Founders Centennial IPA

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DrewsBrew

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Great stuff. Its difficult to find midwestern beer up here in New England but I was able to grab a six of this and was blown away. Highly recommended. I would love a recipe for this.
 
Often emailing the brewer works out - Founder's is great for that!

For your grain bill, use around 10% Carapils, 5% Munich, 5% Crystal 50-60, and 2.5% Caramunich 45. Target a 16.5 Plato OG and it should terminate between 3 and 3.5 Plato. Target 65 IBUs and make sure your flavor strike in the boil and the dry hop are both enormous. Good luck, hope this helps!

Cheers,
Jeremy Kosmicki
Head Brewer
FBC
 
I get Centennial IPA all the time. I prefer the 2H from Bells, but they are both very nice. I'm still waiting for some Founders KBS to show up at my bottle shop. I might have to hijack a truck!
 
Centennial IPA is one of my two favorite IPAs (Bear Republic Racer 5 being the other). I sorta like Two Hearted... but there is just something about Founders Centennial that I think is really clean and well balanced.

I went to Founders last summer. I know the KBS gets a lot of love on beer websites... but I gotta say- everything Founders does is pretty damn awesome! Really quality brewery. And the brewpub is a great stop if you find yourself in Grand Rapids, MI.
 
Plus, they have parties througout the year. Just had their BLACK party, and this summer, another Founders Fest Street Party!

Now, THB, it's not really my thing. Wife and I went last year and it was hot and the beer was not cheap. But they had street performers and some very good music. If you live down that way, or are into parties with strangers, it's probably right you your alley.

The biggest thrill was trying some Oaked Maple Bourbon IIPA... And the house band was very good! We left before the headlining group though.
 
Often emailing the brewer works out - Founder's is great for that!

For your grain bill, use around 10% Carapils, 5% Munich, 5% Crystal 50-60, and 2.5% Caramunich 45. Target a 16.5 Plato OG and it should terminate between 3 and 3.5 Plato. Target 65 IBUs and make sure your flavor strike in the boil and the dry hop are both enormous. Good luck, hope this helps!

Cheers,
Jeremy Kosmicki
Head Brewer
FBC

10% seems like alot of Carapils to me. I am trying to brew a Founders Centennial clone this weekend and I am trying to figure out an appropriate malt bill. Anyone tried this malt bill with any success or other suggestions?
 
10% seems like alot of Carapils to me. I am trying to brew a Founders Centennial clone this weekend and I am trying to figure out an appropriate malt bill. Anyone tried this malt bill with any success or other suggestions?

FWIW this is an email I got from founders almost 2 years ago now when I asked about centennial ipa...


Hi Todd,

Well of course we are flattered that you enjoy our beer enough to make one at home. Thanks for supporting us and enjoying IPA. It’s a pretty basic recipe (as most good beers are) but of course there is only so much info I can give you before getting into trouble. Our target OG is around 16.5 plato and IBUs around 65. We are shooting for a 7.2% ABV and that finishes around 3.5 plato tg. We use a domestic base malt at around 60% and a UK base malt at around 15%. We love Cpils at founders and use around 10% in this one. Throw in some Munich and medium crystals for color and viola. We hop with Magnum in the bittering charge and Centennial the rest of the way. Of course we dry hop profusely near the end of primary fermentation too. Use a healthy neutral yeast strain as it is the most important ingredient. I hope that helps and you are pleased with the outcome. Thanks again for supporting Founders!

Cheers,
Alec Mull
Director of Operations
Founders Brewing Company
616-776-2186
[email protected]
 
FWIW this is an email I got from founders almost 2 years ago now when I asked about centennial ipa...


Hi Todd,

Well of course we are flattered that you enjoy our beer enough to make one at home. Thanks for supporting us and enjoying IPA. It’s a pretty basic recipe (as most good beers are) but of course there is only so much info I can give you before getting into trouble. Our target OG is around 16.5 plato and IBUs around 65. We are shooting for a 7.2% ABV and that finishes around 3.5 plato tg. We use a domestic base malt at around 60% and a UK base malt at around 15%. We love Cpils at founders and use around 10% in this one. Throw in some Munich and medium crystals for color and viola. We hop with Magnum in the bittering charge and Centennial the rest of the way. Of course we dry hop profusely near the end of primary fermentation too. Use a healthy neutral yeast strain as it is the most important ingredient. I hope that helps and you are pleased with the outcome. Thanks again for supporting Founders!

Cheers,
Alec Mull
Director of Operations
Founders Brewing Company
616-776-2186
[email protected]

Alright I'm going for it! The responses were both consistent so I'm going to brew one up this weekend.
 
Could someone who has made a great beer with this turn it into a straightforward recipe for a 5 gal. Ag batch? Thanks
 
love founders great place to grab a beer, but gotta say Two Hearted > Centenial.

