Heady Topper Clone (BYO)

dr_finklestein said:

Here is the recipe and it doesn't say "Citra"

Click to expand...

Weird! What issue of BYO is this picture from?

The OP posted on Feb 16, 2013 that he was posting the recipe from "the current issue of BYO" which I took to mean the March-April 2013 issue, because in that issue they have an article on Hop Stands. In that article they have a recipe called "Over the Topper DIPA" to which they state "This is a clone of one of my favorite double IPAs, Heady Topper, from Alchemist Brewery in Vermont".

The recipe in my Mar/Apr 2013 issue of BYO is identical to the one posted by the OP in the first post of this thread, except that it also lists 1 Oz Citra as primary drop hop.

In the picture above, you'll note that there's all sorts of other differences from what the OP posted too, including:

They actually called it "Heady Topper clone" instead of "Over the Topper DIPA"
OG of 1.076 instead of 1.074 (as per my MAr/Apr 2013 issue)
FG of 1.014 instead of 1.012
15 lbs British malt instead of 13
6 oz Caravienne instead of 4 oz
1 lb turbinato sugar instead of just "sucrose"
7 AAU Magnum at 60 mins instead of none
13 AAU Simcoe at 30 min instead of 19.5
8.6 AAU Apollo at knockout instead of 17.2
7 AAU Columbus at knockout instead of none
.... many other hop changes ....
Finally a completely different yeast: WY1028 or WLP013 instead of WY1056/WLP001

What issue of BYO is the picture from?

Kal

kal said:

Weird! What issue of BYO is this picture from?
...
Kal

Click to expand...

Oct 2013. "VT Cult Clones"

WWJPD said:

Oct 2013. "VT Cult Clones"

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Ah - ok. That explains it. We're looking at different issues of the magazine. I was responding to the original poster who commented on the March-April 2013 issue. Seems that 6 months later they printed a different "clone". (which is probably better)

Kal

I brewed the BYO Oct. 2013 version (with the 60 min. Magnum addition) earlier this year and it was awesome.
Since I couldn't get any Conan yeast I used 70% WLP-001 and 30% Lallemand 71B wine yeast to get some of that fruity character that Conan has.
Will be brewing this again soon.

Interesting solution for the yeast!

From what I've read there are places now offering a supposed 'official' conan yeast. I haven't tried any of these so YMMV:

http://www.theyeastbay.com/brewers-yeast-products/vermont-ale
http://www.gigayeast.com/vermont-ipa-yeast-gy054

I know I've seen others too...

Kal

Reviving the thread. For those who used the Chico strain - please report back.

I did a split batch - they're exactly 2.5 weeks into the kegs so they're perfect right now.

I did half with Yeast Bay's Vermont Ale, the other half with Chico (Safale US-05). Ferment at 64F for 5-7 days then raise to 70-72F until complete.

As expected the Yeast Bay's Vermont Ale is fruiter / more peachy - it compliments the hops well. The Chico was more neutral. Both are excellent but if I had to choose one I like better, it's the Yeast Bay Vermont Ale (probably partially because Chico's my house strain and I brew a lot of American Ales so anything slightly different is interesting).

Kal

I can't source the Vermont strain locally and it's still to damned hot here in Las Vegas for shipping.

I ordered the H.T. kit from Northern Brewer and plan on fermenting it with WLP001.

Got my 'version' going right now. No apollo here, so I used Columbus in those places. Also just going to use Nottingham, since no one local carries Conan. Like I said, a version instead of a clone...lol. Thanks for the thread!

I used dark Belgian candi sugar in my clone.