Heady Topper- Can you clone it?

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I just finished a keg of this. Brewed the recipe on page 1 of this thread. It was awesome. I used the yeast from gigayeasts and pitched a 5l stir plate started into 12 gallons of wort. Maybe a little under pitched. Finished at 1.016.

Tasted freaking amazing. The color was significantly darker than a fresh can
Of heady that I had side by side with this. Aroma and flavor were spot on with the real thing. Wouldn't change a thing in the hop bill. I wonder how much of the caramel to drop? Maybe cut the British caramalt in half and up the base malt a little bit.

I really like the techniques used in this beer, both a flameout and a cool hop stand. I'm not sure that I like the extract as it left globs of hop oil on stuff but it cut down on the vegetal matter in the beer.

Great work for figuring this out. I might not brew an exact clone again but I'll be using variations of the grain bill and/or hopping to make most of my future ipas.


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jammin said:
^4oz of dextrose in 5g should only 2 points to the gravity
Click to expand...

Is 1.018 at least palatable to you?

I'd think there is basically next to nothing wrong with the batch if it finalized at that FG when the target was only 4 points lower. Yes, it's not target but it's pretty damned close.
 
Bottled up a partial mash version of this recipe last night. Used YB's version of the yeast and subbed out the hop variety for what I had on hand (Amarillo, Chinook, Cascade, Citra). Smelled awesome in the bottling bucket and the sample had a nice crisp bite.

My trash smells incredible where I dumped out the 5oz of dry hops.
 
Lol I always love dumping the hops out of the fermentor. Makes my kitchen smell great


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My SWMBO hates it so I make sure to do it early on a day she isn't there and "forget" to take the trash out for a while.


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Really enjoying reading this thread after having a couple heady toppers this summer for the first time. I ordered the kit and I'm gonna try brewing it from the kit soon.


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geoffey said:
1. Gently rock the carboy to rouse the yeast.
2. Increase your fermentation temp by 2-4 degrees.
3. Try adding a packet or vial of a different yeast strain, after proofing and propagating.
4. Add just a bit of additional sugar to try to re-activate the existing strain.

I've tried all of these before. Not all of them have worked every time, but one of the above usually does the trick to get me anywhere from 2-4 extra gravity points if I "need" them.


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Click to expand...

Could also brew another beer, mash low, and ferment it nice and dry and then blend with the "syrupy" original to create a new fantastic brew.

Dumping entire batches is a wuss maneuver. Gotta at least try something to save it - you'll often learn something new!
 
Man, my best homebrew to date. Huge hop aroma and nice juicy profile. I went with Citra, Simcoe, Amarillo, Cascade and Chinook in the whirlpool and dry hop based on what I had. Would like a little more body from the malt but this is still awesome. Would love to have real Heady to compare it to. ImageUploadedByHome Brew1415317845.252742.jpg
 
Made a starter with the omega yeast last night. It took off overnight, beautiful looking krausen. Going to step it up in size in preparation for brewday this weekend.


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Is the Caramalt on page 1 referring to dextrin malt (like carapils) or something like Carastan, which is a light crystal malt ?
 
Waylit said:
Is the Caramalt on page 1 referring to dextrin malt (like carapils) or something like Carastan, which is a light crystal malt ?
Click to expand...

Caramalt is lighter than Carastan, but darker than Carapils or Carafoam. Caramalt will have less flavor impact than Carastan.

From FBS re: Caramalt
"8-12°L. Will impart a light flavor and slight red hue. Great for dark lagers and ales. Will contribute dextrins and add to foam stability."


From NB re: Carastan
"30-40° L. Bairds Carastan is a British crystal malt with a caramel/toffee flavor and hints of toasted bread."
 
Loved this receipe... Came of almost exactly to the specs.

Used SD super yeast due to lack of Conan and modified the hop schedule to accommodate my own hops.

Had that great "oranges idle" flavor in the first the pints, I didn't bleed my oxygen well enough at kegging and the beautiful apricot color went Amber after about 3 weeks on tap. Only lasted 4 weeks total, so no big deal.

