Cloning HopHands by Tired Hands Brewing Company

[Coff]

So 2 things. I entered batch 1 into a local competition with 200 entries and it took 2nd in best if show. So even when heavy on the oats people like it as much as I do.

I rebrewed this recipe last week, I toned down the Oats to ~12.5% and used The Yeast Bay Vermont Ale. I have very high hopes for batch 2.

 

[J343MY]

Not a whole lot to add at the moment, but I'm heading to Tired Hands for the first time next Saturday. I'm super excited. Hopefully Hophands will be on tap. I will report back with my thoughts.

 

[Coff]

It will be on tap, HopHands and SaisonHands are the only 2 that are always on tap.

 

[beergolf]

I brewed this using 15% oats. I used WY1318 for yeast because I had a pack.

Just opened the first bottle. WOW this is a great brew. I am brewing it again. I live pretty close to Tired Hands and have heard great things about them. I just have not had the opportunity to try some of their brews. If this is any indication. I am making the trip soon to go have a few ( maybe more if my wife is the designated driver) or more of their brews.

Good recipe......

 

[pegasus_brew]

I brewed this using 15% oats. I used WY1318 for yeast because I had a pack.

Just opened the first bottle. WOW this is a great brew. I am brewing it again. I live pretty close to Tired Hands and have heard great things about them. I just have not had the opportunity to try some of their brews. If this is any indication. I am making the trip soon to go have a few ( maybe more if my wife is the designated driver) or more of their brews.

Good recipe......

Well worth the trip. Might as well hit Forest and Main while you're in that neck of the woods

 

[Spraentart]

So 2 things. I entered batch 1 into a local competition with 200 entries and it took 2nd in best if show. So even when heavy on the oats people like it as much as I do.

I rebrewed this recipe last week, I toned down the Oats to ~12.5% and used The Yeast Bay Vermont Ale. I have very high hopes for batch 2.

I'm very interested to hear how batch two comes out with the Conan. I have a vial and thought this recipe looked quite amazing. I really enjoyed reading through your blog by the way. Keep it up!

 

[mintyice]

Awesome, let us know how it turns out with the different yeast strains.

Just used 1217 for it, but man this is an amazing beer. I made a tincture with vodka and clementines and added that to the keg. I double dry hopped it by splitting the bill into two 3oz additions, one in secondary (4 days), and one in keg (4 days). This is probably one of the best beer I've ever made. Awesome recipe and awesome beer. It's pretty much spot on with the real thing. The clementine addition gives it a little citrusy sweetness on the back end too.

On your blog you said yours came out a little sweet, but I think 1217 avoided that as it attenuates lower. I love that yeast. Fermented out completely in three and a half days.

I overshot my OG a little as it was closer to 1.054, and my FG was around 1.010 (thanks 1217), so not totally spot on in terms of my numbers, but it tastes very spot on to the real thing (and the additional ABV isn't a bad thing!). Also, I used .25oz of high alpha Warrior instead of .5oz CTZ. My hopstand started in between 180-185 but got down into the high 170s after 20 mins.

Gotta say, I love Tired Hands' approach to malt bills as well. Screw crystal malts, I'm going to start adding oats to all my IPAs.

And of course, the final product:

 

[Coff]

I brewed this using 15% oats. I used WY1318 for yeast because I had a pack.

Just opened the first bottle. WOW this is a great brew. I am brewing it again. I live pretty close to Tired Hands and have heard great things about them. I just have not had the opportunity to try some of their brews. If this is any indication. I am making the trip soon to go have a few ( maybe more if my wife is the designated driver) or more of their brews.

Good recipe......

Awesome, glad youre enjoying it! You gotta get over there, great food and great beers. If you see Jean chat him up, he is a great guy. I think %15 Oats is where you should be with this recipe, I used 12.5% on batch 2 since a friend recently used 15% so I we can compare and see whats better.

I'm very interested to hear how batch two comes out with the Conan. I have a vial and thought this recipe looked quite amazing. I really enjoyed reading through your blog by the way. Keep it up!

I am kegging it this weekend, so hopefully have a taste the following weekend and I will post about the changes. Thanks for the feedback, Im glad people are enjoying the recipe.

Just used 1217 for it, but man this is an amazing beer. I made a tincture with vodka and clementines and added that to the keg. I double dry hopped it by splitting the bill into two 3oz additions, one in secondary (4 days), and one in keg (4 days). This is probably one of the best beer I've ever made. Awesome recipe and awesome beer. It's pretty much spot on with the real thing. The clementine addition gives it a little citrusy sweetness on the back end too.

