So I attempted to clone the "Audacity of Hops" from Cambridge Brewing Co. without a complete idea of the recipe. I didn't end up with a clone by any means, and sadly, not even with a good beer. Suboptimal.
Appearance: Chill-hazy deep-orange with fluffy white head that dissipates fairly quickly but leaves a thin layer of bubbles around the perimeter of the glass and on the surface of the beer.
Aroma: Resiny, earthy hops. Fruity background notes. To me it also as a fairly strong caramel sweetness in the nose as well as some kind of yeast-derived esters and a boozy note.
Taste: A kind of odd combination of high bitterness, yeasty spice and a bit of caramel sweetness. It's kind of muddled - like there's too much going on and it doesn't all make sense together. I think I taste the alcohol a bit as well.
Mouthfeel: Medium body, accentuated by the caramel malts. Low to moderate combination. Bitter and alcoholic aftertaste.
Overall: Yikes. A muddled mess. The combination of high hops, caramel malt, and yeast spiceness and esters just doesn't work right in this circumstance. I can drink a glass, but I wouldn't want more than one. You win some, you loose some, especially when you basically have to guess at the recipe.
Needless to say, there was a closer clone attempt from another club member. The pro brewers at CBC were very helpful with their suggestions about yeast handling, drying the beer out, and avoiding any crystal malt in this beer. They also suggested avoiding the "whirlpool hop" technique.
Showing posts with label DIPA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DIPA. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Audacity of Hops Clone Attempt
The brewing club of which I am a minor part is holding a clone competition of the "Belgian Double IPA" Audacity of Hops from Cambridge Brewing Company. The page for the beer has some recipe info and stats for the beer although I heard some contradictory information from a member of the club who spoke with one of the brewers. I've tried to guess at the recipe as best I could.
Audacity Clone Attempt
3.25 gallon batch
6# Belgian Pilsner Malt
2# German Vienna Malt
12oz Table Sugar
12oz Wheat Malt
2oz Crystal 40L
1oz Nugget, 13.1% AA, 90 min
.5oz Cascade, 6%, 10 min
.5oz Centennial, 10.5%, 10min
.5oz Hallertau, 4.5%, 5min
.5oz Tettnang, 4%, 5min
.5oz Hallertau, 4.5%, 1min
.5oz Tettnang, 4%, 1min
.25oz Chinook, 13%, Hopstand
.25oz Amarillo, 9.5%, Hopstand
.25oz Simcoe, 13%, Hopstand
.25oz Tettnang, 4%, Hopstand
.75oz Chinook, 13%, Dry
.75oz Amarillo, 9.5%, Dry
.75oz Simcoe, 13%, Dry
.75oz Tettnang, 4%,Dry
WLP550 - Belgian Ale Yeast
Expected FG / OG / IBUs / ABV: 1.079, 1.015, 88, 8.3%
Brewed 8/3/14
Made a starter on 8/2/14.
Hit my mash temp well, but oversparged. I collected about 4.75 gallons and boiled for 25 minutes before adding the hops.
My OG was probably a bit off because of this, but at the end of the boil I was about at the right batch size.
Hopstand procedure was 5 mins at 210F, then 30 minutes at 180F - 165F. I recirculated the hot wort the whole time using the march pump.
Cooled to approximately 110F, then placed the kettle in the basement in a tub of water. Let cool for 4 hours, and pitched at 70F.
By 8/4/14 at 6pm, the fermentation was going nicely.
Added dry hops on 8/11/14, after most of the yeast had started to drop out. The smell of the beer was good and Belgian.
Bottled on 8/18/14, going for 2.2 volumes of CO2. I got 27 bottles. The trub and hop gunk reduce your volume substantially on a beer like this.
