Building a starter for Dogfish Head 120 min clone

[dlutter]

I'm planning to brew the Dogfish Head 120 min IPA clone from the Homebrew Chef website on April 18th. 3 gallon batch

http://www.homebrewchef.com/120minuteIPArecipe.html

I have been brewing all grain for the last 4 yrs and have about 50 batches under my belt but this is my first big beer brew. I usually brew pale ales and IPAs that start in the 1.050-1.060 range and only in the last year or so have been using yeast starters.

I have the yeast cake of 1056 sitting in secondary right now from 3 gal batches of a Mirror Pond clone and an IPA of my own creation. This yeast was fresh back in October from a 3 gal batch of the same Mirror Pond clone. I washed it and it sat in the back of my fridge until 3 weeks ago when I revived it. For the 120 clone I'm planning on a starter with either light or amber DME first at 1.070 and move then to one about 1.100 prior to pitching.

Here are my questions:
1. Should I use this yeast, get a fresh pack of 1056, or both? If I reuse the yeast I would need to wash and store it again for a few weeks.

2. Is it a good idea to use two starters of increasing gravity or should I start at 1.050 and do three steps?

3. Does it matter which DME I use?

4. How long before brew day should I start the starter? One week enough or should I do longer?

5. I've seen some threads and recipes mention White Labs super high gravity yeast. Would this be a good investment and how should I incorporate this into the recipe/fermentation?

Thanks

 

[MattyIce]

1) I have never reused yeast that had been stored for that long. If I was spending the money on the ingredients it takes to clone 120, I do not think I would roll the dice with old yeast.

2) Starters do not need to be high gravity. I would keep starter gravity at 1.040. Step up the volume, but not the gravity.

3) DME type is not a big deal unless you do not plan to crash/decant the beer off the yeast cake before pitching. I use light DME but still make the effort to cold crash for a day or two before pitching.

4) One week should be fine. It will leave you a day at each step up and then a couple days to cold crash.

5) I used 099 on my last barley wine. I pitched my 1056 starter and then waited about two days to pitch the other starter of 099. I read somewhere that 099 can make a beer a bit winey if pitched before a normal ale yeast is given a chance to do its thing. I never verified this on my own though. It is my understanding that 1056 has an alcohol tolerance of 11%.

 

[dlutter]

Thanks. That's very helpful.

What volume would you use for each starter as you progress?

 

[TheCrackpot]

I would recommend checking out this blog. Scott took the cloning of 120 Minute very seriously. I'm sure there will be some helpful tidbits on his site.

http://www.bertusbrewery.com/2012/03/dogfish-head-120-minute-ipa-clone.html

Edit: I think he improves on the Paxton attempt/recipe.

 

[madscientist451]

The whole thing is pretty much laid out for you in the bertusbrewery blog, the malt, the two yeast strains, the dextrose additions, temperatures, I say follow that and then tweak it to your liking the next go around.
My 2 cents: the 1056 yeast will stall on you before the beer is properly attenuated.

 

[dlutter]

Thanks.
I actually had the bertus brewery post pulled up in a browser tab but hadn't had time to read it yet.

Last night I listened to part of a podcast from The Jamil Show where Paxton was a guest and they critiqued his attempt, concluding it wasn't quite a clone. I had to quit just when they started giving tips and suggestions so probably should start it over and take notes.

I'll read the bertus post, finish the podcast, and probably order ingredients later this week

 

[MattyIce]

Thanks. That's very helpful.

What volume would you use for each starter as you progress?

I used steps from the book Yeast...http://www.amazon.com/Yeast-Practical-Fermentation-Brewing-Elements/dp/0937381969

This guy made a video outlining the book's process on how to step up starters to the necessary volume.

http://homebrewacademy.com/stepping-up-a-yeast-starter

 

[Bamsdealer]

Regardless of the yeast you use you shouldn't do a high gravity starter. I would step up your yeast with 1.040 gravity starters or just brew yourself a nice pale ale and use yeast from that.

 

[dlutter]

Thanks for the link to homebrew academy. I hadn't found that website yet.
The videos reminded me about the starter calculator on Mrmalty.com.


I decided to only do a 2.5 gallon batch based on a number of reasons...mostly cost. Looks my starters only need to be 1.3-1.5 L so that should be easy enough.

 

[Ungoliant]

Just to expound on why you want a low gravity starter. You want 1.030-1.040 or so as well as aerate the starter, because you want to keep the yeast in a state of reproduction and prevent them from actually fermenting the wort.

The oxygen and low gravity wort provide the yeast the necessary fuel to reproduce, but not produce alcohol.

The only issue, I'd say, in using the old yeast from October is there's no practical way, as far as I know, for you to really verify the yeast count.