Stephonovich
Well-Known Member
I'm trying to gently step into all original beers, and I figured a good way to get a feel for that is to modify a kit. That being said, a friend and myself have been dying to brew AHS Hop Bomb after trying Terrapin Hopsecutioner. The thing is, the ABV seems a bit low (7.5%? Really guys?) for such a hoppy beer, and we'd also like to bring up the malt just a bit, for some more balance. For reference, the OG is 1.073, and FG is 1.016. This will obviously be changed.
I have no idea what the grain bill (planning on a mini mash; haven't gotten into all grain yet) is like for this beer, but judging from past experience and the type of beer, I'd assume it's mostly 2 or 6 row, with some others thrown in - the AHS website claims for AG, 13 lb base, 1.5 lb specialty. Mini-mash is 8 lb LME, 1.75 lb base, 1.5 lb specialty.
The hop bill is, per a previous thread on HBT; Palisade, Cluster, Magnum, Willamette and Green Bullet. My only experience with hop varieties and how they affect a beer is via Sam Adams Latitude 48 IPA Deconstructed, which had Hallertau mf, East Kent Goldings, Ahtanum, Simcoe and Zeus. My favorite by far was Simcoe, with Zeus a close second. Lo and behold, they're both high in AA.
What I intend on doing is to add enough... something to bring ABV up to >= 10%, and balance the flavor. The two options I'm toying with right now is a corn sugar/amber DME combo, or candi sugar/amber DME. Alternately, of course, I could just up the grain bill. I'd like to bring up the malt content enough that it's present, and with a pleasant aftertaste. Something vaguely akin to Flying Dog Raging *****, albeit without the Belgian tones. Perhaps maltodextrin for the body?
I do intend on splitting the kit into two separate 2.5 gallon batches, with different malt contents. The hops will be identical, and I'll make two identical yeast starters. I'll probably just dry hop in the primary for simplicity's sake (waiting, of course, for fermentation to be mostly done - I intend on about 3 weeks in the primary).
Finally, I'm considering adding some Gypsum, to better eke out the last bit of hoppiness. Haven't done anything with water chemistry, although I am a nuclear operator in the Navy, and have a decent idea of how water is affected - I measured my [filtered] tap water at work, got a pH of ~7.20. Didn't bother with TDS, as I didn't think it would help much.
Any comments, constructive or otherwise, are appreciated.
I have no idea what the grain bill (planning on a mini mash; haven't gotten into all grain yet) is like for this beer, but judging from past experience and the type of beer, I'd assume it's mostly 2 or 6 row, with some others thrown in - the AHS website claims for AG, 13 lb base, 1.5 lb specialty. Mini-mash is 8 lb LME, 1.75 lb base, 1.5 lb specialty.
The hop bill is, per a previous thread on HBT; Palisade, Cluster, Magnum, Willamette and Green Bullet. My only experience with hop varieties and how they affect a beer is via Sam Adams Latitude 48 IPA Deconstructed, which had Hallertau mf, East Kent Goldings, Ahtanum, Simcoe and Zeus. My favorite by far was Simcoe, with Zeus a close second. Lo and behold, they're both high in AA.
What I intend on doing is to add enough... something to bring ABV up to >= 10%, and balance the flavor. The two options I'm toying with right now is a corn sugar/amber DME combo, or candi sugar/amber DME. Alternately, of course, I could just up the grain bill. I'd like to bring up the malt content enough that it's present, and with a pleasant aftertaste. Something vaguely akin to Flying Dog Raging *****, albeit without the Belgian tones. Perhaps maltodextrin for the body?
I do intend on splitting the kit into two separate 2.5 gallon batches, with different malt contents. The hops will be identical, and I'll make two identical yeast starters. I'll probably just dry hop in the primary for simplicity's sake (waiting, of course, for fermentation to be mostly done - I intend on about 3 weeks in the primary).
Finally, I'm considering adding some Gypsum, to better eke out the last bit of hoppiness. Haven't done anything with water chemistry, although I am a nuclear operator in the Navy, and have a decent idea of how water is affected - I measured my [filtered] tap water at work, got a pH of ~7.20. Didn't bother with TDS, as I didn't think it would help much.
Any comments, constructive or otherwise, are appreciated.