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American IPA Trilium Melcher Street Clone

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My first shot at cloning this amazing beer from Trilium. I think I'm within 90% on this first shot. Notes below of how I'd improve it, but this is hands down the best beer I've made to date.

Grain Bill:
74% 2 Row
15% White Wheat Malt
3% Crystal 15
3% Cara-Pils
4.5% Dextrose
Mash at 150F for 60 mins
OG: 1.071 / FG: 1.014
9gal boil / 7.5gal post-boil (account for the crazy hop loss)

Hops:
.5oz Columbus @ 60min
1oz Columbus @ 10min
3oz Columbus @ FO, steep for 30 mins

1.5oz Columbus Dry Hop
6oz Mosaic Dry Hop

Yeast:
WLP007
2L starter
Ferment at 63F (ambient)

Water:
I was shooting for slightly softer water than I normally brew IPAs with, I was goaling a 2:1 Sulfate:Chloride.
Ca: 91
Mg: 27
Na: 27
Sulfate: 105
Chloride: 52

Notes:
I've tasted Trilium's version of this a few times now, and this is REALLY close for my tastes. It's juicy, hazy, dishwater-colored splendid-ness. Massive aromatics that pour out of the glass and wonderful flavors of peach and orange. This has all the flavor and aroma components of Melcher Street. Wish I could taste them side by side. It's not as hazy as theirs. Still need to figure that bit out.

On Dry Hopping...
I added dry hops 4 days after pitching yeast, and they stayed in the fermenter until 2 weeks after pitching. Kegged/poured 2 weeks post-pitch. Trilium advocates for yeast/hop interaction and endorses this practice. I'm inclined now to agree.

Here's what I'd change next time....
1. Still a *shade* minerally, and I don't detect that in the real thing. Less Sulfate I think?
2. Maybe a touch bitter as compared to the real thing. Back off on the bittering adjustment I think, or perhaps even omit completely.
3. Add a touch more C-15 to darken just a few fractions of a point. Maybe go to 5% Crystal 15. Could also be the result of #1 above.
4. Add dry hops 3 days post pitch instead of 4. Things had settled down mostly by day 4, and I wonder if I could have gotten more yeast/hop interaction.

A lot of online recipes call for 2 weeks primary then 2 weeks secondary. Is this this not necessary especially when you're aiming for strongly aromatic IPAs?
 
I brewed this recipe again using...

Grain Bill:
68% 2 Row
20% Flaked Wheat
5% Crystal 15
3% Cara-Pils
4% Dextrose

Mash at 150F for 60 mins
OG: 1.071 / FG: 1.014
9gal boil / 7.5gal post-boil (account for the crazy hop loss)

Hops:
.5oz Columbus @ 60min
1oz Columbus @ 10min
3oz Columbus @ FO, steep for 30 mins

1.5oz Columbus Dry Hop
6oz Mosaic Dry Hop

Yeast:
WLP007
2L starter
Ferment at 63F (ambient)

Water:
I changed up the water pretty dramatically this time through. I went WAY higher on chlorides and added almost no Gypsum.

Ca: 116
Mg: 27
Na: 27
Sulfate: 61
Chloride: 128

Process:
Dry hopped in the primary (glass carboy) at day 3 of fermentation, which was still very active. Let it sit two more days, then transferred it to keg 5 days post pitch. Day 5's gravity reading was terminal, so I kegged it (forced transfer with CO2) and force carbed at 50psi for 24hrs.

Notes:
Tonight is 12 days past brew day and I'm having the first sip out of the keg. Just like last time, it's amazing. (Though, I remind you what happened last time where the homebrew overripe citrus flavor crept in after the second day.) I think the chlorides made a huge difference in softening the mouthfeel. Extremely hazy, even moreso than the last one. White head on a rich orange body. Explosively aromatic and a juicy, round, malty/hoppy flavor with very little bitterness.

I thought I noticed a big difference between the white wheat malt and the flaked wheat, but I'm not ready to declare a difference now that it's in keg. On brewday and in gravity samples, there was a strong wheat flavor. Now though, it's mellowed out. The major differences are in the mouthfeel.

Hopefully this won't turn on me tomorrow due to the significantly shortened time on dry hops (2 days versus 12 days), but we'll see. I really hope I can drink this over the next few weeks!

All in all, I think this is a big step forward.
 
