Storage |
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| Carbonation Type: Keg | Volumes of CO2: 2.5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pressure/Weight: 12.27 PSI | Age Beer for: 3.00 days | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Keg/Bottling Temperature: 40.0 F | Storage Temperature: 40.0 F | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Notes |
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| Taste Rating: 0.0 / 50 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taste Notes: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| www.hoptomology.com – A little about life, a lot about beer. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
We did a little last-minute R & D by sampling a bottle of the original, and from what I can tell, I think we’ll do pretty well. Regardless of how close we are to Mill Street’s signature ale, we’re going to have a tasty beer on our hands!
Read the review here: “Reviewing our Tankhouse Ale clone…”
Hear the unbiased opinions of some homebrewers who have brewed this recipe: Tankhouse Ale Clone – Canadian Homebrewing Forum
Cheers!
Being from the UK I haven’t had a chance to sample the beer but I do like the look of your recipe. Trying to replicate a commercial beer is a good way to understand different ingredients.
You’ll have to post an update after tasting. Enjoyed the blog, keep up the good work.
Hey Neil!
Thanks for dropping by! I’m glad you enjoyed the blog.
I totally agree. Trying to replicate commercial beers you love are a great way to understand techniques and ingredients and gives you a goal in mind so you can dial in your recipes/process. Then you can take into your own personal territory. Tankhouse is a great Pale Ale, nicely complex with some good hopping without going overboard into IPA territory. It’s currently in primary for probably about 7 days, then I’ll dry hop it for 7, then rack it to a keg and carbonate. I’ll definitely update when ready!
I look forward to checking out your blog as well! Cheers!
Pingback: Reviewing our Tankhouse Ale clone… | Hoptomology
How did turn out? I think I’ll brew it next.
Hey Brent,
You can see how it turned out here: http://www.hoptomology.com/2011/06/15/reviewing-our-tankhouse-ale-clone/
I altered the recipe a little from what we actually did, based on tasting it after. Need to try it again to see if it gets it closer to the original, but all in all, a good hoppy brew…
Setting up to brew and just wanted to confirm that you recipe is in US gallons and not Imperial?
Hi Brent,
Thanks for asking. Yes the recipe is for US gallons…
Hope your brew goes well, let me know how it goes and if you have any suggestions for it.
Cheers!
Brewed a mini AG batch last night. Added in a bit of Vienna for some of the 2-row. Got distracted by kids so was off with my water volume. I’ll keep it, but will re-do next weekend and possibly blend the two.
Vienna is one of my favorite malts, always good. I know, the kids can take your eye off of things, but hey, that’s the way it goes eh? lol
Finally got to try the latest version of it as it’s been at my in-laws, was really good. Very close, I would just lower the bittering hops a touch. We did it from extract and grains, so perhaps all grain might have rounded it out. Might even switch a bit more Munich instead of 2 row, but all in all was good.
Keep me posted! Cheers…
Re-did the recipe on the 31st with the right amount of water! Looks and smells great.
I’ll post news as it comes!
B
Sweet!
Just bottled the first batch. It looks a little lighter than yours but comes in around 4.5% abv and has nice flavour for green beer. Give me a few more weeks and I’ll try one on for size.
sounds good, I look forward to hearing about it!
Hi thanks for posting this. I’ve been looking for a good Tankhouse recipe. From what I’ve seen elsewhere there seems to be a consensus that Tankhouse uses only cascade. Why the centennial for bittering?
Hi Will, thanks for writing.
Yes, I believe you are correct. From everything that I’ve read, it looks like Tankhouse has only Cascades in it. I think what happened is that in the first incarnation of this clone, I had some Centennial laying around that I wanted to use up. In the subsequent versions I must have overlooked it and didn’t change it to the appropriate addition of Cascade. I’m going to go ahead and make the adjustment. Thanks for pointing it out!
Are you thinking of brewing it? If you do, would love to hear your thoughts on it and where it could be improved….
Cheers!