Audacity Clone Attempt
3.25 gallon batch
6# Belgian Pilsner Malt
2# German Vienna Malt
12oz Table Sugar
12oz Wheat Malt
2oz Crystal 40L
1oz Nugget, 13.1% AA, 90 min
.5oz Cascade, 6%, 10 min
.5oz Centennial, 10.5%, 10min
.5oz Hallertau, 4.5%, 5min
.5oz Tettnang, 4%, 5min
.5oz Hallertau, 4.5%, 1min
.5oz Tettnang, 4%, 1min
.25oz Chinook, 13%, Hopstand
.25oz Amarillo, 9.5%, Hopstand
.25oz Simcoe, 13%, Hopstand
.25oz Tettnang, 4%, Hopstand
.75oz Chinook, 13%, Dry
.75oz Amarillo, 9.5%, Dry
.75oz Simcoe, 13%, Dry
.75oz Tettnang, 4%,Dry
WLP550 - Belgian Ale Yeast
Expected FG / OG / IBUs / ABV: 1.079, 1.015, 88, 8.3%
Brewed 8/3/14
Made a starter on 8/2/14.
Hit my mash temp well, but oversparged. I collected about 4.75 gallons and boiled for 25 minutes before adding the hops.
My OG was probably a bit off because of this, but at the end of the boil I was about at the right batch size.
Hopstand procedure was 5 mins at 210F, then 30 minutes at 180F - 165F. I recirculated the hot wort the whole time using the march pump.
Cooled to approximately 110F, then placed the kettle in the basement in a tub of water. Let cool for 4 hours, and pitched at 70F.
By 8/4/14 at 6pm, the fermentation was going nicely.
Added dry hops on 8/11/14, after most of the yeast had started to drop out. The smell of the beer was good and Belgian.
Bottled on 8/18/14, going for 2.2 volumes of CO2. I got 27 bottles. The trub and hop gunk reduce your volume substantially on a beer like this.
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Double IPA Review
I finally brewed a DIPA, hoping to blast as much hops into the beer as possible, especially in the aroma. I used the "whirlpool" hop technique for the first time to achieve this, as I have heard that it works quite well. Overall, I'm quite pleased with the results, since it has the best hop aroma of any beer I've brewed.
Appearance: Burnt orange body, slightly hazy but overall pretty clear. Billowing off-white head that sticks around. Pretty good looking beer I would say. The lacing sticks to the side of the glass as I drink.
Aroma: Dank hop aromas dominate. Piney, resinous, but also a kind of grapefruit or citrusy note. I don't get a lot of fruitiness, it's more dank than that. It's pretty hard to describe the smell. The intensity and saturation of the aroma is good, better than most or all of my other beers, but it cannot be detected from several feet away, like some IPAs / DIPAs can be. I think I detect a bit of alcohol in the nose, but its very subtle. As it warms up, I think I get more fruity quality to the hop aroma.
Taste: Firm bitterness, but not overly harsh, tannic or grassy. I get a fruit like quality, maybe grapefruit, orange, mango or the like, but the bitterness has more piney bite than a fruity quality. It's fairly smooth however. As far as malt, I do get a subtle malty taste in there, with a little bit of sweetness. I don't taste any alcohol, despite the approximately 8% ABV.
Mouthfeel: Moderate to heavy body. It kind of coats the tounge. Mid-range carbonation. I don't think it's "bone-dry" and so I do get some residual sweetness. Aftertaste is hoppy goodness. The bitterness is smoother than many of my other IPAs, but does have a bit of spicy / tannic / vegetable "bite". Normal and / or desired for a DIPA.
Overall: A very hoppy DIPA beer, dominated by the "dank" and piney type of hops. Some malt taste and residual sweetness, with moderate body.
I'm pretty pleased with this one, as it came out as hoppy as I was hoping for: aromatic and bitter, but with a solid malt backbone. I'll will definitely be using the "hop stand" technique in the future with hoppy beers. I think an interesting experiment to try here would be to dial down the IBUs and the OG, but keep the late / dry hops schedule, and see what happens.
Also I will definitely try the Summit / Nugget combo again, even if I don't brew this exact same recipe. At some point to I should try to exactly clone the Green Flash DIPA.
Appearance: Burnt orange body, slightly hazy but overall pretty clear. Billowing off-white head that sticks around. Pretty good looking beer I would say. The lacing sticks to the side of the glass as I drink. Aroma: Dank hop aromas dominate. Piney, resinous, but also a kind of grapefruit or citrusy note. I don't get a lot of fruitiness, it's more dank than that. It's pretty hard to describe the smell. The intensity and saturation of the aroma is good, better than most or all of my other beers, but it cannot be detected from several feet away, like some IPAs / DIPAs can be. I think I detect a bit of alcohol in the nose, but its very subtle. As it warms up, I think I get more fruity quality to the hop aroma.
