White Rajah Clone

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

brewgineers

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2010
Messages
45
Reaction score
2
Location
Bellbrook
Went to a bar this weekend and had a couple white rajah and loved it. anyone got a good clone recipe or idea of one for the white rajah ipa?
 
What type of brewer are you? Do you need an extract or all grain recipe? I have a recipe that's very close and will need to see if I can dig it up.

You are right to love this beer. My favorite IPA next to Headhunter IPA from Fatheads.
 
I'd be interested in seeing an all grain recipe for this beer. It's one of the best IPA's I've ever had...
 
I'll dig this one up from the brink of death. . . I don't have a recipe but I can throw some ideas out and we can go from there.

Malt: what malt? my guess is mostly two row with a very small amount of c-40 and maybe some munich for color and head retention and depth and that might be too dark, it's damned pale. I detect little to no nuttiness. . . no victory, aromotic, etc. in this.

Hops: For fact I can tell you there are Citra hops in this bad boy. It says on the website. I'd also guess that there are some amount of british style hops going on here too, judging from the label and smell/taste.

Yeast: gotta be cal ale 001 or 1056 but it pours as clear as can be, just like every TBK beer I've ever drank. I don't know if they filter or if they are using a high flocking yeast. If they aren't filtering then I guess I'd almost have to be wrong about 001 or 1056 then. Not a speck of yeast on the bottom of the bottle. . .they filter right. Whatever it is, it attenuates well, the finish is dry and crisp, makes me want another sip

Speaking of another sip, that finish has to make you believe in a low mash temp. . . 148? Put that together with a clean well attenuating yeast and a low crystal/caramel content and things sound about right to me. . . anyone agree with those thoughts?

Water: I'm not sure what they do with the water. . . and I'm too lazy to look up anything for cleveland. I'd guess at a high load of gypsum though. The bitterness supports a Sulfite to Cholrite ratio of 2:1 or greater.

damn, it smells like the good stuff. I see why they named it this. Can I just have the dry hop bill? Dry hopped you say? Please, obviously.
 
So I took a minute and emailed the brewery about the recipe and got this reply,

"We are still keeping the recipe under wraps since its how we make our living but I can tell you the American 2 row, Citra, Centennial and Amarillo are the main pieces to the puzzle."

So there are a few helpful hints that may get us a little further toward a good clone.
 
I have heard that they use Citra to bitter, then use equal amounts of the other hops at a few different additions - maybe 2-3 late-hop additions. Plus they dry hop with a combo of all of the hops.

Also, this beer is DRY. No malt in this bad boy!

Hope that helps a bit!
 
So I took a minute and emailed the brewery about the recipe and got this reply,

"We are still keeping the recipe under wraps since its how we make our living but I can tell you the American 2 row, Citra, Centennial and Amarillo are the main pieces to the puzzle."

So there are a few helpful hints that may get us a little further toward a good clone.

I did the same thing and got even less info. Basically "sorry, thats proprietary." I understand that brewing beer is how you make your living but give me a break, we're homebrewers. Look at Russian River, you can get the Pliny the Elder recipe and I don't think they are having troubles making a living at Russian River. I'm just saying. I'm gonna put together some sort of a recipe on this eventually, I have no idea how close it will be but I'll post it here for you all to look at and give me friendly advice on. For the record, you can put me in the category of people who don't think TBK is using Citra as a bittering hop for White Rajah.
 
Ok so here is my stab at it anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?

5.5 gallon Batch

12 lb Pale US 2 Row
.25 lb Munich
Mash at 150

.75 lb Table Sugar
All Hops are whole leaf.
1.5 oz Amarillo (10.4%) @60 min
.25 oz Cent (10.3%) @15
.25 oz Citra (15.6%) @15
.5 oz Cent (10.3%) @5
.5 oz Citra (15.6%) @5

WLP001 Yeast

Dry Hop 10 Days with .5 oz of each Amar, Cent, and Citra.
 
Looks like a good beer. . . I'm down a similar path. Doubt it is bittered with amarillo though. I'm focusing more on flavor and aroma. The hop bill I'm working on, as of now is 10 ounces. I tend to be pretty heavy handed on the hops. Probably over kill but it's a work in progress. I hadn't thought to use table sugar in this one. Then again, I'm not worried about going from around 1.066 to around 1.014 with 001. Also, Munich is not something I've heard floated around about what might be in white rajah and I don't perceive it in taste either, could be me though.
 