Thank you for breaking this down!
 
Brewed this and it came out great, almost exactly to the OG and FG specs.

Used San Diefo yeast in lieu of getting Conan and modified the hop schedule to accommodate my hops.

Lasted about 3 weeks, first week each long drawn was like an orange sidle in a cup, aroma started faltering into week two, color turned Amber at the end of week three.

I'll bleed my keg better next time to make sure oxidation doesn't happen (if it lasts that long).

Great recipe, thanks!
 
Ok...I have read a lot in this thread and maybe I am missing stuff I haven't read so please forgive me.

As an avid IIPA brewer and researcher I can answer some issues here...first, you guys have been stuck on this co2 hop extract thing...I am sure he does as does a bunch of breweries making double IPAs including but not limited to Firestone walker. This is because it's easy and cost efficient to reach a certain ibu, which may not happen due to capacity in the boil and the huge amount of hops they would have to use...
Also, at this gravity....use a discussing amount of hops..3x what you think. Remember, it may calculate a 240 ibu on paper, but after fermentation it may only be 100...that's why I can never trust or use I u calculations, your tongue and
nose will never lie.
Use sugar last 5 min in boil..10% or less....why?? Because the conversion the yeast make into high krausen (look it up, it's a must for healthy yeast in this environment). I am guessing they mash at 153 for mouth feel and use sugar to reach abv%. Ferment low, hop rocket from kettle and to keg (explains the hop flakes), dry hop the piss out of it...dry hop in the keg...I have not tried to clone this yet, but I am on an obsessive mission to do so and I think I can get it.
By the way...I think galaxy is in there!
For the love of heady!!!!!

Anybody nailed this yet???



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lbond2 said:
Ok...I have read a lot in this thread and maybe I am missing stuff I haven't read so please forgive me.

As an avid IIPA brewer and researcher I can answer some issues here...first, you guys have been stuck on this co2 hop extract thing...I am sure he does as does a bunch of breweries making double IPAs including but not limited to Firestone walker. This is because it's easy and cost efficient to reach a certain ibu, which may not happen due to capacity in the boil and the huge amount of hops they would have to use...
Also, at this gravity....use a discussing amount of hops..3x what you think. Remember, it may calculate a 240 ibu on paper, but after fermentation it may only be 100...that's why I can never trust or use I u calculations, your tongue and
nose will never lie.
Use sugar last 5 min in boil..10% or less....why?? Because the conversion the yeast make into high krausen (look it up, it's a must for healthy yeast in this environment). I am guessing they mash at 153 for mouth feel and use sugar to reach abv%. Ferment low, hop rocket from kettle and to keg (explains the hop flakes), dry hop the piss out of it...dry hop in the keg...I have not tried to clone this yet, but I am on an obsessive mission to do so and I think I can get it.
By the way...I think galaxy is in there!
For the love of heady!!!!!

Anybody nailed this yet???



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Click to expand...

This recipe doesn't need simple sugar or a high mash temp if you use Conan. The yeast does it all. Except flocculate unfortunately.
 
lbond2 said:
Ok...I have read a lot in this thread and maybe I am missing stuff I haven't read so please forgive me.

As an avid IIPA brewer and researcher I can answer some issues here...first, you guys have been stuck on this co2 hop extract thing...I am sure he does as does a bunch of breweries making double IPAs including but not limited to Firestone walker. This is because it's easy and cost efficient to reach a certain ibu, which may not happen due to capacity in the boil and the huge amount of hops they would have to use...
Also, at this gravity....use a discussing amount of hops..3x what you think. Remember, it may calculate a 240 ibu on paper, but after fermentation it may only be 100...that's why I can never trust or use I u calculations, your tongue and
nose will never lie.
Use sugar last 5 min in boil..10% or less....why?? Because the conversion the yeast make into high krausen (look it up, it's a must for healthy yeast in this environment). I am guessing they mash at 153 for mouth feel and use sugar to reach abv%. Ferment low, hop rocket from kettle and to keg (explains the hop flakes), dry hop the piss out of it...dry hop in the keg...I have not tried to clone this yet, but I am on an obsessive mission to do so and I think I can get it.
By the way...I think galaxy is in there!
For the love of heady!!!!!

