Firestone Walker Wookey Jack Clone Attempt

[samandbekah]

Warning to all of you guys using a rectangular 70 qt cooler and if you decide to double the recipe (I do 12 gallon batches)... mash thin or use tons of rice hulls... my last brew day was a disaster of a stuck sparge... I was able to salvage about 9 gallons but my numbers were terrible... bummed me out... my prior brews of this had been spot on... hoping the hops still shine through on this baby to offset any bad flavors I may extracted in the mash

 

[orangemen5]

Warning to all of you guys using a rectangular 70 qt cooler and if you decide to double the recipe (I do 12 gallon batches)... mash thin or use tons of rice hulls... my last brew day was a disaster of a stuck sparge... I was able to salvage about 9 gallons but my numbers were terrible... bummed me out... my prior brews of this had been spot on... hoping the hops still shine through on this baby to offset any bad flavors I may extracted in the mash

What do you think was the cause of your stuck sparge. Not a lot of wheat in the recipe. Over crushed grains?
I'm just curious. Sucks when brew day goes wrong.
I use rice hulls for all my beers. It's just cheap insurance. Plus I mill my grain a little finer than I should.

 

[orangemen5]

Warning to all of you guys using a rectangular 70 qt cooler and if you decide to double the recipe (I do 12 gallon batches)... mash thin or use tons of rice hulls... my last brew day was a disaster of a stuck sparge... I was able to salvage about 9 gallons but my numbers were terrible... bummed me out... my prior brews of this had been spot on... hoping the hops still shine through on this baby to offset any bad flavors I may extracted in the mash

Just bought a 72 qt cooler for 10 gallon batches. Wondering why you mentioned the cooler size and if it had anything to do with it.

 

[skeezerpleezer]

Just bought a 72 qt cooler for 10 gallon batches. Wondering why you mentioned the cooler size and if it had anything to do with it.

I imagine grain crush, mash tun design, and process have more to do with it than the cooler itself.

 

[samandbekah]

Just bought a 72 qt cooler for 10 gallon batches. Wondering why you mentioned the cooler size and if it had anything to do with it.

I think it was a combo of the size of my mash ton, grain crushed too fine and not a thin enough mash... my recipe called for 33 lbs of grain and the last time I brewed the batch before the stuck sparge, I had a lot of overview from the ton not being able to close when full...

so I went a little thicker with the mash water ratio and was going to do two smaller sparge runs instead of one normal and that was costly. I was literally depressed the entire brew day. I hate ruining beer!

 

[skeezerpleezer]

I think it was a combo of the size of my mash ton, grain crushed too fine and not a thin enough mash... my recipe called for 33 lbs of grain and the last time I brewed the batch before the stuck sparge, I had a lot of overview from the ton not being able to close when full...

so I went a little thicker with the mash water ratio and was going to do two smaller sparge runs instead of one normal and that was costly. I was literally depressed the entire brew day. I hate ruining beer!

Do you use a stainless steel braid or a manifold?

 

[samandbekah]

Do you use a stainless steel braid or a manifold?

SS braid, it was pretty shriveled up by the end of the mash after removing the grain...I thought about replacing it...

 

[skeezerpleezer]

SS braid, it was pretty shriveled up by the end of the mash after removing the grain...I thought about replacing it...

That could be part of your problem. If the weight of the grain is crushing it won't work as well. There are a lot of ways that you can support it on the inside if you do a search on here you will probably find several ideas.

 

[samandbekah]

That could be part of your problem. If the weight of the grain is crushing it won't work as well. There are a lot of ways that you can support it on the inside if you do a search on here you will probably find several ideas.

Thanks skeezer I will look into that for sure

 

[brk3]

Is the roast/coffee aromas strong in this beer? I'm considering doing it but will have to swap out the midnight wheat for chocolate wheat as it's all I can get. Reckon that would affect it much?

 

[sk888smooth]

i would highly suggest not swapping it out. The midnight wheat gives a great roasty flavor you will miss with chocolate.

 

[crusader1612]

Is the roast/coffee aromas strong in this beer? I'm considering doing it but will have to swap out the midnight wheat for chocolate wheat as it's all I can get. Reckon that would affect it much?

If you must swap it out. Use carafa 2 or 3. But yes stick with the op recipe.

 

[PackerfaninSanDiego]

well it's been 20 days since I brewed this, OG was 1.086 and today it's 1.022. I gave it a swirl and tossed in the first dry hop. Recipe calls of a 1.080 OG and a 1.015 FG, which puts the AVB @ 8.6%, my reading put the ABV @ 8.4%. I still have another 7 days before I bottle, per the recipe. Kind of curious if my beer is finished out @ 1.022 or not. Guess I'll find out in a day or two when I take another reading.

 

[mtnagel]

Just wanted to say this recipe is awesome. Not sure why I waited a year to brew it again.

 

[mdbrewer1]

well it's been 20 days since I brewed this, OG was 1.086 and today it's 1.022. I gave it a swirl and tossed in the first dry hop. Recipe calls of a 1.080 OG and a 1.015 FG, which puts the AVB @ 8.6%, my reading put the ABV @ 8.4%. I still have another 7 days before I bottle, per the recipe. Kind of curious if my beer is finished out @ 1.022 or not. Guess I'll find out in a day or two when I take another reading.

I imagine after 20 days it's gone as far as it will go.

Do you know how you got the additional OG points? If those points came in the form of unfermentables, that would pretty much account for the difference.

