Double IPA Dogfish Head 90 Minute Clone

Our re-brew of this beer turned out very well. It was almost dead on.

1.25lbs of Amber tastes right. Maybe 1.3, but it's not much more. The big change that needs to be done is English two-row (marris otter) rather than American. That's the only difference I taste between our latest batch, and the real-deal.

Just found a new batch bottled on 3/29/12; Whole different beer from the previous bottles.
The new batch is perfect, hops incredibly well balanced against the malt. A little sweet but nothing like the previous batch, took a gravity measurement of the product: 1.032..
The SRM looks lighter and the Amber malt is not so forward.
My experience with cloning these big beers is that there can be a big variance in batches over time. Like Avery Marahaja and Firestone Walker Double Jack for example.

scottland said:

Our re-brew of this beer turned out very well. It was almost dead on.

1.25lbs of Amber tastes right. Maybe 1.3, but it's not much more. The big change that needs to be done is English two-row (marris otter) rather than American. That's the only difference I taste between our latest batch, and the real-deal.

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hhhhmmm....interesting!

I am looking to make this my next brew, and I am now torn between American 2 row and Maris Otter...

I am using Marris Otter for all my beers now. It's a only a few more dollars.

I've never actually brewed with MO before, how would you describe the difference between regular old 2row?

scottland said:

Our re-brew of this beer turned out very well. It was almost dead on.

1.25lbs of Amber tastes right. Maybe 1.3, but it's not much more. The big change that needs to be done is English two-row (marris otter) rather than American. That's the only difference I taste between our latest batch, and the real-deal.

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Thanks for the update. I have everything for this except the base malt so I will give the marris otter a try.

Bill33525 said:

My opinion is to use just a few ounces of Special B. Maybe about 4Oz at the most.
It's rather powerful and adds to the SRM very quickly. How much Amber malt are you planning to use?

I picked up some Special B for my next batch as well. Thinking of 1 1/2lbs of TFA and .25 Special B.

Anyone else have thoughts?

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I was going to stick with the 1.25# of TFA as the OP adjusted to, and maybe only go .50# of Special B for the first attempt. I agree with what you're saying about darkening out the beer quickly with SpB, but I'm in it for the flavor way more than matching the color of the cloned.

I followed the recipe per the OP (wlp007 yeast). Finally drinking it now.. it was a long month waiting for it to ferment and dry hop. It is DAMN good though. I agree about the TFA malt, don't go more than in the OP for sure. I have a couple DFH 90's in the fridge I will side by side with tomorrow.

Scottland - thanks for posting buddy. It's a mighty fine recipe.

The recipe is darn close. I think the TFA is almost a bit much.

jammin said:

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The recipe is darn close. I think the TFA is almost a bit much.

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Nice! Is that with 2 row or Maris Otter?

Pale American 2 row. Personally, I might consider a pinch of Vienna instead of subbing out for 2 row. I had a 1.073 OG and 1.012 FG. I like where it finished. The real DFH tasted close to me on Malt hops and yeast, but seemed to have a little more winey/acidic pop. Killer recipe though and VERY close.

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This is 1lb of TFA. SRM matches well but the strength of the Amber malt was less than the production product. This batch was mashed with Crisp M.O.

I'm almost out of this beer, great recipe. I'll definitely be doing it again since it's my dad's favorite beer and he keeps talking about it.

I'm still tossed up between 2-row and Maris Otter! Just finishing up some last minute things for this grad semester, then I'm gonna brew this recipe...but first, I must decide on a base malt!

Bought some 90 minute on Saturday, mainly because i could drink 60 for the rest of my life...

and 90 is even better!

once there is room this will be done

Hi i would like to know if 1 pack of nottingham is enought for 5g of this beer?

scottland said:

There are really only two tricks to this beer other than what I wrote above. 1. Make sure your mash is around 149-150, definitely err on the low side. 2. Pitch a ton of yeast. Make a 3QT starter or pitch 2 packs of S04; A clean ferment is a must. Let me know how it turns out.

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I pitched 2 packs of S04 to be safe. It's a big beer so you don't want to stress the yeast or get a stuck fermentation.

This one's on my radar.

What grist/water ratio is everyone using for this beer? I read a thick mash, about 1.25 qts/lb, will produce a maltier sweeter beer. Anyone stirring frequently?
Having trouble reproducing the syrupy quality present in the commercial product. My beer tastes thin by comparison. Could bottle conditioning and age play a part in the differences?

Has anyone tried oak'ing this? Was looking for an ipa recipe to try that on and wondered if anyone had favorable results. I'm a big fan of Burton Baton (I know its also a blend) and thought it might be cool to have an oaked version of 90 minute straight up.

Bill33525 said:

What grist/water ratio is everyone using for this beer? I read a thick mash, about 1.25 qts/lb, will produce a maltier sweeter beer. Anyone stirring frequently?
Having trouble reproducing the syrupy quality present in the commercial product. My beer tastes thin by comparison. Could bottle conditioning and age play a part in the differences?

