Home Brew Forum

Posted: **Wed May 04, 2016 3:06 pm**

A great NZ beer this one. I was inspired to try brewing it after listening to the CYBI podcast, where they attempted to clone the recipe (with the help of the brewery).

The first thing that sticks out with this recipe is the huge amount of crystal - nearly 20% if you include the carapils.
The second thing is the obscene amount of hops, which are all cascade. I used pellets in the boil & for the two hop stand additions (50g for 10 mins @ flameout, another 50g for 10 mins at 80c). A further 120g of whole hops to go in two separate dry hop additions, the first at ferment temp and the second in the keg at serving temp.

Went back to lime-softening for this one to try a much less minerally profile - just 70 SO4 and 80 Cl in this (got my alkalinity down from 235 to 26ppm with slaked lime). This is apparently along the lines of how it is brewed, and having just brewed a couple of very low Cl/high SO4 beers (e.g. 27/250) I think I have finally come to the conclusion that I just don't like a lot of gypsum - even in bitter pale ales.

Recipe: EPIC Pale Ale TYPE: All Grain
Style: American Pale Ale
---RECIPE SPECIFICATIONS-----------------------------------------------
SRM: 14.5 EBC SRM RANGE: 9.8-27.6 EBC
IBU: 36.5 IBUs Tinseth IBU RANGE: 30.0-45.0 IBUs
OG: 1.053 SG OG RANGE: 1.045-1.060 SG
FG: 1.011 SG FG RANGE: 1.010-1.015 SG
BU:GU: 0.686 Calories: 494.4 kcal/l Est ABV: 5.6 %
EE%: 70.00 % Batch: 23.00 l Boil: 29.92 l BT: 90 Mins

---WATER CHEMISTRY ADDITIONS----------------

Total Grain Weight: 5.62 kg Total Hops: 296.79 g oz.
---MASH/STEEP PROCESS------MASH PH:5.20 ------
>>>>>>>>>>-ADD WATER CHEMICALS BEFORE GRAINS!!<<<<<<<
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
4.63 kg Maris Otter Low Colour (3.0 EBC) Grain 1 82.4 %
0.53 kg Caramalt (Thomas Fawcett) (29.6 EBC) Grain 2 9.4 %
0.28 kg Crystal Light- 35L (88.7 EBC) Grain 3 5.0 %
0.18 kg Carapils®/ Carafoam® (4.5 EBC) Grain 4 3.2 %

Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Saccharification Add 34.91 l of water at 69.3 C 65.0 C 75 min
Mash Out Heat to 75.6 C over 7 min 75.6 C 10 min

---SPARGE PROCESS---
>>>>>>>>>>-RECYCLE FIRST RUNNINGS & VERIFY GRAIN/MLT TEMPS: 22.2 C/22.2 C
>>>>>>>>>>-ADD BOIL CHEMICALS BEFORE FWH
If steeping, remove grains, and prepare to boil wort

---BOIL PROCESS-----------------------------
Est Pre_Boil Gravity: 1.041 SG Est OG: 1.053 SG
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
15.00 g Cascade [5.20 %] - Boil 75.0 min Hop 5 9.7 IBUs
25.00 g Cascade [5.20 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 6 11.9 IBUs
41.34 g Cascade [5.20 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 7 9.3 IBUs

Amt Name Type # %/IBU
50.00 g Cascade (after 10 minutes cooling) [5.2 Hop 8 0.0 IBUs
50.00 g Cascade (end of boil) [5.20 %] - Steep/ Hop 9 5.6 IBUs

---FERM PROCESS-----------------------------
Primary Start: 28 Jan 2013 - 14.00 Days at 19.4 C
Secondary Start: 11 Feb 2013 - 10.00 Days at 18.3 C
Style Carb Range: 2.30-2.80 Vols
Bottling Date: 11 Feb 2013 with 2.3 Volumes CO2:
---NOTES------------------------------------
Lime softened to 26ppm alkalinity. Added 3g Gypsum and 4g CaCl for roughly the following:

(Ca ppm) (Mg ppm) (Na ppm) (Cl ppm) (SO4 ppm) Ratio
89 3 13 82 67 1.23

Uneventful brew day all around - numbers just about perfect, with 22l in the fermentor @ 1.052/3. Pitched 1.2l starter of WY1272 as per the recipe. Not used this yeast for a while but I remember liking it a lot when I did.

