American IPA Stone Ruination Clone

JimTheHick said:

Thanks for the feedback. My thought process was that carastan would be more of a sweet toffee flavor with more toast whereas the C20 would be just plain sweet.

Looks like inversion ipa from deschutes uses a mix of carastan and crystal. Think I'll go this route!

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Yup its toffee like alright, but I am not sure you are gonna get that with the light version of it, specially considering that the plain carastan is already not so toffee like (special B now thats toffee to the max!). I think Ruination has a good balance between hops and malt, perhaps a mix might be a good idea. That would set you in the right path for such future experiments too.

Its actually not a bad idea, I highly encourage it.

Happy brewing.

CastleBlack said:

Yup its toffee like alright, but I am not sure you are gonna get that with the light version of it, specially considering that the plain carastan is already not so toffee like (special B now thats toffee to the max!). I think Ruination has a good balance between hops and malt, perhaps a mix might be a good idea. That would set you in the right path for such future experiments too.

Its actually not a bad idea, I highly encourage it.

Happy brewing.

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I can't remember if it was Stone or Green Flash (thinking green flash) on CYBI mentioning how much they liked the carastan malts in an ipa. Note check: I used the carastan (1.25lb/6g) in a sorta clone of GF west coast ipa with added sorachi ace flavoring hops. It's pretty good, unique flavor. At first I didn't care for it, but with two months on the bottles it's a solid brew.

Sounds like you might have stumbled upon something good there Jim. Please do post more if you go in that direction.

Happy brewing to ya!

I de-carbonated, and took a sample of real Ruination tonight. FG is 1.011 in case anyone is wondering

scottland said:

I de-carbonated, and took a sample of real Ruination tonight. FG is 1.011 in case anyone is wondering

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Wow. Guess that means dry English 007, or as yooper said a well attenuating yeast.

scottland said:

I de-carbonated, and took a sample of real Ruination tonight. FG is 1.011 in case anyone is wondering

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Oh that is really good to know Scottland, much obliged.

Mine did finish a bit lower (1.008) but not too low, thus raising the ABV.

Thanks again. Happy brewing.

scottland said:

I de-carbonated, and took a sample of real Ruination tonight. FG is 1.011 in case anyone is wondering

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Wow, i think mine finished close to 1.020... but it also was around a 1.080 to start with.

They most likely have a +/- 0.5 Plato tolerance, so it's probably either:
1.009-1.011
1.010-1.012
1.011-1.013

But ya, my bomber bottled last month was 1.011. Tasted just like I remember.

This is on my brew schedule for the weekend. I've three different yeasts in the bank and I'm trying to decide on and I want to get the started kicked off Wed.

My Choices are:

WLP039 (Notty)
PacMan
San Diego Super Strain

All of these are high attenuators -- any recommendations?

ScottSingleton said:

This is on my brew schedule for the weekend. I've three different yeasts in the bank and I'm trying to decide on and I want to get the started kicked off Wed.

My Choices are:

WLP039 (Notty)
PacMan
San Diego Super Strain

All of these are high attenuators -- any recommendations?

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Mash temp provided Pacman sounds like a winner to me.

I ll try and bring my Ruination on the 11th but it ll be 2 weeks young.

Happy brewing to ya!

So mine went through a weird period after about 4 weeks in the bottle. At 2 weeks, the flavor was great but it still needed more carbonation, of course. At 4 it seemed like the body had dropped out and the good flavor with it. I was heartbroken. But now at 7 weeks or so it seems to be on the upswing. I don't think I've evr had a beer get worse before it gets better. Have certainly had them be not great and get much better. This is not a knock on the recipe, I'm sure it has to do with my process rather than the recipe. Anyway, just thought I'd note this. But it's turning back into greatness!

hogwash said:

So mine went through a weird period after about 4 weeks in the bottle. At 2 weeks, the flavor was great but it still needed more carbonation, of course. At 4 it seemed like the body had dropped out and the good flavor with it. I was heartbroken. But now at 7 weeks or so it seems to be on the upswing. I don't think I've evr had a beer get worse before it gets better. Have certainly had them be not great and get much better. This is not a knock on the recipe, I'm sure it has to do with my process rather than the recipe. Anyway, just thought I'd note this. But it's turning back into greatness!