Trying to find a little color with the munich it's either something light or just all 2 row. Sugar is more to dry it out and get that crisp finish.

Too me at some level with a beer like this bittering hops are bittering hops. The flavor and aroma are going to overwhelm them to some extent and all you are really trying to do with them is hit IBU targets.

What are you thinking for the malt bill?
 
Alright I did it. Once I got to working things around my recipe really sounds ridiculous. I worked grain weights out from a 20BBL batch using full bags of grains.

6 gallon batch to get 5 gallons of finished beer, 70% efficiency, rager for IBU, morrey for color.

Estimated OG: 1.066
Anticipated FG: 1.014
ABV: 6.8%
Color: 6.3 SRM
Bitterness: 70 IBU

14.5 lbs 2-row
8 oz c-40
8 oz white wheat

.5 oz columbus 60 min (target 25 IBU)
1 oz Centennial 30 min (Target 19 IBU)
1 oz Amarillo 15 min
1.5 oz Citra 15 min
1 oz Amarillo Flameout
1 oz Citra Flameout
1 oz Amarillo dry hop 7-10 days
2 oz Citra dry hop 7-10 days
1 oz Centennial dry hop 7-10 days

Sac rest at 148-150, hold for 60-90 min
mash out and sparge as usual.

thoughts? opinions?
 
I like the malt bill better than mine with the white wheat but that seems like a lot of hops. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing.
 
Thats true, the hops may be complete over kill. I have one white rajah left in the fridge, I'll drink it soon to get refresher of an idea of what is going on in there but my last impression was not a ton in the way of straight bitterness, it was all layered in. Alternatively:

0.70 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] (60 min) Hops 35.2 IBU
0.80 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (30 min) Hops 14.7 IBU
0.75 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (15 min) Hops 6.1 IBU
1.25 oz Citra [12.00 %] (15 min) Hops 14.4 IBU

This might be better. Target 35 IBU at 60 min, 15 IBU at 30 min, and 20 IBU at 15 min with about those ratios. I suppose you could drop down some on the flame out and dry hops but with the aroma White Rajah packs I see no reason to.
 
Maybe I'm just spit balling here cause things seem pretty dead on this thread but I still feel like there should be some english hops in the dry hop here. . . I'm thinking some fuggles. Anyone have any thoughts on that crazy idea?
 
I can't help much, since i have yet to brew, but I did see something about TBK dry hopping with Galaxy Hops.
 
I can't help much, since i have yet to brew, but I did see something about TBK dry hopping with Galaxy Hops.

That's interesting. I've never brewed with galaxy but it sounds pretty similar to citra but a little less tropical and a little more grassy. That would seem to make sense. I've got the grain bill for this brew and plenty of columbus, centennial, citra, and amarillo hops. All that's left for me to do is settle on a hop schedule. Everything I've compiled on it thus far is purely from what people have heard and also from tasting the beer, I don't claim to be an expert at tasting beers or putting together "clone" recipes but I'm set to give this a shot. Anyone else giving something a go at this?
 
rjschroed said:
That's interesting. I've never brewed with galaxy but it sounds pretty similar to citra but a little less tropical and a little more grassy. That would seem to make sense. I've got the grain bill for this brew and plenty of columbus, centennial, citra, and amarillo hops. All that's left for me to do is settle on a hop schedule. Everything I've compiled on it thus far is purely from what people have heard and also from tasting the beer, I don't claim to be an expert at tasting beers or putting together "clone" recipes but I'm set to give this a shot. Anyone else giving something a go at this?

Wish I could help more. I ran across this thread and the dry hopping with galaxy statement in the same night. (Researching BIAB and a White Rajah clone) Figured I'd throw it up here since no ones mentioned it.
 
I think I've officially hi-jacked this thread, this beer has become an obsession for me. More was released this week and I was able to snag another 6er. Using every bit of sensory perception I have to evaluate what is going on in this beer. My current conclusion is that I like the grain bill a lot and I am mostly set with a hop bill. . . the only thing I'm questioning is if I should include the centennial in the dry hop or not. At this moment I'm leaning toward not.
 
