Northern Brewer Grapefruit Sculpin clone

[Baja_Brewer]

Are you folks actually peeling the entire skin/rind off of grapefruit? Or zesting it? I just zested 3 grapefruits and only came away with ~1oz of wet zest!

Edit:

Zest or peel? 2 oz of zest is going to give a greater grapefruit character than the straight peel I think.

From?

The kit comes with a 2oz bag of dry peel.

Like it had been peeled like an orange, correct?

Pic in ~4oz vodka

View attachment 1460311524218.jpg

 

[andyplank]

I made the NB Grapefruit Pulpin' kit for a Super Bowl party. I thought it was really good. Clean and crisp, and the grapefruit definitely shines through. We killed the keg before halftime.

 

[arnobg]

I zested 1.7 oz of grapefruit using a zester and that was almost an entire sack of grapefruit. I soaked mine in Tito's Vodka for about an hour, then strained the vodka into an empty vodka bottle to use for cocktails. The grapefruit infused Tito's was awesome!

 

[Sed777]

Has anyone attempted a GF IPA, using all exp grapefruit hops and grapefruit zest?!?

 

[chrilr]

I used them in a black ipa but no zest. It was awesome, tasted like cascade on steroids.

 

[drhusker18]

It comes out tasting great (to me). I'm guessing the grapefruit peel (added later) gets the bitterness where it belongs.

Hey jrcrilly or others....Any other comments on this (IBU)? I will be trying this next, last of my 3 extract kits left.

My beer smith says 56 and I looked up sculpin and it is in the 70 range and many of the sculpin clones are in the 70+

I understand this is a good brew as is. I figure my full boil (5gal) at the partial boil rate recipe would have me a little higher IBU but it didn't impact much. But also wanted to be as close as possible. The mid50s seems not that much IPA to me

 

[arnobg]

Hey jrcrilly or others....Any other comments on this (IBU)? I will be trying this next, last of my 3 extract kits left.



My beer smith says 56 and I looked up sculpin and it is in the 70 range and many of the sculpin clones are in the 70+



I understand this is a good brew as is. I figure my full boil (5gal) at the partial boil rate recipe would have me a little higher IBU but it didn't impact much. But also wanted to be as close as possible. The mid50s seems not that much IPA to me

IBU's are probably actually 70 to be honest. Beersmith doesn't calculate any utilization from 0 minute hop additions at all unless you put them in as "whirlpool" additions. The bitterness and hop flavor is right in to the real thing. Don't worry about the Beersmith calculations unless your hops AA is way off.

 

[drhusker18]

IBU's are probably actually 70 to be honest. Beersmith doesn't calculate any utilization from 0 minute hop additions at all unless you put them in as "whirlpool" additions. The bitterness and hop flavor is right in to the real thing. Don't worry about the Beersmith calculations unless your hops AA is way off.

Good advice and I really hadn't thought about the whirlpool calc. I had been seeing some recipes posted showing ibus from flameout additions and some not (zeroed out). Started wondering - is there a general acceptance on how hop additions are viewed late. The stuff I have reviewed suggested that isn't enough time for the bitterness to kick in....and contribute to the calc. For various reasons of heat/time/stirring during late addition compared to full boil timed additions. I mean....couldn't it really screw up a recipe by not expecting a lot of bitters and ending up with it?

I guess when I saw this I was concerned about making a IPA with a low or non-IPA set of ibus. Then wondered why my full boil didn't take the ibus out of range like it did with my caribou slobber before I adjusted out from the partial boil recipe included.

 

[arnobg]

Good advice and I really hadn't thought about the whirlpool calc. I had been seeing some recipes posted showing ibus from flameout additions and some not (zeroed out). Started wondering - is there a general acceptance on how hop additions are viewed late. The stuff I have reviewed suggested that isn't enough time for the bitterness to kick in....and contribute to the calc. For various reasons of heat/time/stirring during late addition compared to full boil timed additions. I mean....couldn't it really screw up a recipe by not expecting a lot of bitters and ending up with it?



I guess when I saw this I was concerned about making a IPA with a low or non-IPA set of ibus. Then wondered why my full boil didn't take the ibus out of range like it did with my caribou slobber before I adjusted out from the partial boil recipe included.

I wouldn't say there is a real rule of thumb from what I've seen and experienced. With this recipe it is built to throw the 0 minute hops in at flameout and start cooling immediately. You get more hop flavor than anything from this addition although, you will get some bitterness as it cools down to 180-16 but not much. As for how much and what temps you get utilization, people will tell you different things all day long as there is no exact proven number, but it is really not even relevant. Just follow the hop schedule and don't worry about the specific IBU's from flameout hops and I guarantee it won't be too bitter. You'll be happy and realize it was nothing worth stressing over as I did before I used the technique more.

If you would like a little more accuracy in beersmith, change the hop addition from 0 minute to whirlpool and put the amount of time you think it will take you to cool to around 180F after flameout. 5 minutes is a good starting point depending on your system and it will reflect the IBU's unlike a 0 minute addition. Don't expect full accuracy though, just a ball park.

 

[Ashebrewro]

Is this recipe the regular sculpin clone with the grapefruit addition? I prefer the original over the grapefruit version.

 

[Amadeo38]

Has anyone attempted a GF IPA, using all exp grapefruit hops and grapefruit zest?!?

I used this recipe but replaced the late addition Chinook additions and one dry hop addition with Galaxy. I only zested two grapefruits at knockout, and we all thought it was far better than BP's GF Sculpin.

 

[Vendetta5885]

I fear I made a grave mistake....

