Unapologetic IPA Clone?

[dogjam]

I've had Unapologetic IPA a few times now, and the amazing hop flavors and aromas blow me away.

Anyone got any thoughts/suggestions/insider information on a clone recipe for this? I know the hops used are Azacca, Belma, HBC 342, and Hopsteiner 06300.

I have acquired all the hops except the Hopsteiner, which doesn't seem to be available to this plebeian homebrewer.

Anyway, thanks for any guidance!

 

[dlester]

Go with Pliney The Elder clone instead. Voted number #1 beer five years in a row. Actual recipe is on BYO.com and online.

Good Luck,

 

[dogjam]

Pliny is delicious--I'm in the Bay Area and am very fortunate to be able to drink it all the time. I've even made a Pliny clone that was pretty close.

But Unapologetic is a very different beer, and I'd love to hear from anyone who has any thoughts on how best to clone it!

Cheers,
Dogjam

 

[m00ps]

I'd email stone. They are very homebrew friendly and even posted recipes for their entire Vertical lineup for homebrewers. Youve got the hops, theyll at least give OG and the malts used

 

[dogjam]

I'm in California and am fortunate to have access to Pliny all the time--I've even brewed a respectable clone! But it's the fruity wonderfulness of Unapologetic that I'm looking for right now.

Thanks for the suggestion to email Stone; I did so and will report back here if I get any additional information.

Cheers and thanks!
Dogjam

 

[jkings52]

Dogjam

Did you ever hear back from Stone on anything for cloning?

 

[dogjam]

Hi there,

Sorry for being lame and never following up! So Stone was super-awesome and did respond to me:

"Go really easy on your bittering hops, do a first-wort hopping with a little Chinook, create a massive whirpool addition of aroma hops, and don’t DH for too long (max 5 days). We used our house yeast on that one, however a great alternative to our house yeast for this particular beer would be WLP090, San Diego Super yeast. It’s not what we use in the brewery, but it’s definitely what I would personally use if I was brewing it. The yeast closest to our house strain is WLP007 Dry English Ale yeast, however our version of that strain has better attenuation and flocculation. WLP090 would dry it out considerably, and its usually what we recommend for Enjoy-By clone recipes as well. For the malt bill, use Pale, Pilsner, Biscuit, and dextrose. I would play down the biscuit, it’s mostly just there for a little bit of breadiness. If you happen to use Beersmith, these notes should give you a good idea of where to aim. 8.8% ABV, SRM of around 8-10, and 85 IBU’s. The trick here is just to focus on a massive bombardment of Whirpool and Dry Hop additions."

My grain bill was:
9 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 60.0 %
3 lbs 8.0 oz Pilsner (2 Row) UK (1.0 SRM) Grain 4 23.3 %
2 lbs Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) Grain
8 oz. table sugar.

Mashed at 152-153, 60min boil with whirfloc. Used 1oz. Chinook and 1 oz. Simcoe as first-wort hops. Whirlpooled with 2 oz HBC-342 pellets, 4 oz. Azacca flowers, 4oz. belma pellets all together for about 15 minutes. Cooled with immersion cooler. Got roughly 6G of 1.056 wort. Pitched San Diego Super Yeast (no starter). Gravity down to 1.010 at day 5, so then dry hopped for 5 days with 2 oz. HBC342, 4 oz. azacca flowers, and 4 oz. belma pellets using paint bag. Primed with 4.16 oz. of table sugar in 50 bottle equivalent for 2.6 ppm CO2.

I ended up with a nice, clear, dry, delicious beer that was very reminiscent of Unapologetic, but it was definitely not spot-on. The Belma/Azacca character was there, but if I made it again I might tone down both Belma/Azacca and use more HBC-342. I think it could use some more traditional hop bitterness as well, so maybe I'd add more hops as first-wort or at the beginning of the boil.

Hope that helps! I really loved Unapologetic and was so grateful to Stone for being so forthcoming with their info.
DJ

 

[jkings52]

dogjam

Thanks for the reply much appreciated.

 

[madscientist451]

To Dogjam: Would you adjust the grain bill, did the base beer seem right?
I'm thinking that without the Hopsteiner 06300 hops, a clone isn't going to come out right.
Was hunting around for some substitutes, came up empty, got to have the real thing I suppose.
These experimental hops are what the craft beer industry is really
seeking these days, a way to make a signature beer that is different.
I'm also thinking that in addition to the FWH, Stone does a late boil addition in the 15-5 minute range and then does the whirlpool addition. Just a guess on my part, but if I could get the right hops, I'd try that. Interesting post, thanks for sharing the email from stone. Cheers!

 

[dogjam]

Base beer was pretty spot on, as far as I could tell. I agree: that beer is definitely all about the unique hop profile, and without those Hopsteiner hops one can only get so close...