Lagunitas Sucks clone?

Ok, I'm not the first to ask this question on this thread, and just finished one (oh, it was goooooddd!!) So while I was able to score 3 cases (through 3 sources, and should've had a 4th!) I am thinking ahead when it runs out.. Would like to have this brewed and some of the real deal to compare. Not yet going AG, so anything? Or must I try Palmer's book to convert? Cheers!

Sorry I've posted the AG recipe i used, I wouldn't call it a clone but it was good. Considering the multigrain nature of this beer (rye, wheat, oats and barley) it may be hard to do with extract, maybe a pm would work. Would need to get rye extract and do they make wheat extract?

Gave this one a shot today with what I have on hand. Here's what I did. My Nuggets are a few years old so I adjusted the alpha levels. Also threw in some C60 because I had a little bit laying around, and also wanted to add a little color. Did a 30 minute hopstand at 175. I believe Beersmith estimates bitterness from hopstands at 195 so I tried to adjust by entering 10 minutes rather than 30. Substituted Galaxy for 342. Mashed at...159!! Madness, have never done an IPA that high!

Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 5.30 gal
Boil Size: 7.29 gal
Boil Time: 60 min
End of Boil Vol: 6.29 gal

15 lbs 12.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row)
1 lbs 8.0 oz Rye Malt
1 lbs 8.0 oz Wheat - Red Malt
8.0 oz Oats, Flaked
3.3 oz Caramel Malt - 60L
0.75 oz Chinook - Boil 45.0 min
0.75 oz Nugget - Boil 45.0 min
1.00 oz Summit - Boil 5.0 min
0.50 oz Apollo - Boil 5.0 min
0.50 oz Chinook - Boil 5.0 min
0.50 oz Galaxy - Boil 5.0 min
0.50 oz Simcoe - Boil 5.0 min
1.00 oz Chinook - Steep/Whirlpool 10.0 min
1.00 oz Galaxy - Steep/Whirlpool 10.0 min
1.00 oz Simcoe - Steep/Whirlpool 10.0 min
0.50 oz Apollo - Steep/Whirlpool 10.0 min
0.50 oz Summit - Steep/Whirlpool 10.0 min
2.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05)
1.75 oz Galaxy - Dry Hop 5.0 Days
1.75 oz Simcoe - Dry Hop 5.0 Days
1.25 oz Chinook - Dry Hop 5.0 Days
0.50 oz Apollo - Dry Hop 5.0 Days
0.50 oz Summit - Dry Hop 5.0 Days

Est Original Gravity: 1.085 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.026 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 7.9 %
Bitterness: 78.5 IBUs
Est Color: 6.6 SRM

picked up a quart of this beer yesterday and now am excited on trying it and possibly trying to brew it.

Chug,
Saw a similar recipe on brewer's friend, but with 3# less 2 row pale malt and no caramel, rest of the fermentables the same, yet a OG of 1.084. Did you measure and hit the OG & FG you posted as an estimate? Maybe though you finished with a larger batch? I'm still thinking about trying this as an extract w/either a partial mash as Bd2xu suggested or extract and steep. Not sure it will be a clone either, but hoping it will be interesting and good! Cheers!
Jeff, its a good one!! (funny though had one on tap here and it wasn't as good as from the bottle- how is that??!).
____________
On Deck: Some kinda Lagunita's Sucks clone(ish)
Primary: Empty
Secondary: Empty
In Bottle: American IPA, Oatmeal Stout

Kampenken said:

Chug,
Saw a similar recipe on brewer's friend, but with 3# less 2 row pale malt and no caramel, rest of the fermentables the same, yet a OG of 1.084. Did you measure and hit the OG & FG you posted as an estimate? Maybe though you finished with a larger batch? I'm still thinking about trying this as an extract w/either a partial mash as Bd2xu suggested or extract and steep. Not sure it will be a clone either, but hoping it will be interesting and good! Cheers!
Jeff, its a good one!! (funny though had one on tap here and it wasn't as good as from the bottle- how is that??!).
____________
On Deck: Some kinda Lagunita's Sucks clone(ish)
Primary: Empty
Secondary: Empty
In Bottle: American IPA, Oatmeal Stout

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Yeah I just kind of threw this recipe together on a spur of the moment type thing based on the malts and hops they use, and what I had on hand. I only added the crystal because I had a little that I figured I'd burn up and to add a touch more color. Subbed Galaxy for 342 because that's what I had on hand. Didn't want to sub Citra because I find it tends to dominate too much. I wanted the other hops to come through more so I can make a more educated guess on future attempts on brewing something similar to Sucks based on this recipe.

