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BrewToppers · 01-17-2012, 08:11 PM

I mashed at 149F for 60minutes... the temperature held perfectly for the entire hour.

I sparged with 168F water by draining almost all of the wort from the mash, then pouring in a couple gallons of water and mixing. The mixing may have been my problem since in the past, I usually just pour my sparge water onto a plate sitting on the mash so it won't tunnel. Basically I just took the runnings of that until I reached the pre-boil volume of 7.0 gallons.

After 90 minutes of boil, it looked like I had the estimated post-boil volume I was shooting for, but guessing that the ridiculous amount of hops soaked up quite a bit of that.

All-in-all, I thinking I sparged incorrectly and should have started with maybe 7.5 gallons pre-boil.

Thoughts?

brew2enjoy · 01-17-2012, 08:53 PM

It may have been your sparge temp. You want the temp to be around 170 after it settles. I sparged with 190* water and stirred for 5 minutes. By the time I drained the sparge water it was 165*. I could be missing something but that seems like the only part of your process that was off.

**scoundrel** · 01-18-2012, 08:57 PM

Ok, so my buddy and I (and several others) did a blind taste test of this the other night after about a month and a half and I have to say its a DAMN good beer. That being said it wasn't completely cloned. So we asked for input and the overwhelming response was its missing the deep "raisin" flavor of the original and was a bit lighter. It was a 10 gallon batch and everything went perfect. I suspect there that a small amount of crystal 120 may need to be added. I had a couple of beers that used crystal 120 and it had a similar aroma and taste. I was also inspired by their website tasting notes stating "raisiney". I may throw a little in next time just to experiment.

brew2enjoy · 01-19-2012, 12:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scoundrel

Ok, so my buddy and I (and several others) did a blind taste test of this the other night after about a month and a half and I have to say its a DAMN good beer. That being said it wasn't completely cloned. So we asked for input and the overwhelming response was its missing the deep "raisin" flavor of the original and was a bit lighter. It was a 10 gallon batch and everything went perfect. I suspect there that a small amount of crystal 120 may need to be added. I had a couple of beers that used crystal 120 and it had a similar aroma and taste. I was also inspired by their website tasting notes stating "raisiney". I may throw a little in next time just to experiment.

What was the date on the bottle of 90 minute? As Scottland says in the OP, 90 Minute starts to develop that raisin/apricot flavor as it ages. I have had it fresh on tap before and the hops overpowered the other flavors. So as your beer ages and the hops start to fade, that will be the real test. When mine is finished and kegged, I will probably bottle a 6er and stash it away for a few months and see how it changes.

**scottland** · 01-19-2012, 01:25 AM

I'm thinking the clone might possibly need a pinch more amber malt, like 1/4lb more. I get pretty high efficency, so the amber was a higher % of my grist. I think 1.25lbs would be about right.

**scoundrel** · 01-19-2012, 01:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brew2enjoy

What was the date on the bottle of 90 minute? As Scottland says in the OP, 90 Minute starts to develop that raisin/apricot flavor as it ages. I have had it fresh on tap before and the hops overpowered the other flavors. So as your beer ages and the hops start to fade, that will be the real test. When mine is finished and kegged, I will probably bottle a 6er and stash it away for a few months and see how it changes.

Not sure off hand on the date, but the place I bought it was my normal shop here in good old central Maryland. The owner once told me that they have a hard time keeping it in stock. I believe its mostly due to their good price. I suspect it wasn't very old at all. Amarillo will give you apricot and it was definitely there. However, the raisiney flavor in the commercial version was very pronounced and I don't see how aging would cause this. Perhaps it isn't crystal 120. Maybe its a small amount of special B. I don't know. I can't pin it down yet.

**DustBow** · 01-19-2012, 12:51 PM

Might also be their "doggy" yeast coming into play?

**scottland** · 01-19-2012, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scoundrel

Perhaps it isn't crystal 120. Maybe its a small amount of special B. I don't know. I can't pin it down yet.

It's just Thomas facwett Amber malt. I do agree the recipe needs a pinch more. I updated it to 1.25 on the first page. What was your OG and FG?

**scoundrel** · 01-19-2012, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottland

It's just Thomas facwett Amber malt. I do agree the recipe needs a pinch more. I updated it to 1.25 on the first page. What was your OG and FG?

The OG was 1.084 and FG was 1.014. So it was a little dry but that "raisiney" flavor was pretty much non-existent. Maybe more is the answer. I may run a smaller batch to see. In the mean time, hopefully others who have recently made this will provide additional feedback.

brew2enjoy · 01-19-2012, 09:46 PM

I'll be transferring mine to the keg tonight. I still have a week of dry hopping though. I plan on sneaking a sample to see how it is coming along. Last time I sampled it the malt seemed very close but mine also finished on the sweeter side at 1.022.