DFH 120 minute clone

[clex25]

Speaking of updates - I do have one.

I believe I posted my recipe previously, but if I didn't, I will update again soon.

Bottled my beer last week. It was 18%, and I dry hopped for 3 weeks with simcoe, amarillo and citra. Off the top of my head, I BELIEVE it was ~2oz each (whole hops). I removed the bag at the end of every week, and refilled.

Initial tastings were way over the top with simcoe. I got too much of that "catty" flavor typically associated with simcoe, with one beer club member remarking that "it tastes like you are chewing on whole hops."

While my intention was to make a true hoppy 120 brew, this one came out way too strong. All told, I believe I used about 1.25lb between kettle and dry hops for a 5 gal batch, which was over the top. If i did it again, I would cut down on dry hopping duration AND amounts, most likely by reducing the simcoe (or cutting it out completely! in the dry stage).

I am hoping that a couple weeks in the bottle will mellow out some of these harsh hop flavors. On a positive note, the aroma is AWESOME! That probably has something to do with the 5oz of citra added @ 0 min.

Bottom line: reduce simcoe and replace with citra, and be careful with the dry hopping. This brew took way too much time and money to not be perfect, so I don't think I will attempt ever again unless the flavor cools off in the bottle.

 

[scottland]

Sorry it turned out a little too hoppy. I'm surprised the simcoe came through that strong. Whenever I use Simcoe/Citra/Amarillo together I get more tropical fruit, and berry like aromas. Almost strawberry.

I used 6oz of dry hops in my first batch, I wouldn't even describe it as 'hoppy'. Time should do the beer well. In about a month it'll taste much different. 6 months even more different.

 

[Jsmith82]

this one came out way too strong.

Blasphemy.

[joking]

Really though, my money is on 8-12 weeks from now, at one week I'm sure it's pretty grassy - that will fade. Bummer though you're not currently happy with the product, I understand completely it's way too expensive to not be happy with it. I hope it comes around for you

 

[hopcop]

Hey JSmith since you can't get any DFH in your area you want anything? I can get a decent amount of there product in my area. PM me if your interested and maybe we can work out a deal.
Cheers.

 

[wooby111]

I'm doing a version of this now (Paxton's grain bill and Scottland's hop schedule from his Pliny/120 hybrid).

At this point, I'm nervous. Stopped the sugar adds 2 days ago. It was at 15.5% and 1.020, with 1 bubble per 4-5 seconds in the airlock. Got back from my business trip today expecting it to be fermented out. It's not. STILL GOING, down to 1.008 and 16.4% abv, and no signs of slowing. Should I cold-crash and/or add a little sugar back in, or let it go? It tastes awesome, but the alcohol is becoming overpowering, especially in the face of the dwindling malt presence.

UPDATE: added some sugar last night and it's still working on that. Back to 1.010.

How dry would you say is TOO dry, and how much abv is too overpowering to require excessive aging?

 

[Jsmith82]

Hey JSmith since you can't get any DFH in your area you want anything? I can get a decent amount of there product in my area. PM me if your interested and maybe we can work out a deal.
Cheers.

@ Wooby - 1.010 seems to be the target FG for most of us with our Frankenstein 120 recipes. I finished high last year and the beer can get pretty syrupy in the 20s. My batch this year finished at .014 and it tastes great with the doubled hops. The thing about this beer and what all of us keep experimenting with and trying to find, a low FG is hardly dry - the massive additions to this beer really bring a unique and almost thick mouth feel, the best way I could describe it would be take your FG, add .010 on top of it and that's about what it will taste and feel like.

At your current gravity you've beaten the sweetness no doubt, if it's still going strong your call on adding or stopping, just manage to your liking. My recommended goal - 1.010.

 

[wooby111]

@ Wooby - 1.010 seems to be the target FG for most of us with our Frankenstein 120 recipes. I finished high last year and the beer can get pretty syrupy in the 20s. My batch this year finished at .014 and it tastes great with the doubled hops. The thing about this beer and what all of us keep experimenting with and trying to find, a low FG is hardly dry - the massive additions to this beer really bring a unique and almost thick mouth feel, the best way I could describe it would be take your FG, add .010 on top of it and that's about what it will taste and feel like.

