Hoptober clone recipe

[chumpsteak]

I definitely got chocolate like a few others in this thread, but it may just be the light roast flavor combined with the residual sweetness. I've only ever used chocolate malt in my stout so I don't really know what it will taste like in such a small amount. Been thinking about taking it out and just making sure there's enough roasted to give a touch of roast.

 

[Stauffbier]

I usually put a small amount of chocolate in my brown ales, because I like the flavor it imparts. In small amounts it can be really good in otherwise lighter colored beers (meaning lighter than a stout). I believe that and the El dorado hops are very important components of the Red Hoptober.

 

[chumpsteak]

Yeah, you're probably right, but I'm not going to be able to come up with El Dorado hops in a week. Since you've used chocolate malt before how much to you recommend for this recipe? And I think I'm now leaning towards falconer's flight for the late additions. I don't think El Dorado hops have a real substitute, but I think Nelson hops might come across a little too green grapish for this recipe. I've used Falconers before in a red ale recipe and it comes across as citrusy and tropical.

 

[Stauffbier]

I wouldn't use much chocolate at all, especially if you're using roasted barley. I'd only add maybe 3-4 oz depending on how much roast you use. The Falconers Flight sounds like an interesting idea. I'll be curious to know how this comes out...

 

[chumpsteak]

Here's the revised recipe that I will be brewing next Saturday.

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.85 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.50 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.25 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.059 SG
Estimated Color: 18.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 60.0 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 62.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 73.8 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
12 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 85.7 %
1 lbs 12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 2 12.5 %
4.0 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 3 1.8 %
16.00 g Tomahawk [15.50 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 4 30.0 IBUs
14.20 g Cascade [7.90 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 5 9.4 IBUs
14.20 g Cascade [7.90 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 6 6.1 IBUs
14.20 g Centennial [9.50 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 7 7.3 IBUs
14.20 g Centennial [9.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 8 2.9 IBUs
14.20 g Citra [13.40 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 9 4.2 IBUs
14.20 g Centennial [9.50 %] - Aroma Steep 0.0 mi Hop 10 0.0 IBUs
14.20 g Citra [13.40 %] - Aroma Steep 0.0 min Hop 11 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [0.0 Yeast 12 -
28.40 g Citra [13.40 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 13 0.0 IBUs


Mash Schedule: Our Mash w/ Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 14 lbs
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 4.63 gal of water at 165.3 F 154.0 F 60 min


New Belgium posted more information on their website so I took it all into account.

I'm not able to get Target,Nugget, or El Dorado hops locally so I'm going with CTZ for bittering and Citra for late additions to get some tropical fruit in there. I have an IPA on tap right now that I used late Citra in and I think its the flavor and aroma I'm looking for.

Dropped the chocolate malt because from what I can tell it doesn't so much add chocolate flavor so much as nutty/earthy flavors. I think the roasted combined with high levels of crystal will bring that subtle chocolate/roast flavor. Let me know if anyone has any suggestions.

 

[petree3]

Yeah I meant Red Hoptober. This recipe sounds close, let us know how it turns out!

 

[chumpsteak]

OK, I had another bottle tonight and made some adjustments based on today's taste.

I also found a local place that had target and nugget so I plugged them into the recipe too. Here's how it stands. Never used Victory malt before, but I was impressed at how drying and biscuity the Red Hoptober is and as far as I can tell the Victory malt will help get me there.

Let me know if there are any comments.

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.85 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.50 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.25 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.059 SG
Estimated Color: 20.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 58.1 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 62.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 73.8 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
11 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 77.9 %
1 lbs 8.0 oz Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 2 10.6 %
1 lbs 4.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 3 8.8 %
6.0 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 4 2.7 %
14.20 g Nugget [13.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 20.3 IBUs
14.20 g Target [11.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 17.2 IBUs
14.20 g Cascade [7.90 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 7 6.1 IBUs
14.20 g Centennial [9.50 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 8 7.4 IBUs
14.20 g Centennial [9.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 9 3.0 IBUs
14.20 g Citra [13.40 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 10 4.2 IBUs
14.20 g Centennial [9.50 %] - Aroma Steep 0.0 mi Hop 11 0.0 IBUs
14.20 g Citra [13.40 %] - Aroma Steep 0.0 min Hop 12 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [0.0 Yeast 13 -
28.40 g Citra [13.40 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 14 0.0 IBUs


Mash Schedule: Our Mash w/ Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 14 lbs 2.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 4.66 gal of water at 163.0 F 152.0 F 60 min

 

[signpost]

Nice. Last time I had one, I definitely got that "drying and biscuity" thing you mentioned.

