Lagunitas Sucks clone?
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gcdowd
Well-Known Member
Haha I just didn't want everyone to be confused and think there were like 80 different hops in there. Still quite a few varieties though. That is surprising
10 days of dry hopping done today, put secondary in Keezer to crash (its very cloudy) and will keg three days. Leaving dry hops in during crash. FG at 1.010 so came out about 7.9.%. Does not taste that high, great hop flavor and aroma, not too bitter (which I love abt Sucks). Color is lighter than real one I think, but I don't have a sample to compare. I think LHBS didn't have red wheat and just gave me wheat so maybe why a little light. No off flavors detected I think this one will be good with limited aging just a couple weeks of force carbing (if I can wait that long).
kpr121
Well-Known Member
I dunno, other than the haze I don’t think you are too far off for color. From memory (my last Sucks was consumed a few days ago) it is a very light colored beer.
LovesIPA
Well-Known Member
Definitely interested in seeing how this turns out. I love Sucks and a lot of my friends do too. If I brew this, I'll never get them to leave!
![Craft A Brew - Safale BE-256 Yeast - Fermentis - Belgian Ale Dry Yeast - For Belgian & Strong Ales - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [3 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51bcKEwQmWL._SL500_.jpg)
I've had twice now, once on tap. I think I remember it being more orange. The sample was great. I'm wondering if the 4 grains made it cloudy, maybe the wheat. Most of my beers are more clear at this point but I'm sure it will clear up a lot in the keg. However, I'm not a clarity Nazi.
Pelican521
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Woohoo, I'm drinking one now!!! Just picked up a sixer the other day. I may have to pick up another (or 2) before they're all gone.
Favorite beer, converted me into an IPA drinker!
Favorite beer, converted me into an IPA drinker!
kpr121
Well-Known Member
Just be aware that Sucks is better than 95% of the available IPAs out there. If youre like me you'll realize that none of the others (with few exceptions) put enough hops in their beers. That's the true joy of homebrewing, you can add as many as you want!
kpr121
Well-Known Member
Yeah if every other batch you make is going to be a double IPA, it’s time to start buying hops by the pound!
At the least, I try to always have a lb of the following hops:
Simcoe
Centennial
Cascade
At the least, I try to always have a lb of the following hops:
Simcoe
Centennial
Cascade
kpr121
Well-Known Member
Yea that is pretty cloudy…
Is that the first pull off the keg? You might be sucking (pun intended) some yeast and sediment that has fallen to the bottom of the keg.
Gelatin won’t really hurt, but I personally don’t like adding things to my beer that I don’t necessarily need.
Did you notice a lot of sediment when racking into the keg? If so, you might want to either A. rack a second time into a new keg, or B. add gelatin and hope it all sticks to the bottom of the keg. A third (slightly more drastic) approach would be to modify your diptube so that it pulls beer from ½ to 1 inch off the bottom of the keg, leaving the sediment below.
If it were me, I’d give it another couple days, pull off another ½ pint, and then another ½ pint. If the first ½ pint is clearer than yesterdays, and the second ½ pint is considerably clearer than the first you’ll know you don’t have a lot of sediment. I’ve had kegs where the first pint of the night is always a little cloudy. I just usually drink that one and the following pints are for everyone.
Or just add gelatin now, like I said it wont hurt anything. Its your call.
Is that the first pull off the keg? You might be sucking (pun intended) some yeast and sediment that has fallen to the bottom of the keg.
Gelatin won’t really hurt, but I personally don’t like adding things to my beer that I don’t necessarily need.
Did you notice a lot of sediment when racking into the keg? If so, you might want to either A. rack a second time into a new keg, or B. add gelatin and hope it all sticks to the bottom of the keg. A third (slightly more drastic) approach would be to modify your diptube so that it pulls beer from ½ to 1 inch off the bottom of the keg, leaving the sediment below.
If it were me, I’d give it another couple days, pull off another ½ pint, and then another ½ pint. If the first ½ pint is clearer than yesterdays, and the second ½ pint is considerably clearer than the first you’ll know you don’t have a lot of sediment. I’ve had kegs where the first pint of the night is always a little cloudy. I just usually drink that one and the following pints are for everyone.
Or just add gelatin now, like I said it wont hurt anything. Its your call.
gcdowd
Well-Known Member
Just picked up some Sucks today, never had it. Looking forward to it
Brewing a hoppy ale as cloudy and odd-colored as that is process related and really can't be fixed AFTER the fact. PM me with your detailed recipe & processes if you wish and I will try to help prevent this outcome for you in the future.
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No Citra in this beer folks. Lagunitas confirmed it in an email to a guy on BA. According to Lagunitas, they use Chinook, Simcoe, Apollo, Summit, Nugget and HBC342 hops for SUCKS. Hop selection may change slightly each year, but this is supposedly the most current lineup.
155 F (or higher) mash temp. & approx. 63-65 IBUs at about 1.083-85 OG / 1.023-25 FG. WLP002 starter, or at least Lagunitas' version of it.
I am of the opinion that the only kettle hop additions during the 90 minute boil occur at some combo of 60/45/30/20... Exclude one or two of those if you wish. This is presumably followed by a huge whirlpool/hopstand and a multi-stage dryhop. A minimum of 11 oz. total hops per 5-5.5 gal batch.
bobbrews said:
I used the recipe on this thread, fifth entry. Everything went right, used whitlfloc. I know it will not be clear with all that wheat but this is the cloudiest beer I've made yet. Mashed about 153. OG was 1.079, fg 1.010. Used wy1272 with a 1.5L starter. Decanted starter and only pitched yeast. Ferm temp stable (swamp cooler) about 66. Dry hopped 10 days with pellets in secondary, then cold crashed for 3 days at 36, racked to keg, it's been there about 3 days. Yes this was one of the first pulls but it was cloudy like this going into the keg. Maybe after a couple weeks will be clearer. Here's a screen shot of actual recipe I used.
