Sculpish IPA Clone Attempt

Continuing on my purge of rather old hops, I decided to make something like the great Sclupin IPA. A clone recipe was posted in the latest issue of Zymurgy, but I made some ingredient substitutions. Also the hops are from several years ago. (Sadly my proclivity to buy them was greater than my proclivity to brew with them). In any case they probably have less AA and overall hoppy goodness than would be optimal, even though they have been stored in the freezer the whole time and are in unopened vacuum-sealed bags.

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Sculpish IPA
Style: American IPA

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.98 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.25 gal  
Bottling Volume: 4.75 gal
Estimated OG: 1.074 SG
Estimated Color: 10.8 SRM
Estimated IBU: 67.7 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 76.7 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt                   Name                                     Type          #        %/IBU        
14 lbs                Pale Ale Malt 2-Row (Briess) (3.5 SRM)   Grain         1        92.6 %       
10.0 oz               Caramel/Crystal Malt - 75 (Bairds) (75.0 Grain         2        4.1 %        
8.0 oz                RedX (BestMälz)  (15.2 SRM)              Grain         3        3.3 %    
    
0.75 oz               Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ) [15.50 %] - FWH     4        37.4 IBUs    
0.50 oz               Chinook [9.00 %] - Boil 20.0 min         Hop           5        8.0 IBUs     
0.50 oz               Crystal [2.00 %] - Boil 20.0 min         Hop           6        1.8 IBUs     
0.50 oz               Chinook [9.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min         Hop           7        5.0 IBUs     
0.50 oz               Chinook [9.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min          Hop           8        2.6 IBUs     
0.50 oz               Crystal [2.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min          Hop           9        0.6 IBUs     
1.00 oz               Amarillo [7.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool  15. Hop           10       5.1 IBUs     
0.50 oz               Chinook [13.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool  15. Hop           11       4.7 IBUs     
0.25 oz               Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ) [14.00 %] - Hop           12       2.5 IBUs      

1.0 pkg               Brettanomyces Bruxellensis Trois (White  Yeast         13       -    
        
1.00 oz               Amarillo [8.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days     Hop           14       0.0 IBUs     
1.00 oz               Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ) [15.50 %] - Hop           15       0.0 IBUs     
1.00 oz               Crystal [2.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days      Hop           16       0.0 IBUs     


Mash Schedule: 150F, Mash Out, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 15 lbs 2.0 oz
----------------------------
Name                    Description                                          Step Temp Step Time    
Mash Step               Add 4.73 gal of water at 162.9 F                     150.0 F       60 min       
Sparge            Drain tun Add 2 gal of water at 170 F                     168.0 F       10 min       
Sparge            Drain tun Add 2 gal of water at 170 F                     168.0 F       10 min    
 Notes:

AA% are approximate, likely to be lower than stated. 

Boston Water, 1/2 g CaCl and 1g gypsum per 5 gal of brewing water.
--------- 

7/2 - Starter with re-used Sac. Trois. 1L.

7/4 - Brewed. A little high (152F) on the mash temp.
 Split my sparging into 2 equal-sized batches instead of 1 big one. Preboil OG was ~1.057. Post-boil was 1.068.
Got ~5.5 gal into fermenter, leaving about 3/4 gallon of hoppy trub in the kettle. 
Cooled to 60F. Oxygenated 60 seconds, pitched decanted starter. Placed carboy in 66F ambient basement.

7/5 - Good fermentation activity. Lots of krausen. 

7/6 - Moved to 70F ambient area. Still good airlock activity and krausen.

 

Baltic Porter Review

 
Appearance: Very dark brown, but not quite opaque when held to the light. Thin but persistent tan head. Good lacing.

Aroma: A unique biscuity and intensely chocolate nose. Not quite like any of the other beers I've made. Bittersweet chocolate mixed with bread crust or the like. Maybe like a chocolate desert cake? As it warms I get some earthy or spicy hop notes but overall the impression of bittersweet chocolate predominates.
 
Taste: Leads with a taste similar to the nose. I get bittersweet chocolate, some coffee and crystal malt sweetness, again with an interesting biscuity quality. Perhaps surprisingly given the amount of roasted grains, I do not get any acrid characteristics - either they're not there or the sweetness and bready character covers them up. At the end, some nice alcohol warming brought about by the 9% or so ABV. Crystal malty sweetness but definitely not cloying. Hop bitterness mixes cleanly with alcohol and roasty notes. Clean lager fermentation, with no off-flavors that I can detect. I don't really get any fermentation esters or dried-fruit notes.

Mouthfeel: Thick and chewy without being cloying. No acridness. Aftertaste is pretty smooth for a boozy beer. Carbonation on the low/moderate end - I don't think I would change.

Overall: I'm very happy with it. It has a clean, complex aroma and taste with a really interesting mix of bread / biscuit and chocolate roast. The balance between sweetness and acrid / roast is much more even here than it was in either of my Russian stouts. It's a sipping beer, but more drinkable than a RIS. I'd like to try this style again. My guess is that the Amber Malt is driving the biscuity flavors.

As to how close it tastes to the Smuttynose Baltic Porter, I'll do another taste test with my wife and eventually I will get some feedback from the clone competition. That will all be for another post.

