Pliny the Younger Clone

[TastySalmon]

I was talking about the 1.089 Younger the OP is brewing... not 1.070 Elder that JonW brewed.

I feel WLP001 will lend different results than US-05 for that particular beer.

You always seem to have an answer. Thank goodness we have people around here to provide insight into the perceived unknowns of homebrew. Does it get tiring?

 

[bobbrews]

You always seem to have an answer. Thank goodness we have people around here to provide insight into the perceived unknowns of homebrew. Does it get tiring?

You're welcome.
It's not unknown; you just didn't read it correctly.
It gets tiring reposting what was already clearly stated, yes.

 

[scottland]

Brew day went smooth. Went with a pinch less two row, and 1.5lbs dextrose. 1.089 gravity OG. Pitched two packs of rehydrated US05. Fermentation fridge is set at 62*.

 

[scottland]

1.009 and still fermenting. 1.007 to 1.008 shouldn't be an issue. The krausen has dropped, but i think it still has a couple points left.

I'll ride out the primary until Wednesday or Thursday. Rack to secondary then, and begin dry hopping.

 

[bguzz]

i've learned that if you take US05 under 66F, it will give that tart peach flavor...above 66F is clean and neutral. Not sure if you wanted one or the other, but thought I would share.

 

[scottland]

I always ferment US05 around 62-64F, and never really run into the peach ester people mention :shrug:

 

[scottland]

FG came in at 1.008. It's dropped clear, and done attenuating. The alcohol character is a little hot, so the long dry hop will be do this beer well. 10.62% ABV

 

[wonderbread23]

FG came in at 1.008. It's dropped clear, and done attenuating. The alcohol character is a little hot, so the long dry hop will be do this beer well. 10.62% ABV

Awesome. Sounds like you're hitting the specifications perfectly. Hopefully the booziness will subside. Mine tamed quite a bit.

 

[scottland]

Ya, so far so good. I'm crashing to primary down to 50F as we speak. I'm going to rack to secondary tomorrow and begin the dry hop madness.

 

[scottland]

Alright, racked to secondary, and started dry hopping with the first addition. Didn't expect many updates for the next three weeks. I'm going to add each dry hop for 5 days rather than 7, since my house is 78*, compared to the 68* RR dry hops at. Also, pellets are going straight in the better bottle, no bags, and they won't be removed. That's about it, updates in around 3 weeks when it gets kegged.

 

[scottland]

The wort in the secondary is looking extremely clear at this point. 3rd dry hop addition went in last night. The final addition goes in this friday, and it'll get kegged middle of next week.

 

[scottland]

And..... It's done! http://bertusbrewery.blogspot.com/2012/07/ipa-clone-series-pliny-younger.html

It's been in the keg around a week now, and I can't see it getting much better other than the clarity improving a little more. It turned out pretty incredible, but less like PTE than I thought. The hop profile is more citrusy and Amarillo-forward than I figured it would have been. There's still some pine in there, but it's not as in your face as it is in the Elder.

It definitely has a big 'alcohol' character to it, but that's to be expected with a dry 10.6% beer. I personally would like to see the same recipe brewed with an english yeast, and finishing out around 1.014.

But ya, pretty awesome beer. The bitterness is not very intense, it lingers smoothly in the background, but it's not biting. I'd say the amount of hop extract is definitely accurate. I'd love to see how close this is to the real thing. Maybe one day...

 

[captgus]

Looks wonderful! What a coincidence, I made my first pilgrimage to Russian River on the 6th. Quick question, and forgive me I'm a n00b to brewing, about ready to try a Blind Pig clone but I was wondering when you added the dextrose?

 

[BrewThruYou]

Brewed this yesterday...quite a lot of hop mass in the kettle. Hit 1.090 OG and it's currently fermenting away with WLP090 (San Diego) since that's what I had on hand.

 

[scottland]

Awesome!! Let me know how it turns out.

 

[scottland]

I submitted this beer to a competition a couple weekends ago, and it placed 2nd. Still waiting for the scoresheets to see the comments and the score. I'm actually surprised it did well, as the alcohol character is a bit too big for a double ipa.

