Anyone here tried a ZD clone?

There's a looong thread on HBT with a bunch of people starting with some guy's stab at it, brewing it, making revisions, reporting back, etc. I think that they think that they're pretty close:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/3-floyds-zombie-dust-attempt-help-info-requested-245456/

 

That is the recipe I used and it came out tasty. Still waiting for it to fully carb after only two weeks in bottles. I can't say if it was cloned or not since I am yet to try the real ZD until my first six pack arrives next week! Then I will have something to compare it to and can report back if anyone is interested.

 

Isn't ZD just a citra bomb? I've never actually seen it on a store shelf.

 

Yes, hopped and dry hopped with 100% Citra. It's got 100% here on BA so it seems it's a popular beer. I live in Washington so I'll never see it on the shelves. I had to trade a Cascade Blueberry to get my hands on a six pack and I made a clone to boot so I am invested in this Zombie Dust stuff.

 

Yep - I did the same recipe as posted here. It came out really tasty, but after 4 weeks the hops fell off quite a bit and it was very "Munichy". I've never had the real thing, but I was a big fan of the beer when fresh. I'd brew the recipe again for sure.

 

It's not a mistake, tailor your recipe for 6 gallons post boil.

I dry hopped 3.5 oz for 10 days and cold crashed for 2 days.

 

Its a citra bomb, but not what I expected... some tropical fruit, but no cat piss, and really dank/resinous (Its almost what I'd imagine the opposite of Kern's Citra DIPA to be if Citra DIPA was scaled down to 7.5%). Good beer.

EDIT. Kern Citra DIPA is great too, but its very light, floral, fruity and nuanced. Zombie dust is pretty aggressive.

 

I did a beer really similar to the clones out there before Zombie dust came out (dumb luck?). The clones use way too much hops in my opinion. I'd cut the amount in half minimum, simplify the additions... bittering, 15 minutes, flame out, ounce for dry hop.

 

I brewed a similar recipe from the HBT thread and did a side by side tasting. The Zombie Dust was more balanced and less hoppy than that recipe in my opinion. Still came out great, I may even like the hop bomb homebrew version better. I am going to brew this again this year, and will probably use all the same amount of hops as I did last time!

But if you are trying for a true to form clone, I would agree that scaling the hops back a little would be more accurate. I would maybe cut by a third - just my opinion though.

 

Get something bigger than 5 gallons to use as a fermenter? The idea with a really hoppy beer being a 6 gallon recipe is that you're going to lose beer to hop absorption. Most of my recipes are scaled to 5.5 or 6 gallons, depending. My goal is five gallons into the keg...brewing a 5.5-6 gallon batch gets me there while still allowing me to rack fairly clearly over the cake.

 

Just a few comments based on my personal preferences:

· I would recommend that you ferment in a plastic bucket vs. a glass carboy since glass carboys can break and cause serious injury.
· As regards a plastic bucket, I think bigger is better (more room for krausen): 7.9 gallon bucket.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/7-9-gal-fermenting-bucket.html

Cheers!

 

If you're doing your primary fermentation, it's no big deal. All the CO2 that gets produced in fermentation will "cover" your beer and push out most of the O2. As long as you aren't opening up the bucket every day to taste it- releasing the CO2, it should be fine.

If you're doing a secondary in that though, the head space is going to be a problem since there isn't really much active fermentation and thus not a lot of CO2 production.

 

I have kept my beers in my bucket for up to 5-6 weeks with no noticeable effects of oxidation. I have kept one of those extended fermented beers for over a year in the bottle and it still tasted great. I am not recommending that you leave your beer in that long but you could if circumstances arise.

Cheers!