Vicious wheat ipa clone critique

RUNningonbrew · Jan 27, 2012

Here is a recipe I came up with to clone the vicious wheat ipa, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated thanks!

The Lawnmaster

Style: American Wheat or Rye Beer OG: 1.066
Type: All Grain FG: 1.015
Rating: 0.0 ABV: 6.68 %
Calories: 215 IBU's: 62.88
Efficiency: 70 % Boil Size: 6.73 Gal
Color: 11.2 SRM Batch Size: 5.00 Gal
Boil Time: 60 minutes

Fermentation Steps
Name Days / Temp
Primary 7 days @ 68.0°F
Secondary 14 days @ 72.0°F

Grains & Adjuncts
Amount Percentage Name Time Gravity
7.00 lbs 55.12 % Briess 2-Row Pale Ale Malt 60 mins 1.037
4.20 lbs 33.07 % Briess White Malt Wheat 60 mins 1.039
1.00 lbs 7.87 % Caramel/Crystal Malt - 30L 60 mins 1.035
0.50 lbs 3.94 % Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L 60 mins 1.034

Hops
Amount IBU's Name Time AA %
0.50 ozs 15.29 Pearle First Wort 8.00
1.00 ozs 14.69 Cascade 30 mins 5.50
1.00 ozs 17.89 Amarillo Gold 20 mins 8.50
1.00 ozs Amarillo Gold 7 days 8.50
1.00 ozs Cascade 7 days 5.50
0.50 ozs 8.08 Williamette First Wort 5.50
1.00 ozs 6.93 Cascade 10 mins 5.50

Yeasts
Amount Name Laboratory / ID
1.00 pkg California Ale White Labs 0001

Additions
(none)

Mash Profile
Medium Body Infusion 60 min @ 154.0°F
Add 15.88 qt ( 1.25 qt/lb ) water @ 171.9°F

Carbonation
Amount Type Beer Temp CO2 Vols
2.93 oz Corn Sugar - Bottle Carbonation 72.0°F 1.90
7.8 psi Force Carbonation 45.0°F 1.90

jeffdill · Mar 12, 2012

Did you ever brew this beer, OP? I had one recently and really liked it. You get the full hop flavor but the wheat seems to mask the bitterness, so my friends that aren't into IPA's enjoyed it a lot too.

I can only do extract right now, not so great with converting recipes over...

I'll just post the relevant info about the beer in this thread so you guys don't have to look it up...

ABV: 6.7%
IBU's: 66.7
Malts: Pale, Crystal (30 and 75), Wheat
Hops: Cascade, Pearle, Willamette
Dry hop: Cascade, Amarillo

RUNningonbrew · Mar 13, 2012

Not yet, I cultured some yeast from the vicious, which I think is just saf ale 05, from what the video says on their website it's what they use in most of their beers except for the belgo

RUNningonbrew · Mar 18, 2012

I just brewed this last night with yeast cultured from north peak vicious wheat IPA, I changed up the recipe a little based on what was available at the LHBS, I'll let you know how it turns out

jeffdill · Mar 19, 2012

Very cool, what did you end up having to change from the recipe?

RUNningonbrew · Mar 20, 2012

8 lbs 2 row
5 lbs wheat male
.5 lbs crystal 20
.5 lbs crystal 80

I replaced Amarillo with centennial because the LHBS was out to get 66 ibus

RUNningonbrew · Mar 20, 2012

Malt not male!

jeffdill · Mar 20, 2012

So out of curiosity, how did you decide on the hop schedule?

jeffdill · Mar 21, 2012

I threw together an extract recipe, any advice? Not sure if my hop schedule is even close...kind of tried to model it after the OP's, but adjusted it to work for extract.

North Peak Vicious Wheat
American IPA
Type: Extract Date: 3/21/2012
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal Brewer:
Boil Size: 3.67 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: Pot ( 4 Gal/15.1 L) - Extract
End of Boil Volume 3.38 gal Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 4.60 gal Est Mash Efficiency 0.0 %
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage Taste Rating(out of 50): 30.0
Taste Notes:

Ingredients

Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
3 lbs Wheat Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 4 34.1 %
1 lbs 5.0 oz Corn Sugar (Dextrose) (0.0 SRM) Sugar 5 14.9 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 30L (30.0 SRM) Grain 1 11.4 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 2 5.7 %
1.0 pkg California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [35.49 ml] Yeast 10 -
2.00 oz Perle [8.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 35.5 IBUs
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 8 9.4 IBUs
1.00 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 7 12.2 IBUs
2.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 9 8.8 IBUs
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Days Hop 11 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Days Hop 12 0.0 IBUs
3 lbs Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 3 34.1 %

Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.066 SG Measured Original Gravity: 1.046 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.009 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 7.5 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 4.7 %
Bitterness: 65.9 IBUs Calories: 151.6 kcal/12oz
Est Color: 11.5 SRM

RUNningonbrew · Mar 22, 2012

I honestly wanted to be cheap so to get my bittering hops I used what I had left over from other brews and the LHBS didn't have Amarillo do I used centennial this got me to 66 ibu

0.6 cascade FWH
0.14 warrior FWH
1 oz cascade 30
1 oz centennial 20
1 oz cascade 10
1 0z centennial and cascade dry hop

RUNningonbrew · Mar 22, 2012

jeffdill said:
I threw together an extract recipe, any advice? Not sure if my hop schedule is even close...kind of tried to model it after the OP's, but adjusted it to work for extract.

