DFH 120 minute clone

[Jsmith82]

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.

Sounds healthy

 

[wooby111]

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.

You are a brave, brave man doing this beer in a carboy. I decided to do it in a bottling bucket to make the hydro checks and sugar adds easier. Drew the samples and 1-2L volumes to mix sugar off the bottling spigot.

 

[bottlebomber]

You are a brave, brave man doing this beer in a carboy. I decided to do it in a bottling bucket to make the hydro checks and sugar adds easier. Drew the samples and 1-2L volumes to mix sugar off the bottling spigot.

I only did because it's the biggest thing I've got, at 7.5 gallons. My buckets are only 6

 

[bottlebomber]

Had to make the switch. I've never had a beer act like this. Every few hours it has a huge surge of krausen and blows the top off. Crazy stuff... I'm not too worried about infection since its 5000 IBU and currently about 12% ABV after only 4 days

 

[hopcop]

Had to make the switch. I've never had a beer act like this. Every few hours it has a huge surge of krausen and blows the top off. Crazy stuff... I'm not too worried about infection since its 5000 IBU and currently about 12% ABV after only 4 days

I had to change airlocks 5 times for this brew. At one point my lid on my bucket was domed! I've never had this happen either. It's a fun brew cause usually after I get done brewing I want to brew again right away. This kept my mind off of that. After I bottled this beast I couldn't believe how much yeast was all over the bucket. I thought I was keeping it clean but I found yeast in places that I couldn't imagine got there.

On a side note. I brewed a Rye IPA on Saturday with my generation 5 1056 and I've had to change the airlock twice since. Either I've got some serious healthy yeast on my hands or I have some wild yeast moshing around in the bucket. I love the fermentation step!
Cheers

 

[jddhammer]

I am entering the homestretch on my take on brewing this beer. I followed the basics that I've seen in this thread,
Here are my notes

- I did a 30 min bulk bittering addition at 120 and continuous hopped the last 90 mins
- I found a measuring spoon that doled out just the right amount of mixed hops at 3 min intervals into a hop bag. No dixie cups.
- Hit 1.098 OG
- Pitched on fresh WLP001 yeast cake in plastic conical in a cool basement
- Let the yeast slowly work it down to 1.019 over 5 days at <65*.
- On 5th day pitched 3L WLP099 starter with 2# dextrose (it dropped 24 pts on Day 4)
- Rather than measured amounts, I managed the gravity and adjusted the sugar additions. I prepared 6 and 8 oz baggies and mixed and matched.
- Added sugar to target 1.022 for 4 days.
- Added sugar to target 1.016 for 4 days
- Warmed it up and let it drop to 1.009, then 1.006 FG Beersmith estimated OG 1.143 ~18%
- Accidentally overheated it to about 93*, so racked off yeast to a secondary and repitched some spare WLP099 from the starter
- Begin dry hopping in small bags that I sewed up from paint strainer bags.

Take aways:
- The conical works great for this beer.
> I drilled a 1" or so access hole in the top for my funnel, so I never took the top off, which makes up for the big headspace.
> The racking port makes hydro checks clean and simple and also mixes the dextrose easily without a whisk.
> If I were doing this in a bucket, I'd consider putting a racking port/bottling tap on it, a bottling bucket would be too low.
> With all the yeast and potential for muck in this beer, it's nice to dump the trub and mix the yeast up every few days.
- I oxygenated the wort a couple times, but not after day 3. Oxygenated the WLP099 starter on the stir plate. Not sure it's needed when pitched on a cake.
- It tasted good every day. 1.020 tasted noticeably sweet, which is why I kept it much lower than I thought I would though the sugar additions.
- Need better fermentation temperature control.
- It's going to be a long month or so waiting for the the first bottle.

 

[scottland]

Jddhammer: I'm super jealous about the conical. That would have made it much more simple!

 

[kosmokramer]

Jddhammer: I'm super jealous about the conical. That would have made it much more simple!

i just picked up a 14 gallon blichman and cant wait till i can afford to brew this sucker again with the new conicle

 

[bottlebomber]

i just picked up a 14 gallon blichman and cant wait till i can afford to brew this sucker again with the new conicle

After buying a $600 fermenter, there would probably be a lot of things I couldn't afford

 

[kosmokramer]

After buying a $600 fermenter, there would probably be a lot of things I couldn't afford

lol, i got a great deal from a member on here..... 350 for the fermentor and blichman plate chiler and thrumometer! definitely not cheap, and im not even set up for 10 gallon batches yet but it was a price i couldnt pass up

 

[kosmokramer]

a side note question.... i need to dryhop and have no bags, i do have about 70 yard roll of chease cloth i got in a cl buy from a wine brewer. how can i use the cheesecloth as a hop bag? i tried tying up all for corners but the bag seemed very tight

 

[bottlebomber]

You don't like the paint strainer bags from the hardware store?

 

[kosmokramer]

to dryhop? i have never tried that... i have 8 large grain bags i got in the same cl purchase that i have never used.. i was planning on dryhopping this in the keg,,,should i just clamp the lid with a bit on the bag sticking out?

 

[bottlebomber]

to dryhop? i have never tried that... i have 8 large grain bags i got in the same cl purchase that i have never used.. i was planning on dryhopping this in the keg,,,should i just clamp the lid with a bit on the bag sticking out?