Odecloner: let us know how it goes. I noticed mine change a bit as it clarified. I think there was quite a bit of yeast in suspension and I have noticed that there is a yeasty quality to a lot of the Trillium IPAs. The bottles I have had over the years all had quite bit of yeast residue in them and it does seem to contribute some flavor components. Mine cleared up a lot (haven't had a glass in two days) and the head retention increased as well. Nice, sticky lace on the teku as well! One thing I also found is that it is coming out of my kegerator too cold which really knocks back the aroma and flavor. Letting it warm for 5 minutes before drinking really brings those hop characteristics back to the front. Guess it is time to adjust the kegerator, eh? I snagged some 1318 yesterday and think I will brew this with that next time as well

Studies I have read show that most of the hop oils are dissolved into the beer in a few hours, so I don't think that your dry hop period is going to be an issue. I have done both extremes and find little detectable difference if I put the hops in a keg for a day or until the keg kicks!

I am surprised at the chlorides making more of a difference than gypsum, as gypsum has always made hops shine for me. But like everything else, guess I gotta go try your recommendation and see if I was just imagining that or not. Cheers!
 
I am surprised at the chlorides making more of a difference than gypsum, as gypsum has always made hops shine for me. But like everything else, guess I gotta go try your recommendation and see if I was just imagining that or not. Cheers!

Gypsum and Sulfates seem to give that crisp, dry pop, which isn't what I wanted here. I upped the chlorides to give that soft, round mouthfeel. I think it was successful.

Drinking another pint now. Really wish I had a Melcher Street to compare side by side. I don't think the flavor is quite there, but the nose is there 100%. I've now got that soft mouthfeel, the intense aromatics and most of the flavor. If I'm missing anything, it might be a touch of sweetness. I wonder if next time I should up the crystal ever so slightly, or perhaps mash a little warmer. But, gosh, this is SO good!!

Stone, we should do a bottle share, and then find someone to send us a Melcher too! 😉
 
How did your last batch turn out? I am thinking of using the following water profile:

Ca: 102
Mg: 9
Na: 33
Sulfate: 77
Chloride: 151

Likely brewing this tomorrow or Sunday.
 
It turned out spectacular!! It's stayed that way too. I did a StarSan co2 purge, followed by a pressure transfer from the carboy. It has barely changed in keg at all, and we're now a few weeks in. Highly highly recommend.

On your water, I'd be inclined to go higher of both Cl and Sulfate. My next batch I was thinking of moving to 200/100. I've definitely got the soft mouthfeel, but it's not as much as Trilium. There's a thread floating around about water chemistry of Heady Topper and they talk about starting water profiles much higher than even this. I wouldn't be afraid.

If I were to make any change to to grain ill, I might go a touch heavier on the crystal 15. I think there's a subtle sweetness that I'm missing.

Overall though, this is a great recipe!
 
Brewed another batch today, using the above water profile and London III for the yeast. Fixed an issue with my system I hadn't noticed before which was causing my issues with my boil off. Hit all the numbers so I think this will be a lot better than the "lite" version I made last time. Will let you know how it turns out when it is kegged. Cheers!
 
Brewed another batch today, using the above water profile and London III for the yeast. Fixed an issue with my system I hadn't noticed before which was causing my issues with my boil off. Hit all the numbers so I think this will be a lot better than the "lite" version I made last time. Will let you know how it turns out when it is kegged. Cheers!

Nice. I think you'll find a lot more similarity to trillium beers using 1318. I use this yeast quite a bit in NE IPAs and it has an unmistakeable tartness to it that I def picked up in the trillium beers Ive had, scaled up, scaled way up, congress st, fort point and a melcher st. My personal opinion only but I think 1318 is the yeast they use which may also explain the use of dextrose in a lot of their beers as 1318 doesn't attenuate nearly as well as Conan, it needs that extra help from dextrose to get a lower fg.
 
Hope you are right olotti cuz I doubled down and brewed a Vicinity clone today and pitched more 1318. :D

The Melcher I brewed Saturday is munching away nicely at 64F with the 1318...pretty rigorous actually.

Drinking the last of my Melcher "lite" and it would be nice if the finish was a little more tart...this was done with 007.

Here's a trick for anyone doing these NE IPAs and kegging them: if you get them too cold, the hop resins will settle out and you will have a VERY plain beer because face it, these grain bills are bland! What I found works great is as I see the beer getting less and less turbid, I take it off gas until it is trickling out the faucet. Then I pull it out of the kegerator and using a third CO2 line with a beverage out QD, I attach it to the Out port on my keg and shoot CO2 into the bottom of my keg to kick up all the settled out particulates. Let it set for a few hours in the kegerator and it is a turbid mess of hop flavor goodness. Could probably shake it, but I think this does a better job of blasting the hop resin back into suspension. YMMV!
 
