Questions about a Magic Hat #9 clone...

I'm trying to make a clone of Magic Hat #9, and this is my first attempt not using a hopped LME. I'm taking a few ideas here and there from several extract recipes. Above the recipe are my questions...

• Would you use corn sugar or DME to carb?

• The Wyeast was made 7July08, do I need to make a starter or smack three hours before and wait for the puff?

• Should I sparge the grains with 1/2 gallon @ 150ºF (once or twice?), or skip it?

• Do you add the pellet hops straight, or should I put them in cheese cloth? Does it matter?

(steeped in 1/2 gallon water for 20 mins. @ 150ºF)
1/2# 60ºL Crystal Malt

(Boiled for 60 mins.)
6.5# Pilsen Light LME
0.6# Bav. Wheat LME
1.5 oz. Tettnanger Pellets @ 4.3% AA

(Boiled for 15 mins.)
1/4 oz. Willamette Pellets for 15 mins
1/4 oz. Cascade Pellets for 15 mins
1 tsp. Irish moss

Wyeast 1056 American Ale Yeast

Ferment for 7 days @ 68ºF

(added in secondary)
3 oz. apricot beer flavoring

How does this look?

1) Use corn sugar. Easier, cheaper.
2) Give it a smack a few hours before.
3) If you are just steeping grains, I always do it in the same amount of water that I use in my boil, not just limit to a 1/2 gallon. Don't skip this step though, this simple little process adds alot of flavor/complexity.
4) There is no problem with adding the pellett hops straight in other than getting some floaties that may clog up your airlock in primary before settling out. Use the cheesecloth or invest in a nylon bag, it will save you time/effort later on. Putting them in plain or in cheeselcoth will not afffect flavor in any way.

So, you would steep the crystal in the full 2.5 gallons, or would you do 2 gallons then sparge using 1/2 gallon @ 150ºF? Thanks!

Just dip it in a little over 2.5 gallons (some will be absorbed by the grains) like a giant tea bag for something like 45 minutes. When you are just steeping you really don't need to worry too much about temp (as long as it doesn't get above 170) or sparging. That is more for when you do either a partial mash or all-grain.

Isn't it a bad idea to boil grain, especially for that long? My understanding is that will give you a really harsh and tannin-like taste and a crappy mouthfeel. Maybe I'm wrong...

Is there anything wrong with my plan to steep the crystal malt @ 150ºF for 20 minutes in the brewpot, then sparge the grains with a 1/2 gallon of water @ 150ºF?

Any other opinions? Thanks!

they never said to boil. Just steep.

The last two batches i've done full boil extract in my desire to step up to partial mash on a future batch.

Here's how I do it.
I put 6 gallons of water in my pot, turn the heaton my electric stove to about medium/high.
Put my specialty grains in my cheesecloth bag, tie it off and let it sit in the water until it gets to about 150-155 degrees, then I turn the heat on low and put a lid on the pot and let it sit for about 45 minutes to an hour making sure the temperature never rises over 170, but with my stove I could probably leave that pot on low all day and it would stay right at 165ish. After that, i take the bag of grains out and sit them over a seperate pot in a colander, and slowly ladle the steeping water over it until i run out, then tap the colander to settle the grain and get the last few drops of fluid out of the grain. At this point I add water to get to my desired preboil volume (I usually shoot for about 6.2-6.5 depending on how long I boil, 6.2 for a 45 min boil, 6.5 for an hour, and usually 7 for 90 minutes.) Then I take the pot outside to the ready and waiting turkey deep fryer burner, where it will come to a boil in roughly 10 minutes. Then behave as a normal brew.

This is just my procedure for steeping, you can change the water volumes to do partial boils just the same.

I would also recommend using oregon apricot puree instead of flavor extract. My #9 came out great adding the puree into secondary, and I've seen numerous people complain that flavor extracts can taste artificial.

Eskimo Spy said:

Is there anything wrong with my plan to steep the crystal malt @ 150ºF for 20 minutes in the brewpot, then sparge the grains with a 1/2 gallon of water @ 150ºF?

Click to expand...

There's nothing really wrong with it, but it won't do anything. You're not doing a real mash/sparge here where you have to wait for starch conversion and then sparge the sugar out. You are effectively making a grain tea with pre-converted malt. Steep the grains in your brewpot at 155 for 45 minutes, that's it.

I just did a summer wheat and it was my first time using specialty grains. In Palmer's book there is a section about using specialty grains on page 133. He will tell you that you need to steep for 30 mins @ 155 degrees. You also need to use about 1 gallon of water for every 1 lb of grain you are steeping. I plan on doing this recipe as well. Does anyone know if you can use any part of the apricots for the secondary? I like to use fresh fruit and not any puree or anything like that. Thanks

Bump!

I’ve found that #9 clones need more time than you would think to mellow out. I tired one after a month of bottle conditioning, and it was too harsh. Ended up putting it away for 5 months (kinda forgot about it). I threw a few in the fridge the other day, cracked one open tonight, and now it’s perfect! I just had some #9 when I was back east for a few months and the clone is spot on.

Sorry to revive a dead topic, but I'm thinking I might brew this clone today. I made the step up to all-grain a few batches ago and prior to that I used extract kits. In these kits, you were to boil a certain amount of water (lets say 3 gallons), add all the goodies, then put it in the carboy and add water until you reach the right gravity. Does anyone know if the recipe here is for a boil of the full 5 gal or 2.5? I don't want to end up messin my up hops here

Kubed said:

Bump!

I’ve found that #9 clones need more time than you would think to mellow out. I tired one after a month of bottle conditioning, and it was too harsh. Ended up putting it away for 5 months (kinda forgot about it). I threw a few in the fridge the other day, cracked one open tonight, and now it’s perfect! I just had some #9 when I was back east for a few months and the clone is spot on.

Click to expand...

Hey, would you be able to share the recipe you used if you still have it? I've been looking for a good clone recipe on here for a few days but havent found one with good reviews yet. Thanks!

==================================================
Primary1: Sam Summer Clone
Primary2: McQuaker's Oatmeal Stout
Secondary1: Mind Bending Barleywine (for xmas `11 release)
Secondary2: Air
Bottled: American Amber Ale, Black Idea Cascadian IPA

I am new to brewing should I use crushed or whole crystal malt 60L when I steep?