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Does anyone have a REALLY GOOD modern day version AK IPA clone?

I just started all-grain and am ready to try anything. I am assuming that I will be using Canadian or American 2-row pale malt, 15-33% corn but I don't have enough experience to recognize the hops used in it.

Yes, yes - I know its not a try IPA but it's what I grew up with in the 90's in NS. Id really like to make something that my hard core AK drinking buddies cannot tell the difference between the store bought and my home brew.

Any help would be much appreciated!

B.

Check out this thread. Lots of good info:

viewtopic.php?t=802

This isn't really helpful but just thought I would share.

I've been working on a Kolsch recipe for the garrison competition. Brewed it three times now. It's getting there

I shit on Bud and all the rest when it comes to their lack of flavor and business practices but it takes a lot of patience and a hell of a lot of brewing knowledge and experience to recreate something like that.

I think it's very doable with satisfactory results but you are in for some work trying to make something that is indiscernible from the product of such a micro controlled environment.

The best part is how much you'll gain from the experience. Good luck.




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oceanic_brew wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 22, 2017 5:27 pm

The best part is how much you'll gain from the experience. Good luck.




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And how little amount of ingredients you'll have to use to make the beer, so your beer cost will be quite low.

Thanks oceanic_brew Jeff - I've seen that other thread but the user said he was not trying to clone Keith's IPA.

Strangely, I looked around a bit more and apparently Keith's own website tells us what hops they use:

"ALEXANDER KEITH'S INDIA PALE ALE
Brewed slowly using select malted barley, and our
finest nugget and zeus hops, Alexander Keith's
India Pale Ale is mildly bitter with subtle notes
of black liquorice.

I think this is all I need to get going. I will fart around with 5-10% Crystal 40 and make two batches with 17% corn and 33% corn respectively. I'll also have to try a few iterations of the hops. Does anyone have an educated guess what hop would be used for bittering and what hop for flavour/aroma? (not that there is too much from memory!). I'll also need to actually buy some again to recall its taste profile! I wont get to this project until the spring so I can I can open the windows while brewing.

Any help or feedback would be much appreciated!

B.

Black licorice? Really?

S

Many of my hops charts did not state Zeus or Nugget have any licorice tastes. But another quick search led me to YCH-Hops website (which I typically buy) where it states for their Zeus hops:

A BITTERING HOP
ZEUS
Region: United States
Alpha: 14.5 - 17.5%
Beta: 4 - 5.5%
Co-H: 26 - 31% of alpha acids
Total Oil: 2.5 - 4.5 mL/100g
Aroma: Specific aroma descriptors include pungent, black pepper, licorice, and curry.

Go figure!

I've just asked Keith's what their IBU level is so hopefully they will respond. I am thinking their IPA is in the 25 range. Zeus and Nugget both have high AA's so I'm thinking not a lot of hops get used. Plugging in 1/4 oz of each for a 45 minute boil gives me 27 and a 60 minute boil gives me 29.

Its been a long time since I drank Keith's (it was my go to beer for years) so again I'll have to sample them and try and figure out the aftertastes. I think I'll try a 1/4 oz of each for a 60 minute boil and see what happens unless someone knows better.

B.

It's 16. We did a group tour of the olands facility a couple of years ago and I remember this from one of the screens in the control room and the head brewer confirmed it. That being said I think what you are going with will suit you better. Forget trying to brew and exact clone of any high performance commercial facility, we just can't replicate what they can do. Extraction along with their filtering methods can't really be replicated

An unlabeled can of Keiths "off the floor" was wonderful. There yeast lab was off the charts.

S

Blackhawks wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 08, 2018 4:11 pm

Strangely, I looked around a bit more and apparently Keith's own website tells us what hops they use:

"ALEXANDER KEITH'S INDIA PALE ALE
Brewed slowly using select malted barley, and our
finest nugget and zeus hops, Alexander Keith's
India Pale Ale is mildly bitter with subtle notes
of black liquorice.

On top of the liquorice comment - Nugget and Zeus? They used to brag about their use of Goldings. Not to mention that both of those are US hybrids so clearly they've abandoned any thoughts about the recipe being remotely similar to AK's original. Also explains why so many Keith's drinkers have abandoned it for Coors Light.

LiverDance wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 09, 2018 5:14 pm

It's 16. We did a group tour of the olands facility a couple of years ago and I remember this from one of the screens in the control room and the head brewer confirmed it. That being said I think what you are going with will suit you better. Forget trying to brew and exact clone of any high performance commercial facility, we just can't replicate what they can do. Extraction along with their filtering methods can't really be replicated

The AK communications team replied to my email and said it was about 20. I think I have enough information for round #1 but am finding it difficult to find vacuum packs of Zeus hops. I might only have access to the locally repacked bags at my local store in Calgary. Now all I need is a nice chinook to come by so I can brew this in my kitchen with all house windows opened. Stay tuned!

Blackhawks wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 26, 2018 6:57 pm

LiverDance wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 09, 2018 5:14 pm

It's 16. We did a group tour of the olands facility a couple of years ago and I remember this from one of the screens in the control room and the head brewer confirmed it. That being said I think what you are going with will suit you better. Forget trying to brew and exact clone of any high performance commercial facility, we just can't replicate what they can do. Extraction along with their filtering methods can't really be replicated

The AK communications team replied to my email and said it was about 20. I think I have enough information for round #1 but am finding it difficult to find vacuum packs of Zeus hops. I might only have access to the locally repacked bags at my local store in Calgary. Now all I need is a nice chinook to come by so I can brew this in my kitchen with all house windows opened. Stay tuned!

Best of luck! Let us know how it turns out.

Was reading through old threads, just curious, how did this turn out?