Stone Ruination Clone w/ starter question

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forces

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This is my shot at a clone of ruination based off of an all grain clone recipe I found on another site. I basically substituted 14# pale 2 row for a combo of LME, DME, and a little dextrose. I did increase the gravity a little to make it a bigger beer, and subsequently increased the AAU ever so slightly.


Grain/ Fermentable:
2.00 lb Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 14.81 %
7.00 lb Pale Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM) Extract 51.85 %
1.00 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 7.41 %
.75 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 7.41 %
.5 lb Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 7.41 %
1.50 lb Corn Sugar (Dextrose) (0.0 SRM) Sugar 11.11 %

Hop Sched.
2.00 oz Magnum [14.00 %] (60 min) Hops 51.0 IBU
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (30 min) Hops 18.2 IBU
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (10 min) Hops 6.6 IBU
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (0 min) Hops -
2.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -

Yeast: White Labs WLP001 California Ale yeast

Est Original Gravity: 1.085 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.022 SG


With a beer this big, I know that I am going to need a starter, but the one and only time I tried to make a starter, I got a very very slow and mild fermentation. I would like for this to not peter out at 1.030. Any suggestions on a good starter for this high of an OG?
 
I'd use the yeast pitching calculator at mrmalty.com. I assume that your yeast is pretty fresh, so a big starter will be key. I think the recipe looks fine, except I'd ditch the carapils. I never use it any more, and I don't think you need it in that recipe. I'd be inclined to drop the Munich malt, but it won't harm anything to leave it in. You seem kind of low on IBUs, but I didn't run your recipe through any software. My recipe is about 105 IBUs.

I'm drinking a Stone Ruination clone at this exact moment. My recipe was 14 pounds of 2-row, and 1 pound caramel 20. I mashed very low, like ended up at 147, so my FG was 1.013!
 
The starter was slow or the fermentation of the beer the starter was pitched into was slow?
 
The starter was slow or the fermentation of the beer the starter was pitched into was slow?

The fermentation was slow. I didn't see any movement in the airlock 4 days into fermentation, so I pitched a packet of US-05. Days later... no movement. I had pretty much given up on it, but checked the gravity 2 weeks later and it was down to 1.028 from 1.080. I would like to avoid a repeat of this.
 
I'd use the yeast pitching calculator at mrmalty.com. I assume that your yeast is pretty fresh, so a big starter will be key. I think the recipe looks fine, except I'd ditch the carapils. I never use it any more, and I don't think you need it in that recipe. I'd be inclined to drop the Munich malt, but it won't harm anything to leave it in. You seem kind of low on IBUs, but I didn't run your recipe through any software. My recipe is about 105 IBUs.

I'm drinking a Stone Ruination clone at this exact moment. My recipe was 14 pounds of 2-row, and 1 pound caramel 20. I mashed very low, like ended up at 147, so my FG was 1.013!

I was thinking that the IBU was a little low as well, but I have a tendency to over hop, so I was trying to be a little more modest. And, this is what the recipe I found called for (except it said to use 1.75 Magnum @ 60 min. I bumped it up to 2.0) Maybe I'll increase the 30 minute Centennial to 1.5 oz.

Edit - I had the ruination for the first time last night and fell in love. If you can find it in your area, I recomend trying Avery Brewing Co's Maharaja IIPA. 10% with >100 IBU. Very citrusy, like the Ruination.

And the Mr. Malty just gives starter volume. It doesn't tell me how much DME needs to go into the starter. That is really what I'm after. I should have been more specific.
 
I was thinking that the IBU was a little low as well, but I have a tendency to over hop, so I was trying to be a little more modest. And, this is what the recipe I found called for (except it said to use 1.75 Magnum @ 60 min. I bumped it up to 2.0) Maybe I'll increase the 30 minute Centennial to 1.5 oz.