I made this beer last night and threw the dry hops and grapefruit peel in for the primary fermentation althought the recipe calls for the addition of those two items as they go into secondary fermentation, which I was not planning on doing.

How bad do you guys think this will screw things up?

 

[atom]

I fear I made a grave mistake....

I made this beer last night and threw the dry hops and grapefruit peel in for the primary fermentation althought the recipe calls for the addition of those two items as they go into secondary fermentation, which I was not planning on doing.

How bad do you guys think this will screw things up?

it's fine...you didn't screw anything up and there's no need for a secondary.

 

[treacheroustexan]

it's fine...you didn't screw anything up and there's no need for a secondary.

I wouldn't say it's screwed up, but I would have waited until 5 days or so before bottling/kegging before adding them.

 

[ballsy]

Wouldn't say it's that bad of an error. Grapefruit wise it shouldn't matter at all but dry hops at beginning of ferment means you'll want to get that bottled/kegged as soon as that baby hits FG to prevent grassy off flavors from extended dry hop period.

 

[drhusker18]

Bottled last night. I ended up adding zest from a few more grapfruits and their juice. Needed a little more vodka to accommodate those additions.

Had the expected burn and green flavor- but filled the whole garage with citrus delight.

At the end, she gave me 2-extra bottles!!! Woohoo!

I did the hops in a hop bag and added SS washers to submerge. When I added them, it dropped straight to the bottom, but when I opened the bucket it was floating. I will add 4 more washers next time.

Excited to try in 3 weeks.

 

[Jmash]

Brewed this Sunday with my brand new Edelmetal burner. Nice to be brewing outdoors on a summer day. Boiled a lot quicker and boiled off a lot more water than with the cooktop. Had to add water to make up the 5 gallon total but still came out with O.G of 1.065.
Guy at LHBS told me to do the 2 ounces of grapefruit peel in 4 ounces of vodka but to pour out 2 ounces of the vodka before adding.
Fermentation going smoothly and smells delicious.

 

[BrewerBrad82]

...Guy at LHBS told me to do the 2 ounces of grapefruit peel in 4 ounces of vodka but to pour out 2 ounces of the vodka before adding...

Don't do it! The vodka is responsible for both sanitizing the peel and also extracting the flavors. Dumping out half the infused vodka is going to seriously impact the grapefruit flavor. Its only 4oz in 5 gal, its not going to raise your ABV barely at all, its acts as a flavor carrier and sanitizer.

 

[phishheadmi]

Has anyone tried using grapefruit vodka for the peel soak? Think that would be TOO MUCH grapefruit?

 

[treacheroustexan]

Has anyone tried using grapefruit vodka for the peel soak? Think that would be TOO MUCH grapefruit?

I used peach schnapps for mine. Lol. I think grapefruit vodka would be fine.

 

[arnobg]

I used peach schnapps for mine. Lol. I think grapefruit vodka would be fine.

Sorry but that sounds gross.

 

[treacheroustexan]

Sorry but that sounds gross.

I didn't notice a difference from my first time brewing it. Wasnt gross at all.

 

[AlexM40]

I just saw this via email. They call it "Grapefruit Pulpin". Clever. Regardless, I can't get Ballast Point in SoDak and I love Grapefruit Sculpin, so I'm intrigued. For anyone who has done a clone, does NB's version look somewhat close?

- 13 lbs Rahr 2-row
- 0.5 lbs Dingemans Cara 20
- 0.25 lbs Briess Caramel 20

- 0.5 oz Chinook (60 min)
- 0.5 oz Cascade (20 min)
- 0.5 oz Chinook (20 min)
- 0.5 oz Cascade (5 min)
- 0.5 oz Chinook (5 min)
- 1 oz Amarillo (0 min)
- 0.5 oz Chinook (0 min)

DRY HOPS
- 1 oz Cascade (dry hop)
- 1 oz Simcoe (dry hop)
- 2 oz Grapefruit peel (dry hop)(soaked in 2 oz vodka and added 5-7 days before bottling)

YEAST
WLP001/Wyeast 1056/Safale US-05

I brewed it 2 summers ago and it was a hit. Last summer I finally got to try the original version which was terrific, but I prefer the homebrew version,
I pitched the dried grapefruit peel right out of the package, no vodka presoak.
The grapefruit was there and complimented the hops. Next time I might substitute some Citra for the Cascade.
This was one of great beer.

 

[markcurry]

I just tasted this ( a bit early ) after kegging two days ago. Wow, that's good.

For me, I'm not actually sure how much grapefruit I used. We've got a Oro Blanco grapefruit tree in our yard. I started a half pint jar 3/4 full of vodka early last year anticipating this brew. Every time I'd pick one of the grapefruit, I'd zest the peel into the jar., and put it back in the fridge. So, the tincture was "maturing" for quite a while (8-9 months).

I dumped the tincture straight into the primary after fermentation was done. Only left it there for about 2 days before cold crashing, fining, and packaging up.

The grapefruit flavor - now while still young - is very forward, more so that the Sculpin IMHO. And I love it. Aroma is great - matches the Sculpin well. We'll see how it ages (if it makes it very long - doubtful I think).

Thanks for the recipe.

 

[Imhoppy]

I brewed the Northern Brewer extract recipe (partial boil) a few years back when it called for 2 oz. grapefruit peel soaked in 4 oz. vodka that was added during the dry-hopping (14 days prior to kegging) phase. It turned out great and is one of my favorite brews.

I'm brewing another batch soon, but I see the recipe has now changed to using 6 grams of crystallized grapefruit (boil 1 cup water, mix, and add to empty keg before filling with brew from the fermenter). Any idea on why the recipe change and how this will turn out compared to using peel/vodka?