Daisy Cutter Pale Ale

[Brickwalker]

Thought i would resurrect this from the dead because i would really like to have a DC clone on tap this spring. Has anyone tried their hat at brewing m750's version of this?

 

[zrule]

Subed

 

[jwil123]

Looking for a cutter recipe. Seen a lot online looking for the right one

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[m750]

@m750 - have you brewed this????

I love this beer, but just saw this recipe. I would think they would use a Great Western 2 row for base malt since they are in Chicago. I would also guess standard american ale or maybe american ale II.

I still have not. It's on the big long to brew list. I had a hard time trackind down the Castle Ambre (aromatic), I found the maltster, but the grain is unfamilar to me, I think it might be their amber, but, I got lost in the details.
AO

 

[NathPowe]

Forgive me if I missed this in the thread somewhere but has anyone de-gassed a sample of this beer to check for FG? I'm wondering because a few posts back someone posted notes from one of the brewers saying the OG is at 1.046 (11.5 plato). To get to 5.2% ABV the beer would need to dry out to 1.007. Seems really dry to me, but it's been a while since I've had this delicious nectar. Folks who drink this a lot - does this seem like the correct ballpark for the FG?

Maybe one of the Chicago HBTers could take one for the team and buy a 4-pack and get a de-gassed FG reading for us? He or she would have to drink the rest of the 4-pack, which I know is a tough proposition.

 

[Big_Belgian]

Forgive me if I missed this in the thread somewhere but has anyone de-gassed a sample of this beer to check for FG? I'm wondering because a few posts back someone posted notes from one of the brewers saying the OG is at 1.046 (11.5 plato). To get to 5.2% ABV the beer would need to dry out to 1.007. Seems really dry to me, but it's been a while since I've had this delicious nectar. Folks who drink this a lot - does this seem like the correct ballpark for the FG?

Maybe one of the Chicago HBTers could take one for the team and buy a 4-pack and get a de-gassed FG reading for us? He or she would have to drink the rest of the 4-pack, which I know is a tough proposition.

Yeah, those numbers definitely seem off to me. I love Daisy Cutter and Half Acre, so hope no one gets me wrong here, but I do think its a bit funny (and telling in today's craft beer market) that they label it an APA. The quote from the OP is, "Daisy Cutter Pale Ale is a West Coast Strong Pale Ale, focusing on the aromatic qualities of the hops. A master blend of five different hops creates a powerful nose and a dynamic flavor."

I think we have a category for this beer already - its an American IPA. Of course, anything under 6.5 abv and 65 ibu these days can't call itself an IPA, so craft brewers feel they have to create new categories like "Session IPA" and "Strong Hoppy pale ale."

 

[Beezer94]

The Great American Brew Festival and the World Beer Cup both use the same APA, Strong APA, IPA, & IIPA.
APA OG - 1.044-1.050
Strong APA OG -1.050-1.060
IPA OG - 1.060-1.075
IIPA OG - 1.075-1.100

http://www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2013-gabf-styles.pdf
http://www.worldbeercup.org/how-to-participate/beer-styles#american-style-pale-ale
http://www.brewersassociation.org/attachments/0001/1129/2013_BA_Beer_Style_Guidelines.pdf

 

[NathPowe]

So I thought I'd follow up on this. After I posted last week about testing the FG of some Daisy Cutter I ended up talking to a buddy of mine who lives in Chicago. We set up a trade and I received a couple 4-packs yesterday. I de-gassed a sample and tested the FG after work today and it ended up right around 1.007. So I'd say an OG of 1.047 or so is about right to get to 5.2% abv on this beer.

I'm going to brew a first attempt at a clone this weekend, so I'll post the recipe I end up using then.

Love this beer - so refreshing. Cheers.

 

[jwil123]

Awesome!

 

[MaltyHoppins]

So I thought I'd follow up on this. After I posted last week about testing the FG of some Daisy Cutter I ended up talking to a buddy of mine who lives in Chicago. We set up a trade and I received a couple 4-packs yesterday. I de-gassed a sample and tested the FG after work today and it ended up right around 1.007. So I'd say an OG of 1.047 or so is about right to get to 5.2% abv on this beer.

