American Pale Ale Three Floyds Zombie Dust Clone

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I recently did batch with US 04 and FF hops, rather than citra.

I foolishly rushed kegging at 2 weeks (FG was steady). It's been cold and carbing for a week. I tasted it, now at 3 weeks old, and it's not very good. Sweet, cloudy, kind of harsh/solventy. Couldn't drink more than 1 pint. It's carbed pretty well, maybe 80%.

Obviously needs more conditioning. Should I leave it cold conditioning (40F). Or pull it out of keezer and leave it about 60F for a couple weeks?

Also could do more dry hopping. I have a bunch of Mosaic, Citra and Columbus now on hand.

First time I've used US04. It took off like crazy and fementation temps went higher than expected, even though ambient never above 64. Very fruity/sweet taste right now. FG was 1.010.

Any recommendations?
 
ruascott said:
I recently did batch with US 04 and FF hops, rather than citra.

I foolishly rushed kegging at 2 weeks (FG was steady). It's been cold and carbing for a week. I tasted it, now at 3 weeks old, and it's not very good. Sweet, cloudy, kind of harsh/solventy. Couldn't drink more than 1 pint. It's carbed pretty well, maybe 80%.

Obviously needs more conditioning. Should I leave it cold conditioning (40F). Or pull it out of keezer and leave it about 60F for a couple weeks?

Also could do more dry hopping. I have a bunch of Mosaic, Citra and Columbus now on hand.

First time I've used US04. It took off like crazy and fementation temps went higher than expected, even though ambient never above 64. Very fruity/sweet taste right now. FG was 1.010.

Any recommendations?
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Just to be clear, I assume you are referring to S-04, English ale yeast? Or US-05? S-04 is a beast. It typically ferments vigorously and quickly. Did you measure the beer temp during ferment? Because it's English ale yeast, it will generate some fruity esters typical of that style. The higher the temp, the more esters. I love to use it, but I have heard other brewers state that they don't care for it. I try to keep the beer temp in the 62-63 range for the first few days, then let it rise to the 66-68 range to clean up.
 
TxBigHops said:
Just to be clear, I assume you are referring to S-04, English ale yeast? Or US-05? S-04 is a beast. It typically ferments vigorously and quickly. Did you measure the beer temp during ferment? Because it's English ale yeast, it will generate some fruity esters typical of that style. The higher the temp, the more esters. I love to use it, but I have heard other brewers state that they don't care for it. I try to keep the beer temp in the 62-63 range for the first few days, then let it rise to the 66-68 range to clean up.
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Sorry yes S-04. The English ale. I've used 1968 before, but not S-04.

Maybe it's just the flavors of that yeast. I kept the beer at low 60s (~62) ambient. But it did ferment fast and I think got pretty warm (like mid 70s, according to the Fermometer strip).

I kegged it a week earlier than I normally would. It's been cold now for a week. I'm wondering if some warm conditioning would help? Or just leave it cold for a couple weeks to see if it mellows.
 
I brewed this also and after one week in the bottle it isn't carbed. Taste is horrible. Maybe it's because it is flat. Hoping it improves. THis Saturday will be two weeks in the bottle and I sure hope it's ready.
I fermented at 64-65 degrees until fermentation slowed then ramped up the temp over a few days to 68-70 where it stayed for another 1 week. FG finished at 1.016.
 
brew703 said:
I brewed this also and after one week in the bottle it isn't carbed. Taste is horrible. Maybe it's because it is flat. Hoping it improves. THis Saturday will be two weeks in the bottle and I sure hope it's ready.
I fermented at 64-65 degrees until fermentation slowed then ramped up the temp over a few days to 68-70 where it stayed for another 1 week. FG finished at 1.016.
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Which yeast?

Last batch of this I did with WY1968 and bottled, it was several weeks before I liked it. And that was after at least 1 week in fridge, probably about 5-6 weeks post brew. Actually was very good then, but my initial tastes were not good.

As I've started above, I've got another modified one in a keg currently, that's also not good, but hoping again that it will get better. Just don't think you can rush this one.

