Anyone have a recipe for Lush?

[jkovac]

Well she is kegged. Certainly strong with citra and mosaic, but the honey malt isn’t showing through as much as thought it should. Granted, CO2 levels aren’t correct yet, I accidentally stirred up a couple chunks of yeast while transferring, and I don’t have a Lush to compare it to. I’ll find some this weekend and compare.

It’s a damn tasty beer though

Thanks for the pioneering effort and for sharing your results. Do you think you’d double the honey malt back to a full pound as in the first recipe you posted?

Glad you can get Lush there. There was only one place in my area (Trader Joe’s) that had it for awhile, but now nothing.

 

[Bowen1911]

Do you think you’d double the honey malt back to a full pound as in the first recipe you posted?

Carbonation always changes the flavor profile (to my palate), so I will have to test again tonight. I got it close to carbed last night with the good old shake it at high psi method, but sitting will do it good.

Just based off memory, I would say there isn't enough honey, and the boil hops/dry hops ratio needs tweaked. You certainly notice the dry hopping. Granted, fresh beer vs sits in a keg/can for a while. I'll stop rambling and wait to compare the two.

 

[jkovac]

Carbonation always changes the flavor profile (to my palate), so I will have to test again tonight. I got it close to carbed last night with the good old shake it at high psi method, but sitting will do it good.

Just based off memory, I would say there isn't enough honey, and the boil hops/dry hops ratio needs tweaked. You certainly notice the dry hopping. Granted, fresh beer vs sits in a keg/can for a while. I'll stop rambling and wait to compare the two.

After tasting and comparison to your satisfaction, I'd love to see how you would revise the recipe.

 

[Bowen1911]

Ok. Having them side by side right now. I’d bump the honey malt to .75 or 1 lb. Since I’m comparing to Lush in a can, id say leave the hops the same, and it seems to be more hoppy from a keg. The extra honey malt should help the colors match, as well as a bit more clarifying. All in all, it’s damn tasty. No crystal malt to screw up the hops

 

[jkovac]

Awesome. Once again, thank you for all of the info. I won’t be able to brew until Sept 8th. Will report back to you after taste-testing.

 

[Bowen1911]

Mine on left. As the haze settles, it should darken up slightly, but I don't think the exact color match is currently there. Again, bumping up the honey malt should get you there.

I had two others taste them side by side as well, and we all agreed on needing more honey to match, however we all thought the lesser honey flavor was better.

 

[jkovac]

Thanks for the photo.

 

[PeteSeattle]

You know you live in Seattle when Costco has Lush in stock.

Ok folks, I figure it’s my turn.

@Bowen1911 are you in Redmond Washington? If so then our water is pretty similar. What did you do water treatment wise if any?

I happen to have citra cryo hops which I’ll use in whirlpool and secondary. May be overkill but why let it go to waste. Will do a full pound of honey malt as well. And yeast will be wyeast British ale 1098.

Edit: downside to electric system ... POWER OUTAGE!
At first I thought my new system was to blame but was relieved when everyone in 5 blocks are affected. Good thing I just finished the sparging! If this turns out fine I’m calling this version Power Outtage IPA.

 

[Bowen1911]

Redmond Oregun. Water that flows in the Deschutes is pretty darn good.

 

[jkovac]

I finally brewed mine this weekend. 16.5 gallons now fermenting. Was a little high on the OG at 1.069. Will let you guys know how it turns out.

 

[Bowen1911]

Nice. Did you bump up the honey malt?

 

[jkovac]

Nice. Did you bump up the honey malt?

I went with 4 lbs honey malt, 39 lbs 2-row.

 

[Bowen1911]

Well, after a few more weeks in the keg, the beer is pouring absolutely clear. Surprisingly enough, the hop aromas and flavor are still shining through much more than I would have expected. Aroma is exceptional.

Color is a wee bit darker now that the yeast isn't reflecting so much light too.

I still stand by my estimate of bumping up the honey malt. If I brew this again, I will shoot for a ~90/10 ratio of 2-row and honey.

I look forward to hearing about your results jkovac!

 

[jkovac]

Well, after a few more weeks in the keg, the beer is pouring absolutely clear. Surprisingly enough, the hop aromas and flavor are still shining through much more than I would have expected. Aroma is exceptional.

Color is a wee bit darker now that the yeast isn't reflecting so much light too.

I still stand by my estimate of bumping up the honey malt. If I brew this again, I will shoot for a ~90/10 ratio of 2-row and honey.

I look forward to hearing about your results jkovac!

I dry-hopped on Sunday. Will keg this weekend, expect to taste carbonated beer by 10/4 or 10/5. Will provide full update with side-by-side photos for color comparison.

 

[PeteSeattle]

Hi folks,

The version I brewed is in the keg.

I followed @Bowen1911 recipe.

Had a longer mash because of power outage. It went out mid way through recirculating. I let it sit for a little longer to ensure conversion. Had to rearrange single tier to catch wort from MT to BK. Sparge water was at 140ish since it cooled off but I still used it. Wort sat overnight covered so I didn’t do FWH. Next morning power was back on and I finished the brew.

