Heady Topper- Can you clone it?

[D_Nyholm]

As theveganbrewer mentioned, the recipe I used to brew this beer doesn't contain many of the ingredients used in real Heady. That is why I didn't bother using my Conan.

Ahh! Thought you were making this clone and saying it isn't going to be close.

 

[Hoplander]

I used the east coast yeast Conan strain and that thing was a BEAST. It tore through 1.073 sg wort in 48 hours down to 1.011. The peach/apricot esters of this beer taste beautiful.

How'd you get the ECY? Did he start selling it?

 

[Beezer94]

How'd you get the ECY? Did he start selling it?

http://www.love2brew.com/ECY-North-East-Ale-ECY29-p/lyec29.htm
in stock at least for the moment, limit 1 though

 

[savylemons]

http://www.love2brew.com/ECY-North-East-Ale-ECY29-p/lyec29.htm
in stock at least for the moment, limit 1 though

What ^^^ said. I got mine a couple weeks ago. Luckily enough love2brew just got a huge shipment in this morning so it is currently in stock. The availability is extremely limited though, if you "like" love2brew's facebook page they post every time they get an ECY shipment in. Alot of other great stuff beside just Conan also.

 

[libeerty]

This beer is absolutely delicious. Very dank aroma w/ hints of tropical fruit, flavor is 100% hops from start to finish w/ a very firm bitterness, but also a smooth hop presence. Hard to explain w/ how many I've had the past two days, I'm still trying to wake up.

Did you alter the recipe at all or straight up?

 

[DNuggs]

Just a heads-up....those looking to get Conan but haven't been able yet, ECY29 (Northeast Ale by East Coast Yeast) is available at love2brew.com

 

[libeerty]

Just a heads-up....those looking to get Conan but haven't been able yet, ECY29 (Northeast Ale by East Coast Yeast) is available at love2brew.com

$15 shipping!! No thanks! I guess worth it if you have to get $67 worth of other things and qualify for free shipping.

 

[drez77]

$15 shipping!! No thanks! I guess worth it if you have to get $67 worth of other things and qualify for free shipping.

Did you click on "more carriers" for the Priority Mail option?

 

[HawksBrewer]

Did you alter the recipe at all or straight up?

I left the caramalt at 12 oz and skipped the 2nd stage dry hop due to time constraints, but otherwise left it as is. Will probably end up w/ this on tap year round it is that good.

 

[Hoplander]

http://www.love2brew.com/ECY-North-East-Ale-ECY29-p/lyec29.htm
in stock at least for the moment, limit 1 though

out of stock.

 

[NathPowe]

Hey did anyone else notice that the signpostbrewing blog is down? Kinda bummed - was just starting to gather up ingredients and now the 4.0 recipe is gone. Any chance someone has a copy of the most up to date Heady Topper Clone 4.0 recipe? Thanks.

 

[sybesbrew]

Hey did anyone else notice that the signpostbrewing blog is down? Kinda bummed - was just starting to gather up ingredients and now the 4.0 recipe is gone. Any chance someone has a copy of the most up to date Heady Topper Clone 4.0 recipe? Thanks.

The latest recipe is on the first post of this thread.

 

[NathPowe]

Oops...didn't realize. My bad.

 

[libeerty]

Did you click on "more carriers" for the Priority Mail option?

Nope, but I'm pretty sure it only listed three UPS options. Does it depend on where I am maybe?

 

[jaydog2314]

my batch should be ready next week but in the meantime I wanted to share with you fellow HT lovers my harvesting of Conan over the last 12 days. Started with dregs from 2 cans and based on info in this and others threads/sites I successfully stepped it up and ended up with about 600 billion based on yeastcalc numbers! I'm stoked to incorporate Conan into some of my other brews now too and I just landed 2 more cans of HT so I may have to do this again!

I knew I wanted to get close to a 100 billion per jar so I stepped it up 6 times, here was my schedule:
1)200ml @ 1.037 + about 5oz beer from 2 cans (based on threads/site anywhere from 1 to 4 billion per can, I went with 2 as my base #)
this first step was 3 days long, 2 of which were on a stirplate
2)added 350ml @1.040 for 24 hours
3)added 800ml @ 1.037 for 24 hours
cold crashed and decanted
4)1L @1.040
cold crashed and decanted
5)1L @1.040
cold crashed and decanted
6)1.6L @1.040 to give me a full 2L starter

Split this 2L between 5 mason jars! Pretty fun experiment can't wait to use the yeast in some future batches!