I actually ended up with a lower OG of 1.078. I usually fly sparge with higher expected OG's but cut corners and just did a regular batch sparge with this one, maybe that's why. Don't know about the FG yet, it's currently fermenting vigorously in my ferm chamber.

And yes, I make bigger batches with IPA's cause I like leaving most of the crud in the boil kettle. A tad over 6 gallons post boil, 5 into fermenter.

Will it be Sucks? I doubt it. Will it be good? Hopefully :rockin:

I bet it will be good, it better be with all those hops! (and yeah if you brewed yesterday than a bit early for a FG!) Interesting comment on the citra hops, I haven't tried citra yet, and my LBHS doesn't have Galaxy nor HB2C- so might need to go citra route... on the plus side my LHBS does have both wheat and rye extracts, so I can go extract and use oats as a steep. Also interested that BD2xu mentioned his was a bit more bitter, maybe substitute Cascade for Columbus? Was also thinking about adding a Crystal Malt to increase FG. Sounding less like a clone, but looking forward to it!

Reading the recipes here and from brewer's friend, along with LBHS availability, I've got my recipe. Will go partial mash, 4g boil, ice bath, (no wort chiller), super cold 1.5g water in the fermenter. And fingers crossed!

6# 2 Row Pale Malt
1.25# Rye Malt
0.65# White Wheat (no red?)
0.5# Flaked Oats
0.65# Torrified Wheat (white)
4# Light DME
0.5 oz Chinook - Boil 45.0 min
1.00 oz Nugget - Boil 45.0 min
1.50 oz Chinook - Boil 15.0 min
1.50 oz Simcoe - Boil 15.0 min
2.0 pkg Mangrove Jack's Craft Series Yeast M79, Burton Union
2.00 oz Columbus - Dry Hop 5.0 Days
2.00 oz Simcoe - Dry Hop 5.0 Days
2.00 oz Citra - Dry Hop 5.0 Days
2.00 oz Apollo - Dry Hop 5.0 Days

Will mash at 158 for 60 min. with 3 gal (+~1qt); Sparge 2 gal.
Boil 60-90 min (not decided yet!)
Est OG 1.076
Est FG 1.026
6.6% ABV
Est 80 IBU
Est Color of 5.35 SRM

Cheers!

forstmeister said:

Me too! Mariano's has it for $9.99 to build your own. Should go back and get 6 of them at that price!

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it's $9.49 for a pre-made 6 pack of Sucks at the Mariano's on Halsted...

drinking one now, i'll have to try this recipe when i finally get to AG brewing.

So I was drinking a Lagunitas sucks last night and saw the bottle label said 1.085, so I calculated the FG based on that and determined it was 1.025 based on the ABV. That final gravity seemed waaay too high, so of course I degassed half a bottle and measured it with a hydrometer.

The actual FG according to my hydrometer is 1.012, which makes a lot more sense. To double check the alcohol, I took a refractometer reading and worked backwards. Looks like the ABV is correct as you'd expect, and the original gravity is around 1.072.

Feel free to double check my math here. Really like this beer so I may try cloning it as well

hmmm...interesting info. I am not sure I would want to sacrifice half a bottle myself, so thanks for taking the reading.

I was excited to see Sucks at the store, but I have to admit that I was a little let down. It is a very good IPA (double?) but it was hard for me to detect anything but 2-row barley. Maybe my memory is not that good, but I sure remember a lot more complex grain character last year.

thefost said:

So I was drinking a Lagunitas sucks last night and saw the bottle label said 1.085, so I calculated the FG based on that and determined it was 1.025 based on the ABV. That final gravity seemed waaay too high, so of course I degassed half a bottle and measured it with a hydrometer.

The actual FG according to my hydrometer is 1.012, which makes a lot more sense. To double check the alcohol, I took a refractometer reading and worked backwards. Looks like the ABV is correct as you'd expect, and the original gravity is around 1.072.

Feel free to double check my math here. Really like this beer so I may try cloning it as well

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I should have actually tested, but I have been thinking the same thing. The only thing I thought possibly could have made the FG so high was all the cereal (flaked wheat, rye, etc) could bump it up. Thanks for the info, that really changes what people should shoot for!