I would primary this 3-4 weeks next time I make it, and stick with 1968 (S-04 can be weird). Then bottle/keg. 6 weeks post brew seems about perfect for drinking.
 
brew703 said:
S-04. It was a BEAST. My OG was 1.078 (I think) which was about 10 points too high but the yeast ate through it. I still had active fermentation at the 7 day mark then it finally started to settle down.
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Wow..yeah at that high of gravity I'm guessing will need a decent amount of conditioning time before tasting good. Be patient with it. There are a lot of strong flavors in there....I think the melanoidin is a big part of that, as this is the only beer I've used it in, and it's definitely potent.
 
ruascott said:
Wow..yeah at that high of gravity I'm guessing will need a decent amount of conditioning time before tasting good. Be patient with it. There are a lot of strong flavors in there....I think the melanoidin is a big part of that, as this is the only beer I've used it in, and it's definitely potent.
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Yea never used Melanoidin before this batch. Not in a real hurry- just curious to taste since I never had an original ZD. I was always under the impression IPA's are best consumed early. The way it tasted I may be waiting 3-4 weeks before it's drinkable.
 
brew703 said:
I brewed this also and after one week in the bottle it isn't carbed. Taste is horrible. Maybe it's because it is flat. Hoping it improves. THis Saturday will be two weeks in the bottle and I sure hope it's ready.
I fermented at 64-65 degrees until fermentation slowed then ramped up the temp over a few days to 68-70 where it stayed for another 1 week. FG finished at 1.016.
Click to expand...

can you expand on "horrible"? does it taste green? Off-flavors from brewing process? Boozy? Infected?
 
Definitely not infected. part of it could be green- didn't detect any off flavors that I remember. I only took a taste and dumped the rest.
going to give it a couple more weeks of bottle conditioning and see what happens.
 
brew703 said:
Yea never used Melanoidin before this batch. Not in a real hurry- just curious to taste since I never had an original ZD. I was always under the impression IPA's are best consumed early. The way it tasted I may be waiting 3-4 weeks before it's drinkable.
Click to expand...

Early is a relative term. Sounds like yours was only 3 weeks old. I'd argue this isn't your typical IPA...it's got a lot more going on the malt side, than say a real clean one that's 90% 2 Row.

I'm no expert, but 5-6 weeks old seemed best for me. And I was drinking it side by side with a bottle of the real stuff last time I made it.

I actually brewed my latest one, also using S04, the same day you did. I kegged, and it's not really drinkable right now either, even though it's carbed. I've got it warm conditioning in the keg.
 
Racked to my keg last night. Didn't do a secondary on recommendation here and sure enough S-04 was settled tight on the bottom. I've only
Purged and am conditioning but see no reason not to put the CO2 on it. 12psi for 7-10 days sound sufficient?
 
I moved the bottles to the top of my upright freezer where the bottle temp is about 77 degrees. it's at the 25 day mark today.
I'll leave it sit another week or two and try it. By then it would be at 5-6 weeks.
I'm sure it will turn out good when ready.
 
Haven't been able to sample this next to the real thing but have to say I love this recipe! Citra hops have a taste to me that is so deliciously different than any other hop I've used.

Brewed this for the 4th time in past 6 mos but to mix it I added some Rye and the results at kegging last night are great. I fermented 10 gals using S04 and another 3 gals using Denny's Fav 50 and the Fav 50 version with the added Rye is prob one of the best beers I've ever brewed, not sure how, but this yeast seems to accentuate both the Rye and the Citra flavor much more than the s04 and this result is pre-dry hop (I keg hop). If looking to mix it up, add some Rye and this yeast, u will not be disappointed.
 
dordelli said:
Haven't been able to sample this next to the real thing but have to say I love this recipe! Citra hops have a taste to me that is so deliciously different than any other hop I've used.

Brewed this for the 4th time in past 6 mos but to mix it I added some Rye and the results at kegging last night are great. I fermented 10 gals using S04 and another 3 gals using Denny's Fav 50 and the Fav 50 version with the added Rye is prob one of the best beers I've ever brewed, not sure how, but this yeast seems to accentuate both the Rye and the Citra flavor much more than the s04 and this result is pre-dry hop (I keg hop). If looking to mix it up, add some Rye and this yeast, u will not be disappointed.
Click to expand...