 

[mtnagel]

Looks good! Looks very similar to my harvest. I think we even have the same washing machine

 

[libeerty]

Thank God, the krausening worked, scrubbed off 90% of the diacetyl in less than three days! So relieved. I'm debating what to do next. It is a debate between the consideration that I think there is a bit of diacetyl still in it, but the competing consideration that I need to have this dryhopped, carbed, and cleared in 11 days. Definitely cannot do the normal two-stage dry hop method, but I'm not overly concerned about that since it is being consumed so quickly. I can, however, keep the hops in the keg while it clears and carbs up. Might give me some floaties, and might not even impart much aroma, but I am not worried about floaties with this beer and plus I have sweet new hop socks that reach almost the entire length of the keg.

I think my best plan is to:

1.) dry hop half now until Friday or Saturday using my sweet new hop socks. since it is at ~70, if the yeast need to do anything else, they will do it, finish clearing up the diacetyl. it might scrub some aroma out, but time is of the essence

2.) put in kegerator with other half of dry hops , get cold, begin carbing

3.) as soon as cold, Sunday or so, put gelatin in, wait 2-3 days

4.) on Wednesday alternate jumping my kegs to an empty 3rd one so I can get as much yeast and hop debris out as possible, back in the kegerator

5.) Thursday and Friday check carb level

BAM

 

[zszalewski]

The latest recipe is on the first post of this thread.

So I just bought all the ingrediants for this recipe as well just to find out that it's no longer up. I see the recipe is on the 1st page but it doesn't contain the text instructions that were provided on his site (ie. chill to X degrees then add these hops...). Also, I recall he had information about the temp he fermented at. Does anybody know those details? Thanks!

 

[mtnagel]

Ferment at 68F.

This was in my notes. Perhaps it was posted somewhere in this thread.

The hop extract gives bittering at 90 minutes then you get to relax until 5 minutes to go when the other additions start. At flameout throw in the “0 minute” hops then either wait or chill down below 180 degrees and add the “Aroma Steep” hops for 30 minutes.

 

[sybesbrew]

Ferment at 68F.

This was in my notes. Perhaps it was posted somewhere in this thread.

I have similar notes except my aroma hops were added ~160-165... but that may just be what I did and not word for word from signpost brewing

 

[jaydog2314]

I have a printed out version just not with me right now, I can post it up later

 

[Belpaire]

Heady Topper Clone Brew 4.0

The fermentation chamber has been cleared of high-temp-needy Saisons and it’s time to brew another Heady Topper clone. This one might be a winner, it’s really close. For this 5-gallon batch brewed on 5/4/2013, the grain bill was 86.8% Pearl, 3.8% Caramalt, 5.7% Torrified Wheat, and 3.7% Turbinado Sugar. Up to this point, I have used the following hop bill :

10ml of hop jizz @90 minutes = 107 IBUs
1 oz of Columbus (14% AA) + 0.5 ounces of Apollo (12.5%AA) @5 minutes
2 oz of Columbus(14% AA) + 1 ounce of Simcoe(13%AA) at flameout.

I turn on the chiller for about 5 minutes to get the wort down to 180 then I add:

1 ounce of Columbus
1 ounce of Simcoe
0.75 ounces of Amarillo
0.5 ounces of Apollo + 0.5 ounces of Centennial

I swirl the hops around with my immersion chiller every 5 minutes for a total of 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, turn on the chiller again and bring down to pitching temp of 68. By the time you get to 68, your last minute additions and whirlpool hops will have had about an hour of contact time with the wort and will be very aromatic.