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What was the OG of your thinner beer? Also what yeast pitched?

1.074, WLP007 setpped up several times. Finished @ 1.018.
Mashed in at 120 for 40 minutes and stepped up to 150 for an additional 60 minutes. [using electric heat]
Boiled for 90 minutes and added hops every 9 minutes. Batch sparged 168 at the end for about 15 minutes.
I know my O.G. was a little low, will add another 2 lbs of Crisp M.O. next time to get the O.G. up to 1.084 to make up for my low 62% efficiency.

Any opinions on grain additions for this recipe?

No replies so brewing this one late next week with MO. Probably not a clone but hope it's still delicious.

I plan on using MO for the base malt next time. Gotta have that TF amber malt though. That is what gives this beer its signature flavor.

I decided to go with MO as well, haven't brewed it yet though...damn life getting in the way of my brewing habit

Has anyone done anything different with the hops? I have the amounts listed in the recipe, but I've been considering adding another ounce each of Simcoe and Amarillo at flameout...thoughts?

brew2enjoy said:

I plan on using MO for the base malt next time. Gotta have that TF amber malt though. That is what gives this beer its signature flavor.

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Got the amber malt but found a few recipes calling for German pilsner malt instead of MO. Might try the pilsner next time if the MO doesn't match the taste.

flyingfinbar said:

I decided to go with MO as well, haven't brewed it yet though...damn life getting in the way of my brewing habit

Has anyone done anything different with the hops? I have the amounts listed in the recipe, but I've been considering adding another ounce each of Simcoe and Amarillo at flameout...thoughts?

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Planning on doing 10 minute additions with Simcoe and Amarillo then at flameout with maybe Chinook. Still thinking about it.

I wouldn't do Pils. I see a bunch of recipes call for it. But I've read interviews from the DFH brewers that say they dont use it. Sh** it says right on the bottle. English 2-row barley

For Hops here's my schedule:
Boil: 1.5 Simcoe, 1.5 Warrior, 3 Amarillo divided into 10 equal parts; Added every 9 minutes.
Steep: 1 Amarillo, 1 Citra, 2.5 Sincoe; stirred 15 minutes at flame out.
Dry Hop: 1.5 ea Amarillo Cascade Simcoe for 4 days and another similar addition after 4 days. Stirred each day during the dry hopping period. Let the beer rest for a couple of weeks before cold crashing and kegging.

My beer has great hop aroma and more IBUs then the commercial product. I brewed this batch for an IPA Throw Down and wanted the hops out in front. Still there is plenty of malt flavor in the beer.

Finally there is 4 oz of Special B in this batch. Don't think it hurt, however, not picking up anything special from it either.

scottland said:

I wouldn't do Pils. I see a bunch of recipes call for it. But I've read interviews from the DFH brewers that say they dont use it. Sh** it says right on the bottle. English 2-row barley

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Committed to MO (already bought) for this batch. However seeing that there are a number of "English 2-row" barleys I might try some of the others in future brews for comparison.

Isn't MO technically British 2-row? I honestly don't know for sure, I'm kinda new at this... haha.

flyingfinbar said:

Isn't MO technically British 2-row? I honestly don't know for sure, I'm kinda new at this... haha.

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The internet search engine is your friend. :rockin:

Brewed with MO for the base malt. I'll post back comments doing a side by side comparison with DH 90 in a few weeks.

It's been a week+ and down to FG. Tasted the measured amount and though smooth, don't think it's a DF 90 match. Might have to make "adjustments" after taste testing DF 90 and see what's missing.

TrubHead said:

It's been a week+ and down to FG. Tasted the measured amount and though smooth, don't think it's a DF 90 match. Might have to make "adjustments" after taste testing DF 90 and see what's missing.

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It will change quite a bit after you dry hop it. Give it some time. Mine wasn't a dead ringer either but pretty close, and that was with regular us 2-row and only 1lb of amber malt.

brew2enjoy said:

It will change quite a bit after you dry hop it. Give it some time. Mine wasn't a dead ringer either but pretty close, and that was with regular us 2-row and only 1lb of amber malt.

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Did a taste test of DF 90. This grain bill needs something else. Dry hopping isn't going to make it get any closer. Time to do some grain research before tweaking.

Additional grains really improved the flavor but not a clone. Going to try this one again with recipe modifications.

I did mine with an extra pound of base malt, which was MO, and a few extra ounces of amber. I also did two full ounces of simcoe and amarillo at flameout. I overshot my OG by quite a bit, so I beefed up the dryhop bill as well. One oz each of Simcoe and Amarillo the first week, then three of each as of last night. Looking forward to see how this big, brawny IPA is gonna come out!

I'm actually starting to think WLP007 is a little too clean. Maybe the extra 'something' in the grain bill we're looking for are a little more esters. I'm not a ringwood fan, but it might be time for me to give it a try for this beer