I'd like it there was a mistake! The price of $78/case I assume is based that it contains 1/3 more beer than a regular 12oz 24 bottle case. Last year's case price was ~50, so that does make this one a bit of an increase.... so I googled it to check, case price of LS 32oz bottles, and no luck, but did find bottle price of 7.50-8 ea, so at 90-96 for 12 that supports a case at 78 I'd guess. I want my LS in 12oz bottles back!
Lagunitas Sucks clone?
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CorporateHippie
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$5.99 for a 32oz here. Just picked some up this afternoon and plan to enjoy later tonight.
PackerfaninSanDiego
Member
well my palate says,,,,,,,"Sucks, hands down"
CorporateHippie
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no idea if there is a price break, I didn't plan to buy that many. There are too many pieces of candy on the shelf to spend all my Christmas nickels on one flavor.
I've had Sucks here and there over the past couple years. Only had one bomber of Enjoy By earlier this year. Very difference beasts.
I tend not to be a big DIPA fan, as I often seem to get a sweetness from the high alcohol content that can't be balanced against somehow. However I found Enjoy By to be less of that, with a nice dry finish and plenty of hops standing up to the malt.
Sucks doesn't seem like an IPA to me because I tend to think an IPA needs some kind of pronounced bitterness. Sucks is fairly sweet in the finish. Really like the hop profile, but would just like it to have more bitterness.
Had my first Heady Topper last week, and found the hop profile amazing, but again, for me, a bit overblown in the hop flavor and aroma, to a point in which I feel like I'd drinking hop tea. Drinks easy for an 8% beer, though. I did think Lagunitas when I had it though... something in the hop profile made me think Sucks or even Lil Sumpin. Not necessarily in taste/mouthfeel, but the hop profile. Not dominated by the citrus hops... plenty of dank and pine, which is what I like so much about Lagunitas offerings in general.
Yesterday I had a Stoneface IPA (NH) which is getting a ton of love in my area. I found it to lack bitterness and again be like a hop tea more than a beer. Something in it's hop profile tasted odd too. Very fruity... too much fruit. But a LOT of people love the beer, so again, my personal preference just differing from others.
IPAs I'd prefer seem to have more bitterness in addition to lots of hop aroma/flavor: fresh Sculpin, Ruination, Celebration, Ipswich's new "Rt 101 West Coast IPA", Long Trail's Limbo.
I tend not to be a big DIPA fan, as I often seem to get a sweetness from the high alcohol content that can't be balanced against somehow. However I found Enjoy By to be less of that, with a nice dry finish and plenty of hops standing up to the malt.
Sucks doesn't seem like an IPA to me because I tend to think an IPA needs some kind of pronounced bitterness. Sucks is fairly sweet in the finish. Really like the hop profile, but would just like it to have more bitterness.
Had my first Heady Topper last week, and found the hop profile amazing, but again, for me, a bit overblown in the hop flavor and aroma, to a point in which I feel like I'd drinking hop tea. Drinks easy for an 8% beer, though. I did think Lagunitas when I had it though... something in the hop profile made me think Sucks or even Lil Sumpin. Not necessarily in taste/mouthfeel, but the hop profile. Not dominated by the citrus hops... plenty of dank and pine, which is what I like so much about Lagunitas offerings in general.
Yesterday I had a Stoneface IPA (NH) which is getting a ton of love in my area. I found it to lack bitterness and again be like a hop tea more than a beer. Something in it's hop profile tasted odd too. Very fruity... too much fruit. But a LOT of people love the beer, so again, my personal preference just differing from others.
IPAs I'd prefer seem to have more bitterness in addition to lots of hop aroma/flavor: fresh Sculpin, Ruination, Celebration, Ipswich's new "Rt 101 West Coast IPA", Long Trail's Limbo.
Finally had an opportunity after traveling and illness to try my clone back to back with a bottle of Sucks. As I mentioned before, it is close. Mine came out a little higher on the alcohol percentage and also just a touch sweeter, but I think the grain bill I used is darn close. I did find also that while the Falconer Flight is close, it is a little bit more tart than the hops used in Sucks. I bet with some tweaking and using the actual hops (if I can find them) I could make this really close.
All that being said, my clone attempt is awfully good. I finally figured out the foaming issues I was having and now am really enjoying this. It is a nice, full bodied, well rounded beer and I will definitely be making it again. It is also pretty potent, so is not something that I will be drinking more than one or two of in a night, usually with a pull or two from my commercial tap side or from a bottle.
Someone also mentioned Racer 5. This too is one of my favorites and I discovered it years ago when working out in the area of the brewery. My first batch when I got back into brewing a couple of years ago was an attempted extract clone that I was a little disappointed with. I think, with it being my first attempt at kegging, I got a little bit too much oxygen in it and spoiled it a bit. With all that said, now that I am doing all grain brewing that may be my next attempt.