If you have some brewing software, that will help. You can go easily to 100 IBUs with an IPA of 1.085. Otherwise, you risk the beer tasting off, or even a bit sweet with all that extract. Are you doing full boils? Or a partial boil? If you're doing a full boil, my hopping schedule was like this:

1.75 oz Magnum [14.00 %] (60 min) Hops 73.2 IBU
1.00 oz Centennial [9.60 %] (30 min) Hops 22.1 IBU
1.00 oz Centennial [9.60 %] (10 min) Hops 10.4 IBU
1.00 oz Centennial [9.60 %] (1 min) Hops 1.2 IBU

2.00 oz Centennial [9.60 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -

And as I sit and drink this tonight, I think, "coulda used a few more hops at 5 minutes" but the bittering is fine.
 
Partial Boils. My boil volumes are about 3.5 gallons.

I just started using Beersmith. The recipe started out with 105 IBU, but when I decreased my boil volume from 5.75 gal to 3.5 gal, the calculated IBU dropped to 66.6. I have a hard time believing that decreasing the boil by 2.25 gallons cut the IBUs almost in half.
 
Partial Boils. My boil volumes are about 3.5 gallons.

I just started using Beersmith. The recipe started out with 105 IBU, but when I decreased my boil volume from 5.75 gal to 3.5 gal, the calculated IBU dropped to 66.6. I have a hard time believing that decreasing the boil by 2.25 gallons cut the IBUs almost in half.

No, that's probably very true. That's one of the disadvantages to a partial boil. Try this- try going into Beersmith and checking the box on adding the extract late in the liquid pale extract. Double click on it in the recipe, and in the box, check the "add extract with 15 minutes left in the boil." That should greatly increase the IBUs.
 
Well, how about that. IBUs up to 86. Then, when I increase the 30 minute centennials to 1.5 oz, it shoots up to 95.

Thats funny, one of the big complaints i have had about beer smith is that you can't adjust IBU for adding extract late. Turns out I just didn't know how. Thanks.
 
Well, how about that. IBUs up to 86. Then, when I increase the 30 minute centennials to 1.5 oz, it shoots up to 95.

Thats funny, one of the big complaints i have had about beer smith is that you can't adjust IBU for adding extract late. Turns out I just didn't know how. Thanks.

You can see what a big difference it makes, so one way to save hops is to add the extract late. Good luck!
 
So, what, like 1.5 cups DME in 2L of water? Add yeast and yeast nutrient and let it sit for 3 days?

I weigh my extract (more accurate) so 8 oz in 2 L final volume. Boil for about 15 min with a teaspoon or so nutrient. Cool in an ice slurry. Shake well and add yeast. Let it sit in a warm place (up to 80 is fine - you want growth). Shake well whenever you think about it. Give it 2-3 days.

Make sure you aerate the wort *really* well prior to pitching.

As to your prior stalled batch - what temp did it ferment at? Could it have stalled for a different reason?
 
it could have stalled from low fermentimg temps. temp got down to a nadir of about 58*F, but that would have only been for a sort time period before the heat kicked on. We had a wierd super-cold spell last week in the NW. I pitched 2 pkgs of US-05 in another 1.077 on thursday, and it took off like a rocket, and is still going @ 1 bubble per 7 seconds. The only difference there was a slightly lower gravity and no starter.

Edit - Want to clarify that when I made the starter I didn't use dry yeast. I had used 1056
 
it could have stalled from low fermentimg temps. temp got down to a nadir of about 58*F, but that would have only been for a sort time period before the heat kicked on. We had a wierd super-cold spell last week in the NW. I pitched 2 pkgs of US-05 in another 1.077 on thursday, and it took off like a rocket, and is still going @ 1 bubble per 7 seconds. The only difference there was a slightly lower gravity and no starter.

Edit - Want to clarify that when I made the starter I didn't use dry yeast. I had used 1056

This beer needs to move into the secondary either today or tomorrow. Would it be better to use the yeast cake in here instead of brandnew yeast with a starter??
 
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