Clone Attempt: Smuttynose Baltic Porter

My homebrew club is having a clone competition. We're attempting to clone the Smuttynose Baltic Porter. I haven't tasted said brew but we were given some information about the recipe (and it's on the website of the brewery). I had to make a couple of substitutions, as usual.

I don't want to have 5 gallons of 9%+ beer, particularly when 5 gallons of RIS will be ready soon, so I brewed a 3-gallon batch of the Baltic Porter and will put it into my small keg. Along with my Barleywine and Russian Stouts this is the highest ABV beer I've ever brewed.

Baltic Porter - 3 Gallon

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Smuttynose Baltic Porter CloneStyle: Baltic Porter
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 5.24 gal
Post Boil Volume: 3.59 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 3.25 gal  
Bottling Volume: 3.15 gal
Estimated OG: 1.097 SG
Estimated Color: 56.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 40.5 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 69.0 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt                   Name                                     Type          #        %/IBU        
7 lbs 4.0 oz          Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)           Grain         1        53.0 %       
2 lbs 10.0 oz         Munich Malt (9.0 SRM)                    Grain         2        19.2 %       
1 lbs 5.0 oz          Amber Malt (22.0 SRM)                    Grain         3        9.6 %        
11.0 oz               Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM)    Grain         4        5.0 %        
11.0 oz               Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM)   Grain         5        5.0 %        
9.0 oz                Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM)          Grain         6        4.1 %        
9.0 oz                Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM)               Grain         7        4.1 %        
0.50 oz               Sterling [7.50 %] - Boil 90.0 min        Hop           8        19.4 IBUs    
0.75 oz               Sterling [7.50 %] - Boil 20.0 min        Hop           9        16.5 IBUs    
1.25 oz               Sterling [7.50 %] - Steep/Whirlpool  5.0 Hop           10       4.5 IBUs     
1.0 pkg               Old Bavarian Lager (White Labs #WLP920)  Yeast         11       -            


Mash Schedule: 154F, Batch Sparge, Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 13 lbs 11.0 oz
----------------------------
Name                    Description                                          Step Temperat Step Time    
Mash Step               Add 17.11 qt of water at 170.8 F                     154.0 F       60 min       
Mash Step               Add 10.95 qt of water at 194.9 F                     168.0 F       10 min       

Sparge: Batch sparge with 1 steps (Drain mash tun ) of 168.0 F water
Notes:
------

1/13/16: Made starter with ~1200 ml water, yeast nutrient, and 70g extract, lightly hopped. Fermented at ~55F.

1/17/16: Brewed. Went well except for minor boil-over. I hit my mash temp, and got pre-boil OG of 1.070, at about 5.1 gallons. Boiled 10 mins before adding hops.  Neglected to take OG at end of boil. Force-chilled to 60F, then placed in fermentation fridge overnight for cooling to 45F. 

By brewday the starter had fermented.

1/18/16, 10am. Oxygenated for 1 minute, pitched mostly decanted starter. Total volume in fermenter, including trub, was about 3.5 - 4 gallons. Temperature profile will be 45F for 12 hours, then ramp over 12 hours to 50F, hold for two weeks. Then diacetyl rest followed by cold crashing and lagering.

1/20/16, 5pm: Fermentation proceeding actively. Nice krausen but I don't yet think at highkrausen.

1/27/16, 530pm. Still actively fermenting after more than a week though high Hayden has probably passed. I probably under pitched by a substantial amount, so I am a bit worried that fermentation will stall. But the continued activity is a good sign.

2/20/16: After crash cooling to 35F and holding for a few days, racked to 3-gallon keg and purged head space. Began carbonation.

Consecration Clone Review

This sour beer, an attempt to replicate a homebrew clone kit that was attempting to replicate a commercial beer, is about 18 months old. Hopefully it is worth the wait.

Appearance: Pretty dark amber-red color, off-white head that doesn't persist long but leaves lacing on the glass.

Aroma: Dark cherries, sourness, plums, some red wine character. No hint of sweetness. No diacetyl, fortunately.

Taste: Moderate sourness upfront, with some sweet cherry like flavor, some maltiness, a little bit of sweetness. Pretty dry though. Tanic quality in the aftertaste. Alcoholic burn is very subdued considering this beer weighs in at around 10%. Mild bretty funk in the finish.

Mouthfeel: Light body. Carbonation does not seem high, but the sourness, dryness, and tannic quality seem to lighten the body, as the alcohol no doubt does.

Overall: A moderately sour dark belgian beer with tastes of dark fruit and a wine like character. Pretty complex and highly alcoholic though the alcohol is hidden very well by a complex set of other flavors. Pleasant, but complex and best savored rather than consumed quickly.

Note: One guy at the club's sour night had traded for a bottle of real Consecration, which was a real treat for which I am grateful. I took only a small sip of it so that it could be shared around the table. Anyway, the consensus was that my beer is a bit harsher and not as sour. I generally agree. When compared to the real thing, mine has more of a harsh and tannic aftertaste, though when consumed on its own I don't mine is overly harsh.

On a side note, it's probably not a good idea to put a 10% beer into 22oz bottles.