Green Flash Le Freak clone?

I need help putting together a Green Flash Le Freak clone.

Using this article, http://www.ibabuzz.com/bottomsup/2008/10/29/le-freak-a-new-wonder-from-green-flash-brewing/

I know it is based on their imperial IPA mash ("two row pale barley, a little bit of Carastan, a British crystal malt that provides a full mouth feel and color and crystal malt") and that it uses Summit and nugget hops and amarillo for dry hopping. First they use white labs belgian style yeast and then on the second day they add the regular american style yeast.

Being that I have only brewed four beers, I need some help with this recipe. I have never tasted it but my brother who lives out in California says it was one of the best beers he has ever tasted and I would really like to give it a try. Can anyone help me put together a recipe? I emailed green flash a couple of weeks ago but have received no response, guess they arent too keen on the specifics of their recipes getting out.

Thanks

Did you ever find a good clone recipe for this beer? It has become one of my wife's favorites.

I don't have a clone, but i do have some information that could help. I've found that Le Freak is the same exact beer as their Imperial IPA, except they use two yeasts (one obviously being Belgian):

http://www.ibabuzz.com/bottomsup/2008/10/29/le-freak-a-new-wonder-from-green-flash-brewing/

"He explains that the beer is fermented with two yeasts, the Green Flash house yeast and a Belgian yeast. He starts with regular Green Flash Imperial IPA mash. (This is a big beer, 9 percent ABV. But it has such striking balance that it drinks like a session beer.)

The mash is a blend of two row pale barley, a little bit of Carastan, a British crystal malt that provides a full mouth feel and color and crystal malt. Hops are all American, Summit and Nugget. It’s dry hopped during fermentation with Amarillo. The hop blend gives it a delicious, orange marmalade note.

He starts fermentation with a White Labs Belgian-style yeast, then on the second day, adds their regular American ale yeast, the same White Labs yeast used in the regular triple. As he says, it’s definitely Le Freak. Oh yes, it’s bottle conditioned with fresh yeast. And it’s 9.2 percent."

First time poster but here is my version of Le Freak. Remember to add the belgium yeast first then 24 hours later add the WLP001. Side by side it is very close. And I agree it is an AMAZING beer. Enjoy!

Recipe: Decepticon Belgium IPA
Brewer: Arsinic
Asst Brewer:
Style: American IPA
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 8.76 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.76 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal
Bottling Volume: 4.75 gal
Estimated OG: 1.080 SG
Estimated Color: 8.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 101.0 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 85.1 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
11.00 gal Distilled Water Water 1 -
14 lbs 4.8 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 2 83.9 %
2 lbs 12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 3 16.1 %
1.54 oz Nugget [13.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 4 48.7 IBUs
0.77 oz Summit [17.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 35.0 IBUs
0.39 oz Nugget [13.00 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 6 9.4 IBUs
0.19 oz Summit [17.00 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 7 6.7 IBUs
0.58 oz Summit [17.00 %] - Boil 1.0 min Hop 8 1.1 IBUs
1.1 pkg Belgian Ale (White Labs #WLP550) [35.49 Yeast 9 -
1.1 pkg California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [35. Yeast 10 -
2.20 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Day Hop 11 0.0 IBUs


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 17 lbs 0.8 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 25.31 qt of water at 162.4 F 150.0 F 75 min

Sparge: Fly sparge with 5.48 gal water at 168.0 F

Why is the post boil so much bigger (1.5gal)'than the batch size? The GF palate wrecker is phenomenal, is that their double ipa? I've had it on draft at British beer co it's really good. I may brew this next since I have Belgian yeast in my fridge.

For whatever reason I ended up with more boil off than expected and was right on target volume wise with these amounts. My Abv cane ina bit high. Adjust if you like and let me know how it goes.

I live a few miles from GF. Their palate wrecker is great and named accurately. It's a monster! But all their beers are excellent.

Let me know what you think. We did some blind taste tests and this was awfully close.

So just to clarify...

You collected 8.75 G of wort and boiled

You boiled off two gallons in 60 minutes

You placed 5.5 G in the fermenter, so what happens to he extra G of wort? Is this for reaching our target OG? Can you just collect 7.5 G leaving you with the perfect post boil volume?