At your current gravity you've beaten the sweetness no doubt, if it's still going strong your call on adding or stopping, just manage to your liking. My recommended goal - 1.010.

Thanks man. My worry at this point is the alcohol content dominating. I'd like to just stop adding and let it finish, but not at the risk of it hitting something like 1.005 or below.

 

[Jsmith82]

I purposely stopped and landed my beer in the 16% range, it's wonderful. You could take it higher and the body and hops will back you up especially if you brewed SL's adjusted clone with the extra hops. Let's face it, that's a lot of hops!

I do feel though 16% made a balanced end result for me, 20+ is a little gimmicky - it's fun to brew and the priceless look on someones face when you pour them a pint then warn them the one beer has the same effect as a six pack of bud light is sweet, but even the potential behind a real DFH120 in the end seems blinded by the amount of alcohol in it especially as it warms in your glass.

I'll probably brew a 3gal batch and try to take it as high as it can go but for 5-7 gallons of this expensive time consuming monster, 15-17% is a safe tasty range (IMO).

 

[scottland]

The alcohol is going to taste very dominating at this point. A few months from now, it'll calm down. I wouldn't stress over that.

 

[kosmokramer]

The alcohol is going to taste very dominating at this point. A few months from now, it'll calm down. I wouldn't stress over that.

Is it better to let it sit for a couple months before dryhopping?

 

[wooby111]

I purposely stopped and landed my beer in the 16% range, it's wonderful. You could take it higher and the body and hops will back you up especially if you brewed SL's adjusted clone with the extra hops. Let's face it, that's a lot of hops!

I do feel though 16% made a balanced end result for me, 20+ is a little gimmicky - it's fun to brew and the priceless look on someones face when you pour them a pint then warn them the one beer has the same effect as a six pack of bud light is sweet, but even the potential behind a real DFH120 in the end seems blinded by the amount of alcohol in it especially as it warms in your glass.

I'll probably brew a 3gal batch and try to take it as high as it can go but for 5-7 gallons of this expensive time consuming monster, 15-17% is a safe tasty range (IMO).

Alright you guys sold me. Crashing this beeotch this evening after work. Should be back to 1.008-1.010 by then (16.8 - 17.1%). Or would it be better just to let it finish on its own to allow for yeast cleanup activities?

I just can't believe I got this much out of only using 2L starters for both the 1056 and the 099. I usually have a problem with under-attenuation. Now I can't stop the biggest dragon I've ever tried to slay (brew).

Also, after the volume loss (6 gallons at start of boil) between boil-off, SL's hop boil schedule, trub, yeast cake and SL's dry hop schedule, I think I'll be lucky to have 3 - 3.25 gallons left to keg/bottle. Luckily, I was able to Parti-Gyle 4 gallons of a regular (1.055) IPA from the second runnings. Such a waste of ingredients going on here.

 

[scottland]

Is it better to let it sit for a couple months before dryhopping?

I'd recommend you age the beer however long you plan to age it prior to bottling. Then 3 weeks or so before you bottle, dry hop then.

 

[Calder]

Alright you guys sold me. Crashing this beeotch this evening after work. Should be back to 1.008-1.010 by then (16.8 - 17.1%). Or would it be better just to let it finish on its own to allow for yeast cleanup activities?

I've never brewed one of these monsters, and no planning to. I'll quit at 14% with a yeast that I know will still carbonate.

Why crash? Why not prime and bottle while you still have active yeast. If you put this on tap it, you will be tieing up a tap with a beer that you only want to drink occasionally .......

 

[bottlebomber]

Why crash? Why not prime and bottle while you still have active yeast.

Playing with fire with that one... I am going to make this to about 14%, but when it comes time to bottle I am going to make a small champagne yeast starter, and bottle when it's nice and active.

 

[wooby111]

I've never brewed one of these monsters, and no planning to. I'll quit at 14% with a yeast that I know will still carbonate.