I'm going to make an attempt at this sometime this summer, but I'm interested to see how your brew turns out. Just brew it! ;)
 
I'm pretty sure the flameout addition of hops is important. Need flameout and dry hopping for aroma to last as long as possible. If there is an update on the full recipe and who has tried it, please let us know how it came out.
 
Sub'd. Sent a week for work in the area and just stumbled on the Brew Kettle. Drank like 40 pints of this, and man do they have good BBQ too. The bartender I spoke to, seemed to imply this is brewed with all citra hops. Who knows how much they know, but figured I'd point that out.

(They also make a great Schwarzbier, with the required Space Balls refereneced name)
 
Yeah I live here. Had many conversations with the folks. They say they don't brew it as much because they had a hard time getting citra hops. But I know for sure it's not just citra. That's the flavor and aroma profile. But I know there are noble hops somewhere in the recipe. I would assume bittering. I also wouldn't be surprised if its all 2-row with no adjunct.

Also, even though its the owners most popular beer, he has said it's the "bane of his existence". It's a real thorn in his side for some reason. Prob keeping up with demand.
 
All I know is that if they put out a little help on the homebrew front I would be more than happy to cut out my portion of that demand and make things easier on them.
 
I finally got around to brewing this last weekend. New job = less time for brewing for a while there. 10 gal batch, here is the recipe I used:

29.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 93.55 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 3.23 %
1.00 lb White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 3.23 %

1.50 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [13.90 %] (60 min) Hops 29.1 IBU
2.00 oz Centennial [8.70 %] (30 min) Hops 18.6 IBU
2.00 oz Citra [13.90 %] (15 min) Hops 19.2 IBU
1.50 oz Amarillo Gold [10.30 %] (15 min) Hops 10.7 IBU
0.50 oz Simcoe [12.20 %] (15 min) Hops 4.2 IBU
3.00 oz Citra [11.40 %] (0 min) Hops -
0.50 oz Simcoe [12.20 %] (0 min) Hops -
1.50 oz Amarillo Gold [10.30 %] (0 min) Hops -
2.00 oz Amarillo Gold [10.30 %] (Dry Hop 10 days) Hops -
2.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (Dry Hop 10 days) Hops -
4.00 oz Citra [12.00 %] (Dry Hop 10 days) Hops -

I got a pitch of US-05 yeast from a local brewery, you could also use WLP-001 or wyeast 1056.

I'll let you know how it turns out in a few weeks.
 
Can't wait to hear. This is prob my favorite I have had to date at this price point. It's just a fantastic beer.
 
In case anyone was wondering, I originally designed this recipe for 5 gallons, at which time I had plenty of hops (mainly citra) to make this happen. My buddy caught wind of what I was doing and pretty much begged me to make this a 10 gallon batch. Which immediately became problematic. . . I either had to find a bigger mash tun, sub some base malt out for dextrose (corn sugar), or find an extra mash tun. An extra mash tun magically appeared on brew day so I split everything down the middle and mashed in 2 tuns. I was also one ounce short on citra hops. . . so that is where the simcoe comes in. If I would have had the full 10 oz of citra hops available, I wouldn't have bothered with any simcoe on this attempt. Also, I mashed 1.5 qts/lb at 150. I almost always start with RO water and build up. I could get into a basic water chemistry bit right here but all you really need to know is try to add some gypsum.
 
It's carbed up and several pints later I'll give you some feedback but I'll hold off on direct comparisons until later. There is more malt hanging around than I would've thought for such a simple malt bill. Lack of malt was honestly my biggest fear, but like the TBK White Rajah label says "malt, take a backseat." Backseat indeed. What I have (I'm calling it Hoptimus Prime) is definitely about the hops but there is some malt going on to keep it from being. . . I don't know. . . out of control, if just barely. Hoptimus Prime isn't overtly bitter on the palate, it's more about the hop flavor. . . as apparent by the late hop schedule. An out of this world hop profile without being overly grating on the palate. . . I love the centennial in the middle and the citra/amarillo late work great together, definitely a trio I'd put together again. The nose is incredible, lots of dank hop smell, citrus, pine held up by the sweet tropical fruit notes (Thanks to the amarillo, or is at least my belief and experience with the hop).

Okay, on to the direct comparison. I'll refer to my beer as Prime (short for Hoptimus Prime) and TBK White Rajah as Raj or the Raj. I drank both beers out of the same glass (DFH signature goblets) served at the same temp. at the same time. I keg and I had the Raj out of a bottle so I made sure to pour the same amount.

