DFH 120 minute clone

[Akavango]

Saving this one to compare with my clone. Got the hop for dry hopping at the same time. Bottling in 3 weeks....

 

[grssmnperez]

Saving this one to compare with my clone. Got the hop for dry hopping at the same time. Bottling in 3 weeks....

Same here.

 

[Doctor_M]

Been following this thread for a while, hoping to make a clone once Amarillo starts popping back up again after the harvest. I am hoping the rumors of it being hard to find are at least a little exaggerated. In the meantime im happy there's a dfh alehouse two minutes up the street from me where I can enjoy the original. Had 6 glasses over the course of last weekend

 

[bottlebomber]

Just give it a month or so and there will be plenty of Amarillo. Just try to make sure you buy enough for the year, and that you are in the first wave of people that buy and you'll be fine.

 

[hopcop]

Well fellas its been awhile since I've posted anything. Just thought you guys might like to know I'm entering my first competition today. It's a BJCP judging for Porters and IPA. Consumer Beverages is hosting it. The judging will be on Sept 8th and the awards ceremony is the following Saturday at Beer Bash. There are 30 breweries there and only $25 to enter. I'm submitting my version of this brew. I hope it fits the style. I'm very curious what the judges say. Either way I won't be disappointed cause I still think this beer is great. Just thought I would post it. When I get the results I will share them here.

Cheers!

 

[scottland]

Sometimes bad things happen to a good batch. I practicially could have cried

http://bertusbrewery.blogspot.com/2012/09/2012-nuclear-penguin-rip.html

 

[bottlebomber]

Sometimes bad things happen to a good batch. I practicially could have cried

http://bertusbrewery.blogspot.com/2012/09/2012-nuclear-penguin-rip.html

Cool blog! You know, your idea of Pliny the Younger meets 120 is exactly what I was shooting for when I made my clone. I feel like I want to send you a bottle after seeing that. What an ungodly mess lol...

 

[Doctor_M]

That's always a sad sight to walk up to and see. I feel your pain brother but you must pick yourself backup and brew on! I hope to try this recipe very soon :rockon:

 

[libeerty]

Wasn't meant to be.. But what a great story when you do finally brew the Penguin!

 

[scottland]

Thanks for the support guys. I'm feeling much better about it today than I did Sunday. I'll definitely re-brew this, once I sort out my issues with the temperamental mini-fridge

 

[kosmokramer]

i love how we as homebrewers take the time to snap pictures before we fix things...lol sorry for you loss

 

[bottlebomber]

i love how we as homebrewers take the time to snap pictures before we fix things...lol sorry for you loss

Every time I handle a glass carboy, which isn't often, it goes through my head that it may shatter and severely cut me. And that thought is always followed up my thinking about how I can get my phone out of my pocket to take a picture for my "My god my god my hand!" thread

 

[scottland]

i love how we as homebrewers take the time to snap pictures before we fix things...lol sorry for you loss

Because I avoided cleaning it up a good twenty minutes. I was a little hung over from Saturday, and the idea of cleaning up that mess was not thrilling

 

[Jsmith82]

Drinking a 120 in honor of the Penguin.

Salute, RIP.

Sorry Scott, that really sucks man.

 

[hopcop]

Sorry Scott for your loss of awesomeness. I really thought that was going to happen to my brew. I didnt use a blow off tube, kinda just watched it like a sick child for a few hours. Replaced the airlock a few dozen times to keep it from exploding.

Today in the mail I received my scoresheet from the Consumers Beverage Homebrew Competition. Its pretty much exactly what I expected. Ive only been brewing for a year when I brewed this recipe. I was entry number 133. I entered it in 14C Imperial IPA catergory. The judges wrote in pencil and the font is too small to photo. So this is what each said.

Judge 1
BJCP rank: Certified

Bottle Inspection: Ok. Bottle began to slowly gush after 2 mins.

Aroma: 5/12
Low hop aroma, some low bready malts and moderate nutyness. A slight sour-cherry aroma which may be indicative of oxidation. No esters, diacetyl or DMS.

Appearance: 3/3
Golden color with good clarity. Thick off-white head with good stand persists. And is creamy.

Flavor: 10/20
High malt flavor up front, honey-like, some caramel sweetness. Hop flavor is low and piney and citrusy. high bitterness follows and dries out finish. No esters, diacetyl or DMS. Sour cherry note from aroma not present here. Balanced to bitterness. Very slightly nutty.

Mouthfeel: 4/5
Medium-full body and slightly astringent from bitterness and alcohol. Lightly creamy texture and high alcohol warmth but not hot or solventy.

Overall Impression: 6/10
Overall this is a decent Imperial IPA! It could benefit from lower overall bitterness and more hop aroma/flavor. Cherry aroma and nuttiness suggest oxidation from age. Thanks for this entry, cheers!

Total 28/50

Judge 2
BJCP rank: Recognized

Aroma: 6/12
Low caramel maltiness and low fruit. Not much hops, looking for that!