North Peak Vicious Wheat
American IPA
Type: Extract Date: 3/21/2012
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal Brewer:
Boil Size: 3.67 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: Pot ( 4 Gal/15.1 L) - Extract
End of Boil Volume 3.38 gal Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 4.60 gal Est Mash Efficiency 0.0 %
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage Taste Rating(out of 50): 30.0
Taste Notes:

Ingredients

Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
3 lbs Wheat Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 4 34.1 %
1 lbs 5.0 oz Corn Sugar (Dextrose) (0.0 SRM) Sugar 5 14.9 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 30L (30.0 SRM) Grain 1 11.4 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 2 5.7 %
1.0 pkg California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [35.49 ml] Yeast 10 -
2.00 oz Perle [8.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 35.5 IBUs
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 8 9.4 IBUs
1.00 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 7 12.2 IBUs
2.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 9 8.8 IBUs
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Days Hop 11 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Days Hop 12 0.0 IBUs
3 lbs Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 3 34.1 %

Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.066 SG Measured Original Gravity: 1.046 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.009 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 7.5 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 4.7 %
Bitterness: 65.9 IBUs Calories: 151.6 kcal/12oz
Est Color: 11.5 SRM

I would use Amarillo in the boil maybe only and ounce of Perle and add an ounce of Amarillo at 20 minutes

RUNningonbrew · Mar 22, 2012

I tasted mine last night and I used yeast cultured from the bottle, and it almost tastes like a wit yeast, which is not what I'm looking for, it may just be an off flavor I'm not sure, but if I were you i would use an ale yeast

jeffdill · Mar 22, 2012

RUNningonbrew said:
I would use Amarillo in the boil maybe only and ounce of Perle and add an ounce of Amarillo at 20 minutes

The only reason I didn't use Amarillo is because the description on their website leads me to believe it is only used as a dry hop...

"The frothy head, and pungent, piney dry-hopped scent (from Cascade and Amarillo hops) should alert you to the brew's imminent attack on your senses. Next, Cascade, Perle and Willamette hops will batter your palette with bitter ferocity. Finally, Pale, Crystal (30 and 75) and wheat malts converge in a cloudy, thick body and give you a smooth kiss of sweet death - and leave you howling for more!"

Kind of ambiguous I guess...and I really only added the second ounce of Perle there to get the IBU's right where they need to be.

I use Briess wheat DME which is 65% wheat, meaning wheat is 26.67% of the base malt. I sent an email to North Peak to see if they're willing to give the actual percentage.

I also used dextrose because my extract brews never seem to ferment completely or have the crisp taste I want from an IPA.

RUNningonbrew · Mar 22, 2012

I also sent an email to north peak asking about their yeast, let me know if you get a response. Yeah I guess they could have just used Amarillo in the dry hops, it's really up to you. I like centennial that's the only reason I added them to the boil

jeffdill · Mar 22, 2012

Got a response...

Jeff,

Sorry but we are ultra top secrete about it. We are just little guys right now but hope someday our top secret recipes will be worth something . Right now- Just working hard and keeping our heads above the water.

Thanks

Ultra top secret but they list all the grains and hops in the beer? Eh, no big deal, I'll just brew my recipe and see what happens.

RUNningonbrew · Mar 22, 2012

At least you got a response, I'm more concerned about getting the yeast and malt bill correct, let me know how yours comes out...the color on mine seems spot on that burnt orange color which is promising!

jeffdill · Apr 2, 2012

Just brewed this last night...got an OG of 1.062. I had to replace the Crystal 30L with 20L, and used 15oz dextrose instead of 21 oz.

Fermentation temps are always a problem with me so I filled a tub with water before I put the fermentation bucket in...the water was like 45 degrees though, should I have let it warm up first? Oh well, we'll see!

RUNningonbrew · Apr 2, 2012

Mine is force carbonating right now, I too hit 1.062 finished at 1.016, it tastes pretty good after being dry hopped, I was afraid the yeast I cultured was a Belgian yeast, but I don't think it is

RUNningonbrew · Apr 4, 2012

Pretty good only 5 days after bottle and less than a month after brewing, clearing up nicely. Going to pick up a bottle of vicious and compare, see what can be improved. The yeast I cultured is definitely not a wit yeast. Still good!

jeffdill · Apr 4, 2012

Looks great! Mine looked a little too light when I took a gravity reading today, yours looks closer to the actual if I recall correctly. Would love to see a pic next to the real thing.

RUNningonbrew · Apr 4, 2012

Will post as soon as I get one

RUNningonbrew · Apr 15, 2012

Side by side, pretty similar taste, vicious has a little more wheat flavor. Mine has more of a white head than vicious. Think I like mine better though.

RUNningonbrew · Apr 16, 2012

Mine is on the left

jeffdill · Apr 16, 2012

Looks great! How does the hop bitterness/flavor/aroma compare?

I just added the dry hops last week, gonna bottle it this weekend. If the hydro samples are any indication the SRM is too low and it tastes too wheaty. We'll see though! I'm finally set up for all-grain so I might have to give your recipe a shot. Any changes you would make?

RUNningonbrew · Apr 16, 2012

Could use more late hops I think, the bitterness is good, a little less wheat flavor than original but I like It that way.

RUNningonbrew · May 9, 2012

Any updates on your beer?

jeffdill · May 9, 2012

Just cracked the first bottle open yesterday, trying another one now. Unfortunately the store was out of the Vicious so the side-by-side comparison will have to wait...

My OG was 1.062, FG 1.012 (6.7% ABV). I think my SRM is a little on the light side based on your pics but I will see when I get them side by side. Bitterness tastes good, and the dry hops finish the beer nicely, but it has this twang in the malt flavor that all my hoppy beers have...I think that is just from the dry malt extract? Overall not bad but not nearly as good as what I remember the Vicious to be.

Will report back when I do the side-by-side.

Bad pic, I hate the iPhone 3's camera...

Vicious wheat ipa clone critique

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