Double IPA Lawson's Finest Sip of Sunshine Clone

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carvetop

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 23, 2013
Messages
151
Reaction score
58
Location
Lititz
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
Conan
Yeast Starter
Yes - See Notes
Batch Size (Gallons)
6
Original Gravity
1.080
Final Gravity
1.016
Boiling Time (Minutes)
60
IBU
84
Color
5.5 SRM
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
10 Days - 64F up to 68F
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
10 Days @ 68F
Tasting Notes
After a month in the keg, this is very tasty and very close to the original.
Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Conan
Yeast Starter: Yes - See Notes
Batch Size (Gallons): 6
Original Gravity: 1.080
Final Gravity: 1.016
IBU: 84
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Color: 5.5 SRM
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 10 Days - 64F up to 68F
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 10 Days @ 68F
Tasting Notes: After a month in the keg, this is very tasty and very close to the original.


11 Lbs Belgian Pale Ale Malt
3 Lbs Vienna Malt
1 Lbs Oat Flakes
12 oz. Carapils
4 oz. Carared
4 oz. Caramunich (Type I)
1 Lbs Corn Sugar (added at 10mins)

Mash @ 152F for 60 mins

1.5 oz Columbus @ 60
1.0 oz Citra @ 20
3.0 oz Citra @ 5
3.0 oz Citra @ Whirlpool/Hopstand @ 180F for 30 mins

3.0 oz Citra @ Dry Hop (in two installments)

- Yeast starter from 1 vial of Conan containing ~30B cells. 250ml -> 1000ml -> decant -> 1000ml

- Cooled wort to 63F after boil and pitched decanted starter. Increase temp 1F per day up to 68F.
- After 10 days, lower temp to 60F for 24 hrs.
- Purge secondary vessel with CO2, rack onto half of dry hops, allow temp to rise to 68F.
- At day 14, add the rest of the dry hops.
- At day 18, rack to keg.
- Attempt to wait patiently for 2 weeks until sampling.

Water profile:
Ca - 142ppm
Mg - 26ppm
Na- 15ppm
SO4 - 305ppm
Cl - 80ppm
 
How did this turn out? Any tweaks you would do for a future batch? I really like SoS and have a buddy who is insane for it. Would love to brew this if it is close.
 
Also a couple questions. What was your batch size and efficiency? Is your dry hop addition 1.5 oz each addition for a total of 3 oz? Or is each addition 3oz, for a total of 6oz?
 
Also a couple questions. What was your batch size and efficiency? Is your dry hop addition 1.5 oz each addition for a total of 3 oz? Or is each addition 3oz, for a total of 6oz?

Batch size was 6G at about 75-80% efficiency. Dry hop was 3oz total split in half. This is very close to the original. Because Lawson is continuing to tweak the recipe for SoS, the batches vary and the last glass I had locally was not quite as good as the clone. Try it out and let me know what you think!
 
Thanks much. I'll give it a whirl soon and post back here with results. Jealous of those in VT who will eventually get those in cans....as well as easy access to HF.
 
I've just realized that the basic stats being asked about by you and headley are not showing up on the mobile site. I will edit the post for redundancy ASAP. In the meantime, the desktop site has the recipe in standard format.
 
I just brewed this again with a minor modification that I found to be a nice change: instead of dry hopping, use all of the hops allocated for the DH and add them to the whirlpool. Yes, it's a HUGE whirlpool but I think the flavor is enhanced and the aroma is not compromised. While I'm sure Lawson dry hops this brew, this is a cool tweak to try with this recipe without deviating too much from the original.
 
As far as Conan yeast goes, is this possible to purchase somewhere? How did you guys who made this get this type of yeast? Culture? Thanks.
 
Farmhouse - Gigayeast - Vermont Ale.

I think there may be another version too.... can't remember company.

You can also culture out of cans if you can get your hands on some.
 
I have half a case of heady currently and also some sip of sunshine. Does it matter which I culture from?
 
I can't speak for certain which yeast Lawson's uses...... Heady is Conan though for sure.

If you have not done it before, start small.... I usually use about 300-500ml of 1.020 wort. 2 cans of Heady (about the last ounce or so of each can that has been allowed to sit undisturbed for a week or so in the fridge). Swirl up that last ounce of each can and dump in flask with wort. a bit of yeast nutrient. Stir plate for 18 hours or so. It may take a couple days even to really get going. Then, step up from there.

Sanitize the cans well so you don't contaminate your starter.
 
I can't speak for certain which yeast Lawson's uses...... Heady is Conan though for sure.

If you have not done it before, start small.... I usually use about 300-500ml of 1.020 wort. 2 cans of Heady (about the last ounce or so of each can that has been allowed to sit undisturbed for a week or so in the fridge). Swirl up that last ounce of each can and dump in flask with wort. a bit of yeast nutrient. Stir plate for 18 hours or so. It may take a couple days even to really get going. Then, step up from there.