I guess if depends on how quickly you're going to drink it lol... I've dry hopped for 2 months with no ill effects. Otherwise there is a ton of advice for dry hopping in the keg on the forum. I don't keg yet personally

 

[badbrew]

to dryhop? i have never tried that... i have 8 large grain bags i got in the same cl purchase that i have never used.. i was planning on dryhopping this in the keg,,,should i just clamp the lid with a bit on the bag sticking out?

try unflavored floss or very thin fishing line.

 

[jtejedor]

try unflavored floss or very thin fishing line.

Word. Its hard to get a seal with a little bit of the bag coming out of the lid.

 

[kosmokramer]

I wasnt planning on serving with the hops in there... just dryhopping for two weeks then pulling out to carb and bottle off the keg

 

[bottlebomber]

Man I lost a lot of yeast to blow off... When I went to change over to an airlock I had a good solid inch of beautiful white yeast compacted in the bottom of the bucket the blowoff tube was sitting in.

 

[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

This thing finally stopped bubbling last Wednesday/Thursday and is holding at around 1.002-1.003 and 18.5%. It's been in the primary 3 weeks today.

Question...should I rack it off the cake today, or give it a few more days to clean up? There are still bubbles on the surface (by no means glassy yet), but it's definitely done. I worry about keeping it in there too long.

 

[hopcop]

This thing finally stopped bubbling last Wednesday/Thursday and is holding at around 1.002-1.003 and 18.5%. It's been in the primary 3 weeks today.

Question...should I rack it off the cake today, or give it a few more days to clean up? There are still bubbles on the surface (by no means glassy yet), but it's definitely done. I worry about keeping it in there too long.

I would rack off the cake a couple days after the gravity was consistent. These guys racked that soon after fermentation was done. I kept mine on there for 6weeks but my alcohol was lower.

That's some wicked numbers you got there! Nice job on accomplishing that! Seems like as people try this out the numbers get better.

Cheers!

 

[bcgpete]

Question...should I rack it off the cake today, or give it a few more days to clean up?

Mine ended at 19%, FG 1.016. I left it in the primary a little over a week after the readings were steady for two days, and I haven't noticed any ill effects from this. I kegged it Sunday to carb up, and at kegging it was beautifully clear and tasted fantastic. I'm sure it won't hurt to keep it on the yeast as long as you feel comfortable to get it cleaned up.

 

[wooby111]

Mine ended at 19%, FG 1.016. I left it in the primary a little over a week after the readings were steady for two days, and I haven't noticed any ill effects from this. I kegged it Sunday to carb up, and at kegging it was beautifully clear and tasted fantastic. I'm sure it won't hurt to keep it on the yeast as long as you feel comfortable to get it cleaned up.

I racked it last night... and was SHOCKED at the shallow yeast cake. Makes me think there's quite a bit of the 099 still suspended and it was mostly 1056 in the bottom. I literally expected a good gallon of yeast. Ended up racking almost 95% of the pre-ferment volume to secondary into the V-Vessel. Looking like ~4 gallons.

Added about half a bottle (.50oz) of biofine to encourage more settlement. I don't plan on dry hopping for a week or two.

I suspect the following to contribute to the low final gravity:

1. Low, and I mean LOW mash temp. This was a mistake, but it paid off. I mashed around ~145-146 for between 90-120 minutes. Minimized the unfermentables, I assume.

2. Small additions of corn sugar. Kept her hungry. I addded ~2.9oz 3 times a day to a collected wort volume of 4 gallons. 7AM, 1pm, 7PM, until I used an entire 4 lb. bag. Then I stopped...even though she wanted more. Stopped at 1.009-ish. She kept going until 1.0025-ish. What a ho.

3. Never let the actual wort temp climb into the 70's. This was surprisingly easy, since I never had a violent fermentation once. Perhaps because I didn't throw the entire planet's population in yeast into the fermenter. I only pitched the slurry from a 2L 1056 starter (1.040) to get it going. Then I pitched the entire 2L starter of 099 from the actual wort (1.096) 4 days later, but it was COMPLETELY fermented out -- no flask bubbles on stir plate for at least 2 days before pitching.

Hopefully this will help others.

 

[hopcop]

Thought I'd share this. Carbed nicely for bottle conditioned.

Cheers.

 

[bottlebomber]

Thought I'd share this. Carbed nicely for bottle conditioned.

Cheers.

What was your ABV again?

 

[hopcop]

what was your abv again?

14.87%

 

[bottlebomber]

14.87%

Nice. That's pretty much exactly where I'm going to end up, +/-.5%. What did you do for yeast before bottling it? It can't possibly have carbed from the battered yeast it fermented with... Can it?

 

[hopcop]

I bottled this beast last Tuesday. I finished at 1.006 with a 14.87%ABV. I used 3.8oz of corn sugar with 1pt of water. I used Champagne yeast as well. Lalvin EC-1118. I heated up 1pt of water to 105*F and pitched yeast. Set for 15mins. Stir and let cool to equal temp of priming sugar. Combined the champagne yeast and priming sugar. Pour in when racking to bottling bucket.

This worked very well as you saw.

Cheers.

 

[bottlebomber]

Cool, pretty much exactly what I had planned to do.

 

[hopcop]

Any updates on how your brews turned out?

 

[bottlebomber]

I just checked gravity on mine. It is from 1.120 to 1.008. I just used finings, and I am then going to cold age it for a month before I start the dry hopping. It tastes wonderful. Very little alcohol character considering it is 14.45%