Myrcenary Clone Recipe

I'm trying to clone Odell Myrcenary IIPA which is brewed with lots of hops high in myrcene oil. ABV of the original is 9.3% w/ 70 IBU's. Below are some notes from the brewers I found elsewhere on the board that I used for guidance. What do you think?

"We use a blend of 2-row pale malt, pilsner, caramalt, honey malt, and carafoam. Lots of different hops; We hit it lightly with Columbus early in the boil and finish heavy with blends of Cascade, Bravo, Centennial and Chinook post boil and Hop Back. We then dry hop it with over 1# per barrel (31 gallons) of Bravo, Centennial, and Chinook. That’s about all the secrets I can give out."

Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 6.79 gal
Boil Time: 90 min
End of Boil Vol: 5.98 gal
Final Bottling Vol: 4.60 gal
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage

7 lbs 11.5 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 47.0 %
7 lbs 4.3 oz Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 2 44.2 %
10.4 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 3 4.0 %
7.3 oz Carafoam (2.0 SRM) Grain 4 2.8 %
3.6 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 5 1.4 %
1.9 oz Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 6 0.7 %
0.69 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 7 28.2 IBUs
0.91 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 8 34.2 IBUs
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 9 -
0.46 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 10 1.3 IBUs
0.46 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 11 2.4 IBUs
0.23 oz Bravo [15.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 12 1.9 IBUs
0.23 oz Chinook [13.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 13 1.6 IBUs
0.45 oz Bravo [15.50 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 14 0.0 IBUs
0.45 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 15 0.0 IBUs
0.45 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 16 0.0 IBUs
0.45 oz Chinook [13.00 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 17 0.0 IBUs
1.8 pkg California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [35.49 ml] Yeast 18 -
0.91 oz Bravo [15.50 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Days Hop 19 0.0 IBUs
0.91 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Days Hop 20 0.0 IBUs
0.91 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Days Hop 21 0.0 IBUs
0.91 oz Chinook [13.00 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Days Hop 22 0.0 IBUs

Gravity, Alcohol Content and Color

Est Original Gravity: 1.086 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.019 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 9.0 %
Bitterness: 69.7 IBUs
Est Color: 6.3 SRM

Measured Original Gravity: 1.046 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Actual Alcohol by Vol: 4.7 %
Calories: 151.6 kcal/12oz

I would skip the FWH addition and bitter big with Columbus at a full rolling boil. This is likely the only IBU contribution. 90 minute boil, bittering charge added at the 60 minute mark.

My stab at the grist: 77% 2-row pale malt, 15% pilsner, 3% caramalt, 2% honey malt, and 3% carafoam

Myrcene is a delicate compound. To retain as much of it as possible, the late additions should be added below 147 F. You can accomplish this by employing an extended hopstand at about 140-150 F. There will be no isomeration below say 175 F, so it is important that you bittering charge is quite large. More homebrewers tend to opt for the 160-180 F hopstand range.

For this beer:

Hopstand = 35-40% total recipe hops by weight
Dryhop = 45-50% total recipe hops by weight

Calculate the remainder for your bittering charge.

Awesome- thanks. How big of a bittering charge are you suggesting? 2.5 oz? How long of a hopstand do you recommend?

Radobrewer said:

Awesome- thanks. How big of a bittering charge are you suggesting? 2.5 oz? How long of a hopstand do you recommend?

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1.5 to 2.0 oz. @ 60 min, give or take. You could add a middle charge at 30 minutes if you want to use less at 60. But don't go by the reported IBUs in a recipe calculator when brewing a big IIPA. Calculated IBUs are only accurate up to a point. It is very possible that a reported 250 IBU beer will only be 70 IBUs when lab tested. For a 9.3% double IPA, you need a hefty bittering charge to combat the malt and residual sweetness.

25 minute hopstand, minimum. Longer wouldn't hurt.

I really like the suggestions provided by bobbrews. He pretty much nails it on the head (no surprise there ).

Where I would differ is with how to retain the myrcene. IIRC, and I may not, myrcene's volatilized temperature is in the mid 140s, so in order to retain the myrcene oils you would want to hold out until your wort is about 145F before adding those hops (it quickly volitalizes). With that said, I would not aim to retain the myrcene oils. Having done a couple hop stands in the 140s, I have found them to be very off-putting (green, grassy, gross), not to mention the lost character from the hops you're actually after (citrus, pine, floral, dankness, etc) because of the low temperature and short contact time.