 

[chumpsteak]

Found a new story on this beer today that pretty much messes up my hop schedule. Says that Target, Nugget, and Cascade are in the boil and Centennial and El Dorado are dry hops. This makes sense to me based on the taste and aroma, so I'm going to go with it. Will post the final recipe as I brew it this weekend because I might change my mind a few times between now and then.

 

[signpost]

I constantly adjust and fiddle with my recipes. I wish I had good reasons to do it, like you have with this recipe.

 

[chumpsteak]

Yeah, I do it with all of mine. Everytime I think I've got it nailed I read some more internets or look at some of my other recipes and start tweaking things. I don't know how breweries leave their sh*t alone.

 

[danbrewtan]

Reviving an old-ish thread to see how this clone turned out. Was it close? I love Hoptober!

 

[RainyDay]

I too would like an update. This could be my favorite NB brew to date.

 

[danbrewtan]

Did nobody end up giving this a try? I might have to then! I have one Hoptober left that I'll have to save for comparison...

 

[chumpsteak]

I never made it. Kind of got bumped by higher priority brews. I may still do it eventually though.

 

[BrewinBromanite]

Wanted to give this thread a little resurrection. My bro-in-law and I both really like Red Hoptober (and sad that it's now about near impossible to find at this point in the year), and have been talking a lot about attempting a clone for our next batch.

Ironically, our last batch which is now at the 2 week mark in the bottle (after a one month primary), actually tastes pretty similar (completely inadvertently) - so we are going to tweak it to try to get closer. The recipe we made is a roasty RyePA. I'll post the recipe later when I have time, but I can say that it used mostly 2-row, with about a pound and a half of rye, and about a pound of vienna, 1/4 lb of cara-red, and 4 oz of 500L roasted barley. The roasted barley flavor is nearly dead on with the Red Hoptober flavor (but ours came out way darker in color). I'm thinking about using 2 oz each of 500L roasted barley and brown malt to lighten up the color a little, while keeping the roastiness. Also, I think that such a small amount of caramel/crystal malt plus WLP007 also hit the dryness level pretty dead on (we are not fans of recipes with too much crystal - 1/4 lb to 1/2 lb is more than enough for me).

I'm also interested if anyone ever got around to trying this one out. Hopefully my recipe (when I post it) will generate some good feedback and get this conversation going again.

 

[DIXIEBOY1]

I think in am gonna try to break the grain bill down based upon what NB puts on their site and formulate a 5.5 gallon batch. Gimme some time because I am in the field for training now.

 

[cvbjck]

I just tried Red Hoptober for the first time, and it's great! Subscribed to see if someone has a recipe....

 

[BrewinBromanite]

I just tried Red Hoptober for the first time, and it's great! Subscribed to see if someone has a recipe....

Where, may I ask, did you find one to try?

 

[CGVT]

I'll add to the zombie thread.

Red Hoptober was a past beer, maybe last year. This year it is Hoptober Golden Ale. I think it is damn tasty and would like to find a clone, but it seems there is not too much info available

This is from the New Belgium website

ABV
6.0%
IBU
40
YEAST
House Ale Strain
CALORIES
160
HOPS
Centennial, Cascade, Sterling, Glacier, Willamette
MALTS
Pale, Rye, Oats, C-80, Wheat
SPECIAL PROCESSING
Dry hopped: 1. Willamette- Earthy, spicy, floral, piney 2. Cascade- grapefruit, citrus 3. Centennial floral and citrus

 

[BrewinBromanite]

I just tried Red Hoptober for the first time, and it's great! Subscribed to see if someone has a recipe....

Thanks, troll. We'll get right on that for you.

 

[CGVT]

I just tried Red Hoptober for the first time, and it's great! Subscribed to see if someone has a recipe....

Where, may I ask, did you find one to try?

Thanks, troll. We'll get right on that for you.

Now, don't I feel stupid... Ha!