Heady Topper Clone Brew 4.0
The fermentation chamber has been cleared of high-temp-needy Saisons and its time to brew another Heady Topper clone. This one might be a winner, its really close. For this 5-gallon batch brewed on 5/4/2013, the grain bill was 86.8% Pearl, 3.8% Caramalt, 5.7% Torrified Wheat, and 3.7% Turbinado Sugar. Up to this point, I have used the following hop bill :
10ml of hop jizz @90 minutes = 107 IBUs
1 oz of Columbus (14% AA) + 0.5 ounces of Apollo (12.5%AA) @5 minutes
2 oz of Columbus(14% AA) + 1 ounce of Simcoe(13%AA) at flameout.
I turn on the chiller for about 5 minutes to get the wort down to 180 then I add:
1 ounce of Columbus
1 ounce of Simcoe
0.75 ounces of Amarillo
0.5 ounces of Apollo + 0.5 ounces of Centennial
I swirl the hops around with my immersion chiller every 5 minutes for a total of 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, turn on the chiller again and bring down to pitching temp of 68. By the time you get to 68, your last minute additions and whirlpool hops will have had about an hour of contact time with the wort and will be very aromatic.
While its too early, way too early, to render a final verdict, I got a very distinct Heady Topper aroma out of the bottom of the kettle after Id filled up the carboy. Im still not sure if it was the Apollo addition, the fresh batch of Columbus I used, or the new ratio of hops. Whatever it was it intrigued and excited me for what this brew will turn out like.
I will be fermenting this batch at 68 degrees with an insulated temperature probe taped to the carboy. I pitched 225ml of slurry harvested the 2nd week of April. Expected something like 200-250 billion cells to make it in there. After 3 days I rose the temperature to 71 degrees until day 14. I crashed down to 58 degrees and commenced the two-stage dry hop. This is the most accurate fermentation temperature schedule out there. There is no evidence that Heady Topper is fermented in the low 60s like reported elsewhere. 68-72-58.
Heady Topper Clone Attempt 4.0
Beersmith file for download
Beer XML file
Imperial IPA
Type: All Grain Date: 5/2/2013
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 6.47 gal
Boil Time: 90 min
End of Boil Volume 5.72 gal Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal Est Mash Efficiency 77.7 %
Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
11 lbs 8.0 oz Pearl Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 1 86.8 %
8.0 oz Thomas Fawcett CaraMalt (12 SRM) Grain 2 3.8 %
12.0 oz Canada Malting Group White Wheat (3.5 SRM) Grain 3 5.7 %
8.0 oz Turbinado (10.0 SRM) Sugar 14 3.8 %
Hops
10ml Hopshot [3.45 %] Boil 90.0 min Hop 4 117.8 IBUs
1.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] Boil 5.0 min Hop 5 8.9 IBUs
0.50 oz Apollo [12.50 %] Boil 5.0 min Hop 6 4.0 IBUs
2.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] Boil 0.0 min Hop 7 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] Boil 0.0 min Hop 10 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] Aroma Steep 30.0 min Hop 8 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] Aroma Steep 30.0 min Hop 9 0.0 IBUs
0.75 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] Aroma Steep 30.0 min Hop 11 0.0 IBUs
0.50 oz Centennial [10.50 %] Aroma Steep 30.0 min Hop 13 0.0 IBUs
0.50 oz Apollo [12.50 %] Aroma Steep 30.0 min Hop 12 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] Dry Hop 8.0 Days Hop 16 0.0 IBUs
2.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] Dry Hop 8.0 Days Hop 15 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] Dry Hop 8.0 Days Hop 17 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Centennial [10.50 %] Dry Hop 8.0 Days Hop 18 0.0 IBUs
0.50 oz Apollo [17.00 %] Dry Hop 8.0 Days Hop 19 0.0 IBUs
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.073 SG Measured Original Gravity: 1.073 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.014 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 7.8 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 8.5 %
Bitterness: 130.7 IBUs Calories: 249.4 kcal/12oz
Est Color: 6.1 SRM
Yeast
Its very important to use Conan yeast, the Alchemists proprietary yeast strain. Its super unique, high attenuation, and gives a peachy aroma when treated right. Keep you eyes out for a new yeast YG001 Green Mountains Ale Yeast which has very similar characteristics. It goes on sale every Monday at 8PM EST/5PM PST, you can find it here:
http://yeastgeek.com/product/yg001-green-mountains-ale/
Mash Profile
Mash Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge Total Grain Weight: 13 lbs 4.0 oz
Sparge Water: 4.00 gal Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F Tun Temperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE Mash PH: 5.20
Name Description Step Temperature Step Time
Mash In Add 17.05 l of water at 163.5 F 150.0 F 60 min
Sparge Step: Drain mash tun, Batch sparge with 1 steps (4.00gal) of 168.0 F water
Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).
* 5/6/2013- Main fermentation complete. No krausen. Liquid is creamy orange. Typical fermentation minus the Krausen.
*5/8/2013- Airlock activity slowed to 1 bubble every two seconds. A 1″ Krausen came up the night of 5/6/2013 and is back down to a 1/4 inch ring today. Smelling great in the ferm chamber.
* 5/9/2013- Took gravity reading. Sample is very peachy with noticeable Caramalt contribution similar to the Caravienne I was using before. The smell pre dryhop very much reminds me of the bottom of a can of Heady, after all the dryhop aroma has left the can.
You can see the yeast is still suspended. Gravity reading was 1.014 so I hope itll creep in to 1.010 over the next 2 weeks. If not Ill lower mash temp to 149.
* 5/16/2013- After constructing my new CO2 wand I threw in half of the dry hop, stirred and roused with CO2. This half of the dry hop was 1 ounce of Simcoe, 0.75 ounces of Columbus, 0.5 ounces of Amarillo, 0.5 ounces of Centennial, and 0.25 ounces of Apollo.