All that being said, my clone attempt is awfully good. I finally figured out the foaming issues I was having and now am really enjoying this. It is a nice, full bodied, well rounded beer and I will definitely be making it again. It is also pretty potent, so is not something that I will be drinking more than one or two of in a night, usually with a pull or two from my commercial tap side or from a bottle.
Someone also mentioned Racer 5. This too is one of my favorites and I discovered it years ago when working out in the area of the brewery. My first batch when I got back into brewing a couple of years ago was an attempted extract clone that I was a little disappointed with. I think, with it being my first attempt at kegging, I got a little bit too much oxygen in it and spoiled it a bit. With all that said, now that I am doing all grain brewing that may be my next attempt.
sybesbrew
Well-Known Member
I did not take notes. I don't remember the differences but my attempt was not close to sucks. The search for a clone continues!
I've done two Racer 5 clones, as is typical the clone isn't exact, however, I've been told, and agree, my 2nd attempt actually tastes as good or better than the Racer 5. The significant changes from v1 batch was a change to Franco Belges Malt (French Maltster) that ironically, my LHBS told me was what Racer 5 uses (I didn't even mention what I was brewing!). I also decided to change the bitterness and cut my Columbus 90 min addition in half while adding in Cascade. If you wish I can post the entire recipe, its quite good!!
Please do post it. I would be interested in trying it. Unfortunately I would not be able to try it alongside a Racer 5 for comparison as I live in NH and they do not sell it here, but I still remember the taste and would love to at least come close to reproducing it.
Here you go, I will still fine tune the bittering hops, even with my last change. I do think the Franco Belges grains makes a big difference too, so hopefully you can get a hold of them.
Looking at my notes, I ended up with 77% efficiency into the BK, below recipe assumed 73%, so I overshot my OG by 4pts, adjust as needed, I use Brewer's Friend.
Batch Size 5.5g (to account for the hop loss and maintain ~5g to bottle)
Boil Size 7.23g
Boil Time 90 min
11.4 # Franco Belges 2 row
1.65# American White Wheat
0.6# American Crystal 20L
0.5# Belgian Carapils
0.25# German CaraMunich 1
Mash 60 min (1.25qt/#, I go thick, stir well, Franco seems to dough up)
Mash at 154- another issue, I hit too hot, but cooled by 15 min to 154. This was a bit sketchy for me, I brewed on 11/25 and was 50 out, so mashed inside
Batch Sparge at 172
0.3oz Columbus (12.7AA)90
0.535oz Cascade (7.1AA)90
1oz Columbus 20
1oz Cascade 20
0.5oz Columbus 5
0.5oz Cascade 5
1oz Columbus Dry Hop 7 days
1oz Cascade Dry Hop 7 days
0.5oz Chinook (AA13) Dry Hop 7 days
0.5oz Centennial (AA 10) Dry Hop 7 days
Irish Moss at 15 min
Wort Chiller into BK at 15 min (to sanitize)
1 pk Wyeast Am Ale 1272, starter to hit 270B cells (I was trying not to over pitch, some may choose to go higher). I was still using the shake like mad method, now I'm using O2 so looking forward to that touch as well.
Cooled wort down to 66 in 15 min and pitched with full starter that was 15hrs old, high Krausen. This beer was bubbling like mad!
My OG was 1.075, overshot by 4, FG 1.016
So will tweak some more, but I think this is one fine place to start!
Cheers
if you brew it, let me know how it turns out!
And, to turn back towards the thread title- I'm about to enjoy sharing a quart of LS now with my gf.
Made this Racer 5 clone this weekend but had to change the grain bill a little due to availability and an issue with the brewing store. Should be fairly similar though. A little disappointed with my local brewing store as I called to place an order for the grains and rounded up to the nearest pound as I always keep a little extra grain for future brews or other things, and instead of giving them to me separately and letting me weigh them out they combined it all in one baf. I did not realize it until I got home. I adjusted the weight down some from what they gave me but do not have specifics of what was actually in there. Should be interesting.
Glad to hear you made the clone, I hope with all the issues you had it still comes out good, be sure to update me! Yeah I am pretty specific when I need grains from my LBHS too, and I tend to order only what I need, and then mill at home. Buying in bulk pays for the mill in about 2 bags or ~ 10 batches. Its a great investment if you haven't already done that! Cheers
I have been thinking about a mill and may get one eventually.
Unfortunately, my "clone" has been sitting in the keg for 3 weeks now with only a sip taken, and I have been so sick I could not even taste it when I did try it. Finally feel like I am on the mend so hopefully this coming weekend I will finally get to have a few.