Here's some good info provided from ....wait for it.... bobbrews

bobbrews said:

Some helpful key points on myrcene:

~Myrcene levels in beers, which were hopped at the beginning of the boil are around 0.13ppb, while beers which were hopped after wort cooling had about 66ppb – a 508x difference! A post-boil warm hop addition yielded myrcene levels of 0.82ppb - a 631x difference!~

~Whole hops can have as much as 70% more myrcene than pellets of the same variety, but that difference is flipped when the wort is hopped as only 5% of myrcene is extracted from whole hops compared to 17% from pellets.~

~Myrcene boils at about 167C (not F), but it volatilizes at every temperature from its freezing point up to boiling (more so the higher you go obviously).~

~The fragrance of myrcene is subdued to minimal levels with heat, and this prevents it from remaining prevalent after a boil or mash.~

~With a temperature of 147 degrees F, its flavor dissipates in much the same way as it's fragrance with high temperatures.~

~The highest levels of extractable myrcene are seen in fresh Pacific Northwest American pellet hops, such as Amarillo, Citra, Simcoe, Horizon, Centennial, Cascade, Nugget, etc. These tend to be great late addition hop choices for American IPAs. There are a few moderate myrcene % varieties from the same location which are still high total oil content and very high alpha such as Apollo, Columbus, Chinook, Summit, Bravo, Warrior, etc. These hops are great choices for early and middle additions when brewing American IPAs.~

~The lowest levels of extractable myrcene are seen in old European and/or Noble leaf hops, such Tettnanger, Saaz, Hallertauer, Fuggle, EKG, Spalt, Magnum, etc.~

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stpug said:

I really like the suggestions provided by bobbrews. He pretty much nails it on the head (no surprise there ).

Where I would differ is with how to retain the myrcene. IIRC, and I may not, myrcene's volatilized temperature is in the mid 140s, so in order to retain the myrcene oils you would want to hold out until your wort is about 145F before adding those hops (it quickly volitalizes). With that said, I would not aim to retain the myrcene oils. Having done a couple hop stands in the 140s, I have found them to be very off-putting (green, grassy, gross), not to mention the lost character from the hops you're actually after (citrus, pine, floral, dankness, etc) because of the low temperature and short contact time.

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Thanks!!

Just to touch on one point... Anytime you add a lot of oily, piney, citrusy, fruity Pacific NW hops that are also high in myrcene to wort or beer that's under 147 F, you're inundating it with that compound. This includes the dryhop. I understand the remarks from chemists regarding the off-putting green, grassy, balsamic, vegetal flavor/aroma of myrcene in it's unoxidized state. However, this is separate from its contribution in an A-IPA... much like if we isolate citrulline from a watermelon. Alone, the citrulline compound may taste good or bad... but in the final product, it is a huge contributor to make the watermelon taste as it does. Myrcene is also used heavily in the commercial fragrance industry... You hear most about its flavor/aroma descriptions coming from these experts, and not from beer chemists.

In any sense, I notice a strong correlation to the hops I prefer in American IPAs when looking at their total oil content and/or myrcene levels. The higher the better. I've never tasted an A-IPA that had harsh, vegetal balsamic notes and I do a lot of very large hopstands and massive dryhops all the time. In fact, 80-90% of my total recipe hops are typically used at these slots and my IPAs couldn't be more piney, more citrusy, more fruity, etc... All pleasant flavors/aromas.


Check out the disparity here... Hops like Simcoe & Amarillo are basically polar opposites to those like Saaz and EKG on the chemical level:

American Pacific NW Hops:

Alpha Acids: Moderate to High
Beta Acids: Low
Cohumulone: Varied, Avg. Moderate
Myrcene: High
Caryophyllene: Low to Moderate
Humulene: Low
Farnesene: Low

European and/or Noble Hops:

Alpha Acids: Low
Beta Acids: Low
Cohumulone: Low
Myrcene: Low
Caryophyllene: Moderate to High
Humulene: High
Farnesene: High

Radobrewer said:

I'm trying to clone Odell Myrcenary IIPA

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Did you brew this? How did it turn out?