# Hop Thief 6 Clone



## Westo (25/6/14)

Love this beer i put it right up there at a close 2nd to the mighty SN Torpedo and my new #1 APA 
anyway im brewing my first attempt at a clone of this tomorrow has anyone else tried to clone it yet?

here is my first crack at it....

Grain
------------------------------

4.00 kg Pale Malt (Barrett Burston) (3.9 EBC) 
0.50 kg Wheat Malt, Pale (Weyermann) (3.9 EBC)
0.45 kg Munich I (Weyermann) (14.0 EBC) 
0.30 kg Caramunich II (Weyermann) (124.1 EBC)

Hops
------------------------------------

15.00 g Columbus [15.00 %] - Boil 30.0 min
20.00 g Simcoe [13.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min
30.00 g Simcoe [13.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min
15.00 g Columbus [15.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min
30.00 g Columbus [15.00 %] - Dry Hop 3 days

est ABV 5.1% 40IBU

aiming for 66c mash for 60min


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## ridge runner (26/6/14)

Keep us in da loop on that one very nice beer.


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## coopsomulous (26/6/14)

Hi Westo

Im in the stages of planning one like this. From the bottle they list the malts as pale, munich and crystal. The hops in their words are "Simcoe hops deliver a passionfruit and citrus like aroma" so im using this as a flavor / aroma only hop. "Columbus adds complexity and an eartly flavor" - so im using the columbus as my bittering hop

My recipe (so far) is as follows. My grains are based on what I have in stock at the moment.

For a 19L batch

3.5kg Joe White Trad Ale
0.4kg JW Light Munich
0.2kg Simpsons Medium Crystal
0.1kg Weyermann Caraaroma

Mash at 67degC for 60 mins, heat to 76degC for Mash Out

Hops
10g Columbus at 60min
10g Columbus at 25 min
10g Simecoe at 5min
10g Simcoe at flameout

Yeast - WL001

Est OG - 1.050, 35.7 IBU, 5.1% ABV

Im probably not going to be able to make this until August so I would be interested to know how yours goes Westo


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## menoetes (26/6/14)

I thought that the hop thief was centennial and citra, I'm sure I saw it written on the bottle or the tap somewhere...


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## coopsomulous (26/6/14)

Depends which number they are up to. The latest, number 6, is Simcoe and Columbus


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## menoetes (26/6/14)

Ahhhhh, I didn't realize they were constantly playing with it and releasing it... that's kinda cool


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## Westo (26/6/14)

Made a rookie mistake today got the urn up to mash in temp and started adding the grain then relised i hadn't put the BIAB Bag in first... ROOKIE MOVE!! so after recircing and scooping with a strainer i thought i had most of the grain out of the boil only to discover after running through the plate chiller and getting to the bottom of the urn that there was a SHIT load of grain still in there  ... i only ran a 30min boil so hoping it wont ruin the beer only time will tell.......

might have to make this one again if turns out bad


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## DU99 (26/6/14)

Westo..Batch size is 23l i gather


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## spog (26/6/14)

Bought this today to try,I like it ,be interesting to hear the results of the recipes and comparisons as people's tastes can vary.
Has a nice colour in the glass and taste, reminds me of a beer I had o,seas Xmas time but I can't remember what it was which is driving me nuts.


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## Three Sheets (26/6/14)

Looking forward to following this thread. I'm doing an extract brew this weekend with Simcoe and Columbus being the stars.

HT 6 is excellent on Tap. My favourite beer atm is Hop Hog I rate that an 8/10 and HT6 @ 7/10 on tap.

In a stubbies take off one.

So a clone of either will please me no end.

