American IPA Bissell Brother's The Substance Clone

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WouldBeBrewmaster

WouldBeBrewmaster

Supporting Member
HBT Supporter
Joined
Oct 29, 2012
Messages
134
Reaction score
27
Location
Mass.
Recipe Type
Extract
Yeast
WLP001
Yeast Starter
0.5G
Batch Size (Gallons)
5
Original Gravity
1.060
Final Gravity
1.013
Boiling Time (Minutes)
75
IBU
61
Color
8.4
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
14
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
14
Tasting Notes
Crushable IPA with layers of hop flavor
I started working on this recipe for my blog www.thewouldbebrewmaster.com. My blog is hosted on a newspaper website, so I am writing for a crowd that aren't necessarily homebrewers or even lovers of craft beer.

I broke up the story into three parts: the idea of trying to clone The Substance, developing the recipe, and brew day. The beer is currently still fermenting in the primary, but I got enough help from Bissell Brothers in developing the recipe that I am confident that it will come out great unless there is some unforeseen error on my part.

The Sustenance (The Substance Clone)
American IPA
Extract (5.50 gal) ABV: 6.23 %
OG: 1.060 SG FG: 1.013 SG
IBUs: 56.0 IBUs Color: 8.4 SRM


8.0 oz - Rye, Flaked
Steep prior to boil (4.8%) - 2.0 SRM
8.0 oz - Barley, Flaked
Steep prior to boil (4.8%) - 1.7 SRM
1 lb - Pale Malt (2 Row) US
Steep prior to boil (9.5%) - 2.0 SRM

0.10 oz - Summit
First Wort Addition (8.3 IBUs)

1 lb 8.0 oz - Light Dry Extract
Boil (14.3%) - 8.0 SRM

0.40 oz - Apollo
Boil 20 min (10.6 IBUs)

0.40 oz - Centennial
Boil 10 min (4.2 IBUs)
0.20 oz - Apollo
Boil 10 min (3.1 IBUs)
0.20 oz - Summit
Boil 10 min (2.8 IBUs)
1.00 tsp - Irish Moss
Boil 10 min
1.00 tsp - Yeast Nutrient
Boil 10 min

6.0 oz - Corn Sugar (Dextrose)
Add after boil complete (3.6%) - 0.0 SRM
6 lb 9.6 oz - Pale Liquid Extract
Add after boil complete (63.0%) - 8.0 SRM

0.75 oz - Falconer's Flight
Steep 20 min (8.2 IBUs)
0.75 oz - Centennial
Steep 20 min (8.0 IBUs)
0.30 oz - Apollo
Steep 20 min (5.7 IBUs)
0.30 oz - Summit
Steep 20 min (5.1 IBUs)

0.5g Yeast Starter - California Ale
White Labs #WLP001

0.50 oz - Summit
Dry Hop 18 days
1.25 oz - Apollo
Dry Hop 18 days
1.75 oz - Falconer's Flight
Dry Hop 18 days
1.25 oz - Centennial
Dry Hop 18 days
1.25 oz - Chinook
Dry Hop 18 days

For an all-grain batch I would substitute the extract with 9.75lbs American 2-row and mash at 149F for 75 minutes.

Also make sure you have enough sulfates in your water. Even though I brewed with extract, my local water is so high in chloride I added six grams of gypsum.
 
This is similar to the clone kit that Maine Brewing Supply sells, supposedly with Noah Bissell's help. I brewed that one and am just drinking it now, but I'm not happy with how it came out-not close enough.

In the recipe I got, it had me boil all the fermentables except dextrose for the full boil. Also, there was no Chinook, but on the board at the brewery it said Chinook was used.

I may try to brew your recipe up to see if it's closer.

Keep us updated on how yours comes out.
 
I'll certainly keep you posted on the thread. I still have a couple cans from August to compare. After a week the airlock ground to a halt. I took a hydrometer reading and it was close to the estimated FG from BeerSmith. I threw in some yeast energizer, and the airlock started to pick up a little.

Funnily enough I just noticed that there was a kit for the first time last night. How was the kit not close enough? With a 75 minute partial boil kettle caramelization could be an issue. Noah told me to ferment in the mid 60s for the first few days of fermentation. That's at the bottom of the range for Chico and will give you the cleanest flavor. Any warmer there will be some fruitiness.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
The kit had US-05 as the yeast and 1lb each of the wheat and rye.

