koopa said:I was up at the Three Penny Taproom's 3rd Anniversary Party last weekend and they had a keg of Heady Topper Double Dry Hopped with Amarillo. It was being talked about by the locals as being a variation of the standard Heady Topper. It was fantastic and seemed a touch more fruity than the regular Heady. What it also suggested to me is that what makes it a variant then would either be the use of amarillo and/or the double dry hopping.
One thing that I did notice while drinking regular cans of Heady Topper is just how apparent the hop extract is. I know extract is supposed to mainly contribute to bitterness, but I feel that when used at a certain level it gives a flavor character to the beer as well.
Just out of curiosity, how can one differentiate between hop extract and boiled hops? I imagine I have had some beers (other than Heady Topper) with hop extract, but never got any distinct flavor that would say hop extract unless I knew it was there. I wonder how many big breweries use it in their IPAs.
Vics
Can't find Vic's boat side on google maps. Do you have an address?
I've had heady topper a few times over the past year. Courtesy of a few friends who like to trade beer (NC here, so no normal distribution). The first time I tried HT I was blown away with the hop flavor and aroma combined with what tastes like a low IBU (for a IIPA). But, by the 3rd time trying it, what really stood out was the overall sweetness of the beer. koopa (page 4) mentioned some VT locals degassed a can and took a gravity reading of 1.010. This surprised me because it tasted more like 1.014 +
I have brewed a few clones (shot in the darks) of this with .33 oz of CTZ / Centennial / Citra (1 oz total for each addition) added 30 minutes, 25, 20, 15, 10, 5, 2, and flame out. The point was to try and reach HT's high flavor and aroma while keeping the IBUs low (due to my comment above). And dry hop'd with 1/2 oz citra, 1/2 oz centennial, and 1/2 oz CTZ.
My "clones" always came out with more IBUs than the original and the sweetness seemed to be low. The flavor and aroma were good in their own right. But, not a match. There must be something in VT's water that brings out that great flavor. : /
I am guessing you mean Vic's Boathouse in the Victoria Station Restaurant?
As for my homebrew attempt, similar to yours. Liked my flavor combination, but lacked the hop intensity. I chalk it up to not being John Kimmich and to not having a hop back. I really think hop backing is used to make HT and I've just recently purchased a Blichmann Hop Rocket which will be used on my second attempt of cloning Heady Topper!
skeezerpleezer said:Wow...15g. Go big or go home I guess. No dryhop?
Wow...15g. Go big or go home I guess. No dryhop?
RiffMagnum said:What's the distribution area for Heady Topper? Just out east?
Cambone said:From what I understand it is available "only" in Vermont. I guess a few overflow cases have showed up elsewhere in the northeast.
The alchemist website lists the only places their beer is available, all in the great state of VT.
Alas poor Pliny, I hardly new thee.
Liebz15 said:Sorry, I'm dry hopping with a couple ounces of each of Amarillo and Simcoe. Though I am starting to think about throwing in some citra to the party.
Citra likes to party. Ask my zombie dust clone. I say go for it.
For my personal take... For the hops, I definitely get Cascade on the nose. Very grapefruity. I don't pickup Simcoe as I don't really get a lot of pine out of it.
bluemoose said:I spoke with them a couple weeks ago. The farthest east in VT they go is Montpelier. Most of their beer goes to the Burlington area, Chittenden county. They do have plans to expand distribution channels.
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