TS


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## Westo (26/6/14)

DU99 said:


> Westo..Batch size is 23l i gather


yeah i ended up with 21 ltrs in the fermenter with an OG of 1.046 fell 3 short of Beer smith predicted 1.049 so this may fall short of hitting 5% .. us-05 yeast pitched and is currently in the fermenting fridge doing its thing


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## rheffera (6/7/14)

Trying to figure out a no chill variant that will still keep me to 40-46 IBU's


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## Westo (6/7/14)

Cant help you there sorry rheffera as i use a plate chiller. From what i have seen there are mixed opinions on rather no chill actually does add bitterness or not,

will be taking a Gravity reading tomorrow as well as adding the 30g columbus for dry hopping... getting closer to seeing how this turns out now.


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## Westo (7/7/14)

So took a reading today and got 1.010 threw in 30g columbus for the 3 day dry hop looks like this one will be 4.8% i fell a little short.. of my est 5.1%. sample had a nice aroma to it and tasted great but wont know for sure how close or far it is untill i keg it and put it up against a real one.


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## pat86 (7/7/14)

menoetes said:


> I thought that the hop thief was centennial and citra, I'm sure I saw it written on the bottle or the tap somewhere...


Centennial + Citra is #5. I've seen it around at a few places the last week still but am keen to check out the new one.


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## Westo (13/7/14)

**UPDATE**

Tastes amazing and the aroma from the Columbus is awesome,, i got lazy and did not clear this beer i usually use gelatine with excellent results.

I dont have a hop thief to compare to so will have to go buy one this week and see how they stack up,, but deafinatly happy with the beer and will make again,, will wait to try against the real one first to see if any adjustments are needed to get it closer otherwise its a winner in my books 


tried to post picture but aparently Jpg and png (most common photo extensions in the world) are not allowed whats up with that?


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## rheffera (14/7/14)

Im going with your grain bill westo but i've worked out this hop bill for no chill:

30g simcoe @ 0
15 g Columbus @ 0
30g Columbus dry


I have a carton of hop thief 6 right now so ill be able to compare


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## Bribie G (14/7/14)

Glad I've happened on this thread, sank a few Hop Thief 6 on tap at the Hornsby RSL on Friday. Bloody delicious... shows what JS can do. And Hop Thief is on permanent release now :super:


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## rheffera (14/7/14)

I find it to be danker on tap than from the bottle


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## Three Sheets (14/7/14)

rheffera said:


> I find it to be danker on tap than from the bottle


Yep and heaps better, Mmmmmmmmmm


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## Westo (14/7/14)

i got a hop thief today to compare the two... as soon as i work out how to upload a pic on here ill post it

taste - pretty close

aroma - not quite as noticeable as the hop theif (i dont have the fancy gear that they use to get the aroma)

colour - way off lol i think more munich is needed maybe changing from munich I to munich II and bumping the qty up a bit might get the reddish colour that hop thief has... not sure there if anyone can advise me there be much appreciated.

Mouth feel - hop thief has a more thicker mouth (creamier) not sure how else to explain it , where as mine is a little less

Overall - i think i did pretty good for a first attempt the two taste pretty close with my clone having a stronger hop pressence, i think that is more noticeable due to the beer only got kegged yesterday

so the colour and maybe some more wheat malt, even a higher mash temp might help give a little more fullness(thickness) - will experiment with this one but as for this attempt im glad i made it and if you look past the colour difference then there pretty close


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## Westo (15/7/14)




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## rheffera (19/7/14)

Picked up a modified bersion of your grain bill today,

3.5kg bb ale
0.5kg bb wheat
Munich 2 0.75kg
Dark crystal 270 300 grams

It'll be darker for sure, but i fear not dark enough. WIll post how it goes


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## Bribie G (19/7/14)

Aussie brewers often use domestic Roast Barley (not UK) to colour up their ales and even their lagers (apparently Reschs Draught). You could incorporate maybe 20g but no more of JW RB.
After all JW don't make RB just for us home brewers.


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## rheffera (19/7/14)

Have some spare JW Chocolate, suppose i could throw in 20g of that


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## Westo (19/7/14)

rheffera said:


> Picked up a modified bersion of your grain bill today,
> 
> 3.5kg bb ale
> 0.5kg bb wheat
> ...