On your blog you said yours came out a little sweet, but I think 1217 avoided that as it attenuates lower. I love that yeast. Fermented out completely in three and a half days.

Ohhh, that clementine tincture is a great idea I might steal that. Double dry hopping was something I considered but Jean specifically said they use 1 massive dry hop. I asked if they ever double dry hop and he said only said sometimes, I would imagine they dont always have the time to do that bc they turn over beer at a very rapid pace.

I dont see why you cant use any expressive english strain on this recipe, 1217 makes a lot of sense from an attenuation point of view. On batch #2 I mashed lower and used Conan (Vermont Ale), I am a big Conan fan and cant imagine it not working in this beer. Its not that it was sweet but it had a good bit of residual sugars left, someone in this thread mentioned the FG of HopHands is 1.008, I still need to get a growler and degass it to double check. But I would like this to finish in the 1.012 range.

Beautiful looking beer you have there and I agree screw crystal malts, Over the last 6 months I have used a buttload of Oats.

 

[mintyice]

I killed my keg in 2 weeks and I'm incredibly saddened by this fact. I need to rebrew this beer soon. It was truly amazing.

 

[Coff]

Batch #2 is getting tapped this weekend, ~12.5% Oats and used The Yeast Bay Vermont Ale this time.

 

[Coff]

Oh, and another thing, and If you follow Tired Hands on Instagram you may have already noticed this. But they are using Canada Malting Company Pale Malt, which is what I use in this clone mostly bc its dirt cheap and of high quality imo, but I thought they used Briess. At under $40/sack how can you go wrong, so yea thats neat.

 

[beergolf]

OK this brew is very good.... The first batch is almost gone. I don't know if the 15% is what the original has but it is one damn fine brew.

I just brewed this again and think it deserves a permanent place in the rotation.

Coff you need to post this in the recipe database.

 

[J343MY]

So I was really amazed by the soft texture of Tired Hands hoppy beers. Very reminiscent of Hill Farmstead. Outside of these two breweries I have never had anything quite like it. Anyone have any thoughts as to how exactly they are achieving this?

Obviously flaked oats are key. Lower level/smoother bitterness. Lower level of carbonation too. What about water? Higher chloride maybe? but how high, 150ppm, or maybe higher? The yeast I think is very important too, but it seems like they are using something not readily available.

Both tired hands and Hill farmstead use rotary style beer taps, I wonder if those play a part in the texture on the beer?

 

[Coff]

OK this brew is very good.... The first batch is almost gone. I don't know if the 15% is what the original has but it is one damn fine brew.

I just brewed this again and think it deserves a permanent place in the rotation.

Coff you need to post this in the recipe database.

Just had a freinds version of my recipe, %15 Oats is perfect. My batch #2 has 12.5% and I really didnt notice a difference between mine and his so I think that range is perfect for the clone.

I think I am going to post it in the recipe database, there really isnt anything to dial in here. The hops were perfect and %15 Oats is dead on. Im glad everyone is enjoying it.

So I was really amazed by the soft texture of Tired Hands hoppy beers. Very reminiscent of Hill Farmstead. Outside of these two breweries I have never had anything quite like it. Anyone have any thoughts as to how exactly they are achieving this?

Obviously flaked oats are key. Lower level/smoother bitterness. Lower level of carbonation too. What about water? Higher chloride maybe? but how high, 150ppm, or maybe higher? The yeast I think is very important too, but it seems like they are using something not readily available.

Both tired hands and Hill farmstead use rotary style beer taps, I wonder if those play a part in the texture on the beer?

The texture of both TH and HF beers are unparalleled in brewing, its pretty amazing the silkiness of their hoppy beers. The Oats, and carbonation are very key, I dont know if its bc of the faucets or not but everything is low carb but results in a creamy silky beer, really interesting.

As far as water goes Jean told me over twitter about 6 months ago that they really only adjust for mash PH, could be different now though bc I recently saw one of their brewsheets and it had a sizable gypsum addition on it.

I read between the lines when Jean told me they get their english yeast strain from "a friend in VT", its probably Sean. Jean did confirm that they do not use Conan but that he thinks its an awesome strain.

 

[hamburgeler]

What pH did you aim for/achieve for this?

 

[J343MY]

The texture of both TH and HF beers are unparalleled in brewing, its pretty amazing the silkiness of their hoppy beers. The Oats, and carbonation are very key, I dont know if its bc of the faucets or not but everything is low carb but results in a creamy silky beer, really interesting.