Anybody nailed this yet???



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Click to expand...

I agree with a lot of your thoughts. I have brewed this 4 times. All of them were very good. None of them were Heady. I took the hop extract out of the last one and it was an improvement. I used a couple ounces in a mash hop (just to cut back a bit on material in the kettle) and a couple ounces of first wort. (Chinook/Columbus/Centennial was what I used for these early additions)

I also got rid of most of the apollo and I did substitute in some galaxy and a bit of citra...... I agree that there is a "galaxy taste" - and to me, it is irrelevant whether or not it is actually in there or not...... the taste is coming through, and I am trying to replicate the taste, not the recipe. I (Personally) don't think that professional level brewing can be precisely replicated by simply scaling down. Which is why I also agree on some of your thoughts about the amount of hops..... we need to use more on our small homebrew scale than they use on their commercial level, slower cooling, etc.

I am brewing again this weekend...... I am again leaving out the hopshots and going with mash/1st wort hops. I used a bit too much chinook (touch harsh) in the last batch I think, so gonna cut that a bit. Going to increase Centennial a little. Keeping the Apollo quite low. Going to use some Galaxy again, ounce of citra in the dry hop again.

I did enter my last heady version in a recent homebrew competition and it won the IPA category and scored well. I also entered the BYO double sunshine clone as an APA (it was a bit old and hops were fading somewhat- so it seemed more pale ale like) and it won the american ale category...... First time I ever did that well in those categories. I generally find my competition success in lager/english ale/scottish ale/brown or amber ale categories - So, this is definitely a fine recipe and a great beer to have on hand to drink.
 
2 things....first wort hopping makes for a smooth bitterness...also, I like to whack it hard in my IPAs at 60 with a clean, smooth, citrus/fruity, high alpha hop...such as galaxy, warrior, mosaic ect...for me centennial is too grassy..but that's me! I also have a feeling there is white wheat in there based on color and mouth feel..I may try a version with a combo of pearl, Maris otter, and white wheat!!! I can't wait to play with this and experiment with you all...


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My reasoning on Centennial is when I drink a can of Bell's Two Hearted, I feel like there are some similar flavors (to a degree). Two Hearted is all centennial..... so, I feel like there is some of that flavor in Heady. Not a ton, but some.
In regard to the wheat, one of the video/Q and A's with Kimmich (the brewer of Heady) he states that they no long use any wheat. Now, that could be true, or it could be BS. But, he states that there is not wheat in it.
Again though - to me, it is not so much what they do, or do not use - it is about what the finished product at a homebrew level tastes like compared to the finished product at the commercial level. If wheat gets it there in regard to flavor and mouthfeel - then wheat it is.
 
Braufessor said:
My reasoning on Centennial is when I drink a can of Bell's Two Hearted, I feel like there are some similar flavors (to a degree). Two Hearted is all centennial..... so, I feel like there is some of that flavor in Heady. Not a ton, but some.
In regard to the wheat, one of the video/Q and A's with Kimmich (the brewer of Heady) he states that they no long use any wheat. Now, that could be true, or it could be BS. But, he states that there is not wheat in it.
Again though - to me, it is not so much what they do, or do not use - it is about what the finished product at a homebrew level tastes like compared to the finished product at the commercial level. If wheat gets it there in regard to flavor and mouthfeel - then wheat it is.
Click to expand...

I used torrified wheat in my heady topper clone and as for hops magnum for bittering 60 mins simcoe at 30 mins and a whole bunch(apollo,centennial, columbus,simcoe and cascade) at flame out 30 min hop stand..have not drank any yet..doubt it will be heady but probably be very good..i referenced BYO for the recipe but put my own spin to it
 
Braufessor....I like your style, I can tell you are all about this great IPA as much as me and the others here...