While it’s too early, way too early, to render a final verdict, I got a very distinct Heady Topper aroma out of the bottom of the kettle after I’d filled up the carboy. I’m still not sure if it was the Apollo addition, the fresh batch of Columbus I used, or the new ratio of hops. Whatever it was it intrigued and excited me for what this brew will turn out like.
I will be fermenting this batch at 68 degrees with an insulated temperature probe taped to the carboy. I pitched 225ml of slurry harvested the 2nd week of April. Expected something like 200-250 billion cells to make it in there. After 3 days I rose the temperature to 71 degrees until day 14. I crashed down to 58 degrees and commenced the two-stage dry hop. This is the most accurate fermentation temperature schedule out there. There is no evidence that Heady Topper is fermented in the low 60s like reported elsewhere. 68-72-58.
Heady Topper Clone Attempt 4.0

Beersmith file for download
Beer XML file

Imperial IPA
Type: All Grain Date: 5/2/2013
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 6.47 gal
Boil Time: 90 min
End of Boil Volume 5.72 gal Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal Est Mash Efficiency 77.7 %
Ingredients

Amt Name Type # %/IBU
11 lbs 8.0 oz Pearl Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 1 86.8 %
8.0 oz Thomas Fawcett CaraMalt (12 SRM) Grain 2 3.8 %
12.0 oz Canada Malting Group White Wheat (3.5 SRM) Grain 3 5.7 %
8.0 oz Turbinado (10.0 SRM) Sugar 14 3.8 %
Hops

10ml Hopshot [3.45 %] – Boil 90.0 min Hop 4 117.8 IBUs
1.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] – Boil 5.0 min Hop 5 8.9 IBUs
0.50 oz Apollo [12.50 %] – Boil 5.0 min Hop 6 4.0 IBUs
2.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] – Boil 0.0 min Hop 7 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] – Boil 0.0 min Hop 10 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] – Aroma Steep 30.0 min Hop 8 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] – Aroma Steep 30.0 min Hop 9 0.0 IBUs
0.75 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] – Aroma Steep 30.0 min Hop 11 0.0 IBUs
0.50 oz Centennial [10.50 %] – Aroma Steep 30.0 min Hop 13 0.0 IBUs
0.50 oz Apollo [12.50 %] – Aroma Steep 30.0 min Hop 12 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] – Dry Hop 8.0 Days Hop 16 0.0 IBUs
2.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] – Dry Hop 8.0 Days Hop 15 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] – Dry Hop 8.0 Days Hop 17 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Centennial [10.50 %] – Dry Hop 8.0 Days Hop 18 0.0 IBUs
0.50 oz Apollo [17.00 %] – Dry Hop 8.0 Days Hop 19 0.0 IBUs

Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.073 SG Measured Original Gravity: 1.073 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.014 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 7.8 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 8.5 %
Bitterness: 130.7 IBUs Calories: 249.4 kcal/12oz
Est Color: 6.1 SRM
Yeast

It’s very important to use Conan yeast, the Alchemist’s proprietary yeast strain. It’s super unique, high attenuation, and gives a peachy aroma when treated right. Keep you eyes out for a new yeast YG001 Green Mountains Ale Yeast which has very similar characteristics. It goes on sale every Monday at 8PM EST/5PM PST, you can find it here: http://yeastgeek.com/product/yg001-green-mountains-ale/

Mash Profile
Mash Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge Total Grain Weight: 13 lbs 4.0 oz
Sparge Water: 4.00 gal Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F Tun Temperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE Mash PH: 5.20
Name Description Step Temperature Step Time
Mash In Add 17.05 l of water at 163.5 F 150.0 F 60 min

Sparge Step: Drain mash tun, Batch sparge with 1 steps (4.00gal) of 168.0 F water
Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).

* 5/6/2013- Main fermentation complete. No krausen. Liquid is creamy orange. Typical fermentation minus the Krausen.
*5/8/2013- Airlock activity slowed to 1 bubble every two seconds. A 1″ Krausen came up the night of 5/6/2013 and is back down to a 1/4 inch ring today. Smelling great in the ferm chamber.
* 5/9/2013- Took gravity reading. Sample is very peachy with noticeable Caramalt contribution similar to the Caravienne I was using before. The smell pre dryhop very much reminds me of the bottom of a can of Heady, after all the dryhop aroma has left the can.
You can see the yeast is still suspended. Gravity reading was 1.014 so I hope it’ll creep in to 1.010 over the next 2 weeks. If not I’ll lower mash temp to 149.

* 5/16/2013- After constructing my new CO2 wand I threw in half of the dry hop, stirred and roused with CO2. This half of the dry hop was 1 ounce of Simcoe, 0.75 ounces of Columbus, 0.5 ounces of Amarillo, 0.5 ounces of Centennial, and 0.25 ounces of Apollo.

 

[zszalewski]

Awesome. Thanks for the help!