Hey @stonebrewer, how's the fermenting going with 1318? How'd it compare to 007?

Last time I had mine in keg 5 days post pitch! Wondering if I'll be able to do the same with 1318.
 
Stopped seeing airlock activity last night or the day before? Been rather busy and have not been able to keg it. I will probably do that tomorrow. I think the 1318 was a little slower, but then again I fermented it a little lower (62-64) so that might have had something to do with it as well. Really looking forward to it...oh and I was also waiting for a pale ale to kick so I could retrieve my stainless steel hop spider doohickey to use to dry hop in the keg. May just have to bottle the rest and move on...Anyhow, I pitched on the 2nd and it was done roughly 8 days later. Hell...I may just keg it before hitting the sack! Cheers!

Tony
 
30m7cl2.jpg


OK, I kegged it. Whew! Pulled this sample...warm, uncarbonated, delicious! A hint sweeter that 007,still a LOT of hop oils, aroma, and flavor. A burn on the sides of the tongue, which I get with a lot of hoppy IPAs. Interesting! Can't wait until it is carb'd and cooled...
 
Looking muddy! I like it.

I'm going to brew this again this weekend, with the following grain bill...

68.4% Two Row
17.7% Flaked Wheat
5.1% Crystal 15
5.1% Carapils
3.8% Dextrose
Mash @ 150F

Target OG: 1.075
Wyeast London Ale III 1318 Yeast
Hop schedule remains the same, but I was thinking about mixing in some Amarillo or Citra in the Dry Hop. I've done 2 batches of back to back mosaic....we'll see.

Water will change to 150 Chloride, and 150 Sulfate.

I think dialing back the wheat just slightly to make room for more Crystal and CaraPils might be the ticket here. I thought my last attempt felt a little thin on the palate, so hopefully this helps. I'm also going to change it up and try the 1318 yeast as you did, @stonebrewer.

Plan to dry hop 3 days post pitch, and leave them for 2-3 days. Force-transfer to purged keg to complete fermenting (if needed), then pressurize and serve! Last one was less than 2 weeks G2G, and was at it's absolute best on day 1.
 
Tasting fantastic!

Mine was:

73.4% Two Row
15.1% White Wheat (think flaked is the way to go though)
3.4% Carapils and C15
4.5% Dex

This is a tad sweeter, great mouthfeel...soft and full. Added 3g gypsum and 5g calcium chloride as well as 5ml of 85% phosphoric, which gave me a mash PH of 5.32 and 151 chloride/ 77 sulfate. Having a glass now on day 4 and it is not falling off at all. I am also keeping the CO2 low...not still, but not going for a big head as I find the carbonic bite distracts from this beer style.

Will keg my Vicinity clone attempt tonight which I bumped up the chloride more, and the sulfate. I fermented it and carbed it in the keg. Will push via gas to a flushed serving keg with my final dry hop addition.

Future attempts? I think I will do the Melcher again in the next month or so. I will bump salts up a bit to push the envelope. I will also attempt the LODO method to see if I can really keep an IPA for over a year tasting as fresh as first kegged. Skeptical, yes. Curious, hell yeah!
 
Brewed this last night, and it was a minor disaster. I had a friend over to hang out while I brewed, got into a conversation and I totally lost track of the sparge. Sparged to over 11 gallons on a target volume of 9gal! I had to add an hour to the boil to get rid of all that water. Other than that, everything went fine. Pitched a 2L starter of 1318 and it's happily bubbling away under a big blowoff tube.

Planning to dry hop on Day 3 and keg on Day 6 if all goes well.

Will report on its progress!
 
Brewed this last night, and it was a minor disaster. I had a friend over to hang out while I brewed, got into a conversation and I totally lost track of the sparge. Sparged to over 11 gallons on a target volume of 9gal! I had to add an hour to the boil to get rid of all that water. Other than that, everything went fine. Pitched a 2L starter of 1318 and it's happily bubbling away under a big blowoff tube.

Planning to dry hop on Day 3 and keg on Day 6 if all goes well.

Will report on its progress!

That's part of why my first batch was called Melcher Lite. :) I oversparged AND I had an issue with my burners and the new boil kettle. Cheers to you for having the patience to boil off the excess...I did not.

