Fat Heads Sunshine Daydream clone attempt

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pickles

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This is one of my favorite session IPAs. There website has the following info:

OG 12.5p
FG 3.4p
60 IBU
Color: Golden
Malt: Pale, C-15, Carapils
Hops: Centennial
Yeast: American Ale
5.0% ABV

I'll work up a recipe starting point later today but thought I'd get the conversation started.
 
I just had this. Great beer. It's hard to dissect though, at least for me. Not much to the malt and it's certainly a blend of hops.

Thinking out loud...
2 row 90%
C-15 5%
Carapils 5%
Hops? Centennial, Amarillo, mosaic?

I'm going to need a few more to try to pin point the hops.
 
I know but it sure.seems more fruity to me...including tropical? Doesn't it to you? I wouldn't assume we should hang our hat on the web info.
 
It was just centennial but I think mosaic Amarillo and either citra or simcoe are in it as well.


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A buddy said the same thing when we had it the other day. He said it doesn't taste like Two Hearted which is all centennial.
 
ImageUploadedByHome Brew1406836739.190583.jpg

They've updated the beer info on their site. Looks like hops are HBC 342, Simcoe, Centennial, and Citra.
 
That makes more sense. I didn't note the Simcoe and I'm a big Simcoe fan. I'm guessing HBC 342 is melon and tropical.
 
My guess is they fwh and hop at the end, whirlpool/hopback and dry hop


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To me the bitterness isn't soft like I get from FWH. I'm guessing they use the simcoe and centennial at 60min to get ~35 - 40 IBU then the rest of the IBUs from late hops/whirlpool. Then dry hop.

You're correct that HCB-342 has melon and citrus flavors.
 
Well, I'm planning to take shot at this. I'm ordering from morebeer anyway, and they have the HBC hops and c15...sooooo, let me know what you think of this:

92% 2-row
4% carapils
4% C15

2g/gal Simcoe and Centennial@60 (~36 IBU)
3g/gal Centennial @flameout
6g/gal HBC342 & Citra @flameout
(no hopstand)
6g/gal HBC342 & Citra @dryhop

(3g≈1/2oz and 6g/gal≈1oz in 5 gal)

US05 at 67F
 
I brewed this two weeks ago:

Mashed at 148
5.4 ph mash

Treated mash and sparge water to get:
Ca 114
Mg 24
Na 7
Cl 11
SO4 354 {you read that correctly :) }

85% 2-row
5% carapils
10% C20

1.2 oz Simcoe ,Citra, and Centennial@60 (~38 IBU)

1.5 oz Simcoe ,Citra, and Centennial@10 (~13.2 IBU)

2.1 oz Simcoe ,Citra, and Centennial @flameout

20 min hopstand

3 oz Simcoe ,Citra, and Centennial @dryhop for 7 days

WLP001 starter + O2

I didn't have any C15 so I used C20 and still it's lighter SRM than Sunshine Daydream.

I couldn't find HBC 342 locally. I like your hop schedule and choices better although I'd up the amounts a bit for my liking. I couldn't decide what hops to use when so I went with a blend for all. I either don't like centennial or simcoe as a dry hop but not sure which. The beer before dry hop tasted pretty freaking good, but now it has an aroma that I find off putting. Might be esters too as I let my ferm temp creep to 72 for the first 24hr. It's also not carbed and very young even for a hoppy beer. I can still tell that mine is not close to Sunshine. I think I'd use the same grain bill but mash a bit higher next time.
 
I can understand wanting more hop flavor and aroma, but this beer isn't overly hopped, based on the draft samples I've had. It's very aromatic, with melon and fruit, but the hop flavor is relatively mute besides a firm bitterness. More appropriate for a session IPA imho.
 
N having used hbc342 I don't know how much it actually adds to this beer. I would say a background floral hoppiness and a mild nondescript melon/fruitiness, but the flavors seemed delicate and like the other hops would absolutely run this one over.

Pickles - Are you calculating IBU from your hopstand? You will definitely add some IBU there as well.
 
Smelling the HBC342 pellets, it was like a dank Citra. The fruit does seem more muted than similar hops. We'll see. The dry hops went in on Saturday into the primary.
 
Ok fellas. 11 day primary and three days in the keg and here's the first tasting. Not cloned. Mine is maltier and less bitter and less hop aroma.

wp_20140907_15_09_17_pro-63756.jpg


My OG was 1.052 and the US-05 got it down to 1.011 (78%). It was at 67°F the whole time. Published specs are 1.050 and 1.013. So mine is a touch bigger.

It's a touch darker, right? It tastes it as well. Slightly maltier. That plus higher gravity hurts it.

Hops? I swear, I regret putting simcoe in it at all. I can taste simcoe in mine and can't in the original. Besides that, the original has more bite (more 60 min IBUs) and the bitterness is different. No simcoe. Maybe Citra?