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Bad bottle perhaps?

CastleBlack said:

Bad bottle perhaps?

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No, tried a couple at that mark and they were all bad. It still has just a touch of funky flavor but it has mostly dissipated.

Sounds good mate, I guess it has to go through its stage. I have noticed it happen too often with my IPAs. Always thought the sooner the better since hop aroma does dissipate through time but that isnt always true. IPAs i have come to notice do have have a peak and it does depend on the gravity as well among other things (type of hops, IBUs, amount of dry hops etc...)

Happy brewing to ya and glad it worked out.

I have been drinking this clone for a couple of weeks now. I think it is actually better than the original in a side by side tasting.

Frankiesurf said:

I have been drinking this clone for a couple of weeks now. I think it is actually better than the original in a side by side tasting.

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Glad to hear that, mine is conditioning and I cant wait to break one open. I probably will at our next local homebrew gathering.

Happy brewing to ya.

Damn, I can't wait. Bottled two weeks ago. Usually keg but figured this would be a good one to throw into bombers. Ended up with an extra pint at bottling time and it was fantastic. Will post pics and review next weekend. Hop hop.

This one is for the bottle, thats for sure!

I kegged mine and it was gone in 3 weeks. Sounds like less work to me

I just started on a keg of this and it's very good. I used Safale US-05 which performed very well. Mine has been carbonating in the keg for a couple weeks and tastes good and fresh without the hops tasting too green and astringent. I need to get a bottle of Ruination though so I can A/B them and see if I'm missing anything. But I'll use any excuse available to buy a bottle of Ruination as it's one of my favorite beers.

I've got another keg of this sitting back that I didn't dry hop so I hope to see if I can perceive a difference or not. Thanks for the recipe!

Cracking mine open on the 11th! Young but we ll see how it goes.

Happy brewing to ya all.

If I need this beer on may 12, and I keg any shot it will be ready if I brew tomo (4-20). I'm using SD Super yeast. Grain to glass in 3 weeks?.

Grain to glass in 3 weeks is doable but it won't do your brew or your efforts any justice. Patience is well rewarded in the brew world. Force carbing will provide frorhyness but there is more to this brew than that.

In any case, hope it works for ya.

Happy brewing!

CastleBlack said:

Grain to glass in 3 weeks is doable but it won't do your brew or your efforts any justice. Patience is well rewarded in the brew world. Force carbing will provide frorhyness but there is more to this brew than that.

In any case, hope it works for ya.

Happy brewing!

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I just don't agree with this for something like a iipa. I feel like you are going nowhere but downhill on your hop aroma and flavor as you let it sit. And hop aroma and flavor are what I want from my iipa.

BrewKnurd said:

I just don't agree with this for something like a iipa. I feel like you are going nowhere but downhill on your hop aroma and flavor as you let it sit. And hop aroma and flavor are what I want from my iipa.

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No disagreement on the hop aroma diminishing but grain to glass in 3 weeks is the other extreme. Lets think about this:

1 week primary?
1 week dry hop?
1 week force carb and rounding?

...thats about 3 weeks. See what I mean?

You can only benefit from a longer primary, 10 days sounds about right.

A secondary should be as long as your dry hop ( 7 to 10 days), necessarily, or slightly longer. 10 or even 14 days sounds about right.

Then you can keg/force carb etc. I simply think you get the best of both worlds if you do it that way. At any rate, I think the 3 week experiment should be made. We can only learn from our mistakes and brewing is a craft of infinite possibilities.

Happy brewing to ya all!

This is why I think most people that really want that super hop aroma should either look into a randal or keg-hop.

in my mind 3 weeks is just way to young even for a hoppy IPA. I can't overlook the green aspect of the beer just because it's super hop-forward. My opinion is to either let it sit in the primary for 14-21 days then dry hop, or keg/hop and/or randalize it.