Sanitize the cans well so you don't contaminate your starter.

Yes, I definitely cultured from a Heady can and I'm still working with samples frozen in August. I'm also not sure what kind of yeast Lawson is using but I would surely try to culture from a can of SoS if you're able. Please post back with results if so.
 
Yes, I definitely cultured from a Heady can and I'm still working with samples frozen in August. I'm also not sure what kind of yeast Lawson is using but I would surely try to culture from a can of SoS if you're able. Please post back with results if so.

Any idea how many cells you'd have after the first go around of 300ml starter to get it going? 30 million perhaps? I would prob step it up twice from there for a 5 gallon batch.

So, i can save cleaned and then frozen yeast from my batch after use? Yeast can stand up to that?
 
Any idea how many cells you'd have after the first go around of 300ml starter to get it going? 30 million perhaps? I would prob step it up twice from there for a 5 gallon batch.

So, i can save cleaned and then frozen yeast from my batch after use? Yeast can stand up to that?

I've stepped up from the can many times using the same method. The amount of yeast that you begin with from the can is debatable and frankly, not that important when stepping up to much larger amounts. I start with 150mL of 1.040 wort (15g of DME in 150mL water), then step it up to 500mL, 1000mL, decant, 1000mL. Using a yeast calculator (I use YeastCalc) with an initial count of anything under 20B, these steps leave you with around 250-300B cells (on a stir plate). This works for me and I'm sure you'll find countless other opinions here.
Yeast can absolutely be frozen provided it is taken care of properly. There are a number of threads on here regarding this and there really isn't much to it. I won't go into details as you can find them neatly described with photos on this forum. Having Conan (or any yeast) in your freezer, ready for use at any time is awesome (and free).
 
I've stepped up from the can many times using the same method. The amount of yeast that you begin with from the can is debatable and frankly, not that important when stepping up to much larger amounts. I start with 150mL of 1.040 wort (15g of DME in 150mL water), then step it up to 500mL, 1000mL, decant, 1000mL. Using a yeast calculator (I use YeastCalc) with an initial count of anything under 20B, these steps leave you with around 250-300B cells (on a stir plate). This works for me and I'm sure you'll find countless other opinions here.

Yeast can absolutely be frozen provided it is taken care of properly. There are a number of threads on here regarding this and there really isn't much to it. I won't go into details as you can find them neatly described with photos on this forum. Having Conan (or any yeast) in your freezer, ready for use at any time is awesome (and free).


Cool. I will have to try both heady and SOS cans to see if there is a difference. I will have to store these as I brew them moving forward for other batches.
 
Brewed up the BYO recipe over the weekend. Pretty similar to the OP recipe. Biggest difference is probably the OG. The BYO had OG of 1.074.
 
Brewed up the BYO recipe over the weekend. Pretty similar to the OP recipe. Biggest difference is probably the OG. The BYO had OG of 1.074.

I was admittedly a little bit loose on the OG. Somewhere between 1.074 - 1.080 will get you in the ballpark. My first go at it left me with an OG of 1.082 while subsequent attempts were in the 1.074 - 1.076 range.
 
I would love to have this clone as an extract recipe... Any way to get my greedy little hands on that? Or any kind of suggestion?? Thanks!
 
I can't speak for certain which yeast Lawson's uses...... Heady is Conan though for sure.

If you have not done it before, start small.... I usually use about 300-500ml of 1.020 wort. 2 cans of Heady (about the last ounce or so of each can that has been allowed to sit undisturbed for a week or so in the fridge). Swirl up that last ounce of each can and dump in flask with wort. a bit of yeast nutrient. Stir plate for 18 hours or so. It may take a couple days even to really get going. Then, step up from there.

Sanitize the cans well so you don't contaminate your starter.

Question for you, I harvested some conan in early December, from 3 cans of HT. Built it up to a 1500 ML Starter. Used about 1/3 of it in a 2.5 Gallon batch which I'll bottle this weekend. The other 2/3 I poured into a mason jar and have left it in the fridge. How long do you think I can wait until it goes bad?
 
A lot of that depends on how successfully it was harvested, cultured up, and tansferred..... primarily sanitation type stuff. Assuming all was good with it in the beginning, it should be fine now. If there were any problems, they will escalate over time more than likely. Personally, when I harvest yeast and keep it in jars in the fridge, I start getting a little hesitant around 3 months....... Not to say that there is something magic about that number, just that it is usually the point where I start asking myself - "do I really want to take the time, $ and effort to brew a batch a beer and possibly throw some not so great yeast in it. Or, do I want to spend $6 and pitch something I am positive is good."