 

[geoffey]

well it's been 20 days since I brewed this, OG was 1.086 and today it's 1.022. I gave it a swirl and tossed in the first dry hop. Recipe calls of a 1.080 OG and a 1.015 FG, which puts the AVB @ 8.6%, my reading put the ABV @ 8.4%. I still have another 7 days before I bottle, per the recipe. Kind of curious if my beer is finished out @ 1.022 or not. Guess I'll find out in a day or two when I take another reading.

I'm interested in how your batch tastes at 1.022. I brewed this back in November and couldn't get it to drop past 1.018 and at that point it was too sweet. I pitched a vial of San Diego super yeast and it did bring it down a couple more points, but it's really un-drinkable at this point. I'm pretty sure I know the mistake I made was adding extra dark Belgian candi syrup to this recipe, but I'm not 100% sure. So really curious if your batch is drinkable at the 1.020 range or if it's just too sweet.

 

[PackerfaninSanDiego]

just took a reading and it's still at 1.022. FYI, this is the Farmhouse Brewing Clone kit, all went well with the brew, so I have no idea what to do at this point. I took a taste and it's is not sweet at all.

 

[mdbrewer1]

just took a reading and it's still at 1.022. FYI, this is the Farmhouse Brewing Clone kit, all went well with the brew, so I have no idea what to do at this point. I took a taste and it's is not sweet at all.

If you're using a kit, I'm curious how you came in 6 points above the estimated OG. Perhaps your hydrometer paper slipped a bit and is reading 6 points higher? That might explain a higher reading, while not being overly sweet.

Can you take a reading in water and see what you get?

 

[PackerfaninSanDiego]

If you're using a kit, I'm curious how you came in 6 points above the estimated OG. Perhaps your hydrometer paper slipped a bit and is reading 6 points higher? That might explain a higher reading, while not being overly sweet.

Can you take a reading in water and see what you get?

hydrometer is spot on

 

[skeezerpleezer]

If you're using a kit, I'm curious how you came in 6 points above the estimated OG. Perhaps your hydrometer paper slipped a bit and is reading 6 points higher? That might explain a higher reading, while not being overly sweet.



Can you take a reading in water and see what you get?

There are several reasons the OG could be high Could have been an AG kit, in which case efficiency still comes in to play, Could have boiled off too much, etc.


The mash, oxygenating the wort, and lots of healthy yeast are critical to get this to ferment out.

 

[mdbrewer1]

There are several reasons the OG could be high Could have been an AG kit, in which case efficiency still comes in to play, Could have boiled off too much, etc.


The mash, oxygenating the wort, and lots of healthy yeast are critical to get this to ferment out.

I thought about those factors, but figure I'd see if the simplest answer might be the right one.

Maybe the IBUs are high enough that 1.022 wouldn't stand out as being as sweet as I expected, which would open up some of the usual suspects, some of which you mentioned, as the reason for the high FG.

1.086 is a fairly high OG. Which yeast did you use and how big of a starter did you make? How do you oxygenate?

 

[jlangfo5]

Has anyone else who tried the original beer from the brewery thought that it tasted or smelt dank and herbal? I had it in downtown KC on tap and thought the beer was great, I was wondering about experimenting with the hops to make it have a strong dank, woody, herbal hop profile with come citrus to brighten it up.

 

[olotti]

Has anyone else who tried the original beer from the brewery thought that it tasted or smelt dank and herbal? I had it in downtown KC on tap and thought the beer was great, I was wondering about experimenting with the hops to make it have a strong dank, woody, herbal hop profile with come citrus to brighten it up.

I just had it this weekend in Chicago out of the 12 oz bottle and it certainly smells of the amarillo and citra. Good beer and this clone is really spot on, I used some diff hops when I made mine and it still was real close. If u want the dank was I'd def consider playing with chinook in the mix somewhere. Great earthy, resiny, woody hop prob would go well with the citra and amarillo.

 

[jlangfo5]

Any particular suggestions on a modified hop schedule for the hops I have available? It doesn't have to come up exactly like the original, I really liked it a lot but I would not have minded it being more dank, herbal, piney, resinous etc. I was not able to get Amarillo Gold, so I was thinking about using a mix of Cascade and Centennial to make up that part.

2 oz Cascade
7 oz Centennial
3 oz Chinook
2 oz Citra
2 oz El Dorado
1 oz Magnum
2 oz Nelson Sauvin
2 oz Nugget
6 oz Saaz

 

[mdbrewer1]

Cascade and Centennial won't get you the dank, herbal, piney characteristics. Chinook will give you more of that piney, resinous flavor. I'm fairly new and don't have any first-hand knowledge of most of the others, but I'm not a big fan of Chinook for just that reason.

 

[jnewell]

How quickly does this drop to the final gravity? I made this Sunday night with an OG of 1.082 now I'm just wondering when I should check to make sure it fully attenuated.

 

[samandbekah]

How quickly does this drop to the final gravity? I made this Sunday night with an OG of 1.082 now I'm just wondering when I should check to make sure it fully attenuated.

I'd give it at least two weeks

 

[PackerfaninSanDiego]

I bottled on 2-2-15. Two weeks later had first one and it was very good. I've had about 4 more by the end of March. Opened on up yesterday, head and carbonation were perfect, but the taste has gone down hill, big time. I'll try another one sometime this week. It better be good, or down the drain the rest go.

 

[Lpera]

Going to try this by the end of the month. Just missing the Midnight Wheat, which is very hard to find in Brazil but luckily found a HBS that sells it.

Still not sure if I am going with the 04 or 05...never had the chance to try this beer, found this thread by accident while looking for ideas for a Black IPA!!

 

[m00ps]

I've heard firestone uses the same strain as WY1968 for most of their beers