A: Both are pale golden in color. The Raj is crystal clear. Prime is mostly clear but slightly hazy (To be expected with that amount of hops). A Thin but persistent head pours on the Raj. Prime pours a nice finger and half fluffy white head that goes down eventually but remains thin and persistent. After 5 minutes the head appears the same on both. It is possible that TBK filters the Raj and that might account for the differences here.

S: Having a hard time picking out a difference here. . . literally had to have SWMBO hold them to my nose with my eyes closed to try to pick out a difference wish I would've done it triangle style though. I actually could pick out a very slight difference in the two. Prime is more tropical in the nose, Raj is more citrusy. . . the differences are MINIMAL. A dry hop of equal parts Centennial and Citra might be more appropriate. For the record, on the nose I actually thought Prime was Raj and Raj was Prime. No malt presences in the nose of either beer.

T: I'm having a hard time here too. I keep going back for a sip of one and then the other, 5 or 6 times. Differences are subtle. . . malt is ever so slight. . . barely propping up either beer. The bittering charge might be slightly greater in the Raj. . . slightly more flavor in Prime. They are super close.

M: Both are dry with moderate carbonation, to style. . . This part of the beer is easy to replicate.

O: They are both great beers.

It's close. . . really close. It's hard to say if the malt bill is perfectly cloned. There isn't enough malt going on in either beer. I'm happy enough with the malt bill though. There are some very slight differences with the hops, I already discussed them so I wont' go into it again. I feel like I'm really nit picking to find those differences. I might be interested in a bottle swap with anyone who will commit to posting an honest side by side. I'm comfortable enough with how close they are to say brew it yourself and post your own results.
 
Pictures:

207508_10100821632294168_615812505_n.jpg


178946_10100821631390978_1158256222_n.jpg
 
The White Rajah is filtered....does the Prime have that distinct aftertaste that Rajah does? It's the thing that makes it my favorite beer and I can pick it out of 100 beers. What changes to the recipe would you change to make it closer?
 
Yes it has that aftertaste. The taste difference is in the mid palate and is hard to explain. . . I AM nit picking. That being said changes:

Everything here is for a 12 gallon batch of beer. That allows me to transfer 5.5 into 2, 6 gallon carboys, which lets me put 5 full gallons into the keg (honestly with so many dry hops we ended up a little shy of 5 full gallons at the end. I've been hitting 72% efficiency lately so change your base grains according leave (I'd recommend leaving the specialty malt alone)
Malt bill. . .

28 lbs 2-row (I over shot OG just a little bit)
1 lbs briess red wheat
1 lbs c-40

I thought about subing some munich into the base malt or adding some c-pils or both. It'd probably work out alright but I'm keeping is simple for now. I've decided to use red wheat now. . . I found some interesting information out about red wheat vs. white wheat, let's just say I'm a red wheat believer now. You can draw your own conclusion: http://brewingwithbriess.com/Products/Wheat.htm

Hops:

1.75 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [13.90 %] (60 min) Hops 43.8 IBU
2.00 oz Centennial [8.70 %] (30 min) Hops 16.0 IBU
1.00 oz Amarillo [10.30 %] (15 min) Hops 4.9 IBU
2.00 oz Citra [13.90 %] (15 min) Hops 13.3 IBU
3.00 oz Citra [11.40 %] (0 min) Hops -
1.00 oz Amarillo [10.30 %] (0 min) Hops -
3.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (Dry Hop 10 days) Hops -
1.00 oz Amarillo [10.30 %] (Dry Hop 10 days) Hops -
3.00 oz Citra [12.00 %] (Dry Hop 10 days) Hops -
1.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] (Dry Hop 10 days) Hops -

I'd put a little more into the initial bittering addition. Reduced the amarillo through out and increased the centennial and reduced the citra dry hop additions to make the ratios look like this Columbus: Amarillo: Centennial: Citra 1:1:3:3. I realize it calculates at 78 IBU and the Raj is published at 70. . . I'm less interested in what either is "supposed to be" and more interested in what they taste like. The changes are minor.

I'll be getting more and more opinions on this over the coming weeks so things might change again but this is what I have for now.
 
Back
Top