Dogfish Head 120 Min IPA Clone

Smuth10, pm me your name and address and I will send you 2 of mine. I brewed DFH 120 twice with the fist ending at aprox 16% and the most recent 21.7%.

I am on my way out but will post up more on my experience and issues later.

vicratlhead51 - I think it was about $85 from Adventures in HB, but I am local to them. If it is work you are looking for than this is the beer for you. Just make sure you don't have any plans for a month or so.

Here is my post from my 1st batch.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/my-first-attempt-dogfish-head-120-pics-151971/

The reasons that my first was only a 16% vs. the 21.7% is due to my equipment limitations at the time. I did have a 15gallon fermenter but only a 7.5 or so gallon kettle, a turkey fryer burner and a hand mill. Do to my small pot size I had to do a second boil in the aluminum fryer pot in my kitchen while also doing a full 7.5 gallon boil outside. It was fun running back and forth between the kitchen and garage every three minutes to add the hops! I was able to get the wort on the stove to boil but not very hard so I could not reduce it as much as I wanted. That along with the subpar crush from my old hand mill gave me a SG of about 1.081 not very efficient.

For the second batch I had my Blichmann 20gallon kettle a Barley Crusher mill and a 15 gallon keggle. With this new equipment went over my target of 1.100. I also pushed the sugar additions for this one. On the first batch since I didn’t get all the sugar from the grain that I wanted to I didn’t want to stall the yeast out by trying to make up for the points with more sugar so I didn’t adjust. For both beers I really just let the beer tell me what it could take. Once I didn’t get an immediate reaction when adding a sugar addition I stopped. For the 2nd batch I added 1LB more sugar after I hit the point where reaction was slowed and I wanted to stop but decided to just add the additional pound because like Charlie Sheen and the Honey Badger I just don’t give a f—k! It did start back up but very slowly and if I had to do it over I would have not added that last addition or just ½ a pound possibly. To me my second batch is sweeter at first than the 1st but after a few sips it mellows out faster and then you get that nice warm fuzzy feeling inside from the high alcohol content. It’s actually very drinkable after a few small sips.

Other differences between the two is I ordered bulk hops for the first batch and used what leftovers I had that were now about a year old along with some new hops for whatever I was short on. I would say that I lost some of the hop bite on the second due to the age of the hops. Not a huge difference especially since the difference in the sweetness and alcohol also had an effect on the beer but it is noticeable hop difference to me. Next batch will be new hops though. I still find it funny that all the people I have sent this to or tasted it at my house like the 21.7% over the first. Hell I even had bud drinkers downing this stuff like it was water. I do warn them that this beer is a one and done but no one believes me about the % until they slam down a pint or two and then need to call someone to pick them up to go home

Everything else I followed per the recipe, I added oxygen for 4 days. I split my sugar additions to three times daily once in the morning then after work and finally before bed adding the hops in the morning addition. I added some yeast energizer a few times with the sugar additions when things started to slow. I also for the 1st batch started with 2 larger daily additions but found that smaller more frequent additions seems to stress the beer less so I switched to 3x per day about ½ way in. Also with more frequent additions I had less issues with my dump getting clogged up and unclogging it was a pain in the ass.

I know lots of people fear brewing this beer and hell yea it is a difficult and time consuming beer but the end product to me makes it well worth it. I can’t believe that I went through over 15 gallons of this in the past year in a half!

15 gallons! Very nice. I would love to upgrade to a 20 gallon Blichmann system with a conical fermentor, but I will have to live with my 10gal HERMS setup for now. I am convinced I am going to need a pole barn for all of my stuff pretty soon.

We should setup a group brew for this beer some time and swap beers. Maybe we could even narrow in on the recipe a little better that way. Just a thought.

Alright Smuth, I racked it to secondary on Saturday and I cannot say this loud enough, HOLY **** was that the worst siphon ever!!! It took so long and clogged so many times...

A little backstory for those who didn't know, a buddy and I went for a 2 gallon (ended being 2.15 gallon) batch of this just to have some fun and get a little mad scientist beer under the belt... Yes, I know it is a very small amount in the end for all the effort and believe me now that I have been through it we're doing 5+ gallons next time minimum, but I didn't feel comfortable at the time going all in on this beast, that's a beefy cash investment to screw up and take a loss.

Clocked gravity in on the transfer at 1.029 from 1.175, fermentation through the month was at a constant 69-71 degrees, therefore we have the ABV calculated right about 19.5 (we managed the gravity a little lower then recommended, I love 120 but my big drawback was the syrupy texture while drinking).

Directly before the transfer:


One of the many times my siphon clogged:


The aftermath:


Almost walked with 2 full gallons worth:


Once all is said and done, if you guys would be okay with me getting in on the bottle swap, I would love to do so.

JSmith82 - I had the same problem. Took forever to get it in the secondary, but it has settled nicely now. It smelled really good and tasted pretty good as well. The alcohol was pretty strong obviously, but it should mellow out over time. Here is a pic of mine after a couple of weeks in the secondary.



