I am going to brew this recipe this weekend and I am looking for some input. It is a partial mash with some wheat extract. I am aiming for a ton of Citra ( hence Zombie) mixed with a wheat ipa base like gumballhead. Will be my 3rd batch and the first two were both ipas that came out great. Also, should I stick with US-05 or try something new for this? http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/44875/zombie-gumball Cheers!
Yeah.. I think your hop schedule needs work. I'd stick with one kind of FWH. You won't be able to pick any layering out of that, unless you are just using up some old hops that need to be used. I'd back it off, and lay more in.. Start at 15, 10, 5 and then you have a choice.. Hit some of your dry hop you have there, all 10 ounces, and figure on using.. hell.. 5 of it for your dry hop, in two cycles. So do a flame out addition that will give you some IBU's, but won't calculate, and then do a hopstand at a lower temp, like 170 or so.. Gives you killer aroma and flavor. So 4 boil additions from 15-0, and then a hot hopstand.. Then use some of your dry hops. You won't be packing much in that way.
Thanks that sounds like a good plan! So just to confirm, how does the hop stand work? Do I basically wait until the wort cools to 170 then throw the pot on low heat and add the hops for a half hour or something?
You could do that, I myself would bother with maintaining the heat. If I'm wanting to toss something in at flame out, and do a hopstand, I'll simply kill the flame, and toss in whatever I wanted there. The wort is still boiling, but will drop temp from a boil quickly. It's still close to 200 degrees at that point. I'll stir the pot, and then I diddle around cleaning up a bit, moving stuff around and give it 5-10 minutes. About that time, the wort will have dropped temp a bit, because the stirring or making a whirlpool will help that. I'll then just toss in my hopstand hops. Much like steeping tea leaves, or making a fresh press coffee. It's not boiling, but your just steeping them. I say 170, but it could be anywhere from 190-150 for all I know. I check temp sometimes just for notes and comparisons, but I'll add the hops and stir.. Diddle some more, and stir, or if you have a pump, recirculate it to make a whirlpool. After say.. 15 minutes, I'll start to cool the wort down. In my hot summer months, my ground water only gets to like 75-78, so it takes a little while, but all that time I'm still getting contact with the hops at warm/hot temps. So if ya want to hold it hot, by all means, kill flame, chill to desired temp, and hold there if you can. Give it 30 minutes while you clean up, and pack up/move stuff, and then chill it and move on with the brew day.
What about yeast? Should I just stick with US-05 or try something different. I have never done a starter but would be open to trying one. Suggestions?
US05 would work fine.. If you want some english character like 3F uses, they use the fullers strain, which is Wyeast 1968.. If you want to stay with dry, but want to get sorta close, you can use US-04 which is the whitbread strain.
Brewed this on Sat and it is pumping away in the fermenter. Putting my head above the airlock smells like I dove into a pool of pineapple mango juice! Going to dry hop with Citra and Pacific Jade in 2 weeks and bottle 7 days later. Really excited to see how this comes out. Thanks for the tips!
Quick update. This beer came out unbelievable. My best batch so far. It is bursting with Citra goodness with tons of tropical fruit and a subtle smooth bitterness. Thanks for the critiques and here's the final recipe if anyone wants to try it. http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/44875/zombie-gumball