Appearance: 3/3
Amber-orange, clear pour with full white head of firm bubbles that lasts. Bottle was slight gusher.

Flavor: 9/20
Caramel malt, not much hop flavor, middle of flavor is hijacked by a soapy taste, very bitter, midly astrigent at finish.

Mouthfeel: 2/5
Low-medium body, med-high carbonation. Some alcohol warming, a little creamy with soapy finish.

Overall Impression: 5/10
Major flaw is soapy taste-may have gotten oxidized somewhere along the way. Hop aroma and flavor was low for this style, or too old. Good effort- Keep at it!

Total: 25/50

So my final score was 26.5 (good). I didnt give the judges any info on my beer. I dont know if that would have hurt/helped me. I wanted them to judge it from just the experience. What I think I have learned from this is when I bottle I have to pay attention to my final racked beer yield. I've noticed im actually bottling with the amount of priming sugar I would use for 5 gallons but actually having less in the end. Ive enjoyed every taste that I have cracked open since its been brewed. I can see that the beer is old for the style since I really enjoyed it young but I do appreciate it more now as its aged. I think the first judge was more informative compared to the second judge. I dont understand what soapy means. Is it my StarSan? Im also curious how to get less bitterness and more flavor and aroma out of my beer since both judges commented on this. If I were to do it again with continuosly hopping my wort would I just add less high alpha hops later in the boil and bumping up the lower ones? Plus using less lower alpha acid hops in the early stages? Just some thoughts.

Either way its my first competition and finally some input from people other than my friends. Im happy with the results and leaves me with some knowledge of what to work on my future brewing.

Cheers.

 

[scottland]

Your beer was so far out of style, that 26.5 is a pretty awesome score. Remember the 'ideal' beer for that category is 8.0-9.5%, rather dry, and extremely hoppy. Think heady topper or Southern tier unearthly.

I'm sure your beer tastes rather different than those. It's a massive IPA. There's no real category for it, so don't concern yourself with the BJCP scores. As for the soapiness, he may be off base. Oxidation comes across as cardboard or sherry-like. Soapy is a different issue

 

[bottlebomber]

This beer has got me thinking about aroma/flavor and hop saturation in beer. Mine had pretty decent flavor and aroma, but I've done better with beers that had 1/4 the amount of hops. It makes me wonder if the extreme bittering addition (~200 IBU in my case) may saturate the wort with hop oil to the extent that the late additions don't quite come through proportionately. Just a thought.

 

[Akavango]

This beer has got me thinking about aroma/flavor and hop saturation in beer. Mine had pretty decent flavor and aroma, but I've done better with beers that had 1/4 the amount of hops. It makes me wonder if the extreme bittering addition (~200 IBU in my case) may saturate the wort with hop oil to the extent that the late additions don't quite come through proportionately. Just a thought.

A homebrewing friend of mine made the same point after tasting one of my IPA. So I decided to experiment. I have made a cascade IPA with 11 oz of cascade during the boil (70 IBU) and another 3.5 for dry hopping. I then made the same beer with 2/3 of the hops to see how much it will change. I bottle the second one last week end so it is too early for a side by side comparison.

I thought the first one was perfect, drunk most of it in less than a month.

 

[hopcop]

Your beer was so far out of style, that 26.5 is a pretty awesome score. Remember the 'ideal' beer for that category is 8.0-9.5%, rather dry, and extremely hoppy. Think heady topper or Southern tier unearthly.

I'm sure your beer tastes rather different than those. It's a massive IPA. There's no real category for it, so don't concern yourself with the BJCP scores. As for the soapiness, he may be off base. Oxidation comes across as cardboard or sherry-like. Soapy is a different issue

Thanks scottland for the advice. I figured it was way out of style that's why I didn't give them any info prior to there judging. I wanted it to be a fair critique. Does anybody know where the soapy flavor she was talking about would come from? I've been looking but nothing seems to be coming up other than not a good enough rinse with my StarSan. I would agree with you scottland on maybe being off base with her palette. As for the hop flavor/aroma, im going to chalk that up to aging. I thought after a month in bottle it was full flavor and crazy aroma. It would punch you right in the face. Sticking your nose in the snifter would lead to a black eye! Lol.

Now that it's cooling down here I'm preparing to make this again in the next couple of weeks. I would love this brew right around thanksgiving/Christmas time.
Cheers

 

[sfrisby]

Any thoughts on using brown sugar for the secondary additions. I am planning a stout with the dfh 120 technique. Thanks.

 

[sfrisby]

Any thoughts on using brown sugar for the secondary additions. I am planning a stout with the dfh 120 technique. Thanks.

Just a bump to see if anyone has tried secondary fermentation sugar additions with brown sugar instead of corn sugar. Any experience with flavor profiles or theories about flavors in a high gravity stout?

 

[Jsmith82]

I can't speak for doing this with the 120, I used dextrose. But I can say I brewed a high gravity cider using dark brown sugar to bump the ABV and it ruined the flavor. Well ruined is harsh, lets say it took over the flavor, it's all you could taste. I had only used a couple pounds, I'd recommend you maybe use a pound max to get a little taste and flavor then stick to good ol corn sugar.

