Been meaning to post back for a while, but just been letting it slip. I agree with WiscoBrewer..... I have been doing some similar things and getting some great Citra Beers. Been basing a lot of what I have been doing on this thread:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=517721
However, one of my go-to beers has always been a Citra IPA. So, I have been applying a lot of the stuff from that thread to my Citra IPA and the end result is a beer a lot like Sue. It has not been a direct clone attempt - but the results are right in line with it anyway.
Recent things that I have been happy with - not all of these would be ideal for a "Sue Clone" - but, a lot of them are:
*12-15% flaked grains in grain bill (I love this, but probably not "sue clone" material for grain bill. I would go with something simple like WIsco Brewer.
*2:1 Chloride to sulfate. Been going about 130:65ppm for recent beers
*Using some canning salt to get my Na up from 0 to 30 or so
*Using some of my high bicarbonate water (20-40%)
*pH's of my best versions have all been what I would consider high.... with mash/boil kettle (preboil) around 5.45 or even a touch higher. This seems to be pushing the high end of pH to me....but, I like the results better than 5.2-5.3 I don't know why this would be..... but it is.
*Low carbonation.... not flat, but not biting.
*Primary dry hop plus a second, short dry hop in a hopping keg, under CO2 and jump to serving keg after 48 hours. I use this method and it works awesome -
http://www.bear-flavored.com/2014/09/how-i-dry-hop-my-ipas-with-no-oxygen.html
(This dry hopping strategy has been AWESOME. I highly recommend it)
Recipe for the citra beer in picture below:
(6.5 gallon batch at end of boil - gets me 5 into keg eventually)
Grain:
41% Rahr 2 Row
41% Maris Otter
8% Flaked Oats
4% Flaked Barley
2% Flaked Wheat
3% Crystal 40
***Specific Sue attempt, I would go with 92-95% Base malt ... I like splitting between 2 row and golden promise. I would then use 2-3% of caramel 20 or honey malt. I would use wheat or flaked barley like wiscobrewer mentioned for the other part.
1.058 OG (
Hops:
.75 oz. Warrior (60)
3 oz. Citra Flameout
Start to chill and shut off chiller with wort at 160-170
3oz. Citra Hopstand for 30-40 minutes, occasional stirring/swirling
Chill the rest of the way and let settle out for another 20-30 minutes
3oz. Dryhop in primary somewhere around day 5-7 for about 5 days.
Transfer to purged keg with dryhopping set up (in link above) with 3 more ounces of citra in the keg. Jump it to serving keg 2 days later.
Yeast:
I have been using Conan ..... that is not TG's yeast. I would go with the 007 or at least 1056 for a "clone." But Conan makes this a great beer.
Start ferment at 62 and let free rise to 66-68 for the first 4 days. Then move fermenter to where ambient is 68-70 for duration.
Water:
Using in mash and sparge water-
Gypsum .2 gr/gallon
CaCl .6 gr/gallon
Epsom .1 gr/gallon
Canning salt .2 gr/gallon
RO= 60%, Tap = 40% (your water may vary - mine is HIGH bicarbonate in the 260 range)
Ca = 96
Mg = 12
Na = 28
Sulfate = 67
Chloride = 135
Bicarbonate = 128
Lactic Acid in mash and sparge = .5ml/gallon
Mash pH = 5.45
pre boil = 5.47
Post boil = 5.30
At any rate, that is my latest (and favorite so far) of the ones I have been brewing. Two others on finishing dry hop and getting carbed. Fairly similar though as I have been really pleased with this general process lately.
I think applying a simpler grain bill (like Wisco) and 007 yeast to the hopping regime and water/pH I have been using on my other beers would get very, very close to a sue clone.
. After that I feel like we are all shooting in the dark on grain bill and hop schedule. I guess I'll put something together and add ridiculous amounts of late and dry hops. Any other suggestions would be appreciated!
