Stone Arrogant Bastasrd Clone

Well I am mashing a Arrogant Bastasrd clone 1 gallon .
2Lb 6oz 2 row
5 oz special B
Chinook .21 oz @ 85 , 45 , 15 , flame out
Yeast WLP007 is the preferred but I used S-04 since that is what I could get .

Decided to do 1 G to test . Keeping the small amount of grain at 150 is a bit of a hassle in a 10 G tun . I think I am going to make a smaller tun for these test batches .

interesting... I'm eager to hear how it turns out.

I think I'm going to start back on 1g batches again. I think they're just a whole bunch of fun. I used a 5 gallon rubbermaid cooler for a mash tun that worked out pretty well for 2.5 gallon batches.

MarcusKillion said:

Well I am mashing a Arrogant Bastasrd clone 1 gallon .
2Lb 6oz 2 row
5 oz special B
Chinook .21 oz @ 85 , 45 , 15 , flame out
Yeast WLP007 is the preferred but I used S-04 since that is what I could get .

Decided to do 1 G to test . Keeping the small amount of grain at 150 is a bit of a hassle in a 10 G tun . I think I am going to make a smaller tun for these test batches .

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Do a BIAB in a 2 gallon cooler. All the big box stores sell them.

I am going to do the 2 gallon cooler thing I think . I also might just give the small boil pot a try for a SMaSH recipe 1 Gallon . I am thinking chinook & golden promise

I just bottled it up . got 9 bottles . close to a gallon . I think 13 is a real gallon . About 1.012 FG . Tasted about right . right kind of bitter . Of course when it is conditioned it should taste a bit different .

I will say this much . It seems to be close right out of the fermenter . I would how ever give the flame out hops a 1 hour rest before chilling as I think it may be a bit short on the flavor/aroma .
Keep in mind that I am not a perfectionist so I tend to not do things exactly by the book so a careful brew may result in a closer taste .
It was also suggested to pasteurize this brew for a even closer taste as that would add in more caramel taste .
I will be taste testing real and clone in a week and then 2 weeks side by side to get a better judgment .

I opened a bottle of Stone/AG and it seems that I may have made my batch a little watered down . At least as far as I can tell so far . It was a bit hard to mash in a 10 G cooler . the temp would not stay up so maybe a bit weak but still seems to have the proper flavor
think I might do a 6 G batch to test it if this tastes good in a week .

I do mine at about 9% special b, and use Maris otter for base. Hops sound like yours.

The original is inconsistent, so chances are yours is very close to something they've sold as SAB.

nmenninga said:

I do mine at about 9% special b, and use Maris otter for base. Hops sound like yours.

The original is inconsistent, so chances are yours is very close to something they've sold as SAB.

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that seems right. i do remember getting a strong dose of grapefruit from AB once upon a time so that leads me to believe cascade was involved. At the same time I've also gotten AB without the grapefruit. At that time the notion was that AB was made with entirely Amarillo.

I don't think this is a clonable beer just because it seems to constantly evolve over time. Almost as if the brewers use it as a test bed for hops. Kinda like a SMaSH, the grain bill stays the same and the hops/IBU's change constantly. Maybe the brewers are all well adjusted to AB which makes it a good candidate for this kind of treatment. Or maybe AB shares a base grain bill with many of stone's beers and they tweek it as necessary to develop new brews.

regardless, i LOVE arrogance.

nmenninga said:

I do mine at about 9% special b, and use Maris otter for base. Hops sound like yours.

The original is inconsistent, so chances are yours is very close to something they've sold as SAB.

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I was thinking the same thing about consistency . I thought perhaps I was wrong but .. The bottle I drank last night did seem a bit more bitter with less complex flavors than I remember from the last time I drank it . Still good .
Mine did taste a bit watered down though . Although I think the gravity was right . I will find out when I do a full 6 g batch as this small one in a 10 g cooler was just too small to come out right I think .

RonPopeil said:

that seems right. i do remember getting a strong dose of grapefruit from AB once upon a time so that leads me to believe cascade was involved. At the same time I've also gotten AB without the grapefruit. At that time the notion was that AB was made with entirely Amarillo.

I don't think this is a clonable beer just because it seems to constantly evolve over time. Almost as if the brewers use it as a test bed for hops. Kinda like a SMaSH, the grain bill stays the same and the hops/IBU's change constantly. Maybe the brewers are all well adjusted to AB which makes it a good candidate for this kind of treatment. Or maybe AB shares a base grain bill with many of stone's beers and they tweek it as necessary to develop new brews.

regardless, i LOVE arrogance.