So I brewed my partial grain (4# DME), as per the recipe I posted. Tastes good at 2 weeks when taking gravity and dry hopping and smells and tastes good at bottling time (1 week later). I look forward to the next tasting in about 3-4 weeks of this one, it smells very good! Two things I would change. Will go AG next time, and may back down on the early addition hops, maybe even go FWH? Also, I did reduce the Citra to 1oz, was hoping it wouldn't overtake the whole beer, but at 7oz of dry hops next time will be in some bag. Too many hop flakes. Oh, and I'd go for more wort, lost a full gallon to trub / hop crap!

Just a little update on the batch I brewed (post 83).

OG:1.078
FG:1.017
ABV: 8.1%

Kegged on 3/8.



Sucks is on the left, mine on the right. Sorta close on the SRM. Though, if I hadn't thrown in that little bit of C60, it'd be even closer I think.



Mine still has yet to fully clear, and to be honest seems a little green yet. But Im comparing anyway!



It's reminiscent of Sucks, but not Sucks. I didn't expect it to be close, so I am actually pleased. I've got 5 gallons of this, no complaints what so ever.

The malt and mouthfeel seems earily close, though next time I'll dismiss the crystal (I only threw it in for color anyways).

The baffling high FG of Sucks doesn't seem too far fetched while comparing these two. (Mine, 1.017, Sucks 1.026). Yet I think 1.020 to 1.022 would be ideal on my next attempt.

Sucks is also more bitter. (Mine is calculated to be around 78 IBU's. But who knows what I actually hit using Hops of many different ages and doing a whirlpool. I also botched on efficiency that day, so I really have no idea what I have.

The hop profile seems close but not quite there. It reminds me of Sucks, but just isn't quite the same. I think next time I'll lower the Chinook and Apollo, keep the Summit around the same, and up the rest. Also do a slightly bigger dry hop. And keep in mind I subbed Galaxy for 342.

Cheers!

Chug said:

The baffling high FG of Sucks doesn't seem too far fetched while comparing these two. (Mine, 1.017, Sucks 1.026). Yet I think 1.020 to 1.022 would be ideal on my next attempt.

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Thanks for the update! I may be doing a batch similar to yours soon.

You might have missed my post on the previous page, but Sucks FG is actually 1.012, so your FG could actually come down some.

thefost said:

Thanks for the update! I may be doing a batch similar to yours soon.

You might have missed my post on the previous page, but Sucks FG is actually 1.012, so your FG could actually come down some.

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Wow, I seen your post! Now I'm really confused as the real Sucks seems a bit sweeter than mine

Finally drinking mine now, let cold crash for a week and if it weren't for not getting a full 5 gal, due to all the crap hop / stolen beer!, I would be in great shape. However, I only retrieved ~4gal (bad bottling day with some beer spills too, another story / thread on that here!). With that, I ended up over-carbonating the beer as I was expecting 5 g. Tastes good, not a Sucks clone, but nice nose (I did back down on the Citra to 1 oz dry hop instead of 2 due to fears of it over taking the other hops) and really good taste. I forgot the clarifier so a little bit more cloudy than I'd like, but overall a nice beer as it turned out. I may go AG next time and if I dry hop with as much hops I will use a bag!

enjoying a quart of this right now, extremely delicious. So now it's on my list to brew sometime before the end of the year. Has anyone used this recipe?

Fermentables Efficiency: 75.0 % Batch size: 5.5 gal

Great Western Premium 2-Row Malt 8.0 lb 45 % Mash 34 2 °L

Pearl () 4.0 lb 22 % Mash 34 3 °L

Briess Vienna Malt 2.0 lb 11 % Mash 35 3 °L

Rahr Red Wheat Malt 2.0 lb 11 % Mash 37 3 °L

Wheat, Torrified () 0.75 lb 4 % Mash 35 2 °L

Oats, Malted () 0.75 lb 4 % Mash 33 2 °L

Hops Boil time: 90 min

Nugget (US) 0.75 oz 60 min Boil Pellet 13.0%
Simcoe (US) 1.25 oz 60 min Boil Pellet 13.0%
Summit (US) 1.0 oz 60 min Boil Pellet 18.0%
HBC342 () 1.25 oz 60 min Boil Pellet 17.4%
Apollo (US) 1.0 oz 45 min Boil Pellet 17.5%
Simcoe (US) 1.0 oz 20 min Boil Pellet 13.0%
Nugget (US) 0.75 oz 12 days Dry Hop Pellet 13.0%
Simcoe (US) 1.75 oz 12 days Dry Hop Pellet 13.0%
HBC342 () 1.75 oz 12 days Dry Hop Pellet 17.4%
Chinook (US) 0.75 oz 12 days Dry Hop Pellet 13.0%


English Ale Yeast White Labs WLP002 66.5%

Rice Hulls 1.0 each 90.0 min Mash
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 1.0 each 90.0 min Boil
Whirlfloc Tablet 1.0 each 15.0 min Boil
Yeast Nutrient (Wyeast) 1.0 each 15.0 min Boil


Saccharification Rest Infusion 155.0 °F 90 min

Thinking about trying this recipe with a few modifications. As is, the bitterness comes out at over 200 IBU's which is much higher than Sucks, so not sure how this is a clone.