I tapped my last 4pk today after reading your post so I could compare. Color is much darker-mine is on left. Taste isn't as off as I thought, but still not right. ImageUploadedByHome Brew1411346258.703468.jpg

I will try to brew again, probably BIAB, but won't get to it for a few months.
Cheers
 
If I was trying use the exact % Noah told me to use, I would've used 12oz of the flaked grains and a little less DME. I had 8oz of flaked rye leftover from a previous batch and didn't want to buy more. The extract has some carapils in it which should compensate in terms of body and mouthfeel.

Looking at the photo I'd say do at least a 3 gallon boil if you didn't before, and don't add all the extract at the beginning of the boil if you are hung up on the color. Depending on how old the extract is it can also darken. If the LHBS in Portland turns over a lot of extract or sells a lot of the kits, that shouldn't be an issue.

One packet of S05 has enough cells for a proper pitching rate. I would've used it for my batch, but according to the White Labs website WLP001 flocculates better than S05. You would also want to use Irish Moss or a Whirlfloc tablet if it's not included in the kit to help it clear.

Since there is a fair bit of sugar in the grist you shouldn't have any trouble hitting the SG with BIAB. I threw together an all-grain version really to just double check the IBUs of my extract recipe. If you sub out the extract with some 2-row the color should be on point with The Substance.

Depending on your water source add some gypsum. The water here is low in sulfates and high in chlorides so I added quite a bit.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
I racked to the secondary yesterday. The hop aroma was noticeable as soon as I opened the lid. The beer didn't finish as dry as I had hoped. Maybe pitching starter wort added a few gravity points instead of just topping off with water. The samples had brilliant clarity, the cake at the bottom was nice and compact. The beer certainly tasted green, and maybe a touch sweet.

I'll add the dry hops on Thursday. I already have a hop bag soaking in a StarSan solution. I would say so far, so good at this point.
 
Here's the wort in the carboy. It looks darker because it's in a dark corner of the room. It should still finish darker than The Substance. Depending on how many leftover hops I have, I may do a mini BIAG all-grain batch.

ImageUploadedByHome Brew1412130683.368331.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
My keg is nearly empty based on the sound it makes as I tap down the side of it. Every pour I'm expecting to here the foam blowing out from kicking it.

Anyway, I'm not sure what has happened, but the last 1/3 of the keg has turned excellent and it's not as far off as I thought it was initially. Unfortunately(??), my wife now loves it and keeps telling me her glass is broken and needs filling up. I may do a side by side again as friend brought me a 4pk back last week.

Keep us updated on how yours comes out. I'd like to brew this again, but I'm not sure when I might be able to get to this before the end of the year.
 
Bottled today, as you can see I couldn't match the attenuation that Bissell Brothers does. Even adding most of the extract after the boil the color was still noticeably darker. The LHBS may not turnover as much extract as the big online sites.

The samples were excellent. Once it's carbed and at serving temps I hope the hop flavor shines through even more.
ImageUploadedByHome Brew1413251125.526415.jpgImageUploadedByHome Brew1413251142.426963.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
The good news is the beer came out quite good. The bad news is that I am afraid the beer became infected at bottling.

The bottles aren't gushing, but the beer is very foamy. Even when poured slowly there is a thick white clumpy head. The beer itself is almost opaque. The beer looked and tasted fine every step of the way until bottling. I'm afraid it was the spigot on the bottling bucket that was responsible.

The can I cracked open is 3 months old, but still had a noticeable hop aroma. The clone didn't have as pronounced of an aroma, but it had slightly more hop flavor. I think the hop bag I used in an almost full carboy didn't enable enough of the hops to touch the beer. I would whirlpool for 15 mins instead of the 20 that I did to get more aroma from the late hops.


I entered the beer in a competition before trying any of the bottles. Unless the beer starts to gush, which I am afraid might happen, I think it will do ok. ImageUploadedByHome Brew1415058003.993714.jpgImageUploadedByHome Brew1415058019.444975.jpg

If I were to do this again I would probably do all-grain, or partial mash if I were to brew it at my apt. Then I could mash at a lower temp and perhaps have a more fermentable wort. It would also help match the color. I pitched a pretty large starter, but I might pitch even more yeast. My next new toy will be oxygenation equipment. That could make a difference too.



Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
A couple weeks later the beer is hanging in there. It still tastes good, and as long as it is poured very slowly does not foam too much. I think it was just overly carbonated, and perhaps a few of the bottles over-filled. In the future I would use 1/3-1/2 cup of priming sugar. The Substance feels like it has medium-low carbonation.
 
Greetings!

Maine Brewing Supply here - glad to see so many people trying their hands at this delicious beer!

Just wanted to offer a few tidbits on brewing this beer that we've learned from the last year as having it as a clone kit in our shop. As a little background, we worked with Noah on this about a year ago so the recipe has underwent a few changes as Bissell makes slight modifications to the recipe as well.

First and foremost, it is really hard to match the color of Substance unless you are brewing all-grain. Even with using Pils extract, the color will be much darker than the real deal. Partial mash could help lighten it, but unless you're fully all grain, expect it to be a little darker.

Secondly, water adjustments are key to making the hops pop with this beer. Gypsum and calcium chloride will help you get there. Brewers Friend water calculator is your friend on this one. Add half of your gypsum to the mash, and the rest along w/ the calcium chloride at the beginning of the boil, or when you mash out...also in terms of making the hops pop, oxygen is an ENEMY!!! If you have a kegging system, take advantage of being able to fill vessels with C02 before transferring, make sure there is zero air in the siphon when you transfer and minimize headspace. Once fermentation is complete, Substance is transferred, dry hopped, carbonated and kegged in a zero-oxygen atmosphere. This helps significantly in making the hops shine.

Thirdly, this beer needs to be BONE DRY. You'll need more oxygen that just shaking your carboy to get chico down to 1010. Get an oxygenation system!

Fourth point - as for Chinook hops, I don't think Noah was using them initially so we didn't include them in our recipe. Also, depending on hop availability, Substance may or may not undergo some different dry hopping schedules as hop supply/demand is a beast to wrangle, especially for new breweries...that's why many breweries use a hop blend for their hoppier beers - it's easier to keep a consistent flavor w/ the blend.

Lastly - super pumped people are taking this on and have thoroughly enjoyed reading everyone's progress. When we first developed the clone kit, Noah mentioned one of his dream's was to have a clone kit of one of his recipes. I'm sure he'd be psyched to know the homebrewing community at large is giving it a go on the Substance!

Cheers and happy brewing!
 
@bleacherbrewing- I have a few questions about your dryhopping schedule. I see that all of the DH additions show "18 days"; is that 18 days from the start of fermentation or do you dryhop for 18 days?

All of the reading that ive done says that you shouldn't dry hop for more than 7-10 days so im leaning towards the first option being the right one but wanted to check and see. Great looking recipe!
 
Adirondack47 said:
@bleacherbrewing- I have a few questions about your dryhopping schedule. I see that all of the DH additions show "18 days"; is that 18 days from the start of fermentation or do you dryhop for 18 days?

All of the reading that ive done says that you shouldn't dry hop for more than 7-10 days so im leaning towards the first option being the right one but wanted to check and see. Great looking recipe!
Click to expand...
The dry hop was 18 days after the start of fermentation. I racked to a secondary at 14 days, gave the wort time to settle, added the dry hops, and bottled about five days later.
 
mainebrewingsupply said:
Greetings!

Maine Brewing Supply here - glad to see so many people trying their hands at this delicious beer!

Just wanted to offer a few tidbits on brewing this beer that we've learned from the last year as having it as a clone kit in our shop. As a little background, we worked with Noah on this about a year ago so the recipe has underwent a few changes as Bissell makes slight modifications to the recipe as well.

First and foremost, it is really hard to match the color of Substance unless you are brewing all-grain. Even with using Pils extract, the color will be much darker than the real deal. Partial mash could help lighten it, but unless you're fully all grain, expect it to be a little darker.

Secondly, water adjustments are key to making the hops pop with this beer. Gypsum and calcium chloride will help you get there. Brewers Friend water calculator is your friend on this one. Add half of your gypsum to the mash, and the rest along w/ the calcium chloride at the beginning of the boil, or when you mash out...also in terms of making the hops pop, oxygen is an ENEMY!!! If you have a kegging system, take advantage of being able to fill vessels with C02 before transferring, make sure there is zero air in the siphon when you transfer and minimize headspace. Once fermentation is complete, Substance is transferred, dry hopped, carbonated and kegged in a zero-oxygen atmosphere. This helps significantly in making the hops shine.