...and there's more hop aroma in the original. I dry hopped in primary, which I never do. I always dry hop in the keg. I didn't this time cuz I didn't have any spare kegs available. I know that I got less extraction out of the hops here(my tea balls were buried in the yeast cake). Regardless, more dry hop needed:

some changes for the next batch: less adjuncts; target 45 IBUs at 60 min, more dry hop

(planned changes in bold)
93% 2-row
5% carapils
2% C15

3g/gal Citra and Centennial@60 (~45 IBU)
6g/gal Centennial @flameout
6g/gal HBC342 & Citra @flameout
9g/gal HBC342 & Citra & centennial @dryhop

US05 at 67F

The clone beer is fine but it's too malty. I need to mash lower and add more carapils to counter lower mash temp.
 
What was your mash temp? My clone was definitely lighter than Sunshine. I found my bitterness to be pretty good but too harsh. I'm going to use Hopshot next time for bitterness. Also mine could have used more aroma and flavor from late late additions. We slurped it down though!
 
I know this is an older thread but has anyone made another attempt at cloning Sunshine Daydream? I'd love to brew a clone of this beer. It's one of my go to beers in the summer.
 
Posting to bump and see if anyone has any updates on cloning this brew. I would love to make it. I live not far from the brewery and getting it fresh it is like no other.
 
i love this beer. Since Big Brew is tomorrow, I ordered up the Ingredients and plan on brewing this tomorrow. I'll reply back when I can evaluate it next to the original.

Thanks for the help. I'm on my phone so can't easily post the recipe, but will when it's done.

Titus
 
I just ordered more HBC-342 and ill try again as well.

Its my favorite session IPA, after having gotten the chance to try the big name ones.
 
Hi Weezy. I used a slightly modified version of your recipe due to ingredients (had to swap c10 in for c15, and increase by 50%).

And I used slightly more buttering hops because I was lazy and did not weigh them out well.

For yeast, my favorite house yeast is San Diego Super Yeast. And I formulated this for 6 gallons to deal with losses and collect 5 gal of finished beer.

Strike water 8.3 gallons @ 160 F
Mash at 148-149 for 1 hour
Boil 1 hour, 7 gallons

Fermentables:

2 Row Base 36ppg, 2°L 9.5 pounds 90.5%

CaraPils 32ppg, 2°L 8 ounces 4.8%

Crystal 10L 34ppg, 10°L 8 ounces 4.8%

Hop Schedule:
Bittering addition:

Centennial hops, 10%, Pellet, 1 ounce @ 60 minutes (+0)

Citra hops, 11%, Pellet, 1 ounce @ 60 minutes (+0)

Flameout addition:
Citra hops, 11%, Pellet, 1 ounce @ 0 minutes (+60)

HBC 342 hops, 12%, Pellet, 1 ounce @ 0 minutes (+60)

Ferment:
14 days, single stage @ 67°F

Dry Hopping in last 7 days:

Dry Hopping Addition:
Citra hops, 11%, Pellet, 1.5 ounces 7 days (+7 days)

HBC 342 hops, 12%, Pellet, 1.5 ounces 7 days (+7 days)



So, we will see. Oh, I'm missing OG. and FG. I boiled to much and took my reading with a refractometer and had read 16 Brix. I added water to reduce to 1.055, estimated. Won't know FG until completed.
 
You know, I realized I messed up my first try. I used dingemanns 8.5L carapils rather than the normal 2L dextrin malt carapils! My LHBS labels it "carapils" and the real name us under it in small print. Dumb on my part. The low color one is labeled "dextrin malt".
 
You know, I realized I messed up my first try. I used dingemanns 8.5L carapils rather than the normal 2L dextrin malt carapils! My LHBS labels it "carapils" and the real name us under it in small print. Dumb on my part. The low color one is labeled "dextrin malt".


Hey Weezy, did you ever brew this one again? I might make this my first all grain brew. I love this beer.
 
Forgot to circle back on this. I brewed this twice in a few weeks, and compared it to a fresh 6 pack of Sunshine Daydream. There were several differences, but also the SD from the brewery is subtly different. The original has much less of the melon and citrus character that I originally enjoyed. Someone on a forum somewhere mentioned they had a change in recipe as it got more popular. My clones were more like the original than their current bottled version. Slightly darker, though. Next time I would shave a little off the c10. Final thought, the second time I brewed this, I hopped it mainly at the end with the dryhop additions, as it was starting the chill. I think this saved me a lot of hassle with dry hopping, and still had the aroma and flavor I had in the first, but without some of the green chlorophyllic character of dry hopping. hth.
 
I'm subbing to this thread, really dug Sunshine Daydream when I had it a couple years ago.
 
Any update on a recipe for this beer? Sounds like a good one. Can't get it where I live to compare though.
Might give it a go with belma instead of hb342 as it seems to be the closest hop I have. :tank
 
I did. Still not cloned so I didn't post about. :-( Not much point in pointing out my failures. I figured I'd wait until I got something close enough. I really do like the hop. Maybe next brew. It's a nice summer beer. I just brewed a session red IPA this weekend but I have some 05 slurry in the fridge and HBC-342 in the freezer.
 
I did. Still not cloned so I didn't post about. :-( Not much point in pointing out my failures. I figured I'd wait until I got something close enough. I really do like the hop. Maybe next brew. It's a nice summer beer. I just brewed a session red IPA this weekend but I have some 05 slurry in the fridge and HBC-342 in the freezer.

Thanks for the quick reply.
Let us know how your next attempt turns out.

:)
 
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