Cool post a pic up when your all done. I think next time ill add some crystal and maybe a tiny bit or rye to help give it that little bit more fullness


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## rheffera (20/7/14)

Westo said:


> Cool post a pic up when your all done. I think next time ill add some crystal and maybe a tiny bit or rye to help give it that little bit more fullness


Brewing it up as we speak. will post back in a month


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## rheffera (12/8/14)

Colour- Not the amber of the JS. close though, bit of choc next time

Aroma- The JS has a aroma of toffee to me, where as mine i can smell simcoe and columbus

Taste- Simcoe and Columbus MUCH more prominent in the clone. JS is castrated by comparison, however i feel that JS is more of a balanced beer in terms of malt to hop taste. Js has a malt taste up front then as the beer goes down the aftertaste turns to simcoe & columbus, although the taste of them in the js is still far weaker than the clone.My clone seems to be straight balls out simcoe & colombus. Bitterness about the same

Mouthfeel- No detectable change

Overall- I think i prefer my clone taste wise. Stronger hop flavour which i find more attractive than the commercial deal.
As a 'replica' though it needs a little work..the hop flavour is too strong and given my comments on the original i suspect they add the hops earlier in the boil than 15. I'd probably move them to 20-25 which should result in less hops being used and thus a weaker hop flavour while retaining 30 IBU. This will result in a more taste balanced beer like the real deal. Needs choc colour adjustment and given i got the aroma of toffee maybe a bit more crystal as i get no toffee from the clone.

In closing,
I quite enjoy my brew though, Same taste as the hops in JS but in the front and dialed up a bit. I quite enjoy it over the original and am happy with the attempt and will brew it again, but those looking for that exact taste of the original i refer to my notes above.

I am now going to roll inside having imbibed two stubbies in 10 minutes.


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## davedoran (12/8/14)

rheffera said:


> Have some spare JW Chocolate, suppose i could throw in 20g of that


I did that a few months ago with roasted Barley. With around a grain bill of 

4.5kg JW Pale
0.85kg Munich1
0.3kg JW Wheat
0.1kg Acidulated Malt 
and
0.02kg (20g) Roasted Barley just see what colour impact it would have. 
Came up




Out of the bottling bucket. 
Farking iphone photos


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## rheffera (12/8/14)

dave doran said:


> I did that a few months ago with roasted Barley. With around a grain bill of
> 
> 4.5kg JW Pale
> 0.85kg Munich1
> ...


It may just be the photo but its looking slightly too brown to me. Taste?


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## davedoran (12/8/14)

Taste is fine to me but ya a bit too brown. Next experiment will be with some dark crystal.


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## mckenry (13/8/14)

I had a few of these last night. Good to see JS can do a good hoppy ale still.
While it is a good beer, I reckon they're having us on with 40 IBU's ! Either that or theyve made an unbelievably balanced beer.
It was all late kettle for me. I'd reckon mid 20s, absolute max 30 for IBU.
Simco and Columbus are a great combo.
I'll be back regardless of whether they are having me on or not with 40IBU.


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## Natsta (14/8/14)

My first post here folks but done a few brews. Usually partial mash with kits. Any suggestions for a good kit base for the Hop Thief? I usually do 45litre brews but only a 15l pot so kits are my only option but really want to give this one a crack.


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## rheffera (14/8/14)

Natsta said:


> My first post here folks but done a few brews. Usually partial mash with kits. Any suggestions for a good kit base for the Hop Thief? I usually do 45litre brews but only a 15l pot so kits are my only option but really want to give this one a crack.


Hey mate, cant help much with a kit version, maybe this will help: http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/81970-james-squire-hop-thief-6-extract/


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## Natsta (14/8/14)

rheffera said:


> Hey mate, cant help much with a kit version, maybe this will help: http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/81970-james-squire-hop-thief-6-extract/


Yeah had a read through that thread too but it seems it would be a little light on the bitterness. I was thinking maybe something like Coopers Pale Ale might give it a decent backbone but am concerned I might throw the flavour off completely. Might just have to try it out and see what happens.