I'm going to brew a first attempt at a clone this weekend, so I'll post the recipe I end up using then.

Love this beer - so refreshing. Cheers.

Did you have any luck with the Daisy Cutter clone at all? I'm tempted to do one soon, Im from the UK and had the beer when I was in Chicago last winter and fell in love with the dank hops! Would love to re-create this!

 

[NathPowe]

Did you have any luck with the Daisy Cutter clone at all? I'm tempted to do one soon, Im from the UK and had the beer when I was in Chicago last winter and fell in love with the dank hops! Would love to re-create this!

Hey Malty -

Planning to brew my first attempt at a clone on Sunday. I'll post up the recipe and whatnot after I brew. I'll also follow up after I tap the keg a few weeks later. Planning to save several cans of the real thing to sample against my clone. They obviously won't be as fresh as the clone, but at least I'll have something for comparison. Promise I'll continue with updates - drives me nuts when threads like these go dormant. Anyway, look for a post sometime Sunday.

Cheers.

 

[NathPowe]

Okay good morning folks. Finished brewing my first attempt at a Daisy Cutter clone a little while ago. Here's what I did -

OG: 1.047
Target FG: 1.007ish (as measured from the real thing)
60min Boil
Target ABV: 5.2% (as listed on the real thing)
5-gallon Batch

Grain
9.75lbs 2-row ~ 91%
5oz Victory! ~ 3%
5oz Special Roast ~ 3%
5oz Aromatic ~ 3%

Mash @ 149

Hops / Boil
.25oz Warrior @ 60min
.25oz Centennial @ 30min
.5oz Centennial, .5oz Amarillo @ 15min
1oz Simcoe, .5oz Amarillo, .5oz Columbus @ Whirlpool (15min whirlpool)

Yeast
US-05, 1pkg re-hydrated

Gave it 60sec of pure O2 (I know some say this is unnecessary with dry yeast - I do it anyway) and plan to ferment at 66*F for three days, then slowly raise it to 68*F to finish out. After that I'll rack to a keg with dry hops.

Plan to dry hop with:
.5oz Simcoe, .5oz Amarillo, .5oz Columbus, .5oz Centennial

Took some different info/ideas from this thread and this is what I came up with. I'll post updates as I go - probably another one with an FG reading when I rack it. Not sure how close this will be, but I figure it will be in the ballpark. If anything, I wonder if I've undershot the hops. Anyway, smelled great in the kettle so we'll see how it goes.

Cheers.

 

[m750]

I finally brewed my version of this too.
Here's my recipe;
http://beersmithrecipes.com/viewrecipe/404166/sb-daisy-cutter-clone-all-grain

It's a 3g batch.

1.28 kg Pale Ale Malt 2-Row (Briess)
1.28 kg Pale Malt, Maris Otter
113.4 g Acidulated (Weyermann)
78.6 g Aromatic Malt (Dingemans)
78.6 g Special Roast (Briess)
78.6 g Victory Malt (49.2 EBC)
13.0 g Nugget [13.0%] - Boil 60 min
0.50 Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 5 min)
2 TBS yeast nutriend (Boil 5 min)
20.0 g Amarillo [9.2%] - Steep 15 min
20.0 g Centennial [10.0%] - Steep 15 min
8.0 g Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.0%] - Steep 15
8.0 g Simcoe [13.0%] - Steep 15 min
20.0 g Amarillo [9.2%] - Dry Hop 4 days
9.0 g Centennial [10.0%] - Dry Hop 4 days
9.0 g Simcoe [13.0%] - Dry Hop 4 days
6.0 g Columbus (Tomahawk) [15.8%] - Dry Hop 4 days
1L starter : London ESB Ale (Wyeast Labs #1968)

Mash 60 @ 154
60m Boil.
Ferment 64-> 68

I've been on a late hops kick, so I pushed all the 15's out to late.
It's currently reporting via the beer bug it's at .998, which is hard to believe,

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Looks like I found this thread just on time, but a little too soon. I'm looking to make a batch this weekend - NathPowe your recipe looks good to me; wish I could hear your feedback before I make mine though. I may just give it a shot.