Besides the flavor and aroma, the other thing I like about this beer is grain to glass in a very short span...means I can brew this or another Trillium clone every few weeks and always have fresh IPA on tap. :ban:
 
1318 is crazy stuff. Filled my 6gal carboy to 5.5gal and fitted it with a blowoff tube. 24hrs post pitch it had overflowed my blowoff jar, spilling onto the chamber floor! Replaced with a bigger blowoff jar (bucket) and it's still vigorously churning away.
 
1318 is crazy stuff. Filled my 6gal carboy to 5.5gal and fitted it with a blowoff tube. 24hrs post pitch it had overflowed my blowoff jar, spilling onto the chamber floor! Replaced with a bigger blowoff jar (bucket) and it's still vigorously churning away.

I love 1318 for this style it gives a very trillium-esque taste, tart and fruity which I think is key to nailing this style especially a trillium beer. Not sure if treehouse uses 1318 but I'm thinking trillium does as the few I've had have had that unmistakeable 1318, fruity, tart and spice flavor, I think it compliments the fruity, tropical hops so well.
 
I think there are a number of keys to brewing Trillium style brews. Water additions are huge to get that soft, round mouth feel. Wheat or flaked grains at 15% or higher help to hold the hop oils in suspension. Temperature controls and limiting oxygen on the cold side are a must. A few things I am playing with now are carbonation level (think low carbonation is better) and serving temperature (higher is better in my initial testing). Keeping this beer too cold causes it to clarify and you end up with a more bland beer as the malts cannot stand alone the way these beers are built. I also think the hop selection is key. The juxtaposition of dank, spicy Columbus with the fruitier, tropical hops like Galaxy, Citra, etc. really make these beers, IMHO. Final piece of the puzzle is the yeast, and I am not sold on 007 or 1318 yet as I have not brewed this enough times to decide which I like better, if either. I think I will end up stepping this up to 10 gallons in some future brews and then doing each with a different yeast to try side by side. Either way you cannot go wrong...I am leaning slightly toward 1318.
 
3 days post pitch with 1318 and I'm at 1.028. Almost done! Switched out the blowoff for an airlock and we're vigorously bubbling away. Raised temp from 63 to 65. I'm thinking I'll dry hop tomorrow (4 days post pitch) and pull on Sunday (8 days post pitch).

Dry hop plans have changed slightly...
4oz Mosaic
4oz Citra
1.5oz Columbus

I was planning for 3oz each Mosaic and Citra, but I had 4oz of Mosaic left, so I just measured it all out instead.

Right away in the gravity sample, the fruitiness of 1318 is showing through and the sample, literally, looks like orange juice. I'm reserving judgement on this until it's done, but there's a lot of reason to be hopeful. FWIW, this is nothing like 007. Not even kind of close flavorwise.
 
3 days post pitch with 1318 and I'm at 1.028. Almost done! Switched out the blowoff for an airlock and we're vigorously bubbling away. Raised temp from 63 to 65. I'm thinking I'll dry hop tomorrow (4 days post pitch) and pull on Sunday (8 days post pitch).

Dry hop plans have changed slightly...
4oz Mosaic
4oz Citra
1.5oz Columbus

I was planning for 3oz each Mosaic and Citra, but I had 4oz of Mosaic left, so I just measured it all out instead.

Right away in the gravity sample, the fruitiness of 1318 is showing through and the sample, literally, looks like orange juice. I'm reserving judgement on this until it's done, but there's a lot of reason to be hopeful. FWIW, this is nothing like 007. Not even kind of close flavorwise.

I'd ramp up that temp a little more after primary fermentation is done,it just helps 1318 cleanup and drop a little more. I'll ferment it at 65-68 until primary is finishing then move my carbon upstairs where it hits about 70 and I've got a 3rd gen 1318 to get to 1.010 otherwise it may stall on you. It's a great yeast for these beers but it's finicky plus it's top cropping so you have to break through that cake to dry hop but it's well worth it, prob my fav yeast to use for these beers, I use Conan too and it reacts more like 05 the more generations I use.
 
I think there are a number of keys to brewing Trillium style brews. Water additions are huge to get that soft, round mouth feel. Wheat or flaked grains at 15% or higher help to hold the hop oils in suspension. Temperature controls and limiting oxygen on the cold side are a must. A few things I am playing with now are carbonation level (think low carbonation is better) and serving temperature (higher is better in my initial testing). Keeping this beer too cold causes it to clarify and you end up with a more bland beer as the malts cannot stand alone the way these beers are built. I also think the hop selection is key. The juxtaposition of dank, spicy Columbus with the fruitier, tropical hops like Galaxy, Citra, etc. really make these beers, IMHO. Final piece of the puzzle is the yeast, and I am not sold on 007 or 1318 yet as I have not brewed this enough times to decide which I like better, if either. I think I will end up stepping this up to 10 gallons in some future brews and then doing each with a different yeast to try side by side. Either way you cannot go wrong...I am leaning slightly toward 1318.