I am going to keg mine and bottle it from there in another month or so. ThatGuyRyan just sent me a couple of his 120's and when I am done with mine I will send one out to both of you guys. Maybe we can change the recipe up a little if needed.

I had the same problem on my first batch of DIPA. Now for really hoppy beers I strain my wort coming out of the boil to get as much of the vegetal hop matter out of solution as I can before the wort goes into the fermenter. For the dry hops I put them in bags with marbles to weight them down. That way I can rack without hops clogging my auto-siphon. It is really important to keep oxygen out of hoppy beers, so the “smoother” your racking is the better your beer will be.

That should help, but I think the problem with this beer is that you have to dry hop every day for 28 days. Not very practical to use bags in this situation. I would be curious to see how DFH does this with their 120 min

So are you guys all doing this bad boy in buckets? Man brewing this in a conical was hard enough I wouldn’t want to try it in a bucket!

Edit: I purchased my conical just for this beer and it was a wise move. I had zero issues with racking it using my mid port.

I will be happy to take a conical off of your hands if it is getting in your way.

TGR - I did mine in a bucket for... well 2 reasons, I didn't have a carboy at the time and because I did such a small amount (Even sneaking by using 2 1gal jugs corked with c02 locks for secondary) I figured it would just be easiest. And I'm a wuss, was afraid to go big.. haha

Both you guys please feel free to PM me your address information and I will send a bottle out to each in late May when I bottle, Smuth I will PM you with my info as well.

And another 2 weeks go by....

Mine is starting to clarify, we were debating opening the single 12oz bottle this Saturday just to get a glimpse.. haha, I should post a pic of it, the bottom is filthy.

How's about yours? Rocket fuel scent? Clearing out?

Mine is pretty clear now and it seems to be a little darker than the real thing. I haven't tasted it yet and I am planning on bottling the middle of May. I will post back and let you know how it is. I am sure it is going to need a lot of aging before it is drinkable at all.

smuth10 said:

seems to be a little darker than the real thing

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Same here, VERY dark amber colored. Guessing it will mellow and look a tad lighter once it's poured into a glass to enjoy.

Ok, I am thinking of trying something to get a similar beer without all the effort. Not sure it will work though. I am set up for 5 gal BIAB batches in an electric 44 qt pot. Batch size will be 3.5 gallons to get a 3 gallon kegs worth in the end. I will then bottle from that.

So I plan to start by making the base beer. 12 lbs of 2 row and 1/2 lb amber give me 3.5 gallons of a 1.095 or so beer. Hopping will be 12 additions every ten minutes for 120 min. Ferment with 1056 and try to get it to about 1.030 - 1.035. Not trying for the best attenuation but shooting for slightly higher than the desired final gravity. Once there add 2 bottles of Bacardi 150 to boost alcohol from 9% ABV to 17-18%. Dilution of the gravity should take it to right around 1.30 and the volume should now be about 4 gallons in fermenter and I will start the dry hop process. Probably add hops every few days rather than every day.

Since the main purpose of the sugar is to boost alcohol content, why not let Bacardi handle the difficult part of fermentation. Getting 1056 to attenuate 1.095 to 1.035 should be relatively easy (in fact if it goes too low, may have to add sugar at the end to reach desired gravity). Will it be exact, maybe not. But it should be good.

I would go with a more neutral spirit (vodka). If it is too dry I would go with malto-dextrin, table/corn sugar will make for a sugary sweet tasting beer. Good luck.

Should be bottling mine this weekend. I think I am going to take ThatGuyRyan's advice and just keg it and then bottle. I think it is going to be next to impossible to get this to carb with corn sugar. I will report back on the flavor.

I was planning on bottling the 21st or 22nd, but don't have any way of carbing other than dextrose... The current plan is 1.5oz Dex / 1cup water boiled for the batch (looks like we're ending with a little under 2 gallons), hopefully I'll get something out of it, of course I still plan on letting it sit until Fall so time may help too.

I kegged this on Sunday and just tried it for the first time. It is much better than I anticipated. It is strong, but has a bite from the hops and you can really taste the floral notes from being dry hopped. It finishes sweet with a pretty good hit of alcohol at the end. It has been a while since I've had a DFH 120, but this is pretty damn close from what I remember. If I had to change anything I would up the bittering hops somewhat to offset the extra sweetness. Other than that it just needs to age and I think it is going to be a fantastic beer.

I'm am going to wait another week until is is fully carbed and I will probably bottle half of it for aging. It was a lot of work making this beer, but definitely worth it.

I'm thinking about brewing this later this year. Let me know what you think of your final product.

Bottled today, official finish 1.175 to 1.031 weighing in at a whopping 19.3% abv. In one word, well let's make it two. Amazing, and warm. I'll be brewing more this fall no doubt.