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## Westo (15/8/14)

rheffera said:


> Colour- Not the amber of the JS. close though, bit of choc next time
> 
> 
> 
> ...


i had the same thoughts with mine with the hops though i did notice after a few weeks the hops mellowed out,, but yeah needs a little tweaking but thats half the fun


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## mckenry (29/8/14)

mckenry said:


> I had a few of these last night. Good to see JS can do a good hoppy ale still.
> While it is a good beer, I reckon they're having us on with 40 IBU's ! Either that or theyve made an unbelievably balanced beer.
> It was all late kettle for me. I'd reckon mid 20s, absolute max 30 for IBU.
> Simco and Columbus are a great combo.
> I'll be back regardless of whether they are having me on or not with 40IBU.


Had this as above in the ab hotel in Glebe. Loved it. Since then I've had it at bubbles and froth in wgong and found it a bit too roasty. We bought a carton of it on the way home and those stubbies tasted way too earthy. Strange. 3 tries and 3 different experiences.


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## Bribie G (29/12/14)

I'd forgotten all about this thread, and last night I picked up a six of Hop Thief 6 from the local. Before Xmas I pitched a batch of American IPA and something rang a bell... I'd used Choc, Simcoe and Columbus in it so it may turn out like a rocket fuel verson of HT ... 6% abv

I'll keg tomorrow and report.
However that leaves my 60L fermenter free so I've tweaked the recipe into an APA to brew today and pitch tomorrow, will definitely do a side by side with HT when that's ready as well.

I don't have Munich unfortunately so using MO to add a bit more meat to the bone. Anyone had a stab at guessing what the IBU of HT is?

*Hoppy thief*
American Pale Ale

*Recipe Specs*
----------------
Batch Size (L): 42.0
Total Grain (kg): 9.500
Total Hops (g): 40.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.053 (°P): 13.1
Final Gravity (FG): 1.012 (°P): 3.1
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 5.42 %
Colour (SRM): 14.7 (EBC): 29.0
Bitterness (IBU): 33.9 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 75
Boil Time (Minutes): 60

*Grain Bill*
----------------
9.000 kg Maris Otter Malt (94.74%)
0.300 kg Crystal 120 (3.16%)
0.200 kg Chocolate Malt (2.11%)

*Hop Bill*
----------------
15.0 g Columbus Pellet (16.2% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.4 g/L)
15.0 g Simcoe Pellet (13% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.4 g/L)
5.0 g Columbus Pellet (16.2% Alpha) @ 20 Minutes (Boil) (0.1 g/L)
5.0 g Simcoe Pellet (13% Alpha) @ 20 Minutes (Boil) (0.1 g/L)

*Misc Bill*
----------------

Single step Infusion at 66°C for 60 Minutes.
Fermented at 20°C with WLP090 - San Diego Super Yeast / blended with Coopers Kit yeast - long story :blink:


Recipe Generated with *BrewMate*


ed: oops I didn't have the no chill box ticked in Brewmate, so that ups it to around 38 IBU that seems more like it.


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## paulyman (29/12/14)

Hi Bribie,

I had 3 attempts at a hop thief clone using extract. The last two came out real nice, they were both 40 IBU.


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## skb (29/12/14)

mckenry said:


> Had this as above in the ab hotel in Glebe. Loved it. Since then I've had it at bubbles and froth in wgong and found it a bit too roasty. We bought a carton of it on the way home and those stubbies tasted way too earthy. Strange. 3 tries and 3 different experiences.


For me I love it on tap and very disappointed in bottle, maybe doesn't age well ... Or maybe my imagination as I don't have the best beer palate


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## Bribie G (29/12/14)

paulyman said:


> Hi Bribie,
> 
> I had 3 attempts at a hop thief clone using extract. The last two came out real nice, they were both 40 IBU.


IPAs and AIPAs are styles that go very well on extract / partials. Ask Moodgett the medal man 
I'm even half toying with idea of tossing in a tin of Coopers Lager I've had sitting around for six months and cut the base malt back accordingly. Then I can just do a single strong mash plus sparge instead of two regular mash/ boils, being as it's a 42L brew. Waste not want not.