I know people keep harvested yeast for significantly longer than 3 months though. And, people freeze and reuse yeast indefinitely..... So, provided everything is good with your process, and you get it going again in a starter, there is no reason to think that yeast could not be perfectly fine..... at least in my opinion.
 
you can find Conan through Omega Yeast Labs. OYL 052 DIPA. ritebrew carries it.

I just brewed this today as a partial mash. Looking forward to the final result. it smelled great!
 
you can find Conan through Omega Yeast Labs. OYL 052 DIPA. ritebrew carries it.

I just brewed this today as a partial mash. Looking forward to the final result. it smelled great!

Thanks for the tip. Let us know how it turns out!
 
anyone able to convert the OP into an extract recipe?

The BYO article suggests the following:
6.6 lbs light lme
2.5 lbs Vienna malt
1 lb flaked Oates
6 ozs caramunich
1.5 lbs corn sugar

It says to mash the grains in 2 gallons of water at 152 degrees for 45 minutes. Rinse the grains with 2.5 qts of hot water, add the lme, top off to your starting volume of 6.5 gallons and bring to a boil. Follow the hopping schedule of the OP and add the corn sugar at the last 10 minutes of the boil.
 
The BYO article suggests the following:
6.6 lbs light lme
2.5 lbs Vienna malt
1 lb flaked Oates
6 ozs caramunich
1.5 lbs corn sugar

It says to mash the grains in 2 gallons of water at 152 degrees for 45 minutes. Rinse the grains with 2.5 qts of hot water, add the lme, top off to your starting volume of 6.5 gallons and bring to a boil. Follow the hopping schedule of the OP and add the corn sugar at the last 10 minutes of the boil.


Awesome.. Now the mash would be, just the initial seeping..? And also I am only able to do partial boil (3.5-4) gallon boil... Would that be a game changer in the hop schedule..?
 
i did a partial mash with a partial boil and kept the hop schedule the same. I just adjusted when i put the DME in to suit. Put 4.5 lbs of DME for full boil and 2 lbs at 15 minutes remaining. corn sugar at 10 minutes remaining. wound up with a calculated 83 ibu.
you can get good hop yield with a partial boil, you just need to alter when the solids go into the wort
 
Awesome.. Now the mash would be, just the initial seeping..? And also I am only able to do partial boil (3.5-4) gallon boil... Would that be a game changer in the hop schedule..?

The mash would be more than just steeping for color. It would be more of a partial mash, where you do combine and "steep" those grains, but, you do so at 150-155 degrees for probably 45-60 minutes to extract sugar from them. Often, steeping grains are more about color and roasty flavors...... a partial mash you also want to extract fermentable sugar.

Partial boil could alter the hop utilization ...... but, that is not going to drastically affect the beer.
 
The mash would be more than just steeping for color. It would be more of a partial mash, where you do combine and "steep" those grains, but, you do so at 150-155 degrees for probably 45-60 minutes to extract sugar from them. Often, steeping grains are more about color and roasty flavors...... a partial mash you also want to extract fermentable sugar.

Partial boil could alter the hop utilization ...... but, that is not going to drastically affect the beer.


So I would be doing a partial mash then...?
 
Awesom.. Thanks for the help! Can't wait to give it a go once I can find some Conan yeast!!
 
I've never done a batch with this much hops....just wanna make sure I'm not mental here...In total (including dry hopping) I'll be using over 10 ounces of hops? lol
 
I've never done a batch with this much hops....just wanna make sure I'm not mental here...In total (including dry hopping) I'll be using over 10 ounces of hops? lol

Yes, you are reading that correctly. Lots of late hopping = tons of flavor and aroma. You won't be disappointed.
 
Alrighty then! Thanks....Pretty sure this is goin down tomorrow. Although I don't have access to any Conan at this point so I may just use a 1056 and see how it goes. Also I'm taking a crack at the partial mash recipe not the all grain. Will report back.
 
You could also try a British Ale yeast like Wyeast London Ale III to get some of the fruity esters.
 
Alrighty then! Thanks....Pretty sure this is goin down tomorrow. Although I don't have access to any Conan at this point so I may just use a 1056 and see how it goes. Also I'm taking a crack at the partial mash recipe not the all grain. Will report back.

This beer is very similar to my regular IPA I brew. I use 1056 for it..... it is awesome. Can't brew it fast enough. 1056 will do just fine for you.
 
I brewed the Double Sunshine BYO recipe a few weeks ago (which is pretty similar to this recipe) and cracked the first bottle last night and it was damn good. The alcohol was a bit forward and my water specs arent the same as Sean's but everything else was right there with the real DS; Color, aroma, mouthfeel etc.

Brew this up, you wont be disappointed.
 
This beer is very similar to my regular IPA I brew. I use 1056 for it..... it is awesome. Can't brew it fast enough. 1056 will do just fine for you.

awesome...I usually ferment on the cold end and figured I'd be able to pull some more citrus outa the 1056 that way as well.

Very psyched to brew tonight!
 
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