Firestone Walker Wookey Jack Clone Attempt

I wonder if Wookey dust is a pinch of cocoa powder......hmmmmm

Well here is my dilemma, I'm wanting to brew this in few days but my two local shops do not have 'Carafa III' .
Shop #1 wants to substitute it with "Debittered Black Malt (Belgium)"
Shop #2 wants to sub with Carafa II
So what do you think is best? Would either substitution require change to the amount (0.50 lb) needed?

Thanks for any help!
Robert

The debittered black malt is basically the same thing as dehusked Carafa III. It's definitely a better sub than Carafa II, which is lighter in color.

Will Cascade work in place of Amarillo hops due to the shortage of Amarillo?

m00se said:

Will Cascade work in place of Amarillo hops due to the shortage of Amarillo?

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I used nugget for the magnum and a combo of cascade and centennial for the amarillo...haven't done a side by side yet but the beer is fantastic.

ipsiad said:

The debittered black malt is basically the same thing as dehusked Carafa III. It's definitely a better sub than Carafa II, which is lighter in color.

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Thanks much ipsiad! So I picked up the De-bittered Black Malt and the rest of the needed ingredients today. Looks like I'm now all set to brew this next week!

Now if I can figure out how to add Breiss Midnight Wheat & Simpsons Crystal Rye to the BeerSmith grains list %@#!@%#!

Robert
GypsyBrew

m00se said:

Will Cascade work in place of Amarillo hops due to the shortage of Amarillo?

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You can get Amarillo right now if you really want it.

m00se said:

Will Cascade work in place of Amarillo hops due to the shortage of Amarillo?

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Yeah I think a combo of cascade and centennial would work but I was able to get Amarillo (leaf & pellet) at both of my local brew shops yesterday.

revansCAAD8 said:

Thanks much ipsiad! So I picked up the De-bittered Black Malt and the rest of the needed ingredients today. Looks like I'm now all set to brew this next week!

Now if I can figure out how to add Breiss Midnight Wheat & Simpsons Crystal Rye to the BeerSmith grains list %@#!@%#!

Robert
GypsyBrew

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I think I had to create a profile for Midnight Wheat

MeanDeuce said:

I think I had to create a profile for Midnight Wheat

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Ah, could you look and tell me the profile settings to put in? I have all the grain 'Add-ons' loaded in BS but still isn't there, disappointing.

Thanks,
Robert

Here's what I used. Just tasted my clone after it finally carbed up, its pretty great, could be a little dryer but I'm not complaining.

brewed 5 gallons a couple months ago. was real close to original. last week i did 10 gallons and moved the 20 minute cascade to a FWH addition. lets see how it tastes..
I also split my 10 gallons into two 5 gallon fermentors and did one with S-04 and one with S-05. looking to see which yeast I like better.

I've been itchin to brew this for the longest time and had this weekend pegged for the brewday....but brewmaster's ran out of 2row and rye, so my order got delayed. So...very...sad

MeanDeuce said:

Here's what I used. Just tasted my clone after it finally carbed up, its pretty great, could be a little dryer but I'm not complaining.

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Thank you MD for the profile. Glad to hear your batch turned out good! Yeah I was thinking about using another yeast other than WLP002 that would dry it out a bit more. Is that what you used?

Robert

Tava said:

brewed 5 gallons a couple months ago. was real close to original. last week i did 10 gallons and moved the 20 minute cascade to a FWH addition. lets see how it tastes..
I also split my 10 gallons into two 5 gallon fermentors and did one with S-04 and one with S-05. looking to see which yeast I like better.

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Uh are we talking about the OP's recipe? I don't see 20 min Cascade addition.

That's what I wanted to use but my LHBS sold me on Wyeast 1968.

my first batch came out so good i just went back to back and did another.. such a good brew.

Just an update.. today was the first day the beer was fully carbed. I poured a pint of this and is the best beer I've made so far. My FW Double jack was a bit of a failure for reasons I haven't figured out yet, but this one is spot on. Going to try a double blind test on a few subjects this weekend.

Once you find the ingredients, it's a straight forward brew and a lot of fun. Batch #2 is in the ferm chamber.

ilikeguns said:

Just an update.. today was the first day the beer was fully carbed. I poured a pint of this and is the best beer I've made so far. My FW Double jack was a bit of a failure for reasons I haven't figured out yet, but this one is spot on. Going to try a double blind test on a few subjects this weekend.

Once you find the ingredients, it's a straight forward brew and a lot of fun. Batch #2 is in the ferm chamber.

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Good to hear! So did you use the exact recipe the OP posted?

Robert

revansCAAD8 said:

Good to hear! So did you use the exact recipe the OP posted?

Robert

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yes.. exact recipe! Even had a few hiccups, ferm temp got away from me for the first 12 hours, missed my FG by a few points etc.. but overall, such an amazing brew.

I am gonna do it again in the next few days. But I think I may use some Conan yeast that I harvested from some Heady Topper to ferment it.

Brewing this tomorrow! Should I include Rice Hulls? If so, how much (1 lbs?)

