I picked up a pH meter to check my mash, and I regularly hit 5.4 - 5.6. Perhaps I'm already at a good water profile and it makes me complacent
I picked up a pH meter to check my mash, and I regularly hit 5.4 - 5.6. Perhaps I'm already at a good water profile and it makes me complacent
granted, I haven't done any water adjustments with my brews, but I can't imagine it's the difference factor between clone attempts and the real deal.
Is it best to add gypsum to the mash, kettle (post-mash), post-ferment?
there's no need to be rude. I didn't say anything definitive. these boards are for polite discussion, not for insults. this thread seems to attract more negativity than most, unfortunatelyMaybe you should try it first before offering an uneducated opinion.
there's no need to be rude. I didn't say anything definitive. these boards are for polite discussion, not for insults. this thread seems to attract more negativity than most, unfortunately
My next heady will be w a new yeast. It's shipped in a can and called Barbarian. Claims to have 200 billion cells as well. Got a starter going last night and it was ripping this morning.
So basically 10 day fermentation, with a big 4 day dry hop, then cold conditioned for 14 days,and they are canning on day 28 last day of the 14 day cold condition.
My recipe (use search) is as close as it gets.
I've compiled reddskinnfan's recipe and notes into the following:
reddskinnfan recipe
Grains:
8 oz - Rice Hulls
23 lb - Optic Malt
3 lb - Flaked Wheat
1 lb - CaraRed
1 lb - Corn Sugar
Note: Mash-In - 10.25g @ 148F for 75m, then drain.
Sparge - 6.5g @ 168F for 10m, then drain.
Sparge pH - 5.5
Mash pH - 5.4
12.7g pre-boil volume.
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Boil time: 60 minutes.
Hops:
20 ml - Apollo HopShot @ 60m
3 oz - Simcoe @ 40m (steep)
1.5 oz - Citra @ 40m (steep)
1.5 oz - Mosaic @ 40m (steep)
1.0 oz - Chinook @ 40m (steep)
1.0 oz - Summit @ 40m (steep)
Note: All steep hops added at flameout, then pot covered and naturally cooled for 40m before running through chiller, or
Whirlpool hops added 5 minutes after flameout. I let naturally drop to 165F and kept there for 30.
(Improvements - splitting flameout for a little more aroma kick. One right at flameout and another 30 mins in.)
11.2g post-boil volume.
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10.5g into fermenter.
3L starter - Vermont IPA (GigaYeast)
Note: 3L starter was stepped. 2L fermented/decanted and then 3L fermented/decanted.
Fermentation at started at 66F. Raised to 72 after gravity dropped to about 1.020 to help it finish.
OG @ 1.072
FG @ 1.010
Dry hop will be:
3 oz Simcoe
1.5 oz Centennial
1.5 oz Chinook
1.0 oz Columbus
1.0 oz Comet
Note: Dry hop was half at beginning and half at day 4. Total 7 days.
I dry hopped in the serving kegs at room temp (around 70F in my house) with dry hop tubes from www.stainlessbrewing.com.
Final volume 10g.
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Water Profile:
75 ppm - Calcium
10 ppm - Magnesium
24 ppm - Sodium
113 ppm - Sulfate (Improvements: Increase 200-250)
44 ppm - Chloride
0 ppm - Bicarbonate
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Misc Notes:
And my final IBU/Color/ABV:
Calculated IBU - 140
SRM - 7
Measured ABV - 8.2%
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Tasting - Piney grapefruit with some peach notes. I had the pleasure of trying heady, with mine, right after each other.
The only big difference I saw was perceived bitterness, which I attribute to a little bit low on Sulfate.
Don't want to be a d---weed but didn't redskinfan post that he had never tried Heady? I'm sure he makes a great DIPA, but I'm just saying . . .
Don't wanna be a d*ckweed, then don't be one... Troll...
I had never tried Heady when I originally built this recipe. At the time I was going off a lot of different sources of information.
I did, however, get to try it after my recipe was ready. In fact, I had two six packs of the elusive beast. Hell, I even gave away a couple to a good friend, along with a growler of mine.
It comes in 4 packs. Someone must have pulled a fast one on you.
Classic. Busted!
Mash pH is too high; needs to be 5.1 - 5.3 at the absolute most. Lower than this range is better than higher. Go higher than 5.3 and you failed. Yours was 5.4.
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This is not as close as it gets... I can tell you that much.
1) Totally wrong grain bill, as proven by Kimmich himself.
2) Mash pH is too high; needs to be 5.1 - 5.3 at the absolute most. Lower than this range is better than higher. Go higher than 5.3 and you failed. Yours was 5.4.
3) No Citra in the recipe (proven).
4) Dryhop is a max 4-5 days.
5) Water knowledge/treatment seems shoddy. No total alkalinity or hardness listed.
6) Even so, the hardness and sulfate are far too low.
Not sure why you made such a bold statement about your clone being the most accurate when you have never even tried Heady Topper. It's super misleading to the guys trying to clone this beer.
In case anyone is wondering...
--Yakima Valley is the best buy for the pellet hops, lactic acid, hopshot, and gypsum right now at <$40.