Unfortunately, my "clone" has been sitting in the keg for 3 weeks now with only a sip taken, and I have been so sick I could not even taste it when I did try it. Finally feel like I am on the mend so hopefully this coming weekend I will finally get to have a few.
Brewing my clonish recipe today of this for the second time. First time was awesome.
10# Maris otter
3# German wheat
1# flaked oats
1# rye
10 oz torrified wheat
1# rice hulls
Mash at 154 for 60 mins
90 min boil
.5oz Columbus 90 mins
2 oz Amarillo, 2 oz centennial 30 mins
.5 oz simcoe 20 mins
.5 oz Columbus 10 mins
1 oz centennial 5 mins
3 oz Citra, 1.5 oz simcoe dry hop
Using Denny's fav 50 yeast. Or 1056 or 1272 or similar.
10# Maris otter
3# German wheat
1# flaked oats
1# rye
10 oz torrified wheat
1# rice hulls
Mash at 154 for 60 mins
90 min boil
.5oz Columbus 90 mins
2 oz Amarillo, 2 oz centennial 30 mins
.5 oz simcoe 20 mins
.5 oz Columbus 10 mins
1 oz centennial 5 mins
3 oz Citra, 1.5 oz simcoe dry hop
Using Denny's fav 50 yeast. Or 1056 or 1272 or similar.
mrdail87
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From what I've read, this might not even be close to the real recipe, but people who've tried it said this brew tasted really close to brown shuga.
What I've heard is they switched yeast strains, changing the flavor of the final beer, and winding up with Lagunitas Sucks.
I can confirm from being forced to switch yeast strains on a batch of this, it makes a huge impact. It didn't taste like Lagunitas Sucks, but if I was aiming for that, I might sub for WLP001.
Again, not saying this is close to the actual recipe. But it does produce a similar flavor.
Citra/Simcoe/Mosaic IPA
Recipe specifics:
Style: American IPA
Batch size: 5.0 gal
Boil volume: 3.0 gal
OG: 1.060
FG: 1.015
Bitterness (IBU): 48.7
Color (SRM): 7.9
ABV: 5.9%
Grain/Sugars:
3.00 lb Light LME, 31.6%
3.00 lb Light LME, 31.6%, boil for 5 min
2.00 lb Munich (US), 21.1%
1.00 lb Orange Blossom Honey, 10.5%, boil for 5 min
0.50 lb Crystal 10L, 5.3%
Hops:
0.50 oz Citra (AA 13.6%, Pellet) 30 min, 17.0 IBU
1.00 oz Mosaic (AA 11.7%, Pellet) 20 min, 23.9 IBU
0.50 oz Simcoe (AA 12.7%, Pellet) 10 min, 7.8 IBU
0.50 oz Citra (AA 13.6%, Pellet) dry hop
1.00 oz Mosaic (AA 11.7%, Pellet) dry hop
0.50 oz Simcoe (AA 12.7%, Pellet) dry hop
Yeast/Misc:
American Blend WLP060, 1.0 unit(s), Yeast Made 1L starter, ~36 hours, ~12 hours in fridge
Irish Moss, 1.0 unit(s), Fining , boil 15 min
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What I've heard is they switched yeast strains, changing the flavor of the final beer, and winding up with Lagunitas Sucks.
I can confirm from being forced to switch yeast strains on a batch of this, it makes a huge impact. It didn't taste like Lagunitas Sucks, but if I was aiming for that, I might sub for WLP001.
Again, not saying this is close to the actual recipe. But it does produce a similar flavor.
Citra/Simcoe/Mosaic IPA
Recipe specifics:
Style: American IPA
Batch size: 5.0 gal
Boil volume: 3.0 gal
OG: 1.060
FG: 1.015
Bitterness (IBU): 48.7
Color (SRM): 7.9
ABV: 5.9%
Grain/Sugars:
3.00 lb Light LME, 31.6%
3.00 lb Light LME, 31.6%, boil for 5 min
2.00 lb Munich (US), 21.1%
1.00 lb Orange Blossom Honey, 10.5%, boil for 5 min
0.50 lb Crystal 10L, 5.3%
Hops:
0.50 oz Citra (AA 13.6%, Pellet) 30 min, 17.0 IBU
1.00 oz Mosaic (AA 11.7%, Pellet) 20 min, 23.9 IBU
0.50 oz Simcoe (AA 12.7%, Pellet) 10 min, 7.8 IBU
0.50 oz Citra (AA 13.6%, Pellet) dry hop
1.00 oz Mosaic (AA 11.7%, Pellet) dry hop
0.50 oz Simcoe (AA 12.7%, Pellet) dry hop
Yeast/Misc:
American Blend WLP060, 1.0 unit(s), Yeast Made 1L starter, ~36 hours, ~12 hours in fridge
Irish Moss, 1.0 unit(s), Fining , boil 15 min
-----
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