Side note: Can you believe I lived in Chicago (within 2 miles of Half Acre) for 3.5 years before I tried it?! I was a fool.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

NathPowe, How did you come up with your hop weights? Did you estimate reaching 60 IBUs given what you used? I'm just wondering if I'm missing something. I just put it into BeerSmith as you have it listed, but the result was about 34 IBUs.

To get to 60 IBUs in the program I had to edit as follows:
-.44 oz Warrior (60)
-.44 oz Centennial (30)
-.88 oz Centennial (15)
-.88 oz Amarillo (15).

 

[NathPowe]

NathPowe, How did you come up with your hop weights? Did you estimate reaching 60 IBUs given what you used? I'm just wondering if I'm missing something. I just put it into BeerSmith as you have it listed, but the result was about 34 IBUs.

To get to 60 IBUs in the program I had to edit as follows:
-.44 oz Warrior (60)
-.44 oz Centennial (30)
-.88 oz Centennial (15)
-.88 oz Amarillo (15).

Hey man. I guess my process for choosing hop weights is pretty arbitrary. With IBU's, it seems like there's no wrong way to account for it in Beersmith - you just need to be consistent/pay attention/take good records so you know what values in Beersmith translate to the flavors you enjoy. For my system, I'm pretty familiar with what the types of additions I chose produce in the finished beer. I think my Beersmith IBU's (set to Tinseth) came out at 52, but I account for additional IBU's from the whirlpool. I know that 60 IBU's has been thrown around as the target but, while they're certainly a useful tool, I don't put a ton of stock in calculated IBU's beyond knowing how they affect the taste of the final product on my system.

So for the way things work on my system, I knew I wanted my OG:IBU to be a bit over 1, because I think that will give me a similar bitterness to what I taste in Daisy Cutter. Or at least I thought it was a good place to start. Could be very different on your setup. I also knew I wanted a decent 15min addition and the largest addition to be in the whirlpool. Not sure if all this makes sense, and I know it's probably not the most helpful answer, but it's what I got.

Really looking forward to this beer. Seems to be fermenting along nicely. Cheers.

 

[NathPowe]

Morning folks.

A quick update on my clone after racking it to a keg with the dry hops (and drinking a can of the real deal while doing so). First off - I hit an FG of 1.007, so that's good. My ABV is the same as what's listed on the can.

However, right out of the gate I can say that the color of the recipe I posted above is too light in comparison to the real deal. I hesitate to throw out potential corrections based on tasting a 4oz gravity sample, but I think bumping each of the three specialty malts up to between 3.5 and 4% might give more color without affecting the flavor profile much. But take that with a grain of salt - I haven't even tasted the finished product yet.

Flavor-wise I definitely think I'm on the right track but, again, it's tough to say much of anything based on a gravity sample. I'm going to dry hop for a few days and then get this thing into the kegerator to chill/carb. I'll probably be tapping it in about 10 days, at which time I'll drop another update.

I'm hoping the cans of the real Cutter survive long enough for some proper comparison. The one I had last night makes me think they're fading fast. There were the faintest hints of oxidization, which is a bit of a bummer. Time will tell I guess.

Anyway, that's what I've got now. Cheers.

 

[ColeBeer78]

Sweet! Nice work. Color doesn't matter much to me. Can't wait to see how it turns out!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Thanks for the update NathPowe - looking forward to hearing how yours turned out.

I actually brewed mine a week ago, and was happy with everything so far - hit the OG, and have had great yeast activity to date. I ended up using the hop additions I mentioned back on 4/8/14 to get to around the "right" IBU's (according to BeerSmith), so we'll see how it compares. I will share the results in about 3 weeks once it's ready.

 

[m750]

Morning folks.

A quick update on my clone after racking it to a keg with the dry hops (and drinking a can of the real deal while doing so). First off - I hit an FG of 1.007, so that's good. My ABV is the same as what's listed on the can.

However, right out of the gate I can say that the color of the recipe I posted above is too light in comparison to the real deal. I hesitate to throw out potential corrections based on tasting a 4oz gravity sample, but I think bumping each of the three specialty malts up to between 3.5 and 4% might give more color without affecting the flavor profile much. But take that with a grain of salt - I haven't even tasted the finished product yet.

