Zombie Dust clone recipe (LME 2016 thread)

So I took gravity reading today (day 5 vs day 6..kinda impatient) and its at 1.02. FG is supposed to be 1.12 so I'll check again in 2 days to see if its done. OG according to recipe was 1.07 (forgot to check it myself though)

I pulled a nice cup full out to taste. Tasting pretty darn good, explosion of citrus in aroma and taste but quite bitter in finish. I'm drinking a Ruination 2.0 right now, and the homebrew ZD close is much more bitter than the Ruination. Is this typical while hoppy beers are still in fermenter and it will sweeten up after a few more days in fermenter and also a week + of bottle conditioning or is this probably the bitterness level to expect at completed product?

 

So here's where I'm at:
Fermenting now on 10 days in primary/dry hopping for 5 - gravity was 1.02
Today- Fermenting for 12 days/ dry hopping for 7 - gravity down to 1.01

Let it keep fermenting and check in 2 more days (14 days in ferment/9 days of dry hop) to see if it stays static at 1.01 then bottle or go and bottle tomorrow regardless? Recipe says FG should be 1.012 and I just surpassed that.

 

Actually Saturday is probably my best day to bottle or Sunday morning. I'll take another gravity reading tomorrow night. If no change, then I'll bottle Sat morning.

 

So been drinking for about 10 days or so now. Very pleased with my first attempt at an IPA. It actually turned out to be more of a NE pale ale than a Zombie Dust clone though. Super turbid and citrus hop forward but no real malt presence noticed, a touch bitter and thin/watery. Excellent carbonation though (used 5oz packet of priming sugar and it was perfect quantity to use IMO).

So here is where I need to tweak this recipe to improve.

I want higher ABV / more body. I think this beer came in at 5.2-5.5% ABV if I were to guess. Seemed to be a touch more bitter in the finish than I'd prefer and definitely too thin/watery. Would love to push this to up another .5 to 1% in ABV. What do I tinker to get that increase? More malt? If so what should I add?

Should I not add .5oz citra at start of boil (reduce bitterness even further)?

Maybe try a different yeast besides Safale S-04 next time?

Here were my final adjusted recipe with notes for quick reference:

Steeping grains (1/2 hr @150F):
1 lb Munich II
.5 lb Cara Pils
.5 lb Cyrstal 60
.5 lb Melaniodin

Boil kettle:
6.6 lbs of LME (light malt) (25% at start of boil/60 min and 75% added at 20min)

Hops:
.5oz Citra (60 min)
1oz Citra (15 min)
1oz Citra (10 min)
1oz Citra (5 min)
1.5 oz Citra (1 min)
3oz Citra (dry hop after 5 days of fermenting in primary)

Total time in Primary (held at 65-67F) was 12 days total and dry hopped during the final 7 days) with a FG of 1.01.
Bottled and started drinking 7 days after bottling (best taste/aroman was the first week).

 

Yeah, I was thinking of trying the other yeast recommended next time as well instead of the 04. Plus as I was posting in my other thread about boosting ABV, I may add an extra pound of LME to boost ABV and body which also should help offset the bitter I would assume, if the hop profile is kept constant.

 

Yep, using 04, mine came out more like a New England style session IPA or Pale Ale. Good beer, but not Zombie Dust. Not sure why the recipe said 04 was an option. Several have mentioned better results with the other yeast strain (actually other one recommend in recipe was WY 1968 ESB).

 

So I think next weekend I may brew next batch, tinkering with that ZD clone extract recipe (which turned out to be more of a NE Pale Ale. Here are adjustments I was thinking of doing. Any red-flags below in my ideas let me know:

Add another 1lb of light LME (boost body and ABV a little)
Switch from the Safe Ale S-04 yeast to the 1318 London Ale III
Use a little less water in the boil to ensure primary measures to as close to 5 gallons as possible (my last batch was over 5.25-5.5 gallons in primary which may have contributed to lowever ABV and watery body)

Instead of going 100% single hop citra, perhaps doing a 50/50 blend of Citra and Mosaic. Open to any input here and what works better during boil additions or dry hopping.

Maybe add in some oats or wheat into the steeping grains to go more "New England" (not sure if this is necessary/beneficial...last batch was very turbid already, but if it adds to more body/softer mouthfeel I'd do it)

Other than those tweaks, I was quite pleased with first batch except the low ABV/watery, slightly more bitter.

 

Thanks Jack. Yeah I realize my bottle volume will be a little lower, but that was why I added more water in my 2 previous batches becuase I misunderstood and tried to ensure I was getting close to 5 gallons of bottled product vs. 5 gallons into the fermentor as the recipe ratios of ingredients truely call for).

I won't add the oats to the 30 min. steep then. Doing extract brewing like I'm doing, is there any ideas how one would add the typical flour/wheat/oat elements to a NE IPA that gives it that creamier / softer mouthfeel? I've been wondering about this and haven't found much on google searches yet.

 

Thanks. Your mash/steep info. made me go back to do some more reasearch/reading to learn more about why/when mashing is required (convert starch to sugar) vs. steeping (specialty grains that are already converted to sugar). Oats still have the startch thus need mashed. I'm still a noob but trying to absorb all the chem/bio stuff as quickly as possible. I'm sure I recall reading that basic info. but must have forgotten. As some point it should transition to my Long term memory! :-)