American Pale Ale Three Floyds Zombie Dust Clone

[arbadarchi]

That's when they are best! I still have a few bottles left from 4-5 months ago, and they are nowhere near as good as when they were fresh.

Actually it has begun to develop a dirty dishwater flavor... After doing some research I'm wondering if my yeast have become strained and aren't able to finish chewing up the off flavors

 

[jspain3]

I'm not sure what I did differently, but this is the cloudiest beer I've made. Hopefully, some cold conditioning and time will help. Should be carbed up this weekend, so we'll see.

 

[arbadarchi]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1444365110.166169.jpg

 

[arbadarchi]

It's good but there's a funny stale flavor in either the hop or co2

 

[Johow]

It sure looks tasty!!!

 

[arbadarchi]

It's bottle conditioned, but the co2 tastes like freezer air. I don't know how to explain it better than that.

 

[arbadarchi]

It sure looks tasty!!!

How's east coast beer treating you?

 

[Nagorg]

I've got 10 gallons fermenting now (original recipe). I can smell the Citra goodness already! Cant wait to have this in the keezer again!

 

[fuzzy2133]

It's bottle conditioned, but the co2 tastes like freezer air. I don't know how to explain it better than that.

Wierd, wonder if the hops were not completely sealed and the carbonation is bringing it out.

 

[arbadarchi]

Wierd, wonder if the hops were not completely sealed and the carbonation is bringing it out.

They were bulk hope from the LHBS. They keep them in the fridge and have a vacuum seal system, however I suspect that's why... The boiled hops tasted and smelled amazing, but after dry hopping it was wierd.

 

[Lpera]

I'm not sure what I did differently, but this is the cloudiest beer I've made. Hopefully, some cold conditioning and time will help. Should be carbed up this weekend, so we'll see.

Really interesting that you mentioned that, the same happened to me.

It was the cloudiest beer ever. Cold conditioning helped, but still was very weird.

I will brew it a second time but will go for a american ale yeast instead.

 

[jspain3]

Really interesting that you mentioned that, the same happened to me.

It was the cloudiest beer ever. Cold conditioning helped, but still was very weird.

I will brew it a second time but will go for a american ale yeast instead.

It's been just over two weeks since bottling and I've tried two beers thus far to see how the carbonation is coming along. At least it tastes pretty good. There is definitely a lingering bitterness but hopefully that smooths with time. The beer itself is very tropical, aromatic and citrusy, so I can't really complain too much. Once they're carbed up, I'll cold condition the crap out of them.

 

[Zippox]

I kind of enjoy this beer and my neighbors like it a lot more. I did a different hop schedule where I added 60 min Citra hops, then a bunch at flameout and a bunch more after it cooled for 20 minutes. I.e. I did what is referred to as a hopstand/ hop steeping.

Insanely cloudy, like it looks almost like sludge, but sure has a ton of flavor and aroma. This was simply due to the long time the beer sat between 160* and 190*

I found that everyone preferred the beer at 3 months than when it was really young (3 weeks -> a month).

The cloudiness never subsided which bothers me kind of a lot. I personally don't think the increased flavor/aroma was worth it when I get a pretty ugly looking beer. Personal preference of course.

So yeah, I actually was able to compare mine with many bottles of zombie dust my neighbor picked up during a vacation. Definitely similar, though the real-deal was cleaner. I thought my beer and Zombie Dust were good beers but nothing I need to seek out in the future. Seems like I just might not be the biggest fan of citra hops? Don't throw anything at me!

 

[TallDan]

So yeah, I actually was able to compare mine with many bottles of zombie dust my neighbor picked up during a vacation. Definitely similar, though the real-deal was cleaner. I thought my beer and Zombie Dust were good beers but nothing I need to seek out in the future. Seems like I just might not be the biggest fan of citra hops? Don't throw anything at me!

You can try it again with a different hop or blend of hops. I brewed it with Nelson sauvin, which was good but not really great IMO. I have a mosaic batch on tap now that I really like. I think it's a good American IPA recipe that works great as a base for experimentation.

 

[skeezerpleezer]

FFF probably has equipment and processes that result in cleaner beers than the average home brewer also.

I know I have made this recipe quite a few times and seen more batch to batch variation than what I have had from FFF

 

[THVbrew]

Can somebody please explain to me why adding the hops to the wort while it is rising to a boil results in less IBUs than if the hops were added after it has reached a rolling boil?

trying to fully understand what is occuring during the FWH as I have never done this before.