Click to expand...

In a interview one time the guy from Stone said that it was in fact a SMaSH recipe . I agree with the using this for a base to develope new beers and test hops . I think you are on to something there .

I can't imagine its all crystal, or all base malt. A blend of 120-150 crystal/caramel/special b and base is as close as you'll get. I also think they roast the base a tad.

I did a side by side with a bomber of the original, it certainly seemed like all Chinook to me.

I think so much hops changes character in the bottle with time, transport, storage. This the main inconsistency in the final product.

Also, I think the original is filtered very fine, knocks down some of the color but the dextrins and nut flavor come through. That's why the color and flavor don't quite match up in a home recipe.

maybe it's a decoction mash? do it like a SMaSH beer but do it small decoction of the base grain to get that off color and a bit of caramel in the flavor. it doesn't seem too sweet so i don't think there's enough crystal in it to make a difference that you couldn't get from changing mash temps or some other method.

next one or two brews will be decoctions. just to figure out how that plays out in a hoppy beer.

I may take one of these beers and pasteurize it to see if that brings it closer . But I still think I need to make a new batch since I was not ready for that 1 gallon thing .
By the way I did a decoction mash of sorts since I had to drain off some about 4 times I think and heat it up to keep that small amount hot in a 10G cooler .

Add the c150 at 9% or so. That will eliminate the watery flavor you are worried about, but will make it slightly darker than the original. It's not a smash. The recipe is based on a single hop, single specialty grain (added to a base), but they tweak it from there. The brewery has sacks of c150 lying around, and lots of 2 row. And Chinook.

If it even comes out close to AG I will be happy . good beer.

I just tried one . 1 week in bottle which of course is not near long enough for most beers .
Well let me say first that it does have a good taste and I would make it again just as it is but it tastes like a English brown at the moment .
Okay then . To be fair to the recipe , I tried mashing 1 gallon worth of grains in a 10 gallon cooler which did not work out so well and I think I lost a bit of flavor right there .
Then I just poured in some yeast from the pack and did not measure it and have no idea if that contributed to the flavor .
Then I fermented in fridge which just does not seem to work well for me and i got the FG high so it has a more sweet flavor than it would have I think . It came out to 1.014 I think .
I am going to do a 5 G batch so I can do it right .
It does taste good , like a brown , but I am not tasting the hops . I will be buying some online next time to get a good price and maybe add more . I think one full oz instead of .85 hops would go good in a 5G batch

do you think the special b has something to do with the "brown ale" quality?

It may be the special B or the yeast . B brings on a heavy caramel taste but AB has a lot of caramel flavor i it . I really think it is a lot to do with trying a 1 G batch . I could not keep mash temp and also boiled off way too much water .
maybe boiling off too much water on a 1 g batch was what stopped the hop flavors and aroma . I just did not taste any .
Next time I am going to sort of torpedo the flame out hops . I will stir them constantly in the hot wort for at least 30 minutes to get good flavor
I am going to try again with 5 G as soon as I get some extra cash . Rain for a month put me out of work and is taking a toll on my beer making .
Still was a good beer but not what I was going for . give it another 2 weeks to condition and I will try another one .

Mine winds up being around 75 - 80 ibus of chinook, plus a generous handful at flameout (1/2 oz in a 3 gallon batch). The hops die down over time in the bottle, peak about a week or two in the bottle (after 1 week primary, 2 weeks secondary).

Just opened another one . No change . Just has no hop flavor or hop bitterness . tastes like a watered down nut brown or something similar . It has a slightly bitter aftertaste but it is not a chinook bitter but more of a roasted malt bitter . Not much flavor of any kind at all at first hitting the mouth .
got no idea where all that hops went off to .

Opened another one . Not much difference . tastes more like some kind of nut brown . Not very good imao but not real bad either
I am sure this recipe will yield a close product if mashed right . My attempt at 1 gallon in a 10 gallon cooler was a failure as I kind of thought it would be .

I'm thinking the hops got distributed funny, maybe you'll get more flavor in a different bottle.

I would scale up to 5 gals, and use 4 oz Chinook. Plan to drink it in the first month, the hop aroma does die back after a while.

This clone is a real crowd pleaser, just the way you had it.

It got a bad mash because of temps . I plan on doing a 5 G in the future so I can mash it properly