Kuckoo
Well-Known Member
Also one of my favorites. My buddy and I went up to Sonoma Valley in early February for the Pliny the Younger pilgrimage. Lagunitas Sucks came very close to being the best beer of that trip. I brought a growler each of Sucks and Elder home. Oh how I miss them. Keep us updated on how the beer turns out. I'm salivating just thinking about it.
I'm making my monthly Lagunitas and Russian River pilgrimage tomorrow
I wish I had a kegerator I'd grab the 7.75 gallon Sucks for only ~70 bucks in a heartbeat. It got my girlfriend to like hoppy beers finally so its a winner in my book.I wouldn't blame the wheat for clarity issues. Using malts like wheat or rye will reduce the polyphenols and increase the protein levels at low percentages in your grain bill. As the levels reach higher and higher, from to 25-40%, the amount of polyphenols are reduced to such a low percentage that the proteins have nothing to link with and the beers are very clear. The addition of torrified wheat should've allowed the malt enzymes to more completely attack starches and proteins.
Your haze issue comes across more to me as a a mash that was not fully converted and/or perhaps it is due to poor brewing water/too many dissolved solids. How long did you mash for? Did you test your pH and did you make any mineral adjustments?
Another possibility could be chill haze. Hop tannins combines with proteins in an unoxidized state. These protein-tannin complexes formed with non-coagulable proteins cause chill-haze, because they are soluble in hot wort but precipitate in the cold, and since they are relatively light-weight, they will float and will not totally form sedimentation.
Did you attain a full rolling boil before adding your first hop addition? Vigorous and violent boiling helps coagulate unstable proteins. Wort should be boiled well before adding hops, so tannins from the husks are eliminated in the hot break, thus reducing the chances of chill-haze development. To be completely sure of this (and to get more character from the malt) I typically like to boil my all grain batches for a full 90 minutes, and add my first hop addition at 60 minutes. I've found that these IPAs are clearer and more complex.
If none of this applies, avoid agitation of the fermenter at all costs. Let gravity and time clear your beer. To offer further help, use gelatin after the first day of cold-crashing. 1 tsp. dissolved in 2/3 cup 150 F water.
LovesIPA
Well-Known Member
This makes total sense to me. I'll have to try this on my next IPA brew.
This is why I love this forum. I find so many of these nuggets of wisdom to add to my own brewing process.
"tastes pretty good"...how similar to Sucks? To say that I am developing a minor addiction to this beer would be a lie...it is a MAJOR one and I would love to brew something similar.
I would ask about your Boulevard Tank 7 clone but that would be a topic for another thread! A great beer!! I hope to brew up a Saison that I got from Northern Brewer next weekend.
- Brent
I would ask about your Boulevard Tank 7 clone but that would be a topic for another thread! A great beer!! I hope to brew up a Saison that I got from Northern Brewer next weekend.
- Brent
It's very citrusy, a little more bitter than sucks and does not have that earthy spice I taste in sucks. This attempt yielded a good beer but failed on the clone attempt. It is also a lot lighter and a lot cloudier but I'm hoping it gets clearer.
Very excited about the tank 7 it's been in the fermenter now for 15 days and still seeing a bubble or two every 20 or 30 seconds. I'm going to be really patient with this as its my first use of 3724 and its notorious for taking its sweet time. I've had it up to 93 degrees (water bath with aquarium heater) for the last week, everything I read says it shines when you can get it up this high, also finishes in a couple weeks vs 6. I'm going to be patient and not even check SG for a few more days.
Very excited about the tank 7 it's been in the fermenter now for 15 days and still seeing a bubble or two every 20 or 30 seconds. I'm going to be really patient with this as its my first use of 3724 and its notorious for taking its sweet time. I've had it up to 93 degrees (water bath with aquarium heater) for the last week, everything I read says it shines when you can get it up this high, also finishes in a couple weeks vs 6. I'm going to be patient and not even check SG for a few more days.
jamesdawsey
Well-Known Member
@bd2xu: If you want more of an earthy spiciness add some chinook near the end of the boil. It's very similar to columbus, but less citrus and more pungent earthiness. As for the haze, stick with the 90 minute boil and move your 90 minute hop addition to a 60 minute addition. I don't know the exact reason off the top of my head, but this will help with what may be a chill haze. Just some thoughts. Otherwise, keep us updated! A successful clone of SUCKS will be a beautiful thing.
chocotaco
Well-Known Member
This may be sacrilege but IMHO Sucks >> Pliny. Pliny is great when it's fresh out of the brewery, but every other time I've had it lately I have been disappointed with the aroma and flavor. Maybe it's just because Pliny is so hard to get that it makes itself a let-down. Sucks just punches you in the face with a huge, sweet, floral, citrusy hop aroma and flavor, and then balances it out with a nice, light malt back which is personally what I like out of an IPA. I am sad that Sucks is finally gone (it lasted much longer at the MegaMart than I expected it to).
Similar easy-to-get face-punching IPAs include Firestone Double Jack (year-round at my MegaMart, personal fave), Gubna ($$$ but worth it) and Sierra Nevada Torpedo (not the cream of the crop but a good go-to).
I have a lot of recipes to get through but will definitely be trying to suss out a Sucks clone using the info from this thread. Thanks to all that e-mailed them to get info (though I feel like they are f-ing with us a bit to protect their recipe).
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