 

[othellomcbane]

For another recipe backup, I just brewed a clone with a few friends using the 4.0 recipe. (Thanks for all the hard work over the last year, Signpost). Tried to document the process with some fun pictures to spice things up, since the recipe isn't of my creation.

http://www.bear-flavored.com/2013/08/brewing-heady-topper-clone-recipe-group.html

Should be picking up fresh Heady in a few weeks, and I'm going to sit down with the homebrew club and do a side-by-side blind comparison.

 

[mtnagel]

What's the reason to wait 14 days before dry hopping?

I haven't checked, but I assume my 7 day old batch is done fermenting, so couldn't I just dry hop now? Do I gain anything by waiting?

 

[FATC1TY]

What's the reason to wait 14 days before dry hopping?

I haven't checked, but I assume my 7 day old batch is done fermenting, so couldn't I just dry hop now? Do I gain anything by waiting?

No idea on waiting or not, but Heady is produced in 28 days I think they said.. So there's a reason to dry hop it as long and as late as possible to retain the same fresh qualities I would think.

 

[droder1]

No idea on waiting or not, but Heady is produced in 28 days I think they said.. So there's a reason to dry hop it as long and as late as possible to retain the same fresh qualities I would think.

conan doesn't flocc too quickly, the waiting (IMO at least) is to allow some add'l time for the yeast to flocc out (and thereby it won't strip out any hop oils from dry hopping as it floccs); also gives it a bit more time to condition. the el jefe recipe in steele's IPA book calls for a quasi cold crash after primary fermentation to drop the yeast, dump the yeast, then (presumably, it actually doesn't specify) warm it back up and dry hop shortly thereater.

 

[threephase]

Just did the 2nd dry hop, after the first one the aroma is spot on...

 

[theveganbrewer]

Hello all. Sorry about taking Signpost down, my registration for the hosting account was up and I decided not to update. I've also gotten out of brewing so I'm not around here anymore. Change of careers and had to give up something. I'm glad you got the recipe and notes still. Thanks again to everyone who helped.

 

[Coff]

Say what?!!?!?

 

[NuclearRich]

wow didnt see that coming....

 

[sweetcell]

Hello all. Sorry about taking Signpost down, my registration for the hosting account was up and I decided not to update. I've also gotten out of brewing so I'm not around here anymore. Change of careers and had to give up something. I'm glad you got the recipe and notes still. Thanks again to everyone who helped.

cool, i hope whatever you're doing works out. is it Yeast Geek that has taken over your free time?

thanks for all your help in getting this recipe figured out!

 

[namyarb3]

@vegan
Let me say thanks for the recipe build you have put together, and for the opportunity to get my hands on Conan yeast to brew with. Can be a little difficult to get Heady Topper in WA state.
Good luck with the new career!

 

[Belpaire]

cool, i hope whatever you're doing works out. is it Yeast Geek that has taken over your free time?

Per his Twitter feed, Yeast Geek has been shelved indefinitely due to losing his yeast tech.

I want to add my thanks for the recipe help, my clone is almost fully carbed and really tasty.

 

[theveganbrewer]

Thanks for the support guys. I lost my yeast tech a couple of weeks ago to a bigger job out of state and didn't feel comfortable doing the yeast on my own. I was looking for a new tech but then I myself found another line of full-time work that won't allow me enough time to service all the Yeast Geek accounts.

I do know that someone is planning on producing Conan at White Labs in Fall 2013 and selling it under their own brand, not sure what it is though. Keep your eye out for it.

 

[InityBrew]

Good luck with the new career

 

[hbr2547]

Hello all. Sorry about taking Signpost down, my registration for the hosting account was up and I decided not to update. I've also gotten out of brewing so I'm not around here anymore. Change of careers and had to give up something. I'm glad you got the recipe and notes still. Thanks again to everyone who helped.

It's not April first? No longer brewing? No yeast going fwd? Wish you well in your endevours and your skills will be missed!!!

 

[dbennett78]

Better harvest that conan then..........

 

[threephase]

Yeast Geek (@YeastGeek) tweeted at 8:45 PM on Wed, Aug 07, 2013:
Yeast Geek is not dead. More to come...
(https://twitter.com/YeastGeek/status/365272451376103424)


interesting...

 

[Remmy]

Just secondaried my Heady Topper clone from Maltose Express. This **** tastes nothing like Heady Topper. Not even close.