Help me clone Victory Hop Ranch

[Snicklefritz]

So I did brew this on Saturday as planned. My garage smelled like heaven during the hop stand. If it tastes half as good as it smells, I'll be happy.

Hit 70% efficiency for a 1.084 SG.

 

[Ilan34]

So I did brew this on Saturday as planned. My garage smelled like heaven during the hop stand. If it tastes half as good as it smells, I'll be happy.

Hit 70% efficiency for a 1.084 SG.

Nice! Good luck.

I opened all of mine last night and dropped in priming tablets. It's my last resort, but I think it could work. Won't be as fresh unfortunately, but it's better than a wasted batch!

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[Snicklefritz]

Mine was sitting at 1.018 last night. Pretty sure that's all I am going to get out of it. I think I will be dry hopping tomorrow. The hydro sample tasted and smelled amazing, I can't imagine what 10 days of dry hopping is going to add to it. Definitely pleased with this so far although I feel mine came out slightly more bitter than I anticipated I think due to the hop stand.

 

[Snicklefritz]

Kegged last night. Finished at 1.017 for a final ABV of 8.7%. May mash at 148 next time to eek out some more fermentables. Although I'm not sure how close I came to actually cloning Hop Ranch, it definitely has the same aroma and is pretty damn tasty.

 

[Ilan34]

Kegged last night. Finished at 1.017 for a final ABV of 8.7%. May mash at 148 next time to eek out some more fermentables. Although I'm not sure how close I came to actually cloning Hop Ranch, it definitely has the same aroma and is pretty damn tasty.

Awesome! How is your bitterness?

I finally had a carbed up version last night - it's been in the bottle for 7 weeks at this point! I had major issues with carbonation and potential oxidation.

Mine finished at 1.014. It smells and tastes just like mango juice. The one I tried last night had been chilled for just over 24 hours - I was impatient! I normally wait three days. Anyway, it's still hoppy, but not the hop bomb it would have been a month ago. It seemed a bit too sweet - it's a little more like a tropical barleywine at this point. However, it's possible that as more CO2 gets absorbed into solution this week, it will mask some of that malt sweetness.

In general, it tasted good, but I can't even recall what Hop Ranch tasted like! Damn seasonal. If I do this one over, I think I'll increase my 60 min addition by at least 15 ibu.

On the plus side, it's very quaffable for a 9% beer - no hint of booziness.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[Snicklefritz]

Awesome! How is your bitterness?

I finally had a carbed up version last night - it's been in the bottle for 7 weeks at this point! I had major issues with carbonation and potential oxidation.

Mine finished at 1.014. It smells and tastes just like mango juice. The one I tried last night had been chilled for just over 24 hours - I was impatient! I normally wait three days. Anyway, it's still hoppy, but not the hop bomb it would have been a month ago. It seemed a bit too sweet - it's a little more like a tropical barleywine at this point. However, it's possible that as more CO2 gets absorbed into solution this week, it will mask some of that malt sweetness.

In general, it tasted good, but I can't even recall what Hop Ranch tasted like! Damn seasonal. If I do this one over, I think I'll increase my 60 min addition by at least 15 ibu.

On the plus side, it's very quaffable for a 9% beer - no hint of booziness.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Home Brew mobile app

Funny you mention mango juice. That was the exact same first reaction I had and I don't recall Hop Ranch having that. My bitterness actually turned out a little higher than I expected. Could be due to the extended hopstand or me not using the hopshot properly.

 

[Snicklefritz]

Mine is all carbed and has been getting gulped up quickly. I can't believe how tasty this is. I've had multiple people comment to me that this is the best beer that I have ever made (some of whom know good beer). I will definitely be adding this to my rotation. I think I am going to try this hop combo with different grain bills as well.

 

[aStoutObserver]

I just purchased some Azacca hops and I wanted to see what I was in for, so I bought a pack of Hop Ranch. Dang, this stuff is good. I already have had mosaic so I can somewhat tell what it is bringing to the party. I'm really excited to brew with this hop now.

 

[Snicklefritz]

I have been dying to brew this again but was not able to get my hands on Azacca hops until this year's crop came out. I snagged 4lbs of Azacca so I'll be brewing this plenty this year. Just brewed it again today. Skipped the hopshot and added 1oz of each at 10 minutes. Then another 2oz of each at flameout and whirlpooled for 30 minutes. This should bump the IBUs to about 77 according to BeerSmith. I've also dubbed the beer 'Hop Corral' its definitely not an exact clone of the original but its really good.

 

[bucketofhops]

I went on the brew tour at Victory a month or so ago. The tour guide said that in the high alcohol ipa's like dirt wolf and hop ranch they use sugar to up the ABV's.
I was disapointed to hear that but it probably lowers costs and keeps the body light.
so I guess u want to make grain bill 20% sugar to up it 1.5 to 2% abv?