Can you comment on your typical fermenting/conditioning schedule?
 
Not news for experienced brewers.

But there are a lot, like myself, that were new brewers trying this recipe.


Give this beer a bit of time. 4 to 5 weeks from your brew date. I've made this 3 times, including using a different hop profile.

At 3 weeks it was really terrible. At 5 it was delicious.
 
Bottled this two Saturdays ago... Wet a paper towel, wrapped around bottle and put in fridge for a few hours last night and cracked open at 9pm and was AWESOME!

I love to home brew, but I often dont like some characteristic of it, I'm not sure what it is. Dont know if it is a taste, texture, i dunno.

But I enjoy this one

I didnt do first wort hop addition, no clue what that even meant until after. Messed up my hop additions by a few minutes.. Had a slight boil over... Was my first solo AG batch and my efficiency was around 50% lol

All said and done, it came out really good. Cant wait to drink a bunch next weekend!

Oh, I had in primary for like 4 or 5 weeks, with dry hop at about 7 days in until the end. Swamp bucket method, with not much attention given to keeping temp in a particular range (house gets up to 78 during day, would toss some ice in or ice packs in morning if I remembered)


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Nice. Took a sample from my keg this weekend, not quite fully carbed yet but tasty. I did notice some off flavored not quite lining up. Based on recipe and others notes I have to assume this is the "let it condition" phase. Still tasty (8oz of Citra how could it not be!).
 
My latest batch is, I'm afraid, close to as good as it will get.

1st time using S04. I made some mistakes and allowed it to ferment to warm, and it's given out some massive esters. It was in a 64F area and shot up to mid 70s when it took off. I'm calling it a Zombie Saison it is so estery. Not undrinkable, but certainly not a great beer.

I'll stick to WY1968 and keep it low 60s for early fermentation going forward.
 
ruascott said:
My latest batch is, I'm afraid, close to as good as it will get.

1st time using S04. I made some mistakes and allowed it to ferment to warm, and it's given out some massive esters. It was in a 64F area and shot up to mid 70s when it took off. I'm calling it a Zombie Saison it is so estery. Not undrinkable, but certainly not a great beer.

I'll stick to WY1968 and keep it low 60s for early fermentation going forward.
Click to expand...


Well now, that's not exactly fair to the S04, is it? You made the errors, and are saying it didn't turn out right? Fer shame, Andy, fer shame. [emoji12]
I'd give it another shot with the S04 while trying to eliminate those errors.
Is good beer.
 
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1456364415.260822.jpg
Getting towards the last of my kegs [emoji20]. This one is the DIPA (Conan) yeast batch. This one as well as the Funktown Pale Ale Yeast both have turned flavors very nicely over the past couple weeks and have cleared up very nicely as well. Good solid head on both (giggidy) also. All in all very solid experimental brews. Cheers!
 
copper2hopper said:
View attachment 339744
Getting towards the last of my kegs [emoji20]. This one is the DIPA (Conan) yeast batch. This one as well as the Funktown Pale Ale Yeast both have turned flavors very nicely over the past couple weeks and have cleared up very nicely as well. Good solid head on both (giggidy) also. All in all very solid experimental brews. Cheers!
Click to expand...

Nice glass. Wife got me a set of those as a valentine's day gift a few years ago. Well, except mine have a different -ski name on them. ;)
 
beernbourbon said:
Well now, that's not exactly fair to the S04, is it? You made the errors, and are saying it didn't turn out right? Fer shame, Andy, fer shame. [emoji12]
I'd give it another shot with the S04 while trying to eliminate those errors.
Is good beer.
Click to expand...


I suppose, but I have had good results with 1968 for my current setup. It's never jumped that high / that fast on me.

I'm trying hard not to drain pour it. Wife actually likes it, but not for me. Problem is, just waiting on her to finish it will hold up a tap spot for way, way too long.
 
ruascott said:
I suppose, but I have had good results with 1968 for my current setup. It's never jumped that high / that fast on me.

I'm trying hard not to drain pour it. Wife actually likes it, but not for me. Problem is, just waiting on her to finish it will hold up a tap spot for way, way too long.
Click to expand...