 

[Zippox]

Can somebody please explain to me why adding the hops to the wort while it is rising to a boil results in less IBUs than if the hops were added after it has reached a rolling boil?

trying to fully understand what is occuring during the FWH as I have never done this before.

I'm pretty sure that first wort hopping like you mentioned does not result in less calculated IBUs. Rather it seems to reduce the perceived IBUs by somehow making the hop flavor a bit smoother and less sharp I'd say.

 

[Zippox]

You can try it again with a different hop or blend of hops. I brewed it with Nelson sauvin, which was good but not really great IMO. I have a mosaic batch on tap now that I really like. I think it's a good American IPA recipe that works great as a base for experimentation.

Yeah I don't have any problem with the base beer recipe and I'm sure eventually I could find a hop combo that makes this a stellar beer to me.

 

[jjbanks]

Just pulled this off the keg today. Great citra aroma and taste. 2 weeks grain to glass. Very dark and hazy.View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1445820252.520853.jpg

 

[f_stepanski]

I kegged my beer. It did not really come to life until it reached 3 weeks of conditioning; patience was a virtue. Took 2nd place (out of 11) in Pale Ale category, all comments were "to was too hoppy for Pale Ale", but is was delicious.....

 

[jspain3]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1445897862.693377.jpg
Definitely hazy but really tasty. It's crazy how much better it is today than it was last week.

 

[jjbanks]

View attachment 312091
Definitely hazy but really tasty. It's crazy how much better it is today than it was last week.

How long did you age it for after carbonating?

 

[jspain3]

How long did you age it for after carbonating?

It just finished carbonating this week. I started testing bottles last week (two weeks in) and they were barely carbonated. Third week was the charm.

 

[arbadarchi]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1445907370.783273.jpg

This is about 4 weeks in the bottle. I missed a few points, and it suffered for it in flavor, but still good. And super clear.

 

[jjbanks]

View attachment 312128

This is about 4 weeks in the bottle. I missed a few points, and it suffered for it in flavor, but still good. And super clear.

Cold crash for a couple days?

 

[jekeane]

Northern Brewer has an extract kit called "Zombie Dirt" that is free right now with purchase. I need some things from them so I may pull the trigger.

Here is their kit
3.15 lbs Gold malt syrup
3.15 lbs Munich malt syrup (10 min late addition)
2 lbs Golden Light DME (10 min late addition)

.5 carapils
.5 medium crystal

Hops are the same as op

Should I ditch the given steeping grains and go with the ones in the op?
- a little googling informed me carapils serves a similar purpose as carafoam and led crystal is close to 60l.
So next question is can I just add the melanoidin malt by itself or should I include the pound of Munich in the extract op.

Do you think the given extract will do reasonably well?

NB is only doing the extract for free unfortunately.

 

[arbadarchi]

Cold crash for a couple days?

No actually, i stuck it in the fridge for 2 hours. I cold crashed before I bottled though. This one was in a 32 oz bottle. First pour was clear. 2nd pour stirred some sediment up.

 

[shaman1204]

I have made this several times and have compared mine to real ZD and its dead on. Except that mine has a slight lingering bitterness that i cant figure out. Used spring water, so it cant be a cholramine issue.

The real ZD bitterness is gone from the pallet upon swallowing, but mine lingers on the back of tongue for a while. Tannins? Im going to try a fwh then move all the hops to 10min and later. I BIAB, with a squeeze, btw.

Here is a comparison of mine (left) and real ZD (right)

This one came out 6.3 abv with US-05. One week primary, one week secondary/dry hop, drinking it from keg by end of third week.

Sorry about pic. Dont know why its sideways.

 

[gnor]

Shaman, do you make any modification to the original recipe?

 

[fuzzy2133]

I have made this several times and have compared mine to real ZD and its dead on. Except that mine has a slight lingering bitterness that i cant figure out. Used spring water, so it cant be a cholramine issue.

The real ZD bitterness is gone from the pallet upon swallowing, but mine lingers on the back of tongue for a while. Tannins? Im going to try a fwh then move all the hops to 10min and later. I BIAB, with a squeeze, btw.

If you suspect a Tannin issue you could try a 90 min boil. I BIAB as well and have had beers with weird bitterness like described until they aged 4-5 weeks in package. It has seemed to not return since I switched to the longer boil.