I just wish Bells had a better Brewpub. just don't care for it there.
 
Just the opposite for me; Founders is much more complex on the tastebuds than Two Hearted. I'm going to try attempting a clone of this one...after I brew twenty gallons of DFH 60 starting tomorrow morning. :drunk:
 
Just the opposite for me; Founders is much more complex on the tastebuds than Two Hearted. I'm going to try attempting a clone of this one...after I brew twenty gallons of DFH 60 starting tomorrow morning. :drunk:

Did you ever attempt your Centennial Clone? I'd be very interested to hear how it went and what specific recipe you used.

Thanks!
 
I haven't gotten to it yet. Recently, I brewed twenty gallons of Snake Dog IPA (another thread) which turned out pretty good. The next brew session is a Celebration Ale and then I plan to try the Founder's recipe and will follow up. I'm not quite sure how I got sidetracked on the Snake Dog IPA before the Founders.
 
Would love to hear how it turned and see a recipe as well. I recently had Founders for the first time and loved it. Better and more complex than 2 hearted IMO although I like both. I've cloned 2 hearted a couple of times and have been pleased and now I'm interested in trying the Founders version.
 
Have noticed a few references to this beer in the month since ive been on the forum. Saw it at a hole-in-the wall bar tonight in "nowhere" CT and was surprised to see it among just a few other options. Not bad, didn't think it lived up to all the hype though. Really cool that commercial brewers will share the recipe "for the love of the sport"
 
One thing I've noticed about Centennial is that it doesn't age too well as compared to other, similar IPA's like Two-Hearted. But when it is fresh, Centennial is nearly impossible to top.
 
I love that this thread plays out over six years but doesn't read like it.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Home Brew mobile app
 
One thing I've noticed about Centennial is that it doesn't age too well as compared to other, similar IPA's like Two-Hearted. But when it is fresh, Centennial is nearly impossible to top.

I can see that because Centennial seems to be drier with more pronounced hop character, while Two-hearted has more malt backbone. Hops tend to break down and change in a shorter amount of time.
 
I love this stuff. So drinkable, and the perfect hop aroma in my opinion. Stacks up well against some fan-favorite IPA's. I love the 15 pack cans - I go through them much faster than I should! Probably my favorite 'every day IPA'
 
One thing I've noticed about Centennial is that it doesn't age too well as compared to other, similar IPA's like Two-Hearted. But when it is fresh, Centennial is nearly impossible to top.

I'm in Ireland and we get Founders beers here amongst a few others. I actually find Centennial to be one of the best and freshest IPAs that travel here (which usually takes while).

Now thats a different thing to drinking in the US where you're getting your American IPAs within a month or two. But when you are keeping within the same year Centennial holds up well compared to other exported US beer. Its second only to Odell IPA for me and seeing as Odell is more expensive I drink just as much Centennial.
 
I have to agree with how good this one is. Sounds like I'm going to have to convert it to PB/PM BIAB in the near future. I just got enough bottles emptied from 4 other batches to brew up another one. 8 or 9 ounces of centennial with about .3 to .5 oz Warrior for bittering should handle it. ** I clicked on the BS2 file & it went to BS2 where I converted it to PM, scaled,etc. Can't get it to save to my recipes??
 
I'm reviving this in hopes of getting some more interest/input. Anyone?


Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 7.52 gal
Boil Time: 60 min
End of Boil Vol: 5.72 gal
Final Bottling Vol: 5.00 gal
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage


Date: 27 Nov 2014

Equipment: My Equipment-5.5 Gal. 60 Min.
Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 72.0 %

Ingredients

8 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 59.9 %
2 lbs 4.0 oz Pale Malt, Maris Otter (Thomas Fawcett) (3.0 SRM) Grain 2 15.8 %
1 lbs 8.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 10.6 %
1 lbs 4.0 oz Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 4 8.8 %
11.0 oz Caramel Malt - 60L (Briess) (60.0 SRM) Grain 5 4.9 %
1.00 oz Magnum [12.00 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 6 45.9 IBUs
1.25 oz Centennial [9.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 7 19.4 IBUs
2.00 oz Centennial [9.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 0.0 min Hop 8 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) [124.21 ml] Yeast 9 -
2.00 oz Centennial [9.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 10 0.0 IBUs



Gravity, Alcohol Content and Color

Est Original Gravity: 1.067 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.012 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 7.2 %
Bitterness: 65.4 IBUs
Est Color: 9.5 SRM

Measured Original Gravity: 1.067 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.012 SG
Actual Alcohol by Vol: 7.3 %
Calories: 225.3 kcal/12oz


Mash Profile

Mash Name: Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F

Total Grain Weight: 14 lbs 3.0 oz

Mash PH: 5.30 with a sulfate level of around 100 - 110

Give this a try it should get you close. Could use US-05 as a dry yeast alternative or even Nottingham.
 