Hope that helps!

 

[sfrisby]

Great. Thanks. This isn't the batch I want to experiment too much with.

 

[Bierliebhaber]

In the context of this thread, I don't know what you mean by "high gravity stout." But I frequently use 2-3 lbs of dark brown sugar in my Imperial stouts that range 10-11% abv. The key is much of the time store brands tend to have a better flavor than the major brand. These stouts have scored very well in comps and are greatly enjoyed by many critical beer connoisseurs. No worries on off flavors! Also, I brewed an 8g batch of 22% barley wine...err..brandy where I added 8lbs of light brown sugar. Again, no off flavors. Quite the contrary, this brew has been raved over at tastings at the LHBS. The point is if you have a good malt base, there is no reason to fear brown sugar.

 

[sfrisby]

I have a base stout recipe with a target OG of 1110, no sugar added. Then, as primary fermentation dies down, like with this dfh 120 thread, pitch a big wlp099 starter and begin sugar additions. This is where I was looking to add brown sugar. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[kosmokramer]

Well, I my had my last attempt at this to like 26% ish, I now have like 3lbs of Amarillo, citra centennial and 2 of simco on the way now. I think imma do a 10 gallon batch and limit it to 15-18 abv....getting excited!

 

[SLCRebellion]

Well I finally attempted this bad boy and man what a fun beer! My plan was to use the grain schedule from the beginning of this thread, and then use Pacific Jade Hops for bittering, and Citra, Nelson Sauvin, and Pacific Jade through the rest of the boil. I wanted to have the beer finish out at 15%.

I missed my OG by a few points, and ended up at 1.090, no big deal since I can make up for it with the sugar additions. I used 6 oz of Pacific Jade between 90 and 60 minutes. I stood outside with the temp at 28* and with a 30 mph wind blowing, tossing in a few pellets at a time. I then combined 2 oz each of Pacific Jade, Nelson Sauvin, and Citra and added these in equal increments between 30 and 0 minutes. Then at flame out I added another 3 oz of Citra, and 2 oz of Nelson. Holy Shiz talk about soup. I pitched a 6 liter starter of San Diego Super Yeast to get the party started, fit it with a blow off tube, and within 6 hours it was rockin and rollin. The yeast tore through this at an amazing pace. I checked gravity at the 48 hour mark and it was already at .028. I added 6 oz of sugar and had to beg my High Gravity Yeast Starter to hurry. I added 12 oz of sugar twice the next day and then pitched a 4 liter starter of the High Gravity Yeast. I added a total of 5 lbs of Dextrose for a total OG of 1.125. The yeast did an awesome job, and after 2 weeks in the primary, I am down to .010. I am sitting just a touch over 15%.

I am amazed how sweet this beer is at that gravity. The Hop flavor is out of this world! lots of Citrus flavor, with passion fruit, and a nice hint of sauvin flavor from the Nelson. I am surprised that the bittering is actually pronounced, after reading the other posts. The plan is to do 3 different dry hop additions once I transfer this to the secondary, with Citra and Nelson. I am stoked, this beer is going to rock!

 

[bottlebomber]

Cool story bro! It's sweet at that gravity because it's actually not at that gravity - the super high alcohol is making it read lower than a beer with the same amount of residual sugar and less alcohol would. But, I'll bet it will come down more. That 099 is a creeper. Mine finished at "1.00". Sounds delicious.

 

[SLCRebellion]

Just an update for those that are still following this thread. I transferred my beer from the primary to secondary last night and the gravity has stabilized at .007, not too shabby. Tasted the sample again, and HOLY CRAP! Grapefruit and Citrus central. It is not nearly as sweet and syrupy now, but the aromas are top notch. Added my first dry hop addition of 1oz each Citra, Nelson and Pacific Jade, Hop Bomb here we go!

 

[sfrisby]

Being that I didn't find any threads with solid info on The Bruery's Black Tuesday or Chocolate Rain, and since this thread was my inspiration, I thought this would be the best place to inquire.

I am brewing an attempt at Chocolate Rain. That is Bruery's boubon barrel aged imperial stout aged on cocoa nibs and vanilla beans. I did a stout that went from 1.120 to 1.029 with S-05. I then pitched a 6L starter of WLP099 and added a 50-50 split of brown sugar and corn sugar in 8oz increments. This is where it gets weird. It seems if done right, you all are adding 8oz sugar every 12 hours. So the yeast is burning through it at about 8 points a day. Mine is working through it at a rate of 1 point every 2 days. It was that rate at the beginning and is still going strong, but at that same slow rate since Dec 19th.

At one point I was concerned and did another 1L starter of 099 that I stepped up to 2L and pitched that. Still the same rate. Good news is it has been consistant and keeps plugging along after 7 of 12 planned sugar additions. Temperature in temp controlled fridge in garage doesn't get above 60 right now, so I have it in a closet upstairs at 68-72*. Any thoughts on the difference in 099 progress? Thanks.