 

[Snicklefritz]

Time for an update. I got my hands on a lot of Azacca and Mosaic this year and have brewed this beer about 7 times now. Here is my latest (and I think greatest) attempt:

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Estimated OG: 1.082 SG
Estimated Color: 6.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 77.6 IBUs
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
12 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Ger 80.0 %
1 lbs Munich Malt - 20L 6.7 %
8.0 oz Wheat, Torrified 3.3 %
1 lbs 8.0 oz Corn Sugar (Dextrose) 10.0 %


1.00 oz Azacca [15.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min
1.00 oz Mosaic [12.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min
1.00 oz Azacca [15.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 40.0 min
1.00 oz Mosaic [12.50 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 40.0 min
1.00 oz Azacca [15.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 20.0 min
1.00 oz Mosaic [12.50 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 20.0 min
1.0 pkg Dry English Ale (White Labs #WLP007)
1.00 oz Azacca [15.00 %] - Dry Hop 10.0 Days
1.00 oz Mosaic [12.50 %] - Dry Hop 10.0 Days
1.00 oz Azacca [15.00 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Days
1.00 oz Mosaic [12.50 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Days


Mash @ 150 for 75 mins

I've brewed this variation 3 times now and its the one im sticking with. I split the whirlpool and dry hoppings into 2 sessions. Seems to really amp up the aroma.

 

[youngdh]

I found this recipe while looking for a brew to use my free Azacca hops I got from my AHBA renwal. I sub'ed Conan for the yeast as I had a 5th gen I'd ranched in the beer fridge. The Conan is behaving very differently on this recipe from other DIPAs I've used it on. My OG into fermenter was 1.079. My ferment profile is drop temp to 62F once ferment starts and raise it to 68F over 2 days and then hold at 68F for 5 days then raise to 72F for 7 days for yeast cleanup and dry hopping. On my other DIPAs this works great and fermentation has always completed in this time frame. The fermentation for this recipe went strong for 3 days as usual and then appeared to stall until temp controller started ramping up to 72F when blow off started bubbling at a rate of a bubble a second. I decided to give it another week before dry hopping. I started checking gravity at day 10 and again at 14 to verify if primary fermentation was finished so I could DH. Both readings were 1.024, a bit shy of what I expected so dry hopped on day 14 even though still bubbling. Its now day 20 so checked gravity again. This reading came in at 1.015 and still airlock activity! My 5th gen Conan is really drying this beer out. I now fear I dry hopped too soon and am considering dropping more hops in and give it another week for a total of 4 weeks in fermenter.

 

[Snicklefritz]

I found this recipe while looking for a brew to use my free Azacca hops I got from my AHBA renwal. I sub'ed Conan for the yeast as I had a 5th gen I'd ranched in the beer fridge. The Conan is behaving very differently on this recipe from other DIPAs I've used it on. My OG into fermenter was 1.079. My ferment profile is drop temp to 62F once ferment starts and raise it to 68F over 2 days and then hold at 68F for 5 days then raise to 72F for 7 days for yeast cleanup and dry hopping. On my other DIPAs this works great and fermentation has always completed in this time frame. The fermentation for this recipe went strong for 3 days as usual and then appeared to stall until temp controller started ramping up to 72F when blow off started bubbling at a rate of a bubble a second. I decided to give it another week before dry hopping. I started checking gravity at day 10 and again at 14 to verify if primary fermentation was finished so I could DH. Both readings were 1.024, a bit shy of what I expected so dry hopped on day 14 even though still bubbling. Its now day 20 so checked gravity again. This reading came in at 1.015 and still airlock activity! My 5th gen Conan is really drying this beer out. I now fear I dry hopped too soon and am considering dropping more hops in and give it another week for a total of 4 weeks in fermenter.

I think you'll be fine. It probably wont drop too much more than 1.010 so you are really close. I've been doing 2 rounds of dry hopping on this one. 2oz for 5 days and then another 2 oz for 5 days leaving the original 2oz in. The last time I brewed this it was magical. I cant even imagine how good it would have been if the hops were fresher and not the last of my poundage. Im picking up 2-3 pounds of each (Mosaic and Azacca) this year now that I have a vacuum sealer.

 

[youngdh]

I bottled it tonight. The remaining "Brewers share" tasted like an alcoholic grapefruit juice. It finished at 8.6% ABV and was a very pale cloudy opaque light straw color. The Conan yeast has yet to clear. After a couple weeks bottle conditioning followed by 2 or 3 weeks in the beer fridge hopefully the Conan yeast will drop out of suspension.

 

[Snicklefritz]

Anyone looking to make this HopsDirect has 1lb 2015 Azacca pellets and whole for like $12/lb right now. That's like 1/2 what I paid for a lb last year. I picked up a pound of each. I would have done more but they had a 1lb limit. Good luck finding the mosaic cheap though