PackerfaninSanDiego, how close was it. Was it a lot more bitter?

thefost said:

So I was drinking a Lagunitas sucks last night and saw the bottle label said 1.085, so I calculated the FG based on that and determined it was 1.025 based on the ABV. That final gravity seemed waaay too high, so of course I degassed half a bottle and measured it with a hydrometer.

The actual FG according to my hydrometer is 1.012, which makes a lot more sense. To double check the alcohol, I took a refractometer reading and worked backwards. Looks like the ABV is correct as you'd expect, and the original gravity is around 1.072.

Feel free to double check my math here. Really like this beer so I may try cloning it as well

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Thats devotion to brewing! Degassing half a bottle. Thanks on behalf of us all!

Haha, no problem! Not gonna lie, it was pretty emotionally painful. :cross:

I even sent an email to Lagunitas about the FG discrepancy months ago. I asked them to please recall all of their defective bottles and send them to me for proper "disposal". Still waiting for a response

CarbonTom said:

Thats devotion to brewing! Degassing half a bottle. Thanks on behalf of us all!

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1chaos52 said:

Thinking about trying this recipe with a few modifications. As is, the bitterness comes out at over 200 IBU's which is much higher than Sucks, so not sure how this is a clone.

PackerfaninSanDiego, how close was it. Was it a lot more bitter?

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I have yet to brew this, was asking if anyone else used the recipe

PackerfaninSanDiego said:

I have yet to brew this, was asking if anyone else used the recipe

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My mistake. When you said you were "drinking a quart of this" I thought you meant that recipe, not the actual Sucks. I would love to find something close to it as my stockpile from last winter is dwindling. Think I may play with the hops some in Beersmith to try and get the IBU's down a little and give it a whirl. Need to brew some beer, I remodeled my kitchen this summer and have been without home brew for a couple of months now, so it is time.

A modification of the recipe posted earlier that will bring the IBU's down but should be pretty close. Having a hard time finding the HBC342 so may substitute Falconers Flight as that seems to be close in flavor profile. This will give a 69.2 IBU which is closer to the 63.21 claimed on the Sucks bottle. Will also be a bit higher on the alcohol content with these grains it seems.

Unfortunately I will probably not get a chance to brew this for a couple of weeks, but will post the results. That means I have to try not to drink my last few bottles of Sucks though so I can give a good comparison.

Grains
British 2-Row Malt 8.0 lb
Pearl () 4.0 lb
Vienna Malt 2.0 lb
Red Wheat Malt 2.0 lb
Wheat, Torrified () 0.75 lb
Oats, Malted () 0.75 lb

Boil time: 90 min

Boil Hops
HBC342 () .75 oz 45 min Boil
Simcoe (US) .5 oz 45 min Boil
Nugget (US) .5 oz 20 min Boil
Simcoe (US) .5 oz 20 min Boil
Summit (US) 1.0 oz 10 min Boil
Apollo (US) 1.0 oz 10 min Boil

Dry Hops
Nugget (US) 0.75 oz 12 days Dry Hop
Simcoe (US) 1.75 oz 12 days Dry Hop
HBC342 () 1.75 oz 12 days Dry Hop
Chinook (US) 0.75 oz 12 days Dry Hop


English Ale Yeast White Labs WLP002

Rice Hulls 1.0 each 90.0 min Mash
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) 1.0 each 90.0 min Boil
Whirlfloc Tablet 1.0 each 15.0 min Boil
Yeast Nutrient (Wyeast) 1.0 each 15.0 min Boil


Saccharification Rest Infusion 155.0 °F 90 min

Anyone brew this recently?? Just bought some 32oz'ers and noticed the abv is now up to 8% compared to last years 7.5%. Its one of my fav beers is there a post here with a close clone???? Is the experimental hop shot available that they use if not what have u found is a good sub.

I brewed something similar. I'm going to compare it this weekend with the real thing

sybesbrew said:

I brewed something similar. I'm going to compare it this weekend with the real thing

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Looking forward to your feedback. I love sucks, and I am disappointed that I can't seem to get this in a 6 pack this year. Having a clone to brew would help ease the pain, because I can't justify continually buying bombers as often as I want to drink this.

