Sam Adams Utopias clone - Calling all big beer experts! Paulthenurse and yeager1977

[JonAllenNH]

The drawback to kmeta is that it will inhibit (but not kill) yeast activity, so it may prevent bottle conditioning and carbonation when used at higher concentrations. I don't remember dosages off hand, but they are readily available from winemaking resources.

Fortunately, this brew is not getting carbonated. So I went for it.

 

[ten80]

Isn't it going to lack aroma without carbonation?

I'm going to tackle this brew in the near future, glad someone has done some quality legwork to figure out the details and what not to do.

 

[JonAllenNH]

Isn't it going to lack aroma without carbonation?

It's not missed if it is. You can smell it from a mile away...

It's a really exciting project, loads of fun - presuming you find brew day fun, but also a lot of work. I suspended all other brewing for about two months so I could devote all my brewing time to babying this thing. End result, worth it. It's super complex in the flavor. I might do it again and simplify the recipe. The smoked malt probably isn't necessary. It's not really noticeable especially since I oaked it. I've already had a lot of requests from other people to make more. People have offered upwards of $75-$100/bottle. Of course, I can't sell it for profit. That would be illegal.

 

[thatjonguy]

It's not missed if it is. You can smell it from a mile away...

It's a really exciting project, loads of fun - presuming you find brew day fun, but also a lot of work. I suspended all other brewing for about two months so I could devote all my brewing time to babying this thing. End result, worth it. It's super complex in the flavor. I might do it again and simplify the recipe. The smoked malt probably isn't necessary. It's not really noticeable especially since I oaked it. I've already had a lot of requests from other people to make more. People have offered upwards of $75-$100/bottle. Of course, I can't sell it for profit. That would be illegal.

Selling it in any form or fashion is illegal. Profits have nothing to do with it.

 

[MonkeyBot]

This is an awesome thread and something I'd like to try at some point. I had a question about your process though. Did you mix a gallon of the mild starter beer with this? It sounded like that was part of your process. Or maybe a more direct question is, could you give a rundown of your process? How close is it to the steps in the first post?

 

[ten80]

Selling it in any form or fashion is illegal. Profits have nothing to do with it.

True, but friends can legally buy into the ingredients for a batch. The rule should be that they only get their share if they come help bottle!

 

[thatjonguy]

True, but friends can legally buy into the ingredients for a batch. The rule should be that they only get their share if they come help bottle!

Debatable, this has been beaten beyond death in many threads so I'll spare you the information.

If you were planning to do something like that, you probably shouldn't post the evidence on a public forum, including what the bottles look like.

 

[JonAllenNH]

Did you mix a gallon of the mild starter beer with this? It sounded like that was part of your process. Or maybe a more direct question is, could you give a rundown of your process? How close is it to the steps in the first post?

The mild was strictly a starter that also happened to be quite tasty to drink. Bonus. That's why I went through the effort of hopping it. Plus, the idea was that it was a lower OG version of the full batch so it would give SOME indication of the full beer's flavor...but not even close, so don't do it on that basis. What I DID do was to reserve some of the initial wort in half gallon mason jars for later additions. These additions were used to dissolve the brown sugar additions. Despite freaking out numerous times and nearly changing my plans about 100 times I stayed pretty true to the original plan. Good luck.
*EDIT FOR CLARIFICATION* I reserved some of the initial wort of the full strength brew, not the mild. This had a lower OG than 1.212, the 1.212 was a calculation based on the sugars (maple syrup and brown sugar) to the primary. Also, I went through 2 bottles of Oxygen (the little red bottles at Home Depot/Lowes) so make sure you have enough. Sorry, didn't seem clear when I read it again this morning so just wanted to make sure it was clear.

 

[JonAllenNH]

True, but friends can legally buy into the ingredients for a batch. The rule should be that they only get their share if they come help bottle!

And be there for brew day! Someone has to keep an eye on the pot while I'm drinking a beer. I'm pretty sure the ATF has bigger concerns than a couple of homebrewers going halvsies on the grain bill of a 5 gallon batch...or in the case of Euphoria a 3G batch. In any event, the selling it was a joke regardless of for profit or not.

 

[HDTVdevil]

My "Big brew" is planned for last weekend of February. Not sure if it will be a 20L or 40L batch.

 

[MonkeyBot]

The mild was strictly a starter that also happened to be quite tasty to drink. Bonus. That's why I went through the effort of hopping it. Plus, the idea was that it was a lower OG version of the full batch so it would give SOME indication of the full beer's flavor...but not even close, so don't do it on that basis. What I DID do was to reserve some of the initial wort in half gallon mason jars for later additions. These additions were used to dissolve the brown sugar additions. Despite freaking out numerous times and nearly changing my plans about 100 times I stayed pretty true to the original plan. Good luck.
*EDIT FOR CLARIFICATION* I reserved some of the initial wort of the full strength brew, not the mild. This had a lower OG than 1.212, the 1.212 was a calculation based on the sugars (maple syrup and brown sugar) to the primary. Also, I went through 2 bottles of Oxygen (the little red bottles at Home Depot/Lowes) so make sure you have enough. Sorry, didn't seem clear when I read it again this morning so just wanted to make sure it was clear.

OK that makes much more sense. I'm not sure I'll get to try this soon but it's definitely something I want to try.

What I really want to do is try and clone Kosmic Mother Funk and use that to blend per the actual Utopias. The problem there is finding some KMF to taste and then making the clone. Adding Tetravis or something else that uses KMF in blending might just be the way to go for simplicity.

 

[JonAllenNH]

What I really want to do is try and clone Kosmic Mother Funk and use that to blend per the actual Utopias. The problem there is finding some KMF to taste and then making the clone. Adding Tetravis or something else that uses KMF in blending might just be the way to go for simplicity.

Yeah, being such a limited release it's hard to find reliable tasting notes on KMF too, in my experience, but I haven't checked in a while. I don't recall if I mentioned it in my write-up, but I did add Tetavis, I think 4 750ml bottles, to the primary after fermentation slowed and I added the EC-1118 champagne yeast. 1) It has KMF in it. 2) The flavors are the most complementary of the SA Barrel Series that has KMF in it. 3) It's bottle conditioned with SA Champagne yeast so, if the little buggers survived the high ABV, which they likely didn't, hopefully they imparted some of the Sam Adams brewery yeast profile.

 

[HDTVdevil]

Got my big brew finally started. Goal is to get 20L of 25%. Mashing is ongoing

 

[HDTVdevil]

Got my big brew finally started. Goal is to get 20L of 25%. Mashing is ongoing

21L at OG 1.216 is fermenting. After 1 week, down to 1.120.

 

[ten80]

@HDTVdevil, any updates? I'm contemplating a similar brew for a winter project.