Heady Topper

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This was actually my first time doing this. I can't say its the best way, but its just the way i did it.. 16oz, 500ml, 800ml. All were about 1.032 og starters. I had each step on a stir plate for about 36 hours each time and put it in the fridge for about 4 days after each step. No reason as to the timeline, it just happened to work out that way before i could brew.
16oz stepped up to 500ML is about a .9oz step up. Did you mean 8oz by any chance?
 
Day four and I've done one step up and just got activity on top from the yeast.

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That's a lot of dimp!

I probably won't get another crack at this for at least 2 months. My freaking hop order is on, essentially, an extended backorder and won't be shipping for another 2-3 weeks... oh, and i cant get a refund. Awesome. However, my ipa is now ready and by tossing in about half a pound of Citra in it, buuuuut I cannot get a grasp on how the yeast affects the flavor. I increased my hops from the last time i made this beer, so its tough to tell if its hop or yeast that is giving it an extra oomph (or both). Oh well. But, what i do know is this yeast easily hits 80+ attenuation lending it to be a very useful yeast for high gravity beers. Oh, and you get to drink some delicious Heady Topper in the process.
 
I haven't had Heady in a long time now, but that should end early in the New Year.

Anyway I bought some Ithaca Flower Power last night and the first thing that crossed my mind when I drank it was "Heady Topper". Does anyone else smell and taste the similarity, or is it just me?
 
Ok, I now need to subscribe to this thread. Was just given a can of this stuff, and IMO the number of truly unique and exceptional IPAs is quite small and this one makes my list at least.

To me the most striking hop flavor and what makes it special is the earthyness as a backdrop for the dank and tropical citrus. Is anyone else getting this earthyness and where does it come from?

I only had the one can, but IMO CTZ and citra were definitely used, and likely simcoe.

I guess I need more HT to propogate conan, and a sack of perle.
 
paulster2626 said:
I haven't had Heady in a long time now, but that should end early in the New Year.

Anyway I bought some Ithaca Flower Power last night and the first thing that crossed my mind when I drank it was "Heady Topper". Does anyone else smell and taste the similarity, or is it just me?

I see some resemblance. I love Flower Power. Great beer!
 
Xpertskir said:
Ok, I now need to subscribe to this thread. Was just given a can of this stuff, and IMO the number of truly unique and exceptional IPAs is quite small and this one makes my list at least.

To me the most striking hop flavor and what makes it special is the earthyness as a backdrop for the dank and tropical citrus. Is anyone else getting this earthyness and where does it come from?

I only had the one can, but IMO CTZ and citra were definitely used, and likely simcoe.

I guess I need more HT to propogate conan, and a sack of perle.

He has been making it since before citra was available iirc.
 
I haven't had Heady in a long time now, but that should end early in the New Year.

Anyway I bought some Ithaca Flower Power last night and the first thing that crossed my mind when I drank it was "Heady Topper". Does anyone else smell and taste the similarity, or is it just me?

I love Flower Power, probably in my top 3 IPAs. I think Heady is a bit fruitier and a few notches more intense, but there's definitely similarities.
 
He has been making it since before citra was available iirc.

Yeah, it's doubtful Citra is in it — the Citra character people pick up is probably from Conan. I'm guessing this has a similar hop profile to other great American IPAs, with maybe a curveball or two, but no one seems to have nailed it yet, at least not on here.

I think part of the problem we face in trying to clone the recipe is that... John Kimmich really, really knows what he's doing. In other words, it's probably more about process than recipe. Given how old the recipe for HT is, and the number of IPAs out there focusing on similar hop profiles, odds are other brewers are making IPAs with the same hop varieties as are in Heady Topper... yet they aren't as good as Heady. It's how well he brews it, how effectively he's able to extract the maximum hop aroma, and of course, his secret yeast strain giving it some extra oomph.

That's my rambling half-drunk musing for the moment, anyway.
 
What we need is for someone to go undercover and see how it's done - then create an underground HT recipe scene where we can all share and make this on our own in secret. DRINK FROM THE CAN!
 
What we need is for someone to go undercover and see how it's done - then create an underground HT recipe scene where we can all share and make this on our own in secret. DRINK FROM THE CAN!

Excellent plan. I will selfishly volunteer to move to Vermont and work for the Alchemist if anyone can convince them to hire me.
 
Well, I have the yeast, and a lot of intel from this thread and others, so I am feeling pretty confident I'm going to get this really close. I just need to find some extract and I'll be set.
 