Sorry for the noobish questions, still trying to learn here

sethlovex said:

So just to clarify...

You collected 8.75 G of wort and boiled

You boiled off two gallons in 60 minutes

You placed 5.5 G in the fermenter, so what happens to he extra G of wort? Is this for reaching our target OG? Can you just collect 7.5 G leaving you with the perfect post boil volume?

Sorry for the noobish questions, still trying to learn here

Click to expand...

You know what, I actually attached a newer version that I am playing with right now. Here is what I originally brewed. Sorry for the confusion.

Recipe: RJ and Greg's Belgium IPA TYPE: All Grain
Style: American Amber Ale
---RECIPE SPECIFICATIONS-----------------------------------------------
SRM: 8.8 SRM SRM RANGE: 11.0-18.0 SRM
IBU: 95.5 IBUs Tinseth IBU RANGE: 20.0-40.0 IBUs
OG: 1.080 SG OG RANGE: 1.045-1.056 SG
FG: 1.011 SG FG RANGE: 1.010-1.015 SG
BU:GU: 1.187 Calories: 151.6 kcal/12oz Est ABV: 9.2 %
EE%: 72.00 % Batch: 5.00 gal Boil: 4.27 gal BT: 60 Mins

---WATER CHEMISTRY ADDITIONS----------------

Amt Name Type # %/IBU
10.00 gal Distilled Water Water 1 -

Total Grain Weight: 15 lbs 8.0 oz Total Hops: 6.50 oz oz.
---MASH/STEEP PROCESS------MASH PH:5.40 ------
>>>>>>>>>>-ADD WATER CHEMICALS BEFORE GRAINS!!<<<<<<<
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
13 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 2 83.9 %
2 lbs 8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 3 16.1 %


Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 20.38 qt of water at 161.9 F 150.0 F 75 min

---SPARGE PROCESS---
>>>>>>>>>>-RECYCLE FIRST RUNNINGS & VERIFY GRAIN/MLT TEMPS: 72.0 F/72.0 F
>>>>>>>>>>-ADD BOIL CHEMICALS BEFORE FWH
Fly sparge with 1.29 gal water at 168.0 F

---BOIL PROCESS-----------------------------
Est Pre_Boil Gravity: 1.108 SG Est OG: 1.080 SG
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
2.00 oz Nugget [13.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 4 46.1 IBUs
1.00 oz Summit [17.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 33.1 IBUs
0.50 oz Nugget [13.00 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 6 8.9 IBUs
0.25 oz Summit [17.00 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 7 6.4 IBUs
0.75 oz Summit [17.00 %] - Boil 1.0 min Hop 8 1.1 IBUs


---FERM PROCESS-----------------------------
Primary Start: 01/02/2013 - 4.00 Days at 67.0 F
Secondary Start: 01/06/2013 - 10.00 Days at 67.0 F
Style Carb Range: 2.30-2.80 Vols
Bottling Date: 01/16/2013 with 2.3 Volumes CO2:
---NOTES------------------------------------


Resurrecting this thread:

For the yeasts, do you wait for 24 hours after signs of activity with the first dose of (i.e., Belgian) yeast? Or do you just start the clock at 24 hours, then pitch the 001?

Thanks.

rtb178 said:

Resurrecting this thread:

For the yeasts, do you wait for 24 hours after signs of activity with the first dose of (i.e., Belgian) yeast? Or do you just start the clock at 24 hours, then pitch the 001?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

+1 to this question, and theres another question:

Whats the purpose of the second yeast addition?

Yes 24 hours after the first yeast addition. I believe the reason is two fold. One is that you want a combination of the two yeast flavors and the other is that this is a high gravity beer and the second addition helps fermentation. I did another batch where I flip flipped the yeast addition and it came out primarily tasting like an IPA. We are presently trying a 12 hour second hop addition to see how that turns out flavor-wise. Feel free to ask any other questions you have.

Arsinic said:

Yes 24 hours after the first yeast addition. I believe the reason is two fold. One is that you want a combination of the two yeast flavors and the other is that this is a high gravity beer and the second addition helps fermentation. I did another batch where I flip flipped the yeast addition and it came out primarily tasting like an IPA. We are presently trying a 12 hour second hop addition to see how that turns out flavor-wise. Feel free to ask any other questions you have.