Posted: **Wed May 04, 2016 4:17 pm**

Great choice Matt In Birdham

I too was inspired by the same podcast......and I've brewed the beer 4 times now. IIRC the brewer wasn't shy with his information.
Lot's of cascade yes, but it is far from a one dimensional beer....very complex and quite floral.
The grist also works well with other hop schedules

A lot of the American pales have a good dose of crystal, so don't be put off.....it will finish dry enough.

I've offered to brew a pin for a local event and if selected I think I will brew another batch of Epic......I will brew another even if I'm not

Hope it works out well for you......please report back with what you think of the beer.

Edit - the end of the hop schedule is a bit different to what I remember. Do they not use 2 lots of dry hops.....1 at fermentation temperature and then another dose at 4 deg C??

Further Edit - cascades seem a bit thin on the ground ATM ??

Posted: **Wed May 04, 2016 4:53 pm**

Yes - 2 lots of dry hops, total 120g (60g each) in this one. I only quoted the brew steps here and not the full recipe.. Yeah it ends up a full half pound of cascade in a finished 21l

I did have this beer once a few years back, when I was down under. I do remember it as very, very good but that's about the extent of my memory. I'm not too scared of crystal, although I know there can be a lot of hate for it (especially in the US). In fact I had a few sierra nevada pales recently and I was reminded that 1. just how well crafted this beer is and 2. it has a lot of crystal! (I think the best known clone recipe is about 10% 60L + some carapils).

I got my cascade pellets from the US mostly because, at the time, non of the UK suppliers were stocking 2015 harvest yet. They do seem to be now and I got my whole hops here.

It was a very interesting pod-cast, with the presenters all being surprised that it was a single hop beer. I do enjoy those CYBI shows, shame they don't run any more.

How did yours turn out? Well I am guessing, since you brewed it 4 times! Did you keg hop with the second batch of dry hops? (that's what I am planning, I think). What sort of water profile did you use?

Posted: **Wed May 04, 2016 8:35 pm**

sorry if I've missed it, which yeast did you use?

Posted: **Wed May 04, 2016 8:50 pm**

Wyeast 1272, American Ale II. Pitched at 18 and will raise to 21C after 24 hours.

Posted: **Thu May 05, 2016 10:50 am**

Hello again Matt.....I looked up my notes last night for you.
I treat my water with sulphuric acid to reduce the alkalinity and then use gypsum and calcium chloride. My target profile for this type of beer is alkalinity of 20ppm, Ca 150ppm, Sulphate 250ppm and chloride 100ppm.
I've fermented with 3 different yeasts....001, 002 and 007 twice.
My tasting notes show a preference for the 007.

Posted: **Thu May 05, 2016 11:11 am**

Mr. Dripping wrote:Hello again Matt.....I looked up my notes last night for you.
I treat my water with sulphuric acid to reduce the alkalinity and then use gypsum and calcium chloride. My target profile for this type of beer is alkalinity of 20ppm, Ca 150ppm, Sulphate 250ppm and chloride 100ppm.
I've fermented with 3 different yeasts....001, 002 and 007 twice.
My tasting notes show a preference for the 007.

Thanks. I went for a less minerally profile with this one as that is what I believe Epic are doing (as well as a bit of a recent preference against higher sulphates). Also the 1272 yeast because they were quite explicit about what they used in the interview - not sure how much difference it will make to the 01, but I have had some very good results with this yeast in the past. Bubbling away nicely now, fingers crossed for a smooth ferment because I am really looking forward to trying it. Also going to follow the temp schedule they talked about in the podcast, which is 18c for the first 24 hours and then straight up to 21.

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