I just bought some isohop from morebeer for a beer that needed more bitterness. It works great and adds some cloudiness to the beer if unfiltered.
could this explain HT cloudiness? It is added post ferment.
 
Fresh flower power is awesome. HT is a tad more intense and little more body IMO. That being said, I could drink more than one FP in a sitting, but I can't drink more than one HT in a sitting.
 
I know Bell's yeast makes a difference, so I can assume Conan would too. Great....more beer to buy and starters to make:D
 
I just bought some isohop from morebeer for a beer that needed more bitterness. It works great and adds some cloudiness to the beer if unfiltered.
could this explain HT cloudiness? It is added post ferment.

I don't know about isohop specifically (never heard of it before, but I've used Hopshots from Northern Brewer), and I think I've read somewhere before that Heady Topper uses hop extract.

The cloudiness is probably mostly from it being unfiltered, but I also feel like Heady has some wheat in the grain bill, which would explain why it has a nice body and fullness to it despite the low Final Gravity. I doubt there's a significant amount of crystal malts in it.
 
I would put good money on it's cloudiness = massive late hop and dry hop additions
 
They are going through some sort of hopback on the way into the bottle too. They probably whirlpool/steep for 30 minutes too at flameout and FWH.
 
I will try to go the week after thanksgiving. Ill look closely and ask questions to see if I can gather more info
 
there are two kegs used as blow off vessels during fermentation. they actually add the contents of the first fermenter to the bright tank.
 
To other people who have used Conan, how cloudy was your beer?
I sorta had a failure.. my beer is a cloudy, murky mess. I will say this, for a 3 gallon batch, i used 2.65oz Citra as the dryhop (almost 4.5 scaled up to 5gal) with no hop bag, so this may be the reason for the mess i got... but how clear have your beers been?
 
One of my friends from work is trying to convince me to make a run up to Vermont just to pick up a bunch of Heady. He's never had it. Does anyone know how much they'll allow you to purchase in one shot from the brewery? I'm trying to decide if this is worth it. Last time I was there, it was part of a trip throughout the whole state.
 
Yeah, I heard 2 case limit. $72 a case, I think.

I'm heading up there next weekend into Monday to grab some.
 
2 case limit per person at the brewery. Retailers have a two 4-pack limit per person. Just dont be shocked when a case is nearly 80 bucks. :p
 
Thanks guys! I just checked out the drive, I'm out. I wasn't sure how far it was because last time we were all over Vermont for a few days. He may still go.
 
From Staten... yeah, thats at least 8 hours (one way).... just for beer.
 
If you're going to Waterbury for Heady... might as well make the 1hr ride out to Hill Farmstead. And from there, they're 5 miutes from I-91 if you're gonna be heading south. Oh, and Rock Art is on the way too.
 
Dammit I had hoped to find a recipe and instead got a HT vs. PTE thread. I love them both but HT is more to my tastes. Pliny is too dry, and I'm bored of that pine and citrus hop profile. They are very different styles of IPA though. I've had very fresh Hopslam, and while I did enjoy it it didn't seen very hoppy at all, more of a balanced malt driven beer. Now, who has been able to produce a recipe?
 
Dammit I had hoped to find a recipe and instead got a HT vs. PTE thread. I love them both but HT is more to my tastes. Pliny is too dry, and I'm bored of that pine and citrus hop profile. They are very different styles of IPA though. I've had very fresh Hopslam, and while I did enjoy it it didn't seen very hoppy at all, more of a balanced malt driven beer. Now, who has been able to produce a recipe?

I thought there were like 5 posts out of 20 pages on PTE and the rest has been about figuring out Heady Topper.

We have gotten a grain bill figured out and are just trying to identify the last hop and the amount of hop extract. I have picked Moteuka as the last missing hop after using it in another IPA recently. I have never used hop extract, so need some ideas on how much to use and get that same taste.
 
theveganbrewer said:
I thought there were like 5 posts out of 20 pages on PTE and the rest has been about figuring out Heady Topper.

We have gotten a grain bill figured out and are just trying to identify the last hop and the amount of hop extract. I have picked Moteuka as the last missing hop after using it in another IPA recently. I have never used hop extract, so need some ideas on how much to use and get that same taste.

You're right, I wasn't able to view the whole thread for some reason. Carry on ;)
 
I would put good money on it's cloudiness = massive late hop and dry hop additions

Don't know....I've done a good amount of late hop/dry hop and never had my beers remain cloudy. I keg mine, so it does have time to clear, but I'm thinking hopback as well.
 
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