Thirdly, this beer needs to be BONE DRY. You'll need more oxygen that just shaking your carboy to get chico down to 1010. Get an oxygenation system!

Fourth point - as for Chinook hops, I don't think Noah was using them initially so we didn't include them in our recipe. Also, depending on hop availability, Substance may or may not undergo some different dry hopping schedules as hop supply/demand is a beast to wrangle, especially for new breweries...that's why many breweries use a hop blend for their hoppier beers - it's easier to keep a consistent flavor w/ the blend.

Lastly - super pumped people are taking this on and have thoroughly enjoyed reading everyone's progress. When we first developed the clone kit, Noah mentioned one of his dream's was to have a clone kit of one of his recipes. I'm sure he'd be psyched to know the homebrewing community at large is giving it a go on the Substance!

Cheers and happy brewing!
Click to expand...
Thanks for the input. I noticed you guys had the kit after I emailed Noah for recipe help.

I've since broken down and gotten an O2 kit and tank. If I brewed it again I would do all-grain and make sure there are plenty of sulfates in the water. For an extract batch I'd probably use even more dextrose to dry out the finish. A higher pitching rate would also make some sense.

Noah did indicate that they were using Chinook, but it's a small percentage so it could change based on what they can get and not change the flavor too much. Most of the flavor probably comes from the Summit and Falconers.
 
Last edited:
This is great work, everyone! This beer has quickly become my favorite in southern Maine and I can't wait to brew it myself. I'll let everyone know how I do. I'll be doing an all-grain version of this in the next month or so.

Probably need to head to the brewery today to get some more inspiration for this...
 
I brewed my Substance clone today. I noticed that the recipe above does not have flaked wheat in it. The Bissell's website lists it as an ingredient, so I added it in the same amount as the flaked rye and flaked barley, 8.0 oz. I'm wondering if they don't use malted wheat in a small proportion instead to help get some color. My first runnings were super light. They do use malted wheat in some of their other beers.

I've posted my version of the recipe on BeerSmith. I'll update it as it progresses. I put notes on the water I used in there too. As our friends at Maine Brewing Supply noted, I went heavy on the sulfates (239 ppm). Also, as they mentioned, I oxygenated the wort pretty well before pitching.

Cheers!
 
Alright,

After two attempts to get The Substance from Bissell I finally got some today. Finally got to do my side-by-side taste test.

My beer is on the right in the picture. Overall, I'm about 1 SRM darker than The Substance. The clarity is very similar: both a little cloudy due to the wheat and rye. The Substance was more highly carbonated than mine. Both had a creamy white head that lingered.

The aromas are very similar. Strong hop aromas in both, as expected. Since mine was bottled about 4 weeks ago, I was surprised by that one. Mouthfeel is virtually identical. The tastes are also very, very similar. One characteristic in The Substance that I didn't get in mine was a grassy note from the hops that lingered. I haven't gotten that in previous batches of the brewery's beer, so I'm wondering if this is batch specific.

Overall, I've got to say this beer is cloned. I can't really think of what I would do differently the next time. Again, my full recipe is on BeerSmith Recipies, but here is the abbreviated version below:

Ingredients
Amount Name Type #
10 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
8.0 oz Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM)
8.0 oz Rye, Flaked (2.0 SRM)
8.0 oz Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM)
0.1 oz Summit [17.6%] - First Wort Hops
0.4 oz Apollo [17.7%] - Boil 20 min
0.5 oz Centennial [6.7%] - Boil 10 min
0.4 oz Falconer's Flight [9.9%] - Boil 10 min
0.2 oz Summit [17.0%] - Boil 10 min
0.8 oz Centennial [9.0%] - Steep 20 min
0.8 oz Falconer's Flight [9.9%] - Steep 20 min
0.3 oz Apollo [17.7%] - Steep 20 min
0.3 oz Summit [17.6%] - Steep 20 min
6.4 oz Corn Sugar (Dextrose) (0.0 SRM)
2.0 oz Falconer's Flight [9.0%] - Dry Hop 3 days
1.5 oz Centennial [9.0%] - Dry Hop 3 days
1.2 oz Apollo [17.0%] - Dry Hop 3 days
1.0 oz Chinook [11.1%] - Dry Hop 3 days
0.5 oz Summit [17.0%] - Dry Hop 3 days
California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) Yeast

Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 7.00 ga
Bitterness: 59.1 IBUs
Boil Time: 60 min
OG: 1.056 (13.8° P)
FG: 1.009 SG (2.2° P)
ABV: 6.2%
Mash at 149F. Fermented at 68F.

image.jpg
 
I'm not understanding why this clone recipe has rye in it when the recipe for The Substance doesn't? Rye is dark and flavorful and if you're trying to clone a recipe which originally has no rye then you're not even gonna come close. Bissell Brothers lists flaked oats, wheat, and barley along with 2 row. I would start there.
 
