So I kegged it a couple days ago and finally got to taste it fully carbed today. As you can see (mine is on the right, real deal on the left), the color is not quite right... But I must say that I have had cloudy cans of Epiphany in the past. The last two releases from them have been crystal clear so I don't know if they changed their recipe or what? Mine could very well clear out with more time in the keg also (and I have a bit of hop debris floating around still, that will clear also)... time will tell.
I didn't hit the FG that I wanted... Only got down to about 1.012 (started at 1.070). I'm not real sure what happened there, but that's what I got.
More importantly, the taste: To me this came out very similar as far as the hop flavors go. Mine is definitely a little dryer, a little sharper than the real thing. I didn't get the mouthfeel quite right, their's is definitely a little softer (perhaps more malty?) on the palate. Mine has a bit more of a bite to it that I don't necessarily consider a bad thing. My version seems a bit more towards a Bissell Brothers style... it definitely works, but there is surely something different in their grain bill that I'm missing and I would like to figure out what they're doing.
The aroma is pretty much identical, although mine is a bit more pronounced. I may have over done it a little on the late/dry hop additions, but it will probably fade as it ages and be a dead ringer.
All in all, I'm very satisfied with how this brew came out. I have ten gallons of it and that makes me a very happy man
I am still interested in trying to tweak this some more and see how close we can get. Please help me with anything you see that could be potential problems and feel free to critique anything you see here. Also, please share if you're attempting this one.
Here's the details of what I did:
10 gallon batch (11.5-12 gallons into fermenters) BIAB full volume mash no sparge
Overall Water:
Ca+2 = 135.8
Mg+2 = 5.0
Na+ = 51.0
Cl- = 90
SO4-2 = 223.1
mash pH = 5.43
Grain Bill:
11.5 lbs 2-row
11.5 lbs Pilsner
2.5 lbs Golden Naked Oats
0.75 lbs Acid Malt
2 lbs. Dextrose
Mashed at 152
2 oz columbus FWH
Flameout:
2 oz Cascade
@200 degrees F:
2 oz Ella
2 oz Mosaic
3 oz Citra
@150 degrees F:
3 oz Ella
3 oz Mosaic
6 oz Citra
("slow chilled" allowed to cool on it's own overnight.)
Dry Hop #1 at slow ferment(per 5 gal):
0.7oz Ella
1 oz Mosaic
1.7 oz Citra
Dry Hop #2 few days before keg(per 5 gal):
0.7 oz Ella
1 oz Mosaic
1.7 oz Citra
(these dry hop amounts were based on what I had left out of the bags, split evenly)
Edit: London III Yeast