Last edited:
Thank you! I Actually found that recipe somewhere and made it Oct 31st. I used a new BIAB basket for only the second time and got horrible efficiency due to the grain/water ratio of the recirculated mash (kettle was maxed out trying a 10 gallon batch)

It did attenuate well so I squeaked in a 5% ABVer so I am hoping it will be nice.

I'll post up when it's finished.

Rob
 
Thank you! I Actually found that recipe somewhere and made it Oct 31st. I used a new BIAB basket for only the second time and got horrible efficiency due to the grain/water ratio of the recirculated mash (kettle was maxed out trying a 10 gallon batch)

It did attenuate well so I squeaked in a 5% ABVer so I am hoping it will be nice.

I'll post up when it's finished.

Rob

Here's how she ended up. Cold crashing today and will then transfer to secondary and do final dry hop.

Founders Centennial IPA Clone
21-A American IPA
Author: Rob
Date: 10/31/15

Size: 11.0*gal
Efficiency: 55.0%
Attenuation: 85.0%
Calories: 149.45*kcal per 12.0*fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.046 (1.056 - 1.070)
Terminal Gravity: 1.007 (1.008 - 1.014)
Color: 11.17*SRM (6.0 - 14.0)
Alcohol: 5.09% (5.5% - 7.5%)
Bitterness: 61.3 (40.0 - 70.0)

Ingredients:
22.0*lb (84.3%) Pale Ale Malt - added during mash
2.6*lb (10.0%) Cara-Pils® Malt - added during mash
1.3*lb (5.0%) Caramel Malt 40L - added during mash
3*oz (0.7%) Vienna Malt - added during mash
2*oz (15.4%) Magnum (12.1%) - added during boil, boiled 60*m
2*oz (15.4%) Centennial (8.7%) - added during boil, boiled 15*m
2*oz (15.4%) Centennial (8.7%) - added during boil, boiled 5*m
3*oz (23.1%) Centennial (8.7%) - added during boil
2*oz (15.4%) Centennial (9%) - added dry to primary fermenter
2*oz (15.4%) Centennial (9%) - added dry to secondary fermenter



Notes
BIABasket. Second brew with basket. Heated 5 gallons of sparge water to 165º and transferred to cooler to hold. Heated 10 gallons of strike water in kettle. Added grain to basket and lowered into pot. Added about another quart from cooler to kettle. Started pump and temp settled at 162º. Arrrrrg. NEXT TIME set sparge water to 155º and STRIKE to 150º!! At end of recircualted mash, just increase temp to 168º to mash out. Sparge water at that time can be any temp since mashout has been achieved. Got temp down by stirring and recircualting to 155º within about 11 mins. After 20 mins holding at 148º which is where I set target after overshoot.

Results generated by BeerTools Pro 2.0.12
 
Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 7.52 gal
Boil Time: 60 min
End of Boil Vol: 5.72 gal
Final Bottling Vol: 5.00 gal
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage


Date: 27 Nov 2014

Equipment: My Equipment-5.5 Gal. 60 Min.
Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 72.0 %

Ingredients

8 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 59.9 %
2 lbs 4.0 oz Pale Malt, Maris Otter (Thomas Fawcett) (3.0 SRM) Grain 2 15.8 %
1 lbs 8.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 10.6 %
1 lbs 4.0 oz Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 4 8.8 %
11.0 oz Caramel Malt - 60L (Briess) (60.0 SRM) Grain 5 4.9 %
1.00 oz Magnum [12.00 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 6 45.9 IBUs
1.25 oz Centennial [9.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 7 19.4 IBUs
2.00 oz Centennial [9.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 0.0 min Hop 8 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) [124.21 ml] Yeast 9 -
2.00 oz Centennial [9.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 10 0.0 IBUs



Gravity, Alcohol Content and Color

Est Original Gravity: 1.067 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.012 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 7.2 %
Bitterness: 65.4 IBUs
Est Color: 9.5 SRM

Measured Original Gravity: 1.067 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.012 SG
Actual Alcohol by Vol: 7.3 %
Calories: 225.3 kcal/12oz


Mash Profile

Mash Name: Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F

Total Grain Weight: 14 lbs 3.0 oz

Mash PH: 5.30 with a sulfate level of around 100 - 110

Give this a try it should get you close. Could use US-05 as a dry yeast alternative or even Nottingham.

has anyone brewed something like this recently? is the mix of pale malt and maris otter best? I noticed the brew mentioned crystal 50-60 and crystal 45 in the email that was going around. 100 ppm sulfate work well with low chloride?
 
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