Taste: Firm bitterness, but not overly harsh, tannic or grassy. I get a fruit like quality, maybe grapefruit, orange, mango or the like, but the bitterness has more piney bite than a fruity quality. It's fairly smooth however. As far as malt, I do get a subtle malty taste in there, with a little bit of sweetness. I don't taste any alcohol, despite the approximately 8% ABV.
Mouthfeel: Moderate to heavy body. It kind of coats the tounge. Mid-range carbonation. I don't think it's "bone-dry" and so I do get some residual sweetness. Aftertaste is hoppy goodness. The bitterness is smoother than many of my other IPAs, but does have a bit of spicy / tannic / vegetable "bite". Normal and / or desired for a DIPA.
Overall: A very hoppy DIPA beer, dominated by the "dank" and piney type of hops. Some malt taste and residual sweetness, with moderate body.
I'm pretty pleased with this one, as it came out as hoppy as I was hoping for: aromatic and bitter, but with a solid malt backbone. I'll will definitely be using the "hop stand" technique in the future with hoppy beers. I think an interesting experiment to try here would be to dial down the IBUs and the OG, but keep the late / dry hops schedule, and see what happens.
Also I will definitely try the Summit / Nugget combo again, even if I don't brew this exact same recipe. At some point to I should try to exactly clone the Green Flash DIPA.
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Double IPA Brewday
So, in a quest to make a really hoppy beer, I finally went for a DIPA. I really wanted to see if I could get the massive hop bitterness, flavor and aroma that characterize a good Double IPA. Sadly, I don't have access to the iconic west-coast DIPAs from Russian River Brewing, since I live on the east coast of the US, but Green Flash does distribute its Imperial IPA to this area. An approximate clone recipe for that beer was the source for my recipe below, and when I taste my recipe I can compare it a bit to the Green Flash DIPA. However, I am not going for an exact clone, as I modified the hopping schedule a little bit because I really wanted to try the "hop stand" technique, which can apparently result in some really great hop aroma and flavors.
Double IPA
3.25 gallons
8.6# US 2-Row
8oz Carapils
8oz Table Sugar
5oz Crystal 40L
5oz Crystal 60L
Mash at 152F for 60min
90min boil
1oz Summit, 17.5%, first wort
1oz Summit, 17.5%, 60 min
.3oz Nugget, 13.2%, 15min
.6oz Nugget, 13.2%, 10min
.3oz Summit, 17.5%, 5min
.5oz Nugget, 13.2%, 1min
.5oz Summit, 17.5%, 1min
.75oz Summit, 17.5%, Flameout, steep for 20min in whirlpool
.75oz Summit, 17.5%, flameout + 20, steep for 20min in whirpool, then cool wort
1.5oz Summit, dry, 7 days
US-05
Expected OG/FG/IBU/ABV: 1.081 / 1.020 / 197+ / 7.9%
(Note that the IBUs are likely above the point where additional IBUs make a difference in the taste, reportedly at around 100 IBUs.)
3/21/14 - Made a starter with some US-05 I had washed and stored in a mason jar.
Brewed 3/22/14
Hit my mash temps right on, and at the end of the second runnings I got about 4.75 gallons of 1.052 wort (no sugar added yet). With that volume, I had to be VERY careful not get a boil over. Luckily my burner can go to a low enough flame that I didn't have a problem.
Added the first hops, it smelled great. After the second addition of hops, it smelled great and was looking a little green.
At 20 minutes I put the worth chiller in to sanitize it, then connected the pump using a new set of plastic quick-disconnects I got to make cleaning and easier. I started the pump to, again to sanitize it and the tubing.
