American Pale Ale Three Floyds Zombie Dust Clone

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I have plans to try this recipe either as a citra/amarillo 50:50 mix or maybe even all amarillo when I brew it again, hopefully in a few months. I think Mosaic would also work well if combined with citra or amarillo, but on its own it seems to have a drier taste than the others.
 
I've only made this with all mosaic. I've only made about 5 batches of beer in my life and this has been three of them. On New Year's Eve I finally got my hands on some citra, I can't wait to taste how that batch turns out.
 
Well, Citra it is then! Gonna hit up HopsDirect in the morning..Pretty sure that is where I saw the lowest price for 1lb of Citra- cause this recipe takes dang near the whole thing! Well, not really, but STILL...:)
 
Order placed for Citra(also ordered a pound of Amarillo) from Hops Direct..Not bad, $17.65 for a pound of Citra, other places I looked wanted like $25 for 2014 crop, this is 2016 crop! :)..Got tracking info that they should be here on 1/12...So, that nixes brewing it on Tuesday...so, I guess next Saturday is Zombie Dust brew day! :)

Oh, got the grains and yeast in the mail today..
 
Hello everyone and happy new year,

I brewed this one as my first beer doing BIAB (or first beer ever lets say), after 2 weeks of fermentation and 2 weeks in the bottle, the beer is lacking of body (kind of waterish...).

The strange thing is that by mistake I mashed higher than advised (I remember it was around 68c or 154f though I had trouble maintaining temperature and it felt to 149/148 after one hour).

OG was 1054 and FG 1018
I added some lactic acid and gypsum to correct my tap water (mash ph was a tad too low at 5)

Now I'am a bit confused as I assume this "lack of body" won't improve with conditioning time, but I'am trying to guess where it could come from ?

Thanks. :)
 
matzou said:
OG was 1054 and FG 1018
Click to expand...

You're pretty far off on the OG, so that's likely why you're finding it kind of thin. I haven't hit the intended OG on this beer yet either, and have seen similar results. Not bad per se, but a weird balance between the malt and hops. The batch I'm drinking at the moment hit an OG of 1.053 and finished at 1.013, strange that yours still finished at 1.018 despite coming in low on the OG.

Maybe try to maintain your mash temps a little better? This batch I'm drinking dropped to 147F by the end of the mash, which I think is going to make the beer drier than intended, and that's what it tastes like. Next time I make this I'm going to refire my propane burner every 15 minutes to try and keep the mash temps close to 152F.
 
What surprised me is that I overshot the temperature and mashed in at 68c/154.4f during the first 20 mins before gradually losing 3 degrees by the end of the mash.

This temperature, the grain bill and the FG of 1018 made me scare of a "cloying" heavily bodied beer, but the result so far is the reverse with a complete lack of body.

Also I know it's all about patience and going to try after 3 week of conditioning but I have a hard time thinking that the body is going to change that much.
 
I brewed the following today.

2.5 gallon batch
-
4.5 lb Maris Otter
8 oz Light Munich
3 oz Crystal 60L
3 oz Melanoiden
3 oz Cara Pils
2 oz Acid malt
-
3 g Magnum 60 min
14 g Citra 10 min
14 g Citra 5 min
14 g Citra 0 min (soak for 60 minutes)
14 g Citra @ 168 (soak for 30 minutes)
14 g Citra Day 3 of fermentation
14 g Citra 4 days before bottling
(3 oz Citra total)
-
One pack of rehydrated S-04.
-
Calcium - 99
Magnesium - 0
Sodium - 0
Chloride - 76
Sulfate - 138
-
Mashed @ 154 for 3.5 hours
OG was 1.067
STC1000 is set for 65
I'll keg this batch and shoot for two weeks in primary.
 
phyllobeddo said:
I have four kids! Stuff happens, a lot......
Click to expand...

Truth. (father of 4 as well)
just-five-minutes.jpg
)
 
So, Zombie time got pushed back to Tuesday..Stuff..Anyway, just got done measuring out the grains and hops for this epic brew! :) I did make 1 addition, I added 4oz of Belgian Biscuit..Why? Just because..lol..I have an appointment in the morning with a contractor on a property I am working on in preparation to sell, and my daughter has an appointment right after that..So, brewing should kick off a little after noon..