Why crash? Why not prime and bottle while you still have active yeast. If you put this on tap it, you will be tieing up a tap with a beer that you only want to drink occasionally .......

I don't want to crash because I want the yeast to cleanup. But it shows no sign of stopping 1.007 tonight. I know I've heard to add .010 because of the alcohol throwing off the reading, but how dry is too dry for this? I mashed VERY low (146-ish) and long and I'm afraid there are barely any nonfermentables from the malt left.

Decisions, decisions. I think I will just see how low it decides to go and add sugar to keep the reading around 1.008 - 1.010. The whole point was to take this to ~20% anyway, and with the 7+ ounces of dry hopping I'm planning, maybe it won't be the alcohol carpet bomb others have experienced. Heck, i dunno.

 

[bottlebomber]

I started on mine today. I'm not really following anyone's recipe, but I want to post here since I am following the idea that this thread gave me. I took 6 gallons of 1.105 wort to my 7.5 gallon carboy. Used 4 ounces of cascade leaf in the mash just to get the party started. Then went in
2 ounce warrior 90 min
2 ounce simcoe 30 min
2 ounce Columbus 15 min
4 ounce cascade 15 min
1 ounce simcoe 0 min
3 ounce centennial 0 min

I haven't run that through my software yet but I feel like its a lot of hops. I have about 4 lbs of American hops in the freezer, and I would like to see one of them go into this beer via dry hopping.

I pitched about a trillion American Ale II cells in, and I am going to wake up part of a huge slug of 099 tomorrow. I am going to add 2 lbs of dex to this beer, and hopefully finish at 1.010 giving me 14.25% ABV, which I am hoping a small starter of 099 pitched on bottling day will be able to carbonate. I plan to ferment, clarify, cold crash for 2 weeks, then dry hop for 10 days.

 

[hopcop]

but how dry is too dry for this? I mashed VERY low (146-ish) and long and I'm afraid there are barely any nonfermentables from the malt left.

I believe the consensus in this thread is get it low. Mine finished at .006 and its by no means dry. I have 14.87% and its smooth, huge mouthfeel and nice finish with little to no alcohol present. I brewed yesterday with my friends and cracked one open for them to try. At 8 weeks this beer is great. I already have a little carbonation, lacing on the glass with a little haze from the dry hops. I also mashed at 150*F while scottland and JSmith agree to mash lower to help out with the fermentation. Dont worry on drying the beer out. It wont trust me. I let the 099 ride out, the lowest so far thats been posted is .005 and that took a long time it seemed. After my 4# of sugar additions I still had a thick krausen for 2 weeks before it died down.

Dont know if this helps or not.

Cheers

 

[wooby111]

I believe the consensus in this thread is get it low. Mine finished at .006 and its by no means dry. I have 14.87% and its smooth, huge mouthfeel and nice finish with little to no alcohol present. I brewed yesterday with my friends and cracked one open for them to try. At 8 weeks this beer is great. I already have a little carbonation, lacing on the glass with a little haze from the dry hops. I also mashed at 150*F while scottland and JSmith agree to mash lower to help out with the fermentation. Dont worry on drying the beer out. It wont trust me. I let the 099 ride out, the lowest so far thats been posted is .005 and that took a long time it seemed. After my 4# of sugar additions I still had a thick krausen for 2 weeks before it died down.

Dont know if this helps or not.

Cheers

Super help, dude. Mad Thanks! Gonna let it go now, but if it finishes around 1.006, I'm gonna be in the upper 17%. Hope it's not too untastey. I plan 2 months of aging before dry-hopping and then force carbing.

I still haven't finished the full 4-lb. bag of corn sugar I bought for this (down to the bottom, though). The reason my alcohol is high is because I boiled from 6 to 5.25 gallons and lost another 1.25 gallons to hops and trub, leaving me with 4 in the primary..which I feel will become 3 after dry hopping.

 

[Calder]

I still haven't finished the full 4-lb. bag of corn sugar I bought for this (down to the bottom, though). The reason my alcohol is high is because I boiled from 6 to 5.25 gallons and lost another 1.25 gallons to hops and trub, leaving me with 4 in the primary..which I feel will become 3 after dry hopping.