Looks like some folks posting pictures on here are getting close to the look of HT..taste may be different of course.

What do people think is the biggest struggle as of now??? I fell like it's the hops as it is in any IPA...I like the malt bill and ferm temps are not too much of a problem..from what I remember HT tasting like was a bit sweet, little dry, creamy, and fruity hops....remember folks, high alpha citrus/stone fruit/fruity hops late or dry hop = dankalicious flavor and nose!!!!




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I really think the hop bill is damn close. I followed the recipe on page one and had it side by side with a fresh can of heady. It was similar enough that I didn't know what to change.

Grain bill was off slightly in color. The caramalt lent too much of a darker color than current heady topper. I wouldn't be surprised if the caramalt was 1/2 or 1/4 of what is called for on page 1 of this post.


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My efficiency stunk and I didn't boil enough down. I only hit about 1.060. Pitched a big slurry of OYL-052 at 62 degrees.


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It'll still be awesome. The malt backbone will still be there and the hops will shine. Really like this beer. I just did a sort of more "sessionable" version of this beer that came in around 1.057. Used pretty much the same grain bill and same hopping rates but slightly different hops. I really think the techniques in this recipe are the way to make great ipas.


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Thanks. I was a little intimidated by a few of the techniques used since I hadn't done them before yesterday. Nothing was actually very difficult once I went through it though so it was a good experience.


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I took another crack at making this yesterday. By mistake, my wort had cooled to 154 before I added the 2nd whirlpool addition. I think my chiller works much faster now that ground temps have dropped...
Do you think that will have a major effect on the outcome? It still smelled incredible and the wort tastes like tropical hop juice!
Thanks
 
Muchacho said:
I took another crack at making this yesterday. By mistake, my wort had cooled to 154 before I added the 2nd whirlpool addition. I think my chiller works much faster now that ground temps have dropped...
Do you think that will have a major effect on the outcome? It still smelled incredible and the wort tastes like tropical hop juice!
Thanks
Click to expand...

I suppose that's the temp at which a mash hop would work, however on the opposite side of the boil. Someone did some experimenting and found that 170-180 seems to give the ideal result, but I'm sure mid 150s still gets the job done. Hey, who knows, maybe the outcome will be closer to the original.
 
I overshot 180 too. I think I stopped it at 168. Being a cold day it cooled more on its own in that 30 minutes. Not sure how this will affect it, it's my first attempt.

I also got aggressive with the ice bath in the swamp cooler so it took a while but the yeast just took off like gangbusters this morning.


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Mine is cranking away at 59/60 degrees. I hope that's not too cold, if there's such a thing. Looks and smells healthy at the moment.


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Beer turned out delicious from my kit. But I have way too much foam. I open the bottle, let it sit for a few mins and foam is slowly oozing out. Wtf?
 
Bottled too soon or too much priming sugar or infection. You could try carefully opening bottles to release some CO2 and recapping.
 
Infection is very unlikely (but not impossible) with the amount of hops used in this. However, having hop trub in the bottle, which is pretty likely IMO, could cause a slow foaming "gusher" like that. Pour it into a glass and see what your head is like.


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brewski09 said:
Infection is very unlikely (but not impossible) with the amount of hops used in this. However, having hop trub in the bottle, which is pretty likely IMO, could cause a slow foaming "gusher" like that. Pour it into a glass and see what your head is like.


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Click to expand...
I have had a few already...it's "delicious"?? from my previous post. over a 2" head and the foam will ooze out of a new bottle if left unattended. I will try the recapping method tomorrow and see what happens.
 
PackerfaninSanDiego said:
I have had a few already...it's "delicious"?? from my previous post. over a 2" head and the foam will ooze out of a new bottle if left unattended. I will try the recapping method tomorrow and see what happens.
Click to expand...


It does sound like an over carbed or trub issue to me. Hope this works for you. The bottles will foam a lot when you crack them. I'd only do a couple at a time. I've had luck barely opening them (like burping Tupperware) and using the same cap.


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