Hopslam clone

[jgourd]

I am now finished with the brew. So here is the stats...

Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.062 (just realized that this needed correction. Temp was pretty warm when this was taken, so I dont think this is viable data.)
Original Gravity: 1.091

The bad thing is that I lost alot more wort than I thought in my boil. I started the boil with over 6.5 gallons. Only a 60 min boil lead to over a gallon of loss. So, I ended up having to add a bit of cold sanitized water to make up for the loss. So I ended up loading around 5.5 gallons into the carboy. So not too bad. The Keggle worked great. Would have had a huge boil over if not for the extra room in the pot. The only problem I had is that since there was such a huge addition of hops I got some of the trub into the fermentor which I am crossing my fingers does not effect the fermentation. I pitched at around 75 degrees because after an hour of wort chilling That was about as low as I could get it. So after pitching, I am seeing a nice krausen after only 9 hours. So it should be a wicked fermentation.

Any opinions on how long to leave it in the primary? I want to make sure I dont lose too much of the hope aroma I worked so hard to get.
Im also wondering how long to dry hop... any suggestions?

Your hydrometer is the only indication of complete fermentation. Once you get the same reading 3 days in a row (probably after about 7-14 days), you can think about dry hopping (another 7 days) if you want to. It will most likely be a very good beer!

 

[Jbbloom1989]

Dry hopped today, any suggestions on length of dry hopping and carbonation level I should use?

 

[hopvine]

I HIGHLY recommend culturing yeast from a bottle of Bell's beer (Amber, Oberon, or Best Brown). They have a proprietary strain that is ridiculous in terms of it's attenuation. I did a Hopslam clone a while back, and Bell's yeast took it from 1.100 to 1.016 effortlessly, mashed at 154F.

 

[jgourd]

For my tastes, I'd got with 7-10 days of dry hopping and about 2.2 volumes of CO2.

 

[Sleepyemt]

5-7 days, 2.4 volumes of Co2

 

[Jbbloom1989]

Im gonna end up doing 6-7 days hitting right in the middle of everyones suggestions. And I think I'm gonna carb it at 2.4 to allow for any loss of carbonation to be counted for, that way I end up with plenty of carbonation till the last bottle.

After pulling it into the secondary, I believe it is the finest beer I have ever made. I am more excited that I can describe.

If anyone has a way to post pictures tell me, I dont have the money to subscribe, but I would love for everyone to see these pictures.

 

[Jbbloom1989]

Oh and Hopvine, I think I need to learn more about doing that. I tried once and i didnt get anything. If you have any threads or articles that might explain it better to me, I will def. do this next time I brew it. And I will be brewing it again!

 

[Sleepyemt]

After pulling it into the secondary, I believe it is the finest beer I have ever made. I am more excited that I can describe.

Glad to Hear, when you post your tasting, post your final recipe also!

 

[Jbbloom1989]

 

[Jbbloom1989]

Ok so a little out of order, but you guys can deal. Here is a quick run through of the last 2-3 weeks. Ill post some of the secondary asap.

 

[Jbbloom1989]

The clarity is looking pretty good based upon that flash light test. Im hoping it is crystal clear, but i forgot to use irish moss in my boil... whoops. But dry hop is successful. Gonna have to be really careful siphoning so I dont suck any hop particles up and end up bottling it.

I also still need a gravity test for FG. Will take one after I get most of it bottled.

 

[Jbbloom1989]

Hey guys, just finished bottling and everything went to plan. Had around 5 gallons after dry hopping and added around 4.8 oz of corn sugar for priming. It smelled heavenly, and the taste was a spicy peppery that i did not expect, but IM am looking forward to seeing how it a lll develops!

Took a final gravity reading, 1.009~

I was amazed by this, didn't think i would get those kinds of results, and for this being my first ag and third batch ever, i would say everything went better than I could have planned. I'll be waiting for those two weeks to pass with the hope that i get liquid gold from every bottle. I'll keep everyone informed, and i know people had the thought of trading, just tell me and we can work something out, I'll keep you updated on taste.

Thanks for all the support!

 

[Jbbloom1989]

Two weeks post bottling, I found my bottles to be weakly carbonated and a little sweet, I assumed this to be due to my yeast being dead. I re-pitch into the bottles which gave off a crazy foaming reaction. They are sealed and ready to go. I assume they will be ready to drink by this or next weekend.

I also brewed a belgian wit while I waited : )

I should be a good couple of weeks for me.

 

[Sleepyemt]

Its not so much dead as I would think stressed, the high gravity coupled with the high hopping rate has an effect on the yeast from everything I've read, I had the same issues with carbonation, now that I've recently started kegging it should get better ... give it some more time ...