As far as water goes Jean told me over twitter about 6 months ago that they really only adjust for mash PH, could be different now though bc I recently saw one of their brewsheets and it had a sizable gypsum addition on it.

I read between the lines when Jean told me they get their english yeast strain from "a friend in VT", its probably Sean. Jean did confirm that they do not use Conan but that he thinks its an awesome strain.

Yeah, I'm willing to bet his "Friend in Vermont" is Shaun Hill. The character of their hoppy beers are so similar. Maybe the yeast is the main contributer to that texture. I bet it would be pretty easy to culture if from a growler of HopHands or similar. I wish I was closer so I could try that.

 

[Coff]

What pH did you aim for/achieve for this?

I shoot for a 5.3PH for all of my beers.

Yeah, I'm willing to bet his "Friend in Vermont" is Shaun Hill. The character of their hoppy beers are so similar. Maybe the yeast is the main contributer to that texture. I bet it would be pretty easy to culture if from a growler of HopHands or similar. I wish I was closer so I could try that.

I actually wouldnt try culturing from a growler, the taps are riddled with bacteria so if you culture from that growler youre going to get the bacteria as well. Unless you can isolate the Sacch and plate it I wouldnt recommend that.

Ill post tasting notes on batch 2 later this week, but I think Conan belongs in this beer!

 

[J343MY]

I actually wouldnt try culturing from a growler, the taps are riddled with bacteria so if you culture from that growler youre going to get the bacteria as well. Unless you can isolate the Sacch and plate it I wouldnt recommend that.

Ill post tasting notes on batch 2 later this week, but I think Conan belongs in this beer!

I'd still give it a shot. Whats the worst that can happen? an infected beer? Not that big of a deal really.

 

[Coff]

Well if someone does that let me know how it goes, I try to avoid infected batches.

 

[pegasus_brew]

Oh, and another thing, and If you follow Tired Hands on Instagram you may have already noticed this. But they are using Canada Malting Company Pale Malt, which is what I use in this clone mostly bc its dirt cheap and of high quality imo, but I thought they used Briess. At under $40/sack how can you go wrong, so yea thats neat.

Where are you getting the CMC malts from, Coff? I can't seem to find it anywhere online and my LHBS doesn't carry it.

 

[Coff]

Where are you getting the CMC malts from, Coff? I can't seem to find it anywhere online and my LHBS doesn't carry it.

The Philly group buy, which is ironically in NJ. Its not crucial to this recipe, any North American Pale Malt will work fine. The draw of CMC is that its dirt cheap, in 55lb bags and its just as good as Briess Rahr etc. If you can get in on the group buy and get a bag I highly recommend it. Not to mention its what TH uses, according to recent Instagram posts.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f174/south-jersey-philly-group-buy-round-40-a-465174/

 

[fogley]

Coff, Nice work on the recipe.

Going to brew this TH clone tomorrow. Couple quick questions cause your notes will be up after I brew...

- How did new hopping go - need more IBU for bittering ? would you use 1oz ea 5min/whirlpool still (per 5gal)?
- how did 150* go for FG / dryness?
- What levels of Chloride/ Sulfate did you end up going with ?

thanks!
I am going to split the batch between s04 & Conan (giga yeast version 3rd generation) did you like the conan?...

great blog by the way

 

[pegasus_brew]

The Philly group buy, which is ironically in NJ. Its not crucial to this recipe, any North American Pale Malt will work fine. The draw of CMC is that its dirt cheap, in 55lb bags and its just as good as Briess Rahr etc. If you can get in on the group buy and get a bag I highly recommend it. Not to mention its what TH uses, according to recent Instagram posts.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f174/south-jersey-philly-group-buy-round-40-a-465174/

Thanks for the link. I have a hook up on the Cargill malts locally that's in the same balk park price wise, so I'll probably stick with that. Was just curious.

I brewed a beer recently that pulled some inspiration from Tired Hands that I'm pretty happy with. Might be of interest to folks that are enjoying this recipe.

Recipe is for 6 gallons

7.5lbs German Pils
2lbs White Wheat Malt
1lb Munich
1lb Flaked Oats

.5oz Horizon @ 60

3oz Centennial 30 Minute Hop Stand
2oz Citra 30 Minute Hop Stand
.5oz Horizon 30 Minute Hop Stand (didn't feel like vacuum sealing it)

2oz Centennial Dry Hop 4 days
1oz Citra Dry Hop 4 days

Fermented with Mangrove Jack M44 U.S. West Coast

1.052 OG

1.01 FG

 

[Coff]

Coff, Nice work on the recipe.