Flavor-wise I definitely think I'm on the right track but, again, it's tough to say much of anything based on a gravity sample. I'm going to dry hop for a few days and then get this thing into the kegerator to chill/carb. I'll probably be tapping it in about 10 days, at which time I'll drop another update.

I'm hoping the cans of the real Cutter survive long enough for some proper comparison. The one I had last night makes me think they're fading fast. There were the faintest hints of oxidization, which is a bit of a bummer. Time will tell I guess.

Anyway, that's what I've got now. Cheers.

I belive, but have no way of confirming that they use marris otter as their base malt. My first attempt at this had an FG of 1.013, but in no way feels heavy. I split my base between marris otter and us 2 row. I can't compare, but looking at some untappd photos and my sample, seems close. I mashed at 152, and used 1968, so I bet I can take it down further by either lowering the mash, or using something more attenuative. 71% is the upper end of 1968, 05 will likely get me down near 1.009 at 81%.
My attempt's biggest flaw is I pushed too much of the hops to whirlpool. You can see the recipe I used above. My rebrew, which will be soon I'll do the same base malt, and same mash temp, use us-05 and push 1/2 of the whirlpool Amarillo and centennial, to a 15m addition. To see if I can get close to the FG, and get more hop flavor that's missing from it this time.
AO

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Well, I just bottled mine yesterday. Ended up with an FG of 1.008. My OG may have been a bit high at 1.050, which gives me a ABV of 5.5% vs the 5.2% of the real stuff. I'm not going to get upset about that though. My color is lighter than I thought it may be, as NathPowe mentioned, but I think I may still be in good shape - time will tell though.

I can say this much, I freakin' loved the gravity sample I took. Loaded with hops, with a great bitter taste up front and a nice sweet finish. I haven't been so excited to try a beer in a long time. Once it's carbed up, I'll post a final recap hopefully with some pics, and side-by-side comparisons to the real thing. Fortunately I live close to the brewery so I can pick the real stuff up pretty easily.

NathPowe/M750: I said it before, but again, I'm excited to hear how your final products come out.

 

[m750]

Well, I just bottled mine yesterday. Ended up with an FG of 1.008. My OG may have been a bit high at 1.050, which gives me a ABV of 5.5% vs the 5.2% of the real stuff. I'm not going to get upset about that though. My color is lighter than I thought it may be, as NathPowe mentioned, but I think I may still be in good shape - time will tell though.

I can say this much, I freakin' loved the gravity sample I took. Loaded with hops, with a great bitter taste up front and a nice sweet finish. I haven't been so excited to try a beer in a long time. Once it's carbed up, I'll post a final recap hopefully with some pics, and side-by-side comparisons to the real thing. Fortunately I live close to the brewery so I can pick the real stuff up pretty easily.

NathPowe/M750: I said it before, but again, I'm excited to hear how your final products come out.

It's fun to finally have some momentum in this thread. Would love to be able to have something to compare it to once I get closer.
So, I wrote up my first brewing attempt here:
http://thebottlefarm.com/ProjetsThoughts2/brewing-daisy-cutter-clone/

It's not close, it's a decent but missing the hop flavor I was hopping to get that from a load of whirlpool hops. The aroma is really kind of sickly sweet. At 1.012 it finished dry for 1968 (my house yeast) 74% attenuation, but it really needs a more attenuative yeast to get to the right FG. I can't really say for color, nothing to go on.

I rebrewed it last night and made some changes. I limited the changes so I can understand their impact. I didn't want to change too many things at once. I have some ideas for more changes for future batches.
1. Split whirlpool / steeping hops to 10m and whirlpool.
2. Bumped up the colombus and simcoe in whirlpool.
3. Lowered 60m addition.
4. To fix the aroma sweetness (attributed to too much amarillo), I redistrobuted the dry hop from amarillo and centenial heavy to balanced additions of Amarillo, Centenial, Simcoe and Colombus.
5. The only malt bill changes were to adjust acid malt down to account for added mash salts.
6. I mashed a touch lower 150 vs 152.

This batch's OG far exceeded my target gravity, which I owe to a longer more effective mash (process inconsistencies?). I hit 1.056. The hydro sample was fairly tasty, but I won't know anything for another two weeks, when this comes off dry hop. Anyone else notice this beer turns around pretty quick?

