Something like Zero Gravity's Little Wolf?

[Ollie8000]

I'd like to brew something along the lines of Little Wolf, an American Pale from Zero Gravity. Facts from their website:

ABV: 4.7
IBU: 40
OG: 1.052/1.053
Appearance: Deep Gold/Pale Amber
Malts: Pale, Munich II, Oats, Pale Crystal
Hops: Horizon, Citra, Cascade, Mosaic
Yeast: house

Here's my first attempt in BeerSmith (not just my first attempt at this beer, but my first attempt to build a recipe from scratch):

5.5lb Pale Malt (US) 2-row
2.5lb Munich (10L)
1lb Flaked Oats
0.5lb Crystal (10L)
0.5lb Crystal (40L)
Mash: 60mins at 156F

0.5oz Horizon (60min)
0.5oz Citra (15min)
0.75oz Cascade (15min)
1oz Citra (0min)
1oz Mosaic (0min)
1oz Mosaic (dry hop, 3 days)

US-05 Yeast.

This gives:

ABV: 5.0
IBU: 37.8
OG: 1.052
SRM: 7.6

The goal is not necessarily an exact clone. (Apart from anything else, my process is nowhere near good enough yet to hit all the numbers---this will be my second attempt at a 5gallon all-grain.) Little Wolf is a favourite to have around the house, so I'd like to have something similar in my regular homebrew rotation.

I'd appreciate any and all feedback on the recipe.

 

[jimfire85]

Finally! Someone else taking a crack at this beer. Little wolf is a personal favorite of mine. My closest attempt is as follows:

7lbs marris otter
8oz c20
1lb 6oz Munich 2
9.9oz naked golden oats
4ml of hopshot @ 60 min
28g Cascade for 30 min whirlpool at 71c
28g Columbus for 30 min whirlpool at 71c
28g mosaic for 30 min whirlpool at 71c
28g Cascade dryhop
28g mosaic dryhop
Mashed in @ 71.4c for a target of 62c for 45 minutes
Sparged @ 75.6c
Boiled for 60 min
Actual mash pH was [email protected]
S.G was 1.047 , F.G 1.009
Whatever your preferred clean yeast is should work. I subbed out citra for Columbus due to what was on hand in the freezer and hopshot for horizon since that's my preferred bittering method for pales and ipas.

I wish it would make it's way to CT , closest I can get it is yankee spirits in Sturbridge.

 

[Ollie8000]

Thanks for sharing! Are you happy with how it comes out? Pretty close to the original?

It looks like the biggest change I need to make to mine is to increase the amount of late hop additions.

 

[jimfire85]

It was pretty close, drinking it in the taproom last month and reflecting on my attempt I felt I was closer than I originally thought. If you have citra on hand I would save it all for a hopstand/whirlpool rather than 15 minute additions
The ZG version is such a flavorful but subtle beer, it's a tough one to tackle I think. Now that we're talking about it I'm curious if an email to them would give us a ballpark to work with.

 

[Ollie8000]

Is that something that's reasonable to ask? I've never thought about it before and just assumed these things were top secret.

In any case, I'd want to at least have an attempt or two myself first. And my process still needs plenty of work too before great clone recipes are going to actually be very close for me.

But I'd love to hear what they say if you send an email.

 

[mongoose33]

I was out at Zero Gravity last week during my East Coast brewery tour (NorthEast Brewery Tour). I was shocked, just shocked, that I really liked Little Wolf, only to find out that it has Mosaic in it. I absolutely HATE Mosaic, but in Little Wolf--none of the flavor/presentation of Mosaic I usually detest.

I asked what they were doing, expecting to be brushed off, but the manager and a guy from "the back" both were very forthcoming.

They use an enzyme (something like Clarityferm?) to clear out the gluten. They said they originally were doing this NOT to create a low-gluten beer but because they were fooling with mouthfeel and trying to get it just right.

They also dry hopped the Mosaic; it wasn't part of the boil. The recipe listed on the website is the same as in @Ollie8000's post above.

I'm going to try it. My brewstore owner sold me some Clarityferm, and said it goes in with the yeast, whereas the folks at ZG said after fermentation was done. I'll probably try that. Not sure yet how I'm going to get that in there post-fermentation without admitting oxygen. Might just follow label directions to see what I can see.

I'll also use a hop shot like @jimfire95 above.

Any thoughts on this?