American Pale Ale Three Floyds Zombie Dust Clone

Not a lot really. I am no grain scientist but here is the gist... Steeping, you are getting some sugar, color, flavor. A lot of typical specialty grains like caramel don't need mashed, as they go through a process before hand. For a mash You need a more controlled temp to convert the mashed grain (2row, pilsner, etc) enzymes to fermentable sugars. Temp is critical to the fermentability. You can successfully mash in a kettle on the stove (look up brew in a bag BIAB). It can be tricky with large malt bills if you have a smaller kettle.

hey skeezer thanks for posting this. just wondering -- do you do any type of hot whirlpool/steep at the end of boil (if so, how long), OR do you just begin chilling immediately? thanks!

I usually toss in at flameout, and be lazy about hooking the chiller up. Prob a 10 min steep or so. I also try stir until the wort gets to 100 or so, it goes much faster when stirring.

my OG was 1.068. i just dry hopped last night after 3 days of sitting with a 1.028 gravity. i used a yeast starter on a stirstarter too. don't know why it didn't ferment more. oh well. smells beyond amazing

What was your mash temp?

155 for 45 minutes

I would say double check the calibration on your hydro and your thermometers the last time my beer finished that high my thermometers where reading 15 degrees low

just bottled it and it tasted divine. thinking of rebrewing it again with Falconers Flight hops just for fun

Whats the total time needed for this to be drinkable? I need to have something brewed and bottled by 4/28... any chance this could work if I brew it tomorrow (4/4)? I could force carb to at least cut down on some of the time.

I have carbed it after 3 weeks and it was good, as usual though it got better after a week or so in the keg. I would say you will be ok. 10-12 day primary, 7 day dryhop, a couple day cold crash then carb.

Brewed last night... fingers crossed for a 23-day turnaround!

Zombie dust is the best beer ever I hope this clone is close!

drawdy10 said:

Zombie dust is the best beer ever I hope this clone is close!

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You haven't done this yet? Did you do my Stone 15th? Either way, this is really, really close. Some with easy access to the real deal seem to think it is better. My personal opinion....it kicks ass. If you are a local, I will be flying in for DLD if you want to try some of mine or trade some beers let me know.....also, if you haven't checked the big thread, the link is in the first post of this one. Lots of people have brewed it and posted results.

i'm driving to Milwaukee from Indianapolis tomorrow to see my Cards take on the Brewers. plan on stopping at 3 Floyds to grab a case of Zombie Dust to compare with mine (which should be done carbing in the next few days). ill also be at Dark Lord Day at the end of the month

Skeezer, yes I made your stone 15th and it was amazing only a few bottles remain. I also have acquired the ingriedients for this recipe as well. We found a pound of citra at the LHBS. To be brewed as soon as possible we are going to make a ten gallon batch and use s-04 for the yeast.

As for DLD I tried getting tickets but of course I was unable to get any. I am from south Dakota and only am able to get three Floyd's because of a friend that comes up here four times a year and I love all of their stuff . Have fun at DLD! We need to take a stab at cloning that next!

Skeezer, how do you ferment 6 gallons of wort? Don't most people have 6.5 gallon carboys or buckets?

drawdy10 said:

Skeezer, how do you ferment 6 gallons of wort? Don't most people have 6.5 gallon carboys or buckets?

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I usually lose about 1/2g due to trub, so get 5.5 into the fermenter.

Brewed the partial mash of this Wednesday with 5lbs of 2row. Used 3lbs of DME. Had to do one hop sub with motueka as LHBS only had 4oz of citra on hand. Missed my og 1054. Think it the way I sparge not getting all my sugars. I just went out to get parts for all grain mash tun cooler set up looking forward to trying AG. Made a started with 1056 and had bubbles within 3 hours. Last night (3 am) blew the lid off. Cleaned out air lock and lid and by this morning was ready to pop again. Stuck a blow off on now bubbling like mad!!! Never had a brew go this wild before. Brought I growler of this from 3floyds last October was fantastic. Can't wait to get this in a keg!