Well... I made this beer on Friday Apr 20. I plan to dry hop on Apr 30, Keg and Force carb on Tues May 8th and serve on Sat May 12th.... Im not saying this is my ideal way to make and serve this beer, but I need it for a party on that day.. I did whip up a blonde last sat the 21 that I have gone grain to glass in 2 weeks before with no problems.

Ill let you know how this IPA turns out on such a short window. I did use WL SD Super yeast (099 I think) which is suppoesd to ferment hard and fast so I hope it works...

If you are on a tight schedule and are brewing a quick brew then by all means you are doing the right thing. If you are trying to create a homebrew, where every sip counts (I have never made one where it didnt, that would defeat the purpose) then I am with Scott on this one, there is more to the brew than the hop component. I love IIPAs I hope it goes well for ya.

Happy brewing.

Hi y'all. I ended up putting 1.5 pounds of crystal in this as half pound each of light carastan, c-20, and honey malt. Threw in a pound of honey too.

Mashed at 152. OG 1.080, current gravity after 6 days is 1.013. It's tasting nice and smooth. Used wlp007

JimTheHick said:

Hi y'all. I ended up putting 1.5 pounds of crystal in this as half pound each of light carastan, c-20, and honey malt. Threw in a pound of honey too.

Mashed at 152. OG 1.080, current gravity after 6 days is 1.013. It's tasting nice and smooth. Used wlp007

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Nice brew mate but are we still talkin Ruination here?

Good luck with your brew and happy brewing to ya.

CastleBlack said:

Nice brew mate but are we still talkin Ruination here?

Good luck with your brew and happy brewing to ya.

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Ah, castle I'm blissfully ignorant of that. No stone distributing here in Iowa so my triangle test is just my brew twice. That said, yes I think it will be very close- same hopping schedule and even with the extra half pound of,carastan (I figure the c-20 and honey malt at half pound each are close to one full pound of c-20) it adds just a little more depth to the malt. So far the brew tastes great for dry hopping.

Maybe someday I can compare the two side by side

Nonetheless, sounds pretty interesting. I would do the brew as it stands, I think I like your recipe.

Best of luck and Happy brewing to ya!

CastleBlack said:

Nonetheless, sounds pretty interesting. I would do the brew as it stands, I think I like your recipe.

Best of luck and Happy brewing to ya!

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Thanks! I did an ipa with 1.25 lb carastan and citrusy hops and it's fantastic. Going for that here to a lesser degree and focusing on centennial as I love 2 hearted so this ruination has to be very good stuff.

JimTheHick said:

Thanks! I did an ipa with 1.25 lb carastan and citrusy hops and it's fantastic. Going for that here to a lesser degree and focusing on centennial as I love 2 hearted so this ruination has to be very good stuff.

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Ruination really kicks butt, good stuff.

I love stone brews all the way. If you need any solid clone recipes ask and you will receive.

Happy brewing to ya and let me know how it turned out.

This is awesome! I did 10 gallons. I screwed up on the hops and switched the dry hops with the hops that were boiled. I thought I had totally screwed up. This beer turned out to be the best I've made. 5 gallons were gone within 2 weeks, and everyone, even drinkers whom dont like an IPA love it! It has a nice sweet like finish, with a great nose!!

thanks for the recipe yoops. this is the best beer ive brewed to date and is exactly why i began to homebrew. cheers to this one

Thanks for the recipe Yooper. 4th brew, first full boil, and first yeast starter. Also the first one where the gravity was right on. Crazy fermentation and can't wait to try it (though I know I must) .

What's was the O.G. On this?

1.077. Very first posting in the thread has the recipe and all the specs. It smells great just fermenting.

Brewed this up last weekend. OG came in at 1.074 so almost on. AS Karl mentions, the smell while it is fermenting is amazing. I have it in my basement, and I find myself wanting to just go stand there for a few minutes and take in the glory. Will leave it for 1 more week and then rack to dry hop for a week.