I brewed my version of it a couple of weeks ago. I ended up using regular wheat instead of red wheat, but otherwise my recipe to a tee.

It has been in the secondary for over a week now. I tested it when I transferred and was about %7.9. It is a lot darker than I thought it would be, but the smell is very reminiscent of Sucks. I will probably be kegging it on Sunday. I will post my results.

1chaos52 said:

I brewed my version of it a couple of weeks ago. I ended up using regular wheat instead of red wheat, but otherwise my recipe to a tee.

It has been in the secondary for over a week now. I tested it when I transferred and was about %7.9. It is a lot darker than I thought it would be, but the smell is very reminiscent of Sucks. I will probably be kegging it on Sunday. I will post my results.

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So, how did this one turn out?

Chewie181 said:

So, how did this one turn out?

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Seriously, we are all waiting for you to send us a bottle.

I started researching this beer a lot...and I mean, A LOT! I stay in hotels about 4 or 5 days a week, so I have a lot of spare time. After reading all these posts on this site and others, I thought to myself..."I've never brewed a clone. Why start now?".
So, I've decided to do something damn close, because I like the idea of the cereal beer.
2row, red wheat, rye, simpson golden naked oats, and English chocolate (my own little addition)
Warrior, Columbus, El Dorado and Simcoe

I had thoughts of adding Aromatic Malt...only because I have some lying around. I guess I still might, but still undecided.
I know it won't be close, but I bet it'll be great!

subscribing

So I did brew this up and while not Sucks, it is still reminiscent of it. It is a very strong beer but has good flavor. I have yet to drink it back to back with as Sucks but plan on doing so this weekend to do a better comparison. I will post an update once that is done.

Even without the comparison, I would recommend trying this recipe. The Falconers Flight really gives this a nice flavor and the grain bill gives an interesting malt flavor. It is one of the better beers that I have made, though I did lose a lot to trub and even with filtering am having issues with my pours from the kegerator being slow and foamy. Not sure what happened there but going to check the dip tube later tonight to see if that is clogged and probably re-clean my lines.

Back to this thread, after some time since I last brewed this one in AG version. Mine was 11.25# 2 Row; 1.25 Am Rye; .585 White Wheat (no red available); .585 Torrified Wheat; .45 Flaked Oats. Mash at 156, .41 Chinnok 45; .82 Nugget 45; .37 Chinook 15; .37 Simcoe 15; .62 Chinook 5; .37 Simcoe 5; Dry Hop 7 days 2oz each of Columbus & Citra, 1.13 Simcoe, 1.74 Apollo. US 05 yeast. OG 1.077, FG 1.024. While not a clone, its damn good! I bottled on 8/5/14 and while the nose has diminished now, it still tastes great! I will brew this yet again, but may have yet another new favorite IPA- a Racer 5 clone (ish) with friends who like it better, what a compliment! Now I'll enjoy both of these IPAs and am enjoying a Founder's Breakfast Stout Clone (bit more seasonal!).

Sucks is my favorite by far...hope someone nails down a recipe!

Did they start making it a year round beer? I know 6 packs are hard to find here but quarts are everywhere. The brown shugga has been hard for me to find but it is available at the moment. Had my first ever today. I like it as well but like the sucks a little more. I also agree with a previous comment .... Sucks > Pliny the Elder.

2BeerSpeer said:

Did they start making it a year round beer? I know 6 packs are hard to find here but quarts are everywhere. The brown shugga has been hard for me to find but it is available at the moment. Had my first ever today. I like it as well but like the sucks a little more. I also agree with a previous comment .... Sucks > Pliny the Elder.

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6-packs have always been a seasonal offering, whereas they started up the quarts as their year round version of it. I don't know if they have changed that for the upcoming year, but that's what the deal was last year since they introduced the quarts.

I hope they go back to 6 packs, even if its only seasonal. Gf and I found 2 cases in our distributor here (PA liquor laws, ugh) and combined that with a case of Sculpin. Signed the receipt and saw at home total was ~$220! Whoa!

Ouch

Kampenken said:

I hope they go back to 6 packs, even if its only seasonal. Gf and I found 2 cases in our distributor here (PA liquor laws, ugh) and combined that with a case of Sculpin. Signed the receipt and saw at home total was ~$220! Whoa!

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Now that sucks!

There must be a mistake they made there, I'd check that. $70 a case + tax?