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## Superstar (14/1/15)

Bribie G said:


> I'd forgotten all about this thread, and last night I picked up a six of Hop Thief 6 from the local. Before Xmas I pitched a batch of American IPA and something rang a bell... I'd used Choc, Simcoe and Columbus in it so it may turn out like a rocket fuel verson of HT ... 6% abv
> 
> I'll keg tomorrow and report.
> However that leaves my 60L fermenter free so I've tweaked the recipe into an APA to brew today and pitch tomorrow, will definitely do a side by side with HT when that's ready as well.
> ...


I'd love to know how this turned out *Bribie *


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## Bribie G (1/3/15)

da bump.

I found that the above recipe turned out a bit "muddy" and not too aromatic in the hops so I've decided to do a version based on Westy's OP recipe and use a fresh batch of San Diego Super Yeast, as I'm sure a lot of the problem was the weird Coopers yeast blend I used as an emergency.

ed: I'll also be just using a bittering addition in the main boil that will get no-chilled. Tomorrow I'll do the late additions in a stockpot with some reserved wort, plus of course dry hopping in the FV. 

Now, I still don't have Munich and wonder if I could use BB, some crystal and slip in either 100 of Victory or 100 of Melanoidin to mimic Munich?


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## Bribie G (1/3/15)

Working recipe


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## Clevo (3/4/15)

Keep us in the loop on that one Bribie G


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## Bribie G (5/4/15)

All finished now but it was one of the best APAs I've ever made, thanks to the hop combination.
So I brewed another batch but mistakenly pitched it with an Aussie Pale Ale slurry.

oops.

I expect it will be drinkable but not quite Hop Thief.

:unsure:


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## Bribie G (6/4/15)

Kegged / bottled it just now. It's a really tasty drop off the Aussie ale yeast and works perfectly, at least from the samples I quaffed out of primary. Quite "Squire" tasting in fact.


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## paulyman (7/4/15)

Just bought a case of Hop Thief 7, with Mosaic and Galaxy. I wanted to compare it to my recent Mosaic IPA, I can finally say I have brewed something better than a commercial example. Yay.

Number 7 is alright, I can't taste or smell any Galaxy it's all Mosaic to me. But it seems a bit watery? I'm glad Squire are doing a beer like this, it will hopefully continue to be the gate way beer for the masses like it was for me, but I think I'm going to stick to mine from now on.


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## menoetes (8/4/15)

I've said it before and I'll say it again; it's amazing how JS can take two of my favourite hops and produce such an average beer with them. I was excited when I first saw the hop combo of the tap at The Charming Squire and disappointed after tasting it. Hop thieves 5 & 6 were much better IMHO.

Hey JS, stop hogging all the Galaxy!


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## Blind Dog (8/4/15)

HT 7 is a waste of good hops IMO (tried it in bottle and on draft). Real shame as that combo had serious potential. HT6 is a much better beer


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## gezzanet (8/4/15)

Blind Dog said:


> HT 7 is a waste of good hops IMO (tried it in bottle and on draft). Real shame as that combo had serious potential. HT6 is a much better beer


Tried the ht7 on tap and bought a case. Rather have the 6


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## spaced (15/4/15)

Bribie G said:


> Working recipe


Hey Bribie,

Just wanted to ask. That recipe seems very light on the hops (maybe I'm just heavy handed with mine). Are those numbers correct and is that chill or no chill?

Thanks,


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## mattdean4130 (25/6/15)

Hey guys,

Sorry to dredge an old one up but I'm gearing up to have a crack at my first BIAB (always thought it too hard but then did a rye whiskey mash - go figure) and I thought this a good one to start on.

Am i right to assume this recipe for a 23l ferment? 

Cheers


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## SJW (25/6/15)

Single infusion I'd be aiming for 64 deg C for 90 min then raising to 70 or above to finish off


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