Going to brew this TH clone tomorrow. Couple quick questions cause your notes will be up after I brew...

- How did new hopping go - need more IBU for bittering ? would you use 1oz ea 5min/whirlpool still (per 5gal)?
- how did 150* go for FG / dryness?
- What levels of Chloride/ Sulfate did you end up going with ?

thanks!
I am going to split the batch between s04 & Conan (giga yeast version 3rd generation) did you like the conan?...

great blog by the way

I actually did not change the hopping at all, I wanted to change only one variable for the second batch and that was mashing at 150f. The lower mash temp worked great as the beer finished at 1.012, granted there are less Oats in batch 2 than batch 1 but the drier finish on this batch is helping to accentuate the bitterness.

I shoot for the Burton on Trent profile for my hoppy beers, I may try a different profile but I have been quite happy with this.

Spliting the batch between those 2 sounds perfect to me, let us know how the split batch goes. I should do that same thing as well at some point, but I will probably be using Conan for quite some time. I used a can culture for about 18 months before it crapped out, but now its so readily available I dont see myself using a different hoppy strain.

 

[Coff]

My beer wasnt fully carbonated when I tried it the other night, and I will post some more in depth tasting notes when it is, but I think I prefer s04! The beer was still kind of flat but the body wasnt as impressive as it was with nearly 20% Oats, I used 12.5% this time. I am also picking up a strange phenolic note on the beer, same one I got when I used ECY's North East culture, but never got from the culture I built up from a can back in Nov 2012.

I'll have a full review up next week.

 

[mintyice]

My beer wasnt fully carbonated when I tried it the other night, and I will post some more in depth tasting notes when it is, but I think I prefer s04! The beer was still kind of flat but the body wasnt as impressive as it was with nearly 20% Oats, I used 12.5% this time. I am also picking up a strange phenolic note on the beer, same one I got when I used ECY's North East culture, but never got from the culture I built up from a can back in Nov 2012.

I'll have a few review up next week.

I've heard better things about Giga Yeast's Conan than ECY's culture. Wyeast 1217 worked fairly well for this beer. Some how that yeast manages to hold onto the malt character even though it attenuates like crazy.

 

[gwashingk]

My LHBS owner asked me to brew something for a homebrew comp (Oakmont Pub Homebrew Cup, June 5th. In case anyone's interested in attending!) so I made a batch inspired by this recipe. Same recipe really, just used a little less for the dry hop, and bittered with 1oz Columbus for 60min. Used S04 and I think it is great for this recipe. An early taste test has given me confidence that this is a great brew, definitely digging the oats used in it.

 

[Jersey_Jim]

Brewed this with 15% oats and Vermont Ale Yeast this past weekend. I'm at Tired Hands all the time, so I'm really pumped to see how this turns out. Thanks for posting this recipe!

 

[InityBrew]

my buddy and I brewed this about 3 weeks ago and he used 04 angered I used 05.

Here is my version..

Only been kegged for 24 hours at 35psi.. Still incredible... The level of carbonation at this point is similar to Tired Hands.

Differences : I doubled the 5 minutes addition and the whirlpool hops and used us04.

My efficiency was better than normal this brew so it ended up finishing at around 5.6%abv. Fg was 1.008.

Crisp, great mouthfeel from the oats, and jam packed with hop flavor.

Great clone Coff!

We will be heading to Tired Hands next weekend to grab a growler and will do a side by side by side with mine, his and the TH version.

 

[Coff]

my buddy and I brewed this about 3 weeks ago and he used 04 angered I used 05.

Here is my version..

Only been kegged for 24 hours at 35psi.. Still incredible... The level of carbonation at this point is similar to Tired Hands.

Differences : I doubled the 5 minutes addition and the whirlpool hops and used us04.

My efficiency was better than normal this brew so it ended up finishing at around 5.6%abv. Fg was 1.008.

Crisp, great mouthfeel from the oats, and jam packed with hop flavor.

Great clone Coff!

We will be heading to Tired Hands next weekend to grab a growler and will do a side by side by side with mine, his and the TH version.

Cheers! Report back on how it stacks up against the original!

Its funny you mention how the carb level is similar to what you notice at TH, a lot of their beers are carbonated on the softer side especially HopHands. I have been keeping my versions of this carbonated on the very low side.