--Farmhouse Brewing is offering the appropriate amount of Fawcett Pearl, Fawcett Caramalt, and White Wheat (CMC) for about $32. Unfortunately, it's not Fawcett Wheat.
--Morebeer.com is the best local spot if you are on the East Coast for Gigayeast Vermont IPA yeast at $8.99... but shipping is a killer for a total of $16. For prices in your area, call Gigayeast and say you are a homebrewer who is looking for local retailers.
You still need turbinado sugar and any equipment, including a pH meter, other water treatments, kettles, etc.
So yeah... $80+ to brew 5-6g of this beer for the ingredients alone... It's no wonder why so few have attempted it.
Here is my last attempt... keep the mash pH at 5.1-5.3, hardness at 750 mg/L with gypsum, lactic acid, and calcium chloride:
1.073/1.074 OG
1.010/1.011 FG
7.5 gallon boil
5.5 gallon batch, collected in primary
12lbs, 84.2% Thomas Fawcett Pearl Malt
12oz, 5.30% Turbinado Sugar
12oz, 5.30% Thomas Fawcett Wheat
12oz, 5.30% Thomas Fawcett Caramalt
14 ml HopShot @ 90 Minutes
2.50 oz. Simcoe pellets @ 180 F Whirlpool
1.00 oz. Centennial pellets @ 180 F Whirlpool
0.75 oz. Columbus pellets @ 180 F Whirlpool
0.75 oz. Comet pellets @ 180 F Whirlpool
0.75 oz. Apollo pellets @ 180 F Whirlpool
1.50 oz. Simcoe pellets @ 4-5 days
1.50 oz. Centennial pellets @ 4-5 days
1.00 oz. Columbus pellets @ 4-5 days
1.00 oz. Comet pellets @ 4-5 days
0.75 oz. Apollo pellets @ 4-5 days
Feel free to adjust the hop schedule slightly. More Simcoe is always welcome at the expense of less Centennial and Columbus. The Comet & Apollo really do a toll on the dank front. Perhaps up it to 16ml HopShot? And dryhop at 7 oz. instead of my 5.75 oz.
Conan @ 63 F, then after ferm slows down drastically or completes, rack to secondary and ramp up to 68-70 F. Be wary of ambient temperatures. You don't want the wort in the primary going over say 64 F for the first week. Conan gets weird in the high 60s.
This is probably buried in the thread, but what is your source for the 5.1-5.3 mash pH? Isn't that way lower than usual?
Chop and brew episode 22 explains, from John Kimmich's own mouth, that 5.4ph is too high of a mash ph. And it's really not way lower than usual.
Correct. Keep in mind this reference is at room temp, not mash temp. Really it's just the lower end of the generally accepted PH mash range.
Quick water chemistry question: should one be adding all the gypsum to the mash water? Add to the mash and sparge water? Or do a gypsum addition during the boil? Consensus on the chemistry seems to be a large gypsum addition, but curious on thoughts of when that goes in.
Correct. Keep in mind this reference is at room temp, not mash temp. Really it's just the lower end of the generally accepted PH mash range.
Quick water chemistry question: should one be adding all the gypsum to the mash water? Add to the mash and sparge water? Or do a gypsum addition during the boil? Consensus on the chemistry seems to be a large gypsum addition, but curious on thoughts of when that goes in.
I added a pound of gypsum to my cold water before getting it up to mash temp. I used about 8 gallons of water. This was last week so I haven't been able to taste the result yet.
No idea if this is the right way or not, I just rolled with it.
___________________________________
This is not as close as it gets... I can tell you that much.
1) Totally wrong grain bill, as proven by Kimmich himself.
2) Mash pH is too high; needs to be 5.1 - 5.3 at the absolute most. Lower than this range is better than higher. Go higher than 5.3 and you failed. Yours was 5.4.
3) No Citra in the recipe (proven).
4) Dryhop is a max 4-5 days.
5) Water knowledge/treatment seems shoddy. No total alkalinity or hardness listed.
6) Even so, the hardness and sulfate are far too low.
Not sure why you made such a bold statement about your clone being the most accurate when you have never even tried Heady Topper. It's super misleading to the guys trying to clone this beer.
you added an entire pound of gypsum to 8 gallons of water for your mash?
Well, not a whole pound. Maybe 3/4....
And a lot of it was at the bottom of my fill bucket and the bottom of the kettle (under the ball valve level)...
Is this bad?
I sure hope that works out for you. It's such an expensive beer to brew. I brewed a "Lite" version of this, due to only being able to mash about 12 Lbs of grain in my 5 Gal cooler(should've gone bigger). Same Hop profile though. Came out delicious! One thing I won't do again though, don't squeeze the dry hop bag before bottling! Every bottle had about a 1/8 to 3/16" layer of sediment on the bottom. Brew and learn, lol.Well I definitely over did it. I hope it didn't totally kill this batch. I read that the water hardness needed to be through the roof, but this is way over kill. We'll see...
Here it is after 4 days in primary...
Edit- A pound might be overkill. But remember, there is only so much hardness a water profile can hold.
Well, not a whole pound. Maybe 3/4....
And a lot of it was at the bottom of my fill bucket and the bottom of the kettle (under the ball valve level)...
Is this bad?
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