7th Hoppin' DIPA - this one will be better than Heady

[ianmatth]

My latest DIPA has no hops in the boil, 2 oz flame out addition, 4.5 oz aroma steep, and I plan to do a triple dry hop with 9.5 oz of hops to make it an even pound of hops. pH was perfect at 5.41 in the mash and 5.11 in the kettle.

5 Gallons:
8 lbs Golden Promise
8 lbs 2-Row
12 oz Caramalt
4 oz Acidulated Malt
6 tsp Gypsum

Mash at 147* for 60 minutes in 7.5 gallons water (5.41 pH)
Step mash at 156* for 15 minutes with additional 2.5 gallons acidic water (5.11 pH)

12 ml IBU injector @ 90 minutes
1 oz Simcoe, 1/2 oz CTZ, 1/2 oz Apollo @ Flame out
1.5 oz Simcoe, 3/4 oz CTZ, 3/4 oz Comet, 1/2 oz Centennial, 1/2 oz Apollo, 1/4 oz Citra, 1/4 oz El Dorado @ 180* Aroma steep for 45 minutes

1.070 OG, pitched 400 billion cells Conan yeast, fermenting at 63* to start

Dry hop 1: 1 oz Simcoe, 1/2 oz CTZ, 1/2 oz Comet, 1/2 oz Centennial, 1/4 oz Apollo, 1/4 oz Citra, 1/4 oz El Dorado

Plan to add same dry hop 4-5 days later and a final dry hop of 3 oz mainly leaf hops 4-5 days after that.

 

[ianmatth]

Added the 1st and 2nd dry hop on days 12 and 19.

 

[ianmatth]

Added 3rd dry hop on day 26: 1 oz Simcoe leaf, 1/2 oz CTZ leaf, 1/2 oz Centennial leaf, 1/2 oz Citra leaf, 1/4 oz Apollo leaf, 1/4 oz Comet

 

[ianmatth]

Bottled on day 33. FG was 1.011.

 

[slym2none]

I'd love to taste that!

 

[ianmatth]

This beer was great, but unfortunately it wasn't at the Heady Topper level. My 4th attempt at the HT clone is the only beer I brewed that was really on that level. While this beer had some slight problems with temperature - I haven't been able to find a freezer that is big enough to hold my 6.5 gallon Big Mouth Bubbler and small enough to fit in my car so I am still using my Cool Brewing Fermentation Cooler - I really don't think that was it.

IMO the reason my 4th attempt at the HT clone was there was because I used a massive first dry hop. I actually misread the original recipe and was using 5.5 oz, 2.75 oz, and 2.75 oz for 3 dry hop additions on day 8, 15, and 22. I did that technique for my 2nd and 3rd attempts, but on my 4th attempt when I finally got my pH and hardness right, it was better than Heady Topper IMO. The real Heady Topper uses a single 4oz/5 gallon dry hop (most likely on day 16 based on John Kimmich interviews), and while home brewers may need to double dry hop for our techniques, I think I need my 1st dry hop to be at least 4 oz (probably more since homebreweing techniques won't be as efficient) if I really want to make a DIPA that is on the level of Heady Topper. While 5 minute addition vs flame out addition vs various whirlpool techniques may make a slight difference, and slightly different combinations of particular hops will as well, IMO the IPA taste I am looking for comes down to dry hopping more than anything.

BOTTOM LINE: I will use more dry hops for the 1st addition in my next beer. And hopefully I'll find a good freezer as well.