Heady Topper- Can you clone it?

Williams 728
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1fast636 said:
Question for the ones that have used it, how is farmhouse brewings kit, the price is way better then I could do at my LHBS or even northernbrewer, says it's right off this thread on hbt, and I compared and seems to be legit. Any one that has brewed this kit have insight think this might be one of my next brews if I hear positive about there kit. Anyone know what there shipping cost are?
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I used their kit. Can't say how it compares to Heady, but it made a great beer. I'll probably brew it again.
 
Even with 12.99 I couldn't buy all the ingredients at my LHBS for that price and hell might as well get some other hops while I'm at it too like you said about. Thanks might give it a try
 
Yeah I got two pounds of hops in the box for no additional charge. I think I got some cascades and centennials. Came to like $88 total.
 
How commonly do they make this kit available? If anything I'll call them and see if they could make me a hop pack like they have on the pliny kit and get the grain locally
 
joehoppy said:
I brewed the Northern Brewer recipe exactly as it is written about a month ago. Brought some to our monthly club meeting the other night but did not say what it was other than being a double IPA. Everyone LOVED it! Lots of compliments and from those who have had heady before they indeed said it was very Heady like.
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I also just opened up my batch - the Northern Brewer recipe. used the hop extract. got about 8 gallons out of it. definitely one of the better double IPAs I've brewed in awhile. already planning on another 10 gallon batch soon. I can see this being my standard beer to keep on one of my two taps.
 
I placed an order for what I didn't have. Hope I picked the right yeast.

image.jpg
 
Conan is available from several yeast labs:

GigaYeast GY054 Vermont IPA
The Yeast Bay Vermont Ale
Omega Yeast Labs DIPA Ale OYL-052
East Coast Yeast ECY29 Northeast Ale
 
1fast636 said:
How commonly do they make this kit available? If anything I'll call them and see if they could make me a hop pack like they have on the pliny kit and get the grain locally
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I'd email them and ask. Every time I've had a question they were really quick to respond. They even gave me a heads up when the kits were ready. If you sign up for the newsletter they usually send an email out when the kits are back in stock also.
 
Anyone using Beer Tools Pro? I'm trying to find out how to add the Hopshot to the recipe for proper IBU calculations.

Rob

EDIT: Also, if you are going to steep for 30 mins, wouldn't the 0 min additions just be considered as steep as well?
 
I watched a video with John and I think we can get this recipe very close if we pay special attention to our water profiles. He mentioned a ph of 5.2-5.4...nothing more than that. He pushes his beer with co2 after any hops are added because the impellers change the characteristics of the hops. The Hop shot is key to prevent grassy flavors. 4 days of dry hop for each addition max...lastly, he knows more about how this yeast behaves more than anybody alive...I think this is a huge part of heady topper that we don't get.
 
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/heady-topper-results-ward-labs-481031/

Water

pH - 4.3
TDS - 1584
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm - 2.64
Cations/Anions, me/L - 36.6/20.6**

ppm
Sodium, Na - 25
Potassium, K - 802
Calcium, Ca - 110
Magnesium, Mg - 113
Total Hardness, CaCO3 - 746
Nitrate, NO3-N - 17.6
Sulfate, SO4-S - 156
Chloride, Cl - 339
Carbonate, CO3 - <1.0
Bicarbonate, HCO3 - <1
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 - <1
Total Phosphorus, P - 278.10
Total Iron, Fe - 0.37
"<" = Not Detected/Below Detection Limit
** = Total phosphorus not included in cation/anion calculati

Although this is obvi from the finished beer so take it for what its worth.
 
So this is a profile of heady topper then???? The beer itself? Based on the PH alone it tells me it is.
 
lbond2 said:
So this is a profile of heady topper then???? The beer itself? Based on the PH alone it tells me it is.
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Yes. It's not useful for working out the water profile precisely, because yeast, trub, malt, etc. change the mineral content.

The best guess is that you need to add a lot of gypsum and get near to the regularly cited Burton on Trent deep aquifer profile, at about 750 ppm sulfate.

Note that Ward Labs reports sulfate (SO4) as 1/3 the actual sulfate ppm.
 
