Karben4's Fantasy Factory Recipe

[cactusgarrett]

I've been doing some research a bit lately and have found relatively little chatter re: a clone recipe, in relation to how good this beer is.

I read that the September 2016 issue of BYO had a recipe in it; might someone have that available (preferred) or have some insight into a viable/tested recipe? It sounds like the majority of the bill is GP, with a bit of caramel, Munich, and wheat. It also sounds like the bigger 'standout factor' is the hop profile. Thanks!

 

[kristiismean]

I bought it at first just for the label,

and the beers pretty good as well!

 

[cactusgarrett]

There was actually a "Meet the Brewer" session at the brewery last night, but I was unable to attend. The LHBS is having a clone competition in a couple months and I was hoping to glean any insight since i missed the event.

 

[kristiismean]

thinking outloud here.

It's not a hop bomb, so for 5 gallons (I think in 5 gallons)

4.5 oz will be Citra
4.5 will be Galena and Cluster hops

Def Golden Promise in there,
and some toasted, special B?
crystal 60?

Wyeast 1272

I'll be coming back to this.

 

[kristiismean]

Came back,

12.5 Golden promise
8 oz Special B

1 oz Galena (13 AA) at 60 min (45.75 IBU)
1.5 oz Cluster (6.5 AA) at 5 min
1.5 oz Citra (11 AA) at 5 min
2 oz Cluster (6.5 AA) at 5 days dry hop
2 oz Citra (11 AA) at 5 days dry hop

Wyeast American Ale II 1272

ferment low (62)

OG 1.065 FG 1.017 ABV 6.35% IBU 64.17, SRM 10.53


I know the grain bill is off, but I am pretty sure this will turn out beer, and this is as close as I can get after trying it. (This is also the reason i jump the border and hop to woodmans.

side note, I had this beer in the summer of 2014 for the first time when in the Dells for a long weekend. (June or July) and it has changed a little, or I have.

 

[raysmithtx]

short thread on Fantasy Factory here.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=519120

 

[cactusgarrett]

Yup, that's where i got the majority of my info from. I was really hoping someone had that BYO article or had gone to the event to supplement this. Thanks.

 

[cactusgarrett]

Consolidating threads here. As 14thstreet suggested after a brewer visit to a club meeting, "85-90% Golden Promise, premium English caramalt, some munich, a touch of dextrin and german wheat" should be used. The yeast that Karben4 uses for their hoppy beers is Wyeast 1332, Wyeast 1968 for everything else. Additionally, from an interview with Ryan Koga:

"At the heart of Fantasy Factory are three types of hops: Citra, Galena and Cluster. While Citra makes over half of the hop bill, approximately three pounds of hops go into every barrel of beer overall" This equates to ~7.75oz/5gal batch.

The final stats look pretty on target, though.
6.3% abv, 65 IBU

 

[ba-brewer]

I've been doing some research a bit lately and have found relatively little chatter re: a clone recipe, in relation to how good this beer is.

I read that the September 2016 issue of BYO had a recipe in it; might someone have that available (preferred) or have some insight into a viable/tested recipe? It sounds like the majority of the bill is GP, with a bit of caramel, Munich, and wheat. It also sounds like the bigger 'standout factor' is the hop profile. Thanks!

I have that copy of BYO and it does not have that recipe. I also searched the BYO website and did not find anything either. Too bad as the back issues are on sale right now for a buck each.

 

[cactusgarrett]

I have that copy of BYO and it does not have that recipe. I also searched the BYO website and did not find anything either. Too bad as the back issues are on sale right now for a buck each.

Damn. Thanks for checking, though.

 

[ba-brewer]

How close is the base malt taste of fantasy factory to that of surly furious? If it is close then maybe you could use the malt bill from a furious clone as a starting point.

The midwest kit for surly furious clone sounds a little like the comments in post #8. The northern brewer clone uses less golden promise and no munich but seems like a malty base.

midwest clone
11lb golden promise
1lb bonlander munich
4oz medium crystal
mash 152F

Northern brewer pro series furious kit;
7.5 lb canada malting pale ale malt
3.25 lb golden promise
0.88 lb english medium crystal
0.63 lb belgian aromatic
0.125 lb English roasted barley
mash 153F

 

[JonM]

For those who haven't seen the label ...

 

[cactusgarrett]

Revisiting this. The contest is over, and despite my recipe being VERY close to what appears to be the "true" (or winning) one, I didn't place, so I bet a lot of people were in the same ballpark. As a "prize" for winning, the winner got to have his/her beer sold as a kit at our LHBS. Here is that final kit:

O.G.: 1.061
F.G.: 1.010
ABV: 6.3%
IBU: 65
SRM: 7

(for 5gal)
10lb 4oz Golden Promise
1lb Crystal 10
0.5lb Torrified Wheat
0.5lb Munich 10L (US)
0.5lb Carapils

Sacc rest - 150°F for 60 min

60 min boil
1oz Galena FWH (remove prior to boil)
1oz Galena 5min
1oz Cluster 5min
1oz Citra at whirlpool
2oz Citra at dry hop

WY1332 - Northwest Ale
70-72°F (I'm assuming the "60-72" is a typo)

 

[wisconsinitebrewer]

Thanks for keeping this going Cactus.
I've slowly been watching this, trying to use all the notes on here to put a recipe together.
So how close was your recipe to this one Cactus?

 

[cactusgarrett]

I had my grainbill target 100% on, but for some reason used white wheat instead of torrified. My hop varieties were on, but schedule was ever so slightly off - just some swapping of varieties and times. What I'm REALLY curious about is the kit's instruction to remove the FWH at the start of boil. I've never seen that before.

 

[wisconsinitebrewer]

I agree, never have seen that before.
I'm thinking that I might do the clone now just to see....

 

[dmtaylor]

That's more akin to "mash hopping" than to FWH. Hop utilization at that point is like 3%. So perhaps another key to this is that 65 IBUs is too much and we need to aim lower? Who knows.