Click to expand...

12 Hour second Hop addition?? 12 hours after pitching the yeast, interesting experiment

crusader1612 said:

12 Hour second Hop addition?? 12 hours after pitching the yeast, interesting experiment

Click to expand...

Sorry 12 hour second yeast addition instead of 24 hours.

Arsinic said:

Sorry 12 hour second yeast addition instead of 24 hours.

Click to expand...

I'd say based on your post above the 12 hour addition would make a substantial difference, and an adjustment to each yeast starter would be in order?

crusader1612 said:

I'd say based on your post above the 12 hour addition would make a substantial difference, and an adjustment to each yeast starter would be in order?

Click to expand...

Yes that is correct. We should have an idea in another 2 weeks on how this affected the outcome of the beer.

If you want something as close to le freak as you can get I would go with the 24hour addition and then if you would like to adjust it try after you know how the taste is originally. 24 hr wlp001 addition was very close to the real deal.

Arsinic said:

Yes that is correct. We should have an idea in another 2 weeks on how this affected the outcome of the beer.

If you want something as close to le freak as you can get I would go with the 24hour addition and then if you would like to adjust it try after you know how the taste is originally. 24 hr wlp001 addition was very close to the real deal.

Click to expand...

So, what sort of starter sizes are we talking about based on the original beer? and the same question for your 12 hour change up, what did you change?
Very interested.

crusader1612 said:

So, what sort of starter sizes are we talking about based on the original beer? and the same question for your 12 hour change up, what did you change?
Very interested.

Click to expand...

Target abv on this beer is high at 9.2%. I used a 2L starter. I dumped the whole vile of white labs into it 2 days in advance. Let it ride on a stir plate for a day, then moved to the fridge to let the yeast settle. After settling, pour off the excess dme. Let it come back to RT and then resuspend the yeast. Pitch. Repeat with your WLP001 yeast for the 24 hour time point.

I did the same with my 12 hour addition experiment. We should be kegging it later this week.

I need help putting together a Green Flash Le Freak clone.

Anyone has a Partial Mash version of this recipe? Not quite ready to step up to All-Grain quite yet and dying to brew this. Definitely one of my favorites!

in the description given by green flash is it 2 row, carastan and crystal malt or just 2 row and carastan?

Brewed up a clone from Barley & Wine and it turned out great. Think I need to work on it some more but the concept is solid.

Any more refined recipes for Le Freak since the original came out in this thread? I absolutely love this beer...must try it myself.

bump

Bumpidy bump!

Green Flash is one of my favorites.
Their west coast ipa is absolutely perfect.
Any clones we can get here are appreciated.

dreaded_rust said:

Green Flash is one of my favorites.
Their west coast ipa is absolutely perfect.
Any clones we can get here are appreciated.

Click to expand...

I live in Europe so have never tried any of their beers.
If you do an internet search there are quite a few clones for the West Coast IPA. Brewer's friend, HBA, Crafted pours and so on. Although the electic brewer is one of the few available where people give feeback on how it turns out.
And here of course :
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=175363

I also read that sometime in 2014 it changed from an IPA to an IIPA.
From just over 7% to around 8% alc.
So I'm not sure which version each recipe refers too as I haven't really checked the dates and values.

Anyway, I'm more interested in the Imperial/Le Freak because I was looking for a beer to use up the Nugget and Summit hops I have and I'm also a fan of Belgian IPAs.

Seems to be very limited recent information, I did see somewhere that the Beer & Wine magazine had a recipe in the past but I couldn't find it online.

Hopefully someone has some feedback.

Bumping again - still want to brew this and have some new Summit and Nugget hops.
I'm going to follow the above recipe but use dry yeast M31 and US-05 within 24 hours of eachother, more dry hops (3oz instead of 2.2) and a half a pound of sugar to help with fermentation.

Was just wondering what's correct temperature to ferment at?
I guess starting around 18 or 19oC and bump up to 21 or 22oC over the first 3 days to keep the Belgian yeast happy but not go too high for the US-05?