Congrats on the attenuation. Hope it tastes good or will later.

I have been drinking mine the last couple of days and I am surprised how good it is already. It is only going to get better with time. That is, unless I drink it all before I get a chance to bottle some of it.

Alright, I've got the itch. After my 90 minute clone turned out absolutely fantastic, I'm wanting to give this a try. Considering the 90 minute recipe and 120 minute recipes are very similar up to fermentation, I have high hopes.

Recipe:
I'm going to stick with my altered 90 minute recipe, and just up the hops. I want this to be VERY hoppy to balance the alcohol

16lb Pale Malt (2-row)
1lb Victory
4oz Crystal 60*

5oz Amarillo
4oz Simcoe
3oz Warrior
Mixed together and added every 10 minutes. Making for 13 total additions. Realistically this could be done with 10, or even 6 additions, but every 10 minutes is easier for me to keep track of on brew day.

I'm going to use WLP007, and whip up a 3+ QT starter, probably just shy of a gallon. It attenuated great with my 90min clone, and the amount of esters is fantastic. I'll let this go around 64-65* just like my 90min. Meanwhile whip up another 3+ QT starter of WLP099, and pitch that right as the WLP007 starts to slow. I'll be proceeding as normal from there with the sugar additions.

The other thing I'll be doing differently: Dry hopping
A. No warrior for me in the Dry Hop, Just Amarillo and Simcoe, 3oz each.
B. I'm not going to dry hop during fermentation. My plan is to dry hop towards the very end of the secondary. I figure I want as well treat this like all my other IPAs. So 7-14 days before I'll keg it, i'll dry hop.

I'm going to be out of town some in July, so I'll be brewing this in late July. Pretty excited. One of my only concerns at the moment is getting my hands on 7oz of Simcoe.

Scottland - Let us know how it turns out. It looks like you are doing a bit of a different recipe so I will be curious to see what you think.

My 120 has been on tap now for a while and it is probably one of the best beers I have made to date. I'd better bottle some pretty soon or it will be gone before I know it. As for the recipe, I don't think I will change anything other than a little more hops in the boil to balance out the extra sweetness. Now that it has aged some it seems to get better every day.

Sorry to Thatguyryan and jsmith for not sending out your beers yet. I have been really busy with work and I should be able to bottle some up and send it out this week. I will definitely be making more of this in the winter. I only wish I had the system capable of making a 10gal batch.

smuth10 said:

It looks like you are doing a bit of a different recipe so I will be curious to see what you think.

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Ya, i definitely took a few creative liberties. The Victory/C60 combo replicated the amber in 90minute pretty dead on, so not much different there. I'm using 2-row in this beer as well.

DFH definitely uses an english yeast for the 'minute' IPAs, so WLP007 was a perfect fit. It's very attenuative, the esters were great, and it's great for big beers. The only big change is, I'm hopping this much more, and waiting until the secondary to dry hop.

Austin HB had Simcoe leaf hops, so i went ahead and bought 8oz of those, and 8oz of Amarillo. I'll take some pictures of brew day here in about a month when i brew it.

Well I had a 2011 bottle of 120, and it tasted fantastic. I'm VERY excited to clone this now. I tasted it side by side with my 90 min clone, and it's very, very similar, which makes me enthusiastic. Obviously there were differences, but it was close. The 120 was drier than I expected. I'd guess it was lower than 1.035.

It is definitely a lot of work, but I am really happy with the result and it was well worth the effort.

Someone needs to make this again. Still a little of my range with school keeping me busy and no major fermentation control.

I still have about a case of my 2012 batch aging and hanging around - don't forsee brewing this again until maybe 2014.

Fun beer, but pricey and attention hogging.

Scotty if you're still around, did you kill off this batch or any still aging?

Still have like 12 bottles. I break one out every 4-6 months or so. It's aged nicely. It's got a big orange-marmalade character now. After my ruined batch from my mini-fridge dying, I haven't built up the energy to brew it again. Probably this fall.

Subscribing to this. If i ever get daring enough, i might try this.

I have spent the last 30 min reading all the posts. I would love to make this but I don't have a fermentation chamber and I can't keg beer yet, but i love super high grav beers. I have never tried the original but would love to if anyone would like to make a trade. Let me know thanks.

subscribing - sounds like a winner!

Hey All,

Not doing a direct 120min clone but something in that ilk as far as alcohol % goes. I have some questions that I threw up here:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/wlp99-high-gravity-help-critique-process-433115/

Any help would be appreciated.

Subscribing. Listened to the radio show and might give this a try.

:rockin:

Has anyone with a grainfather set up tried this recipe as a 5 gallon batch?

Has anyone tried this batch along side a real 120 minute? I am going to brew this soon and want to know what, if anything I should tinker with to get it close

mos13gman said:

Has anyone with a grainfather set up tried this recipe as a 5 gallon batch?

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Can the Grainfather handle 17 pounds of grain?