Brewing this tomorrow morning!
Brewed 12 gallons. Wow this stuff is smelling amazing during fermentation! My brew room smells like zombie heaven

Hi Skeezer, first of all thanks for the post and compliments on the results. Regarding the choice of yeast I wanted to ask you what do you think of the Wyeast London 1318 ale III. It should be similar to the S04: fruity, gentle, well-balanced and with a hint not as sweet as 1968, that produces distinctly malty beers with higher FG.
I would also ask how do you behave with carbonation: CO2 volumes and types of sugar used.
I care to have your own opinion before brewing 6 gal of this nectar

tizioloda said:

Hi Skeezer, first of all thanks for the post and compliments on the results. Regarding the choice of yeast I wanted to ask you what do you think of the Wyeast London 1318 ale III. It should be similar to the S04: fruity, gentle, well-balanced and with a hint not as sweet as 1968, that produces distinctly malty beers with higher FG.
I would also ask how do you behave with carbonation: CO2 volumes and types of sugar used.
I care to have your own opinion before brewing 6 gal of this nectar

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I have never used 1318, but by the sounds of it, it would work well.

For the carb, I usually keg, so carb to around 2.5, then push with around 13psi on the regulator. If bottling, I use this calculator to determine how much priming sugar (I use corn sugar for priming): http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator/carbonation.html

Just got this in secondary with dry hops. Oh WOW does this taste good. Yeast did great job 1.008. This is going to be difficult to wait for.

Thanks for the advices. Since in Italy find citra hops is almost impossible, I tried on ebay looking for a seller available to do International Shipping. Having found it, there’s nothing left but order a good deal and start brewing. I will try to use the 1318 and you'll know the results, even if without having the original beer is difficult to make accurate comparisons…

I didn't had crystal 60, only 40 on hand. So I added 4 oz of amber malt to compensate and now kicking myself for doing that since it came out little darker than it should. Wort also smelled little toasty. Did i ruin the batch? What should I expect?

paraordnance said:

I didn't had crystal 60, only 40 on hand. So I added 4 oz of amber malt to compensate and now kicking myself for doing that since it came out little darker than it should. Wort also smelled little toasty. Did i ruin the batch? What should I expect?

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You should maybe expect a darker version , but damn fine beer. You didn't add enough to change it much. Its a hop forward beer, 4oz of amber wont affect it.

Just poured a glass of this out of keg and all I can say is wow what a damn good beer! I'll be doing this again ag version now that I got my self sent up for it. Anyone one try this with MO? Never used it just wondered what the difference would be.

sparky701 said:

Just poured a glass of this out of keg and all I can say is wow what a damn good beer! I'll be doing this again ag version now that I got my self sent up for it. Anyone one try this with MO? Never used it just wondered what the difference would be.

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Sparky, you got my attention! I just bought a bag of Maris Otter ($40, gotta love group buys!) I have a big stout to do this weekend, but will try to do a new ZD with MO. I haven't used it before, so I ask anyone that has to chime in. Should it be all MO for base malt, or 50:50 MO/2row?

Good deal 40 for 50lbs! Alright I'm new to brewing beer so what the difference between the two? I've haven't brewed with MO yet. Is it just for stouts and porters?

I don't have any Munich. What are everyone's thoughts on subbing Victory?

If you are going for a clone then get the grains it calls for, you will possibly regret it if just that one grain threw it off. The main focus for this err is getting the best citra hops you can.

I ended up going another route today. I'll try this in the future when I get some Munich.

Just did this today. I love the smell of citra as a fwh. I can't wait to drink this!

Brewing 10 gallons of this right now, need to replenish the taps.

Thank again for the recipe

This dust tastes divine! Thanks!!!

am i correct in assuming that the complete hop schedule is utilizing all whole cone hops, no pellets?

uniTTy said:

am i correct in assuming that the complete hop schedule is utilizing all whole cone hops, no pellets?

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No. The recipe is based on pellets.

thanks... even the dry hop?

Yep. Not mandatory though.

I hate cleaning out a carboy with 3 oz of whole hops!

I know this will be sacrilege, but I would like to try this recipe with galaxy hops, but can only get 5oz. If I just wanted to really profile galaxy alone, but they are so damn hard to find and over 3 an oz when I can find it. Any suggestions for "neutral hops"(looking for low bitter taste, mild flavor profile) for the bitter and maybe even at some other times, or should I just forget it, use the galaxy for another recipe and do this directly.