Trying to make 120 min IPA Dogfish Head clone- i need help!

[myquestforbeer]

I have a kit that will make a 90 IBU 7.2 ABV (Hoptimus Prime) with the following hops: citra, millennium, and Amarillo. I really want to try and emulate the Dogfish Head 120 minute IPA which would means 120 IBU and raising the ABV to around 17. I am a beginner at this so I am just wondering if anyone has tried this and have any tips on how to do this.

 

[jester5120]

I have a recipe that shawn paxton from the brewing nation did for 120. I haven't tried it yet but i did a world wide stout clone that under goes the same type of fermentation schedule. I can post the beer smith recipe for either if you'd like or i can type it out if that's easier.

 

[myquestforbeer]

Thanks Jester, that would be great if you could post those two links. I'd love to check it out!

 

[bhaff]

I saw some other posts about the dogfish 120 clone I would check them for some pointers in the recipe. I will have to check for some world wide clones.

 

[JollyIsTheRoger]

Also, just to clear up an issue I see. 120min has way more than 120 IBU (on paper at least) There are a ton of hops in that beer and it will be off the charts IBU-wise. Ignore IBU numbers for this brew and just throw hops at it till you are blue in the face. Haha. There are a few clone recipes floating around. Homebrew Chef: 120 Minute IPA Clone Recipe Being one of them

 

[scottland]

Paxton's recipe is close, but waayyyyyyyy off in some critical areas. I cloned it about 4 months ago. Everything you need is here:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/dfh-120-minute-clone-259314/

To make it exact, use more hops than I did (no joke), and shoot for 18% ABV rather than 21%

 

[jester5120]

Homebrew Chef: 120 Minute IPA Clone Recipe

I wrote my own ww stout recipe so it's not very close but I can explain the basic process for both to you.

you want to start with a beer thats about 1.100 (the higher the better) from malt, preferably grains but extract might work. make a massive starter of a neutral ale yeast (1056, wlp001, or us-05). let the beer ferment out to the point where the krausen is just dropping back down then start adding in corn sugar (I did 1 lb every 12 hours until i hit 18.7%). at some point you're ale yeast will get drunk and die off so you'll need to add another massive starter of wlp099. this is the very simple version of how to do it.

some major concerns with doing something of this size are: proper starter sizes, yeast nutrients both in the starters and in the beer itself, and aeration. I aerated the beer once a day for the first 4 days

 

[EricCSU]

To the original poster:

How many batches have you brewed?

Eric

 

[jester5120]

How many batches have you brewed?

yeah not to sound rude or demeaning in any way but this is about as difficult and complex a beer recipe as you'll ever find. not saying it can't be done but it'll be rough

 

[scottland]

I missed the whole beginner thing:

A. This beer is going to be very hard to brew with extract, I just don't think you get it dry enough, and hop utilization will go way down.

B. If you're a new brewer, brew 10-15 batches before you attempt something like this. The experience will be invaluable.

 

[EricCSU]

yeah not to sound rude or demeaning in any way but this is about as difficult and complex a beer recipe as you'll ever find. not saying it can't be done but it'll be rough

Exactly what I was going to say. Feel free to spend your money and time how you choose, but this is a very complex beer. Your time, money, and energy would be better spent on learning your system and perfecting your process. And you really can't make this beer with extract, it won't get dry enough.

Eric

 

[myquestforbeer]

Thanks everyone! Yeah, I was starting to think the same things you guys were saying about the complexity. I love IPA and when I tried the 120 it was one of the best I've had. So when my neighbor, who has done a few batches and plans to help me, bought me this IPA we started thinking we could try to do this. But I may just try to shoot for a stronger ABV similar to the DFH 90 min IPA. Perhaps that won't be as difficult giving this kits so similar. Anyway, thanks for the input guys, I guessing was getting ahead of myself a little!

 

[DonnieZ]

I agree - get your process down and once you declare that you are making excellent (Not just good) homebrews, try something super exterme like this.

120 is one of those things in life that's good as a rare treat when you can find it. I've only gotten my hands on it twice, and I've only consumed one bottle but that's all I needed to make that determination. The other two bottles I have are cellaring and I'll bust out on a special occasion. If I do happen to get some from this batch that should be hitting shelves as soon as right now, I'll probably have one or two depending on if and how many bottles I can score.

I don't know what I'd do with 5 gallons of the stuff, however this is something I'll probably try and brew once I get another 25-50 brews under my belt, just for the challenge of it!

On a side note, I do notice that a lot of the high alcohol / extreme DFH beers seem to pretty much be the product of lots of dextrose or cane sugar. I poured out about 1/4 of a bottle of WWS because I just couldn't choke down the flavor anymore. One of my current favorites is Olde School, but I'm even a little bit let down by that because I'm pretty sure it's been "fortified" with extra sugar to get the extreme alcohol content. I love DFH beers, but it's almost the feeling one would have gotten when they found out that their favorite rock concert was nothing but a lip sync show. You're probably still glad you went, but you're disappointed in some regards.

 

[EricCSU]

Want a great IPA? I guarantee that this will make a great IPA every time.

6lb Pale LME
0.5lb corn sugar

Mini-mash:
1lb US 2-Row
1lb Munich
1lb Crystal 20

0.5oz Columbus 60'
0.5oz Columbus 15'
1oz centennial 5'
1oz amarillo 5'
1oz cascade 0'
1oz centennial dry hop
1oz amarillo dry hop

WLP007, ferment at 68F

 

[jester5120]

But I may just try to shoot for a stronger ABV similar to the DFH 90 min IPA.

learn and master this recipe if you wanna do the 120 some day. 120 is just the same hopping schedule for another 30 minutes and the alcohol comes from only a little bit more grain and a ton of sugar.

On a side note, I do notice that a lot of the high alcohol / extreme DFH beers seem to pretty much be the product of lots of dextrose or cane sugar. I poured out about 1/4 of a bottle of WWS because I just couldn't choke down the flavor anymore. One of my current favorites is Olde School, but I'm even a little bit let down by that because I'm pretty sure it's been "fortified" with extra sugar to get the extreme alcohol content. I love DFH beers, but it's almost the feeling one would have gotten when they found out that their favorite rock concert was nothing but a lip sync show. You're probably still glad you went, but you're disappointed in some regards.

I felt the same disapointment when i found out they used additional sugar. but after making a few trips down, meeting the whole crew, and reading up on the company they have kind of a no holds barred attitude on what can be done in beer. they use any and all ingredients to make a beer do what they want it to do. that changed my mind and made me think they were cool again