Dammit woman!! Drink Faster, I canna brew no more til yer done!!!!
(in my horribly inaccurate Scottish accent)
 
Does anyone have a lot of experience with the real, bottled ZD.

I get it very rarely, and was tonight comparing with my HB. I opened a bottle that had been in my fridge about 3 weeks, bottled on 1/6/16 according to bottle.

I poured maybe 3oz into glass. It was crystal clear. Not like my kegged HB at all.

Then I went back and poured the remaining bottle, and it clouded up,, and it's almost a spot on match with mine.

Does FFF bottle condition? They must from what I've seen here.

Anyway, the flavors of this recipe are definitely right on. Regardless of my above mentioned ester flavors from S04.
 
ruascott said:
Does anyone have a lot of experience with the real, bottled ZD.

I get it very rarely, and was tonight comparing with my HB. I opened a bottle that had been in my fridge about 3 weeks, bottled on 1/6/16 according to bottle.

I poured maybe 3oz into glass. It was crystal clear. Not like my kegged HB at all.

Then I went back and poured the remaining bottle, and it clouded up,, and it's almost a spot on match with mine.

Does FFF bottle condition? They must from what I've seen here.

Anyway, the flavors of this recipe are definitely right on. Regardless of my above mentioned ester flavors from S04.
Click to expand...


Not bottle conditioned but there is some sediment that settles out. Think it's from the big dry hop.
 
Brewed this last Saturday (2/20), it was our third overall homebrew and second BIAB. We implemented some new procedures this time, including a yeast starter for the 1968 using a Stir Starter stir plate and 1.5L of 1.040 starter wort, as well as a better method of insulating the brew kettle during the 60 minute mash (we were right at 152* when we closed the kettle, only stirred once, and were at 147* after the 60 minutes, which is not too bad for garage brewing on one of the coldest days we have had here in GA this year).

Hit a pre-boil OG of 1.053 (0.001 higher than expected via Priceless BIAB Calculator), and a post-boil OG of 1.069 (0.004 higher than the expected recipe OG), which means our squeezing process was a little more efficient than expected.

Decanted and pitched the yeast slurry around 66*, and have maintained 64-66* throughout so far. Fermentation was very active by about 18 hours in, and did not slow down until Day 3 or Day 4. Much improved over our first two homebrew batches (a liquid extract IPA kit from MoreBeer and a BIAB Chocolate Oatmeal Porter recipe we got online).

The only difference to the recipe from the OP was the addition of a 1.25 oz Citra dry hop at Day 3, added directly to the primary. I ordered 10 oz of Citra (recipe calls for 8.75 oz) and knew I wanted to add the extra 1.25 oz somewhere, but hadn't decided when. We used RO water with 1 tsp CaCl and 1/2 tsp Gypsum per 5 gallons of mash and sparge water (from the "Northeast Style IPA" thread here on HomeBrew Talk). The dry hop addition at Day 3 is in line with the thinking that hop interaction with the active yeast contributes to the "NE Style" IPA that is so popular with so many right now.

The standard 3 oz Citra dry hop will be added at Day 14, with the primary carboy moved to the fridge at Day 21 for cold crashing, and to the keg at Day 23 for packaging. Two weeks at 12-14 psi will put our keg tapping date around Day 37 from brew day.

Looking forward to this one, it should be our best homebrew yet and we have learned a lot through these first three batches! I will post back once we have a FG reading and once we are pouring from the tap in about 30 days!
 
9 days of carb/conditioning time and my "sample" is marvelous. Head retention isn't great, need to investigate that piece. However, perhaps most importantly, it taste amazing. Having not tried the real thing, I cannot comment to its likeness but it's a keeper recipe.
image-66945.jpeg


And sorry, image is sideways don't know why.

Edit: image is NOT sideways, nice.
 
emr25 said:
Brewed this last Saturday (2/20), it was our third overall homebrew and second BIAB. We implemented some new procedures this time, including a yeast starter for the 1968 using a Stir Starter stir plate and 1.5L of 1.040 starter wort, as well as a better method of insulating the brew kettle during the 60 minute mash (we were right at 152* when we closed the kettle, only stirred once, and were at 147* after the 60 minutes, which is not too bad for garage brewing on one of the coldest days we have had here in GA this year).