You're exactly right in that there a lot of variables at play but say all being the same like water profile, carbonation, dry hopping timing, the one thing I've noticed is that in the beers I've made lately which all have been in this NE style which is what I prefer to a west coast but I do make those to change things up, I really think especially in trillium there is a yeast presence and 1318 is the similarity I find between my hb and the trillium beers I've had. 1318 is so distinct in its fruity, tangy, slickness, that I never got from heady which uses Conan or even when I brew the same beer using Conan instead of 1318. I prefer 1318 to Conan when brewing these NE style beers plus it's so low floccing it really adds to the hazy turbid look as well as helping to hold all the dry hop oils in suspension whereas I find Conan can drop clear if you use it through generations. Just my experiences though and I bottle so legging may be different.
 
Kegged here on day 8 post pitch. Gravity has made its way down to 1.017. I'm going to leave it in the keg at 70F for awhile to see if those last few points will finish up. Although, the 1318 attenuated this to 77%, so they've pretty much done their job I suppose. It's off the dry hops now, which was the only urgency. I'll give it two days, then force carb and serve it I think.

The haze on this is SPECTACULAR. 1318 is very promising! It has that disgusting dishwater look to it, which is exactly like Trilium beers. WLP007 wasn't looking like this, even as a keg sample.

Will report back!
 
Love how muddy that looks! Well done. Recipe?

2 row, white wheat, c10, flaked oats, flaked barley, carapils, 1318. It's amazing the diff appearance between using this yeast and say Conan. This grainbill is my std and looks nothing like this using Conan, so it goes to show how much 1318 just hangs in suspension.
 
Update on my latest...

Kegged on day 8, then let it sit at 70F for another 24hrs in the keg. Put it in the kegerator, and hit it with 50psi for 24hrs, then backed down to 12psi for serving. Came out nicely carbed and am drinking on Day 10.

Wow! At this (really) early point, I like 1318 a LOT better than 007. I like the aromatics, mouthfeel, taste and appearance much better than 007. Not much left to a brew after those attributes I guess, so all around, this is a big step forward.

This is my third batch of this beer, and it always tastes wheaty when its young. Even so, next time I might back the flaked wheat down to 15%. I was pushing the wheat to get the haze, but this is so hazy with the 1318, I'm not sure it'll be required. We'll see as we go, but I feel like this is it recipe-wise.

Quick note on water...I really am enjoying the 150ppm CL to 100ppm Sulfate ratio. I get the clear bittering from the Sulfate, but still the nice soft mouthfeel from the Chlorides. Really liking this.

Play with the hops as you see fit and layer them on top of this incredible base!
 
Just back from Boston...made a visit to Trillium and Jack's Abby. Did not have Melcher, but did have Congress, Summer, Sleeper, and Cutting Tiles among others (Fort Point, a couple of stouts, etc.). The Street series have all the same malts but with different hops (Mosaic, Simcoe, Galaxy, Citra). The Melcher clone here is so very close, I am going to keep making it and dialing it in to what taste best for my palate. Drinking a Summer right now and it looks the same as the beers in our pictures and kegs. Congress was a little more orange than Summer, but just a shade or three. They really are brewing the same beer over and over and using different hops and it works! If anything, I think my last version was hoppier and here is why. I free float pellets in the keg. As it gets close to the end, the concentration of hops is very great and it gets very, very, very hoppy. I have a lot of 400 mesh screen which I cut to size, wrap around my dip tubes, and silver solder together to have a tight fit. This prevents almost all hop matter from entering the tube and allows me to free float the hops. I find that in a bag or stainless steel screen container, you do not get complete extraction of the hop oils. They clump together like a dough ball and you only get some of the goodness. With free floating, you get it all!

I gladly handed over a wad of cash for beers at Trillium, and will continue to anytime I am up that way. That said, I am ecstatic that I can brew something so close to it that I can have a close facsimile on tap anytime (yeah, ALL the time) that I want it! Thanks @OdeCloner for doing the leg work and @olotti for the 1318 suggestion!! Running low on the homebrew version and won't be able to brew for a week or three, but after I brew up a clone of Airwaves, this is back on the top of my brew list. Cheers!!
 
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