Hmmmmm...I know john mentioned how the yeast acts with the right water profile based on a question from the crowd about how Conan Yeats does not drop out...he laughed and basically quoted they don't know water chemistry.
 
BIG HEADY TOPPER HOPS DISCOVERY

OK... maybe not that big, but I found something interesting. I did a search to find if this was already brought up or not, but seeing as we are dealing with 200+ pages in this thread, I couldn't find it.

If this is new though, i think its interesting. Got a new book "Beers of the World" by Mark Dredge. Found it actually listed hops for HT. accurate? who knows. I found the book online as well at this link.
http://issuu.com/gillermo/docs/craft_beer_world_-_mark_dredge

States "NO C-hops, just euro noble hops." very interesting. Assumption or fact?

heady1.png


heady2.png


heady3.png
 
HT screams citrusy/dank American hops. I've brewed lots of German, English, and Belgian beers with European hops and cannot believe this person's description is accurate.
 
I don't see it either, just thought it was odd to make such a bold assumption in an actual publication.
 
Is giga's yeast labeled dipa yeast on the packet? The wife got me the farmhouse brewing kit for Valentine's Day and that's what the giga yeast pack says
 
Correction I just looked again it's omega yeast, and the DIPA is the conan didn't think they would mess the main contributor of heady up lol I was moving alil slow this morning lol
 
I dunno I was looking at the auStin homebrew kit and they don't even give the option for a Vermont ale yeast and it's priced higher then the one from farm house that has everything except the Turbin (sp) sugar and is based off the recipe on here
 
Helly said:
Thanks for sharing but I don't buy it.
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I feel ya here. In this month's BYO, the Recipe Editor and author of "Vermont Cult Clones" (Dave Green) says that he knows there's 6 different hops in there but some of them not being US seems a stretch. He specifically mentions noticing Simcoe and states that John Kimmich reviewed the recipe published in BYO (2013) and made some changes...but not the hops.

:rockin:
 
According to John..a key water profile is a must for the yeast to drop out properly...also for the hop profile of this beer.
 
Yea because the haze and cloudy body of the beer is because of the malt and all the hops, looks like my going to my local Wally World and getting some RO water for a clean slate, now since I'm using RO how do you go about the salts and stuff? Trying to nail this water for an amazing turn out of a beer sorry for all the questions
 
In alternative news, I just learned that an old childhood friend of swmbo recently moved to VT and I've tasked her to find and send me some real HT. When I get some will plan a side by side with a revisited brew of this recipe
 
ultravista said:
Is Conan an absolute must or would WLP001 work as well?
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Well, You're comparing an English yeast to an American one. It won't be the same beer. I was fortunate enough to have some on Sunday and Conan is undoubtedly more fruity than 001. Not to say there aren't dry English yeasts, but I didn't get that impression from the taste. Also, I think the yeast produces the awesome mouthfeel Heady has.
 
BreezyBrew said:
Well, You're comparing an English yeast to an American one. It won't be the same beer. I was fortunate enough to have some on Sunday and Conan is undoubtedly more fruity than 001. Not to say there aren't dry English yeasts, but I didn't get that impression from the taste. Also, I think the yeast produces the awesome mouthfeel Heady has.
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I couldn't agree more with this...Conan is the star of the show in almost all aspects...
 
On another note..I recently purchased a hop rocket and passed my Conan IPA effort through the rocket packed with 1oz whole leaf simcoe..which is what heady I believe is passed through when canning....WOW, what a difference this makes in an IPA...smooth, potent, and yummy. It's a must if you truly want to clone this beer.
 
lbond2 said:
On another note..I recently purchased a hop rocket and passed my Conan IPA effort through the rocket packed with 1oz whole leaf simcoe..which is what heady I believe is passed through when canning....WOW, what a difference this makes in an IPA...smooth, potent, and yummy. It's a must if you truly want to clone this beer.
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Can you elaborate one when did this in your process? I have been thinking about this as well for an IPA.

Did you pass it through the hop rocket after fermentation and into your keg, then carbonate? What temperature was the beer when you passed it through the hop rocket?
 

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