 

[BrewThruYou]

Awesome!! Let me know how it turns out.

Not that great. Hit my OG right on, but FG is 1.026. In the time it was brewed until now, I had a lot of stuff going on, so I only cracked the fermentor just now. Way too sweet.

This was with WLP090 San Diego Super Yeast...wasn't so super. Might try to rehydrate a pack of US05 and see if that does anything. If not, I'll try some enzyme to bring it down...just way too sweet. 1.090 was the OG. Still haven't dryhopped yet.

 

[scottland]

Ya, some amalyze and a fresh pitch of yeast might help.

 

[crazyirishman34]

In your blog you mentioned that after you finished the boil you had a sticky film from the hop extract. Did you add it when you had a full rolling boil? Hop Union mentions that not having your wort at a full rolling boil can cause that. Or do you think that your wort was saturated with hop extract?

 

[scottland]

It was a full rolling boil. I used some again for a Pliny the Elder clone 2.5weeks ago, and same thing. It's not horrible to clean, as a good dose of oxyclean takes it off. It just takes a bit more to clean than I'm used to.

Basically, take some hops, run them hard in your hands, then feel your hands after. That's how the kettle was.

 

[crazyirishman34]

How does it age?

 

[scottland]

Not all that well. I saved a bottled, and the hop aroma was a ghost of it's former self within 90 days. Still tasted good, but no comparison to when it was fresh

 

[tom_gamer]

Not all that well. I saved a bottled, and the hop aroma was a ghost of it's former self within 90 days. Still tasted good, but no comparison to when it was fresh

That usually happens to my IPAs but I use a lot less hops than this. I was expecting it last longer.

 

[scottland]

Alright, re-brewing this today. We made it up to RRBC last weekend, and got to try it straight from the source. My first attempt was close, but too fruity. So, I've made some adjustments. Check my blog in the signature for the long-winded version of my recipe formulation.

17.25lbs 2-row
12oz Carapils
7oz C40
1lb Dextrose
Mash @ 145 for 75min, then 155 for 10min (I know this isn't RR's mash schedule, but it will maximize my attenuation.)
35ml Hop Extract @ 90
5ml Hop Extract @ 45
10g CTZ @ 45
1.5oz Simcoe @ 30
2.5oz Simcoe @ 0
1.5oz Centennial @ 0
1oz Amarillo @ 0
.5oz Chinook @ 0
350bil cells of WLP001
DH1: .5oz ea Simcoe/Amarillo/Warrior
DH2: 1oz ea Centennial/CTZ
DH3: .5oz ea Simcoe/Chinook + .25oz Warrior
DH4: 1oz ea Simcoe/Amarillo

I formulated the dry hop schedule based on the percentages of each hop I wanted total. I didn't put much thought into which hops which weeks. They very well might do something different. Warrior struck me as super odd, but I heard from a couple places that there is definitely a fair amount of Warrior in the dry hop this year.

I'm really excited/anxious to see how this turns out. I think it's going to be damn close.

 

[jaw94087]

subscribed

 

[crazyirishman34]

Too fruity from the yeast or the hops?

 

[scottland]

Definitely hops. Too much of that Amarillo/Centennial thing. I cut back on those this time around.

 

[crazyirishman34]

I was thinking that i would brew something similar but sub the hop extract for FWH of 3 oz of Magnum. Do you think that would work?

 

[bobbrews]

I would never FWH Pliny or use Magnum to bitter it. If anything, use a little less of a very high alpha CTZ or Apollo. You need that harsh marijuana-esque dankness.

 

[scottland]

Ya, what bob said. If you want to make Pliny you need a bittering hop with some character. You'll make a good double/triple IPA, but it'll lack that Pliny quality. If you want to clone this without extract, get your hands on the highest %AA hop you can find, and use 70AAU worth (3.9oz @ 18%AA)

Anyway, brew day went smooth. Took 5.25gal into the fermenter at 1.089. Oddly enough, the exact OG I hit last year. I blasted the wort for 90sec with O2, which I'll probably repeat tomorrow. It's in the yeast's hands from here. 1.008 or lower is the goal.