I'll follow up in about three weeks with tasting notes. The next attempt I'll dial in the OG, and I'm considering swapping the yeast to us-05 for a higher attenuation, assuming the lower mash temp doesn't get this to dry out more. Alternately, I could swap out the MO for straight up us pale, we'll see. Things like this make me want to keep it in. https://twitter.com/crispmalt/status/354395299608944640
AO

 

[skawars1]

I wonder if they changed the recipe? Just listened to the Sunday Session again. Centennial is not mentioned at all, but 7Cs (Falconers Flight) was. Maybe HA was able to secure a better hop contract than when the podcast was recorded.

From the podcast
Bitter with Warrior
Mid/Late additions-Simcoe, Amarillo, 7Cs
Dry hop-Simcoe, Amarillo, Columbus, 7Cs


I've brewed slight variations of the recipe I posted a few times now. All have been fantastic. Going to step it up a notch and do a double daisy version for the World Cup. Seems like a great beer for rooting on Emerika! I'll post the recipe once I finish it.

So, I did get a response, I am just not active on this forum. Sorry for the delay.

----
hey Aaron, glad you dug the daisy cutter, here goes:

5.2 ABV, OG 11.5 Plato
Malt
2-row
Briess Victory (~3%)
Briess Special Roast (~3%)
Castle Ambre (aromatic) (~3%) (this appears to be chateau abbey (aromatic) unless someone knows better)

hops, ~ 60 IBU
Bitter with warrior
centennial @ 30
Centennial + amarillo @ 15
Amarillo + Columbus + Simcoe @ end of boil
Dry hop with Amarillo, Simcoe, Centennial, and Columbus

hope this helps,

matt

--

So, there's what I got from the brewer back in 11. If anyone has any yeast tips, and knows what base malt they use, that would be a good start.
I'll likely brew this for the first time in a few months.

 

[m750]

First off, thanks for pointing that out to me. I'm sure I listened to it before, but I forgot about it, and never took notes.

It's totally realistic to think they changed the hops based on availability. IIRC Centennial has been in short supply the last few years. I'm going to stick to centennial, simply because I have it, if I can't find it, I'm glad to know there is an alternative.

These are the notes I took in addition to your points.

two row - They mention Rahr for their basemalt in most of their beers when talking about Space. However they don't mention which rahr two row, it's my understanding there are a few varieties.
Victory
Special Roast
Castle Aromatic AKA Castle Abbey Malt


Ferment at 65.

Using BSI - chico yeast.
I think it's this.
A-56 Chico Ale
73-77% apparent attenuation • medium flocculation • 60-72°F fermentation range Very well-balanced, fermenting dry and finishing soft, smooth and clean. Excellent all-around choice; best for American pale and amber ales and British IPA’s.

http://www.brewingscience.com/PDF/prodlist/BSI_Yeast_Descriptions_Guide.pdf

Dry hop for 6 days, at nearly terminal gravity.
Terminal gravity is less than 2* plato

With that in mind, I'll likely switch my attempt #3 to all two row away from two row / maris otter. I'm sure it'll help with bringing that FG down. I'll likely also use us-05. Hopefully I won't need to mess with my hop bill to get the flavor to come out. Drying it out should help with that I'd expect.
AO

 

[NathPowe]

Howdy folks. Sorry for the delay on my follow up - bet you thought I'd abandoned the thread. Been a bit busy lately and was out of town for a long weekend. Anyway, I figure I'll throw in a couple pics and then my notes. Sorry in advance for the crappy pics. I'm a beer dude, not a photographer. First two are the same thing - one with flash, one without. The third is Head-retention/Lacing Cam. Real thing on the left next to the can, clone on the right in all pics. Here goes -





Okay, so here are my thoughts. First off, the color wasn't as far off as I originally thought/posted a while back. It's not exact, but it's actually reasonably close. Obviously the clone is much clearer, but Half Acre likely filters the real deal.

