Audacity Clone Attempt Review

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.

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.