As I proceeded to add the hops, the beer started looking really green in color, but smelled awesome. The March pump did a fine job with pumping all the hoppy wort, but again my chiller was sort of tipping over. I really need to find a fix for this. After the flameout hops were added, I just let the wort continue to circulate through the pump. The wort cooled to around 170F by 20 minutes after flameout, when I added the second ounce of steeping hops. After another 20 minutes, I started the chilling procees, getting the wort down to 70F before turning the chiller and pumping the wort into the Better Bottle.
Again, having a March pump is awesome!
Obviously, there was a huge volume of hops in the wort. I didn't use hop bags or anything to filter them out, and so all but a small bit of hop debris and trub ended up in the fermenter. I hope this won't cause a problem.
3/27/14 - The beer was fermenting, with a smallish krausen, not yet full active. Ambient temps were high 50s. I moved the beer up to an area around 66F.
3/28/14- High krausen. The fermentation was very active, making the beer cloudy with yeast and the krausen dark and thick with hop gunk, yeast, and grub. The bubbles coming out of the airlock smelled pretty hoppy, unlike the normal smell.
3/30/14 - Transferred to a secondary fermentor and added dry hops, leaving almost all of the hop debris and yeast sediment behind in the primary fermenter. Didn't get a sample of the beer, but it smelled really good.
4/7/14 - Bottled, going for 2.2 volumes of CO2.
3.25 gallons
8.6# US 2-Row
8oz Carapils
8oz Table Sugar
5oz Crystal 40L
5oz Crystal 60L
Mash at 152F for 60min
90min boil
1oz Summit, 17.5%, first wort
1oz Summit, 17.5%, 60 min
.3oz Nugget, 13.2%, 15min
.6oz Nugget, 13.2%, 10min
.3oz Summit, 17.5%, 5min
.5oz Nugget, 13.2%, 1min
.5oz Summit, 17.5%, 1min
.75oz Summit, 17.5%, Flameout, steep for 20min in whirlpool
.75oz Summit, 17.5%, flameout + 20, steep for 20min in whirpool, then cool wort
1.5oz Summit, dry, 7 days
US-05
Expected OG/FG/IBU/ABV: 1.081 / 1.020 / 197+ / 7.9%
(Note that the IBUs are likely above the point where additional IBUs make a difference in the taste, reportedly at around 100 IBUs.)
3/21/14 - Made a starter with some US-05 I had washed and stored in a mason jar.
Brewed 3/22/14
Hit my mash temps right on, and at the end of the second runnings I got about 4.75 gallons of 1.052 wort (no sugar added yet). With that volume, I had to be VERY careful not get a boil over. Luckily my burner can go to a low enough flame that I didn't have a problem.
Added the first hops, it smelled great. After the second addition of hops, it smelled great and was looking a little green.
At 20 minutes I put the worth chiller in to sanitize it, then connected the pump using a new set of plastic quick-disconnects I got to make cleaning and easier. I started the pump to, again to sanitize it and the tubing.
As I proceeded to add the hops, the beer started looking really green in color, but smelled awesome. The March pump did a fine job with pumping all the hoppy wort, but again my chiller was sort of tipping over. I really need to find a fix for this. After the flameout hops were added, I just let the wort continue to circulate through the pump. The wort cooled to around 170F by 20 minutes after flameout, when I added the second ounce of steeping hops. After another 20 minutes, I started the chilling procees, getting the wort down to 70F before turning the chiller and pumping the wort into the Better Bottle.
Again, having a March pump is awesome!
Obviously, there was a huge volume of hops in the wort. I didn't use hop bags or anything to filter them out, and so all but a small bit of hop debris and trub ended up in the fermenter. I hope this won't cause a problem.
3/27/14 - The beer was fermenting, with a smallish krausen, not yet full active. Ambient temps were high 50s. I moved the beer up to an area around 66F.
3/28/14- High krausen. The fermentation was very active, making the beer cloudy with yeast and the krausen dark and thick with hop gunk, yeast, and grub. The bubbles coming out of the airlock smelled pretty hoppy, unlike the normal smell.
3/30/14 - Transferred to a secondary fermentor and added dry hops, leaving almost all of the hop debris and yeast sediment behind in the primary fermenter. Didn't get a sample of the beer, but it smelled really good.
4/7/14 - Bottled, going for 2.2 volumes of CO2.
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