Dry hopped and fermented in conical for 2 weeks before yeast dump. Another week in conical. Kegged last Friday and holding in fridge until I can get Lush to compare.

Wort color seemed about right. I hit 1.068 instead of 1.065 thinking it was the longer sparge.

The sampled flat beer is indeed dark and I’m afraid just a tad drier than I wanted.

I will get Lush sometime this week so I can present a better side by side with pics. I’ll probably go to Fremont and pick up a growler.

 

[PeteSeattle]

Welp, mine turned out darker and drier. I attribute it to the power outage, longer mash, and overnight wort rest. Does anyone think wort sitting in boil kettle overnight may have oxidized? Gives me reason to do it all over.

Anyway, Lush is on the left and my version on the right. Mine is tasty but just not as crisp as Lush. I think the recipe from @Bowen1911 is just right but just unfortunate that I was interrupted with the power outage.

 

[Bowen1911]

My sample of Lush was darker than yours. Interesting.

 

[jkovac]

My sample of Lush was darker than yours. Interesting.

Mine too. I bought mine warm off the shelf, cans from Trader Joe's. (That's the only way I can get here so far.)

I kegged mine this weekend. Finished at 1.011. Mine is on the left in the hydrometer cylinder, Lush from the can on the right in the glass. Mine is still a little darker than the real thing. Hard to tell before carbonation but I think it came pretty close to Lush aroma and taste-wise. Will update you all after tasting in about a week. bowen1911 and all the others who gave input here - Thank you! Greatly appreciated.

 

[PeteSeattle]

Yeah my Lush was from a growler from Fremont. Sorry I didn’t specify initially.

 

[jkovac]

Yeah my Lush was from a growler from Fremont. Sorry I didn’t specify initially.

Thanks. I had it at the brewery when I visited Seattle in April. You are lucky to have it available on draft where you live!

 

[PeteSeattle]

So, wow ... I ran out of CO2 and switched to nitro. I have about 3 liters left. The hops come through so much that It becomes a soft juice bomb. Cloudy because I decided to give the keg a shake.

 

[PeteSeattle]

Already planning to do round 2. @jkovac how was the 4lbs of honey malt? Just right or did it need more?

I’ve ordered bulk this time because I’m determined to get this right. Not too bad. Around $150 total. 55 pounds of 2 row, 10 pounds of honey malt. And 1 pound each of Citra and Mosaic. I’ll be repitching yeast so I only factored the one time cost.

 

[jkovac]

I would say the honey malt to 2-row is about right at 4lbs honey to 39 lbs 2-row, at least from a flavor perspective.

Mine has now been kegged about 10 days. I like it, and it is definitely similar to Lush taste-wise, although I still like Lush better. To me Lush is brighter and cleaner. It is subtle, and I think I need to understand way more about water than I do now in order to really improve on brewing this and other beers. I bought the Palmer Water book awhile ago. Time to read it.

Interestingly, the canned Lush I have been buying warm from Trader Joe's appears to be changing color from batch to batch, over time, or something. In the photo my beer is on the left, Lush on the right. My beer is about the same color as it was the day I kegged it, but the Lush is lighter than the last time I did a comparison. It is from a different six pack of canned Lush - they were purchased maybe a month apart.

 

[PeteSeattle]

Cool. That’s good to know. Yeah, that’s weird about color consistency with their batches.

I didn’t use cryo Citra like they mention on their site so I’ll use that this time around. I’ll also have all the components for fermenting low oxygen and under pressure this time around.

 

[Bowen1911]

Mine has now been kegged about 10 days. I like it, and it is definitely similar to Lush taste-wise, although I still like Lush better. To me Lush is brighter and cleaner. It is subtle, and I think I need to understand way more about water than I do now in order to really improve on brewing this and other beers. I bought the Palmer Water book awhile ago. Time to read it.

My batch tastes better now than it did at 1-2 weeks old, which is weird for an IPA. I'm going to kick the keg in the next 2-3 pints I bet. It's crystal clear, flavor pops, and aroma is as fruity as ever.

I've been meaning to get a water report on my tap water, but it's just so damn good tasting, I haven't prioritized it.

 

[PeteSeattle]

Alright folks! Doing a 10 gal batch this time. I finally have all the extras for my conical so this time around it will be semi-low oxygen and fermenting under pressure. The only difference with the ingredients is that I’m adding acid malt instead of liquid acid additions. Will update periodically.

 

[SLCRex]

I know this is a fairly old thread but I wanted to thank @Bowen1911 for this Lush recipe. Lush is one of my favorite IPAs but Fremont doesn't distribute to Utah so I only get it off the shelf when I'm going through Idaho.
Anyone have a recipe for Lush?

I brewed this on 4/4/2021 and just tapped the keg this last weekend. So delicious! I ended up adding another .5lb of honey malt for 1lb total and used 0.25oz of Warrior hops for the bittering and Wyeast Ale Blend with a 2L starter.

 

[mrom66]

No one had Lush yet? It is fairly new and West coast only.

I've had it in Seattle, it's fantastic.