Thanks,
Robert

I didn't and had no issues.

skeezerpleezer said:

I didn't and had no issues.

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same here although i guess it would depend on your mash tun. I use the 10 gallon igloo w/ a false bottom

btw.. I want to thank everyone who worked on this recipe especially skeezerpleezer, scottland and of course matt! So far it has been the best beer I've brewed and I'm enjoying a pint right now!

skeezerpleezer said:

I didn't and had no issues.

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I didn't use any either, but I do recall a pretty slow sparge. I might throw a half pound in next time, just to be safe. As ilikeguns said, it will depend upon your equipment and your crush. You know your setup best, and throwing some hulls in won't hurt if you're worried about getting a stuck sparge.

I've never made a starter and was going to brew this on Saturday. I bought two vials of WLP002 in case but I'm realizing after reading a yeast calc that I may be low on yeast count. Do you think two vials is enough? I've never made a starter before and after reading the thread it seems like it takes a little more time than 48 hours to make one.

Should I hold off brewing until I can make a decent starter?

You should have time if you are brewing Saturday. I assume you don't have a stir plate, so just make sure and shake it often to aerate. Check Mrmalty.com for a nice pitching rate calculator, it will tell you how big of a starter to make.

D'oh! I just looked at my yeast vial and it expires next week. I looked at my LHBS and all the vials were outdated (WTF!). I was going to make a starter, but now I'm thinking about just using dry yeast. I have 2 packs of Notty and 2 packs of 05.

This beer is divine and decadent after about 2 months.

Vigo_Carpathian said:

D'oh! I just looked at my yeast vial and it expires next week. I looked at my LHBS and all the vials were outdated (WTF!). I was going to make a starter, but now I'm thinking about just using dry yeast. I have 2 packs of Notty and 2 packs of 05.

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Given the choices, I would do 05. When you brewing? May have time to save the yeast.

I'm brewing in a couple days. I was going to make a 2 Liter starter but since the cells are old, it might take a while longer if I went with liquid yeast.

For dry yeast options, what do you think would be preferable? S-04 or US-05?

Brew-Day for this was last night! Can't say it was our smoothest brew day but think we made beer! LOL Mash-in temp was a bit high (152 dropping to 149) and undershot our original gravity (170). We also made a big 2-step starter and pitched some pretty yeast. Boy that fermenter is going CRAZY already! Krausen pushing up through the blow-off tube already. Sure hope it doesn't blow the top off!

Only deviations from the OP's recipe: Used 1oz (yes 1oz instead of .50 because they were fairly old hops that we already had) Warrior, instead of Magnum. Used 'De-bittered Black Malt' instead of Carafa III (should actually be the same/similar). Added 8oz Rice Hulls. Oh and used FermCapS, a pinch of Gypsum and Irish Moss.

Can't wait to taste it!
Robert

nwmushroom said:

for dry yeast options, what do you think would be preferable? S-04 or us-05?

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s-04

Tasted my gravity sample of this yesterday. Awesome beer!

I also made some modifications and don't have a bottle of the original to compare to but I'm quite pleased anyway.

I used
2-row 14#
Flaked rye 8oz
Rye malt 1.5#
Blackprinz 12oz
Cane sugar 1.5#

Did the 60 min 145 + 30 min 155 mash, hit temps no problems

Bittered with warrior for 28 IBU, 90 min boil
Equal parts citra and Amarillo at 20/0/DH with 15 min whirlpool at 176
Yeast was repitched US-05

1.080 OG
1.014 FG (guessing its done, will know in a couple days)
89 IB
8.8 ABV (will be about 9.2 after bottling...)

The sugar was the major deviation but I was trying to figure out how to get to the high ABV and still come in close to 1.015 FG. Might cut sugar back to 1# and try again if I can find some more Amarillo.

My SRM is only coming out at 26.4 and not having the original to compare to I didn't want to go too high on the black malts (even debittered varieties). Thinking maybe Wookey dust is maltoferm...

revansCAAD8 said:

Brewing this tomorrow! Should I include Rice Hulls? If so, how much (1 lbs?)

Thanks,
Robert

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I didn't use rice hulls and collapsed my false bottom with 3# rye I believe. I batched sparged with a pump.

skeezerpleezer said:

s-04

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I figured that too. Would you recommend adjusting the mash temperature due to the higher attenuation of the S-04?

Received a 22oz wookey and a 4 pack of Dales Deviant for my bday. Man, I have to brew this soon!!!

NWMushroom said:

I figured that too. Would you recommend adjusting the mash temperature due to the higher attenuation of the S-04?

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You will probably be fine without adjusting the temp, getting down to the FG can be tricky without a lot of really healthy yeast and oxygen.

I brewed this up again on 2/7 and used Conan yeast (harvested from Heady Topper). It is bubbling away. My boil off wasn't as good as normal, ended about 5-7 points shy and at 6.3g. I got a new pot, so will need to adjust for that. I am considering adding a half pound of sugar to primary (boiled to a syrup) to help with the ABV and dry it out, however from what I have read the Conan is a beast.