Explain! I understand the increase in gravity due to the boil off to 5.25 gallons, but do not understand the higher alcohol due to the 1.25 gallons of hops and trub.

 

[kosmokramer]

Explain! I understand the increase in gravity due to the boil off to 5.25 gallons, but do not understand the higher alcohol due to the 1.25 gallons of hops and trub.

I dont think it was spoken correctly. The volume lost to hops and trub contains alcohol so although it decreases overall volume it does not increase concentration of the remaining volume

 

[wooby111]

I dont think it was spoken correctly. The volume lost to hops and trub contains alcohol so although it decreases overall volume it does not increase concentration of the remaining volume

My point is, 4 lbs. of corn sugar added to 4 gallons of primary wort leads to a higher alcohol concentration than 4 lbs. added to 5 gallons. It's not "more concentrated". There's less OF it.

 

[Calder]

My point is, 4 lbs. of corn sugar added to 4 gallons of primary wort leads to a higher alcohol concentration than 4 lbs. added to 5 gallons. It's not "more concentrated". There's less OF it.

That makes sense. The way I read it, was that you were taking credit for the wort being more concentrated due to the large amount of trub and hops, which is incorrect.

 

[wooby111]

That makes sense. The way I read it, was that you were taking credit for the wort being more concentrated due to the large amount of trub and hops, which is incorrect.

Nope. Left all that crap behind.

Used a hop bag for the hops and after 16+ ounces, it stole a good .60-.75 gallons alone. First time I've used one and I am VERY concerned about the hop efficiency of the 20 minute to flame out adds.

 

[bottlebomber]

Crikey. I left for work today with the beer fermenting at 64 degrees in the house which is 62 degrees. I've done 6 beers in the last 2 months exactly like this. I come home today, and this freakin beer has climbed to 78 degrees! 63 in the house. I took it out in the garage an dropped it in a water bath. Hopefully not too many esters from that, it was day 3 of fermentation and it can't have been that high for more than a couple hours. I've never seen anything like that.

 

[wooby111]

Crikey. I left for work today with the beer fermenting at 64 degrees in the house which is 62 degrees. I've done 6 beers in the last 2 months exactly like this. I come home today, and this freakin beer has climbed to 78 degrees! 63 in the house. I took it out in the garage an dropped it in a water bath. Hopefully not too many esters from that, it was day 3 of fermentation and it can't have been that high for more than a couple hours. I've never seen anything like that.

How much did you pitch? I did mine with only 2L starters of each yeast (1056 - slurry only; 099 - completely fermented starter from 1.095 brewed wort). I was scared to death I under-pitched, but both were steady and deliberate with no temperature spikes over 6-8 degrees.

 

[bottlebomber]

How much did you pitch? I did mine with only 2L starters of each yeast (1056 - slurry only; 099 - completely fermented starter from 1.095 brewed wort). I was scared to death I under-pitched, but both were steady and deliberate with no temperature spikes over 6-8 degrees.

I'm pretty sure I overpitched. The beer dropped 50 gravity points yesterday so that explains the spike. I tasted my hydro sample, still had a nice clean flavor to it, no fusels or heavy esters. Should be ok.

 

[Jsmith82]

If it were ever possible to catch a beer on fire, I bet this would be the one lol.

 

[bcgpete]

If it were ever possible to catch a beer on fire, I bet this would be the one lol.

Seriously. I was amazed at the temp of my WLP099 7L starter. I didn't have a temperature strip on my bucket, but it felt like it was a good 10degF above the ambient (68degF).

 

[bottlebomber]

Man what a crazy brew. Last night after the temperature spike I put it in a water bath in the garage, and it cooled down to 64 in about an hour. I checked on it before bed, and it was chugging away. Then, sometime last night, it completely erupted like a volcano, popping the airlock out and spewing over the sides of the carboy. I've never had a beer just decide to do that suddenly on day 4 if fermentation. Pitched the SHG yeast this morning. Going to start feeding it tonight.

 

[Schumed]

I like the recipe..not to derail the thread...I'm interested in your tool box build and rims system. Mind sharing?