Until then, one quick question: Use 1 packet of dry 05 yeast or go ahead and up it to 2 packets?
 
One packet is fine, but I prefer s04 for this one, I find us05 to clean, but with these hops and grain, still a damn fine beer
 
Ahah! I see what you mean. I only have one and understand (so I can imagine 4)! This is why I always start my bree when he is in bed. Start around 7pm, finish around 1am.
 
milldoggy said:
One packet is fine, but I prefer s04 for this one, I find us05 to clean, but with these hops and grain, still a damn fine beer
Click to expand...

1 packet for a 1.064 beer is not enough
minimum of 2 packs rehydrated, you'll most likely end up with off-flavors from underpitching
 
1 pack of s-04 rehydrated does this recipe just fine in most cases. Personally, i think 1968 and a starter does it better, but, brewing on short notice or without the means for a starter, 1 pack of s-04 does the job. I wouldn't bother with more than one pack for this recipe.
 
crusader1612 said:
You disagree that an underpitch of yeast creates a higher risk of off-flavors?
Click to expand...


No, I am not disagreeing that underpitching creates a higher risk of off flavors, however i do disagree that a single pack of yeast on this 1.064 OG beer is not enough and it will "most likely" have off flavors. 1.074, I would probably use 2.
 
Well, I COULD pitch the other packet of 05..But, would rather not at this time..I just-about 30 minutes ago- sealed up the FV in the closet fermenting chamber..

Brew went extremely smooth thanks to using the Grainfather :D Started with right at 5 gallons for mash in, held the temp at 152 for 60 minutes..Sparged with 3 gallons at 170, I was quite happy with how quickly the grain bed drained, I occasionally stirred it so there weren't any huge channels for the water to go through to try and get the maximum amount of sugars the grain would surrender..This gave me just a bit above 6.25 gallons for my 60 minute boil..Then the CFC did its job in cooling the wort down pretty quickly into the fermenter..Hit a little low for the OG tho at 1.054..

But am happy with it so far.Gravity sample tasted awesome, a little on the sweet side up front and then a clean crisp bitterness on the back end..Will be putting 3oz of citra in for dry hop in 7 days..
 
skeezerpleezer said:
No, I am not disagreeing that underpitching creates a higher risk of off flavors, however i do disagree that a single pack of yeast on this 1.064 OG beer is not enough and it will "most likely" have off flavors. 1.074, I would probably use 2.
Click to expand...


Each to their own I guess.
I pitch 2 packs when I hit 1.050.
I've always found minor issues with pitching 1 pack into 5 gallons of sugary sweet wet. Especially at this OG.
For me, and additional few dollars for an extra pack of yeast is better than the potential for what could become a drain pour.
It's just my opinion, but 11grams of yeast cannot be enough for a beer that ends up at 6+%
 
Over pitching is a much better error to make than under pitching.

1 pack will work. 2 will work better. You decide if a $4 pack of yeast is worthwhile insurance....
 
Direct from fermentis:
now that you have defined your dry yeast weight depending on the number of viable yeast cells you target in your brew, we need to get to another point : What are the effects of low or high pitching rates ?
Pitching low
a low pitching rate will have the effect of slowing the start of the fermentation and increasing the competition from bacteria and wild yeast that are present in the fermentation vessel.
It has been noted, that low pitching rats increase the undesirable aroma levels such as acetaldehyde that reveal grassy and green apple aromas as well as estery levels characterized by fruity banana flavours.
A low removal level of yeast combined to a low pitching rate will increase diacetyl in the brew. The diacetyl level will also increase in case of pediococcus infection.
High pitching effects
a high pitching rate generates high heat and influences the rapidity of start of fermentation. Pitching at high levels will decrease the ph and help reduce the bacterial growth; in the same way, the formation of diacetyl will be reduced.
Click to expand...
 
crusader1612 said:
Direct from fermentis:
Click to expand...