Hit a pre-boil OG of 1.053 (0.001 higher than expected via Priceless BIAB Calculator), and a post-boil OG of 1.069 (0.004 higher than the expected recipe OG), which means our squeezing process was a little more efficient than expected.

Decanted and pitched the yeast slurry around 66*, and have maintained 64-66* throughout so far. Fermentation was very active by about 18 hours in, and did not slow down until Day 3 or Day 4. Much improved over our first two homebrew batches (a liquid extract IPA kit from MoreBeer and a BIAB Chocolate Oatmeal Porter recipe we got online).

The only difference to the recipe from the OP was the addition of a 1.25 oz Citra dry hop at Day 3, added directly to the primary. I ordered 10 oz of Citra (recipe calls for 8.75 oz) and knew I wanted to add the extra 1.25 oz somewhere, but hadn't decided when. We used RO water with 1 tsp CaCl and 1/2 tsp Gypsum per 5 gallons of mash and sparge water (from the "Northeast Style IPA" thread here on HomeBrew Talk). The dry hop addition at Day 3 is in line with the thinking that hop interaction with the active yeast contributes to the "NE Style" IPA that is so popular with so many right now.

The standard 3 oz Citra dry hop will be added at Day 14, with the primary carboy moved to the fridge at Day 21 for cold crashing, and to the keg at Day 23 for packaging. Two weeks at 12-14 psi will put our keg tapping date around Day 37 from brew day.

Looking forward to this one, it should be our best homebrew yet and we have learned a lot through these first three batches! I will post back once we have a FG reading and once we are pouring from the tap in about 30 days!
Click to expand...

Just pulled an FG sample at Day 7. Already at 1.015, with an OG of 1.069, which puts it around 7.1% ABV currently.

The aroma is amazing, best I've ever smelled before. The Day 3 dry hop certainly contributed to that, but needless to say it is going to be a long few weeks waiting for this to finish up and then carbonate!

 
I brewed this on 1/23. OG was about 8 points over what I wanted. FG was only a couple points above where I wanted. The s-04 did a good job. Bottled 2/8 and this beer still isn't carbed. Not sure what the deal is as I have the bottles sitting on top of my chest freezer where the temps are mid 70's.
Does it normally take an IPA a month to carb? I double checked my priming sugar amount and I was actually a little over so I don't think that was the issue.
 
brew703 said:
I brewed this on 1/23. OG was about 8 points over what I wanted. FG was only a couple points above where I wanted. The s-04 did a good job. Bottled 2/8 and this beer still isn't carbed. Not sure what the deal is as I have the bottles sitting on top of my chest freezer where the temps are mid 70's.
Does it normally take an IPA a month to carb? I double checked my priming sugar amount and I was actually a little over so I don't think that was the issue.
Click to expand...

No, mine was partially carbed at a week, and fully carbed in 2. I used 22oz bombers and some 12 oz bottles.
 
brew703 said:
I brewed this on 1/23. OG was about 8 points over what I wanted. FG was only a couple points above where I wanted[....]Does it normally take an IPA a month to carb? I double checked my priming sugar amount and I was actually a little over so I don't think that was the issue.
Click to expand...

Did you make a starter? Did you add more yeast at bottling time? The first time I brewed this, I didn't add yeast at bottling time (or make a starter for brew day) and it took over a month to carb up. I assumed this was the yeast being stressed out. For any subsequent time that I've brewed this, I've added bottling yeast. The beer was carbed within two weeks.

I think if your target OG is going to be over 1.050, you want to make a starter for brew day, otherwise you can be putting stress on your yeast (if you're under pitching). I also feel like if you have a very high OG, you should also be adding yeast at bottling time as they might be stressed in the higher ABV environment. Your OG was 1.073? That puts your beer over 7%.
 
Did a BIAB version of this recipe, minor tweaks. Ended up entering into a local Homebrew comp and ended up getting 1st in the IPA category! Great recipe, amazing taste!
 

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