Now when it comes to flavor/aroma, it's been a bit tough because my cans of the real deal have started to oxidize a bit. It's not terribly bad, but enough that it's identifiable and impedes the comparison to a certain degree. Nevertheless, I think the malt bill is very close on the clone. Both beers have a wonderful toast that floats throughout the flavor and even slightly in the aroma. I absolutely love the malt bill and I honestly don't know that I'd change it on a rebrew.

In terms of hops, the first thing I'll say is that I think the general amounts/levels of both hop flavor and aroma on the clone are both quite close to the original. I also think that the overall flavor and aroma is very close to the original. That's not to say I think I nailed it on the first try, but they're very close as far as I can taste with the oxidization present on the real thing. I think to get into the real nitty-gritty hop adjustments we'll need someone who can regularly get their hands on freshies from Half Acre. The clone obviously has a fresher hop flavor and aroma - this is to be expected though. Finally, the real thing does seem to be just the slightest bit more bitter, but I wonder if that's also related to the age of the cans.

Mouthfeel is spot on. As you can see from the third pic, the head retention and lacing are also pretty dern close.

So that's my unintentionally long update. I'll close by saying that, while I'm not saying the beer is totally cloned, this recipe is quite close and (most importantly) it's absolutely fantastic. Definitely one of the best beers I've ever made, and it suits my tastes so well I don't think I'd change anything on a rebrew (which is definitely happening). Again, folks with more experience/better palates than me will probably get it dialed in 100%, but for now I'm diggin it.

You should definitely give this a shot if you like Daisy Cutter, or if you just generally dig hop-forward ales. You won't be disappointed. That's all for now. If folks have any follow-up questions I'll do my best to offer some answers. Recipe is re-posted below. Cheers and enjoy the brew.

p.s. I can't speak to the use of Falconers Flight instead of Centennial. Wasn't aware of this at the time of my brew but again, this one is close and it's tasty. I bet the Falconer's would be to.

Daisy Cutter Clone Attempt
OG: 1.047
FG: 1.007
60min Boil
ABV: 5.2% (as listed on the real thing)
5-gallon Batch

Grain
9.75lbs 2-row ~ 91%
5oz Victory! ~ 3%
5oz Special Roast ~ 3%
5oz Aromatic ~ 3%

Mash @ 149*F

Hops / Boil
.25oz Warrior @ 60min
.25oz Centennial @ 30min
.5oz Centennial, .5oz Amarillo @ 15min
1oz Simcoe, .5oz Amarillo, .5oz Columbus @ Whirlpool (15min whirlpool)

Yeast
US-05, 1pkg re-hydrated

Give it 60sec of pure O2 (I know some say this is unnecessary with dry yeast - I do it anyway), ferment at 66*F for three days, then slowly raise it to 68*F to finish out. After that, rack to a keg with dry hops.

Dry Hop:
.5oz Simcoe, .5oz Amarillo, .5oz Columbus, .5oz Centennial

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

So that's my unintentionally long update. I'll close by saying that, while I'm not saying the beer is totally cloned, this recipe is quite close and (most importantly) it's absolutely fantastic. Definitely one of the best beers I've ever made, and it suits my tastes so well I don't think I'd change anything on a rebrew (which is definitely happening). Again, folks with more experience/better palates than me will probably get it dialed in 100%, but for now I'm diggin it.

Thanks for the update and pics! It's great to hear you were "close" to the real thing, and that you really enjoyed your homebrew - especially considering you and I brewed similar recipes haha.

I'm popping open a bottle of mine on Sunday, and I'm planning to swing by the brewery this weekend to pick up a fresh set of cans from Half Acre of the real stuff to compare mine to. I used quite a bit more bittering hops than you did, so I'm hoping I didn't over-bitter mine.

Thanks again for the update (and keeping up the momentum on this thread). I'll post my results and pics in the next few days too - I'm geeked to try mine (it's been a long month of waiting).

 

[NathPowe]

Right on HarborTown. I think my recipe is very close to the original, but I hesitate to be the one who says "It's cloned." Look forward to your update. It's gonna be worth the wait.

 

[ChairmanWow]

I just finished brewing a clone attempt on Saturday.