The flaked rye was only 7% of the grist. At that level it didn't make the beer taste like a rye-PA by any means. Flaked rye isn't dark either, it's only around 2.0 SRM.

I imagine the subbed it out for flaked oats. It probably gives the beer a silkier mouthfeel. I haven't been up to Portland to buy any of The Substance since last November. I wonder if I had it now if I'd notice a difference. The beer is so hop-forward any difference would be pretty subtle.

When you're a small brewer you kind of have to use whatever ingredients you can get. There very well could be small variations batch-to-batch. The beer was designed to use easily obtainable ingredients, especially hops. When you use six different varieties of hops, if you're forced to make a substitution it isn't nearly as noticeable.
 
Last edited:
Yeah, up until recently the Bissell website had flaked rye in the recipe. Next time I brew I'll switch to the flaked oats in its place.
 
BostonianBrewer said:
.
Click to expand...


They basically gave me everything. The recipe has changed over time. They stopped using flaked rye and added flaked oats.

The hops almost certainly change based on availability. Noah Bissell said on a podcast that he designed the recipe to utilize less sought after hops. He knew a small brewer would have a difficult time getting in-demand hops like Citra on the spot market. When several different hops are blended together, and you have to sub out one variety, it's not all that noticeable.
 
On your recipe you have 20 minute hop "steep"- are you using these additions during the whirlpool or are you adding them at 20minutes?
 
Brizzo said:
On your recipe you have 20 minute hop "steep"- are you using these additions during the whirlpool or are you adding them at 20minutes?
Click to expand...

It means he is throwing them in after flame out and steeping them for 20 minutes.

A hop steep (aka whirlpool) means after flame out you toss the hops in, put on a lid and set a timer for however long you want (usually not more than 45-60 min). Some people chill to 180-170F then do the hop steep.
 
Thank you- it was just worded awkwardly in the recipe. Probably gonna try to do this one this weekend,
 
I was up in Portland last week and picked up some of The Substance. My beer is on the left, on the right is Substance from a year ago.
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1445193257.193514.jpg

I haven't emailed Noah, but I would guess the grist might be as high as 10% flaked oats and 10% flaked wheat. In addition to the change in clarity, the mouthfeel is noticeably softer. There very well could be more calcium chloride in the water.

New England pale ale/IPA is emerging as a new regional style. Pale in color, cloudy, soft mouthfeel, and juicy hop flavor. The changes may well be to conform to, or were inspired by that trend.
 
I don't know, man. Your color is much closer to the grapefruit juice I had there 2mo ago. A friend just brought me this one, dated 10/20, and it's way closer to the color of yours. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1447127915.716520.jpg

I def smell Falconer's Flight in the hops.

Did you ever get a response from Noah? I'm hoping to go up in a few weeks and will try to get any more info.
 
WWJPD said:
I don't know, man. Your color is much closer to the grapefruit juice I had there 2mo ago. A friend just brought me this one, dated 10/20, and it's way closer to the color of yours. View attachment 315010

I def smell Falconer's Flight in the hops.

Did you ever get a response from Noah? I'm hoping to go up in a few weeks and will try to get any more info.
Click to expand...


The split photo is the current version of The Substance and The Substance from 2014.
 
WWJPD said:
I don't know, man. Your color is much closer to the grapefruit juice I had there 2mo ago. A friend just brought me this one, dated 10/20, and it's way closer to the color of yours. View attachment 315010

I def smell Falconer's Flight in the hops.

Did you ever get a response from Noah? I'm hoping to go up in a few weeks and will try to get any more info.
Click to expand...
I live in Portland and get this regularly. There's definitely been a lot of change in the last couple years, and yours looks way closer to their current recipe.
 

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