I am well aware of pitching rates and how yeast works and not disagreeing that it can impact flavor. 1 pack may be slightly under the recommended rate for a 1.064 beer, but I would still disagree that you will "most likely" get off flavors from doing it with this beer. "Most likely" would indicate more often than not, which I do not see to be the case here.
 
skeezerpleezer said:
I am well aware of pitching rates and how yeast works and not disagreeing that it can impact flavor. 1 pack may be slightly under the recommended rate for a 1.064 beer, but I would still disagree that you will "most likely" get off flavors from doing it with this beer. "Most likely" would indicate more often than not, which I do not see to be the case here.
Click to expand...

I'm not disputing you're aware of it, I'm saying that 1 pack is not enough ( you even admitted that was the case saying lower than recommended, which increases the risk.
sure some people don't have an issue, but because you pitch 1 pack of yeast and don't have issues, that doesn't mean others should pay attention to you instead of the yeast manufacturer.
what a brewer should be doing really is pitching the correct amount of yeast cells (in this case over 1 pack, and probably less than 2) meaning that its much easier to throw a second pack in and have the piece of mind that your reducing any risk associated with the lower pitching rates your suggesting.
 
Well, read the result from the gentlemans brew, he ended up with 1.054, so one packet, back on topic. Move pitching rates argument to a new thread please.
 
I've actually had more off-flavor issues from S-04 if the fermentation temperature gets above say 65F than I have gotten from under-pitching. Good yeast, but weird stuff happens when it ferments warm.
 
edroberts said:
I've actually had more off-flavor issues from S-04 if the fermentation temperature gets above say 65F than I have gotten from under-pitching. Good yeast, but weird stuff happens when it ferments warm.
Click to expand...

Haha, yeah it can get a bit funky sometimes.

milldoggy said:
Well, read the result from the gentlemans brew, he ended up with 1.054, so one packet, back on topic. Move pitching rates argument to a new thread please.
Click to expand...

Personally i think it a valid argument in this thread, given the OP promotes pitching into this beer at a certain rate.
Plus even with 1.054 I'd argue that 2 packets would be better (I know I do it) last time i pitch 1 pack into a 1.054 beer i ended up with acetaldehyde. when i rebrewed with 2 packs i hit the beer right on the money.
happy yeast = happy beer. and a good beer can become a great beer, for just $4.
 
Last edited:
Pantherjon said:
Hit a little low for the OG tho at 1.054..
Click to expand...

I've brewed this six times now and yet to hit 1.065. Just finished another batch and I'm at 1.062 - by far my best yet. Made this batch with Waimea hops in place of Citra, although I used Citra for the previous five.

You may want to consider going a little light on the dry hop at that gravity. While I've enjoyed the batches I've brewed so far, something seems a little out of balance with them, and I think it's that there isn't enough maltiness to compliment the hops. It's not really a bitter beer at all, but I've had several attempts around that OG I hit with the recommended dry hop, and they weren't quite right.
 
@Epos7, what is your batch size, your pre boil and post boil vol?
 
My batch size is 5.25 gallons, so I've scaled the grain bill to the following:

10.24 lb 2-Row
1.05 lb Munich
0.42 lb CaraFoam
0.42 lb Crystal 60
0.42 lb Melanoidin

Pre-boil volume is 7.3 gallons and post-boil is 5.75. I'm leaving only trub in the kettle with probably only a pint of liquid. I hit 1.048 at the end of mash on my most recent batch, and 1.046 on the one before that.
 
Epos7 said:
I've brewed this six times now and yet to hit 1.065. Just finished another batch and I'm at 1.062 - by far my best yet. Made this batch with Waimea hops in place of Citra, although I used Citra for the previous five.

You may want to consider going a little light on the dry hop at that gravity. While I've enjoyed the batches I've brewed so far, something seems a little out of balance with them, and I think it's that there isn't enough maltiness to compliment the hops. It's not really a bitter beer at all, but I've had several attempts around that OG I hit with the recommended dry hop, and they weren't quite right.
Click to expand...
Just scribbled a note on my brew sheet to remind myself to cut back on the dry hop..Think I will cut it back to 2.5oz instead of 3oz..
 

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