OG: 1.050 (A little high, my boiloff rate was way more than expected)
60min Boil
5 gallons

Grain
9 lbs Briess pale ale
5.3 oz Victory
5.3 oz Briess special roast
5.3 oz Dingeman's aromatic

Mash temp 152 F

Boil
.5 oz Warrior 60 mins
.5 oz Centennial 30 mins
.5 oz Amarillo, .5 oz Centennial 15 min
1 oz Columbus, 1 oz Simcoe, .5 oz Amarillo for whirlpool

Yeast
White Labs 0001 California Ale, pitched in 1.5 L starter after ~ 16 hrs

Primary at ~68 F for 7 days, dry hop in secondary for 5-7 days.

I'm still deciding how I want to dry hop this. My original plan was 1 oz each of Columbus, Simcoe, Centennial, and Amarillo. However, it was the piney/herbal qualities of Daisy Cutter that made it stand out to me, so I'm now thinking of cutting the Centennial and Amarillo down to .5 oz each.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

First, I’ll start with my recipe:

Grain:
9lb 12oz Two Row
5oz Aromatic
5oz Special Roast
5oz Victory

Hops:
.44oz Warrior (60min)
.44oz Centennial (30min)
.88oz Amarillo (15min)
.88oz Centennial (15min)
1oz Simcoe (Flameout)
.5oz Amarillo (Flameout)
.5oz Centennial (Flameout)
.5oz Columbus (Flameout)

Yeast:
US-05 (I used a yeast starter)

Dry Hop:
.5oz Amarillo (Dry hop 7 days)
.5oz Centennial (Dry hop 7 days)
.5oz Columbus (Dry hop 7 days)
.5oz Simcoe (Dry hop 7 days)

Target OG: 1.047 (I hit 1.050, so my abv is a little higher than the real Daisy Cutter)
Target FG: 1.008
IBUs (calculated by Beersmith): 60

RESULTS:
A darn good beer.

To elaborate on that last sentence a little more, it isn’t an exact clone to Daisy Cutter – that much I can tell you. But it is veeeeeery close. The differences seem to be that mine is not as bitter as Half Acre’s version (which I picked up a fresh 4-pack of from the brewery the day before I tasted mine). When I put this into BeerSmith, I wanted to get the IBUs to 60, so I kept the 60 minute addition at a modest .44oz of Warrior. I think if you want to get that same level of bitterness, you would need to increase this a bit – maybe to about .7oz. I don’t know though, as that’s sort of a shot in the dark.

If you look at this picture, the real Daisy Cutter is on the left, and my clone is on the right.

The color is just about spot on – this picture sort of makes the clone look a little darker, but I believe it is just a bit cloudier. In person, they colors were near identical.

How is mine different? A few friends of mine and I agreed that the real Daisy Cutter has a lingering bitterness which sort of sticks around after you swallow. This clone recipe has an upfront subtle bitterness which mellows out into floral flavors with a little hint of citrus. The aroma is fantastic and very strong – I wouldn’t change a thing about the dry hop weights.

Mouthfeel on the real one and the clone were right on.

I shared this homebrew with a few people, and they said they truly and honestly liked this clone recipe better because the bitterness was more subtle. My hope in making this beer was that it would be something I could enjoy as the weather starts heating up, and this beer does that. I would have no problem sitting outside drinking 4 or 5 of these, whereas I don’t think I could do that with the real Daisy Cutter (just a bit too bitter for prolonged drinking on most days, for me at least).

So, I’d say if you are looking to get close to Daisy Cutter: try bumping up the bittering hops a bit. If you are interested in something close to Daisy Cutter but a little leaner on the bitterness: this is probably a pretty good hop schedule to go by.

Hopefully this helps. I won’t hesitate to make this recipe again – it’s a great summer beer. Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions or if I need to clarify anything.

Cheers!

 

[NathPowe]

Nice update Harbortown, thanks for writing it up. Looks like you pretty much nailed it. That dry hop combo really is insanely nice right? As it stands, my version may end up being the fastest (non-party) keg to blow at my place. SWMBO is loving this beer and so am I.

I'm taking a trip to Chicago in August, so I'm planning to brew it again so it's ready upon my return. Hoping to grab some fresh cans and do another comparison at that point. Based on my tasting and your write-up I may bump up the warrior just a tad bit.

Enjoy the beers man. Cheers.