# The Hoptomic Bomb



## Duff (20/1/07)

Inspired by some fellow AHB'ers both here and abroad, I thought I'd put to use some of the mountain of hops in my freezer. The result was The Hoptomic Bomb, given birth tomorrow. I'll start with 50gms Columbus dry hopped for 7 days and see how she goes before deciding on any further. I reckon it will taste great.

Cheers.

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07-07 The Hoptomic Bomb

A ProMash Recipe Report

Recipe Specifics
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Batch Size (L): 20.00 Wort Size (L): 20.00
Total Grain (kg): 7.00
Anticipated OG: 1.083 Plato: 20.06
Anticipated SRM: 9.0
Anticipated IBU: 500.8
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 90 Minutes


Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
85.7 6.00 kg. Bairds Marris Otter England 1.038 3
7.1 0.50 kg. JWM Caramalt Australia 1.036 28
7.1 0.50 kg. JWM Wheat Malt Australia 1.040 2

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
85.00 g. Magnum Pellet 13.50 161.8 60 min.
80.00 g. Warrior Pellet 15.10 170.3 60 min.
100.00 g. Centennial Pellet 9.90 47.0 20 min.
100.00 g. Columbus Pellet 11.10 52.7 20 min.
75.00 g. Centennial Pellet 9.90 20.9 10 min.
75.00 g. Columbus Pellet 11.10 23.5 10 min.
50.00 g. Centennial Pellet 9.90 11.6 5 min.
50.00 g. Columbus Pellet 11.10 13.0 5 min.
50.00 g. Columbus Pellet 11.10 0.0 Dry Hop


Yeast
-----

White Labs WLP001 California Ale


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## mika (20/1/07)

Damn !


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## Ross (20/1/07)

:super: Go Duff Go :super: 

These IBU levels are starting to esculate... Actually looks like a bloody nice recipe as well  

Cheers Ross


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## Jye (20/1/07)

I see you've gone one better and taken it to 500IBUs  

Nice combo with the Centennial and Columbus, nothing like some big ass C hops in a IIIIPA.


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## Adamt (20/1/07)

Soon we'll be measuring how much beer is in the hops, rather than the other way around :huh:


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## InCider (20/1/07)

Duff, did you get the recipe for the Hoptomic Bomb from Dr Robert Hoppenhieimer?  

just couldn't help myself...

Manhoppen Project.. 

so sorry - sounds like a great recipe. !


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## Doc (20/1/07)

Awesome. Good to see you broke the 500 barrier too.
If you pitch enough yeast it should pull in around 9% too, and with the Marris Otter as a base it should be as balanced as you are ever going to get with such a monster.
I notice you are brewing this while your wife is away too 

Brewing a Kolsch myself tomorrow. Just a pinch of hops compared to my last few brews  Hopefully the aroma coming from your kettle a few suburbs over doesn't infiltrate my delicate brew 

Beers,
Doc


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## Duff (20/1/07)

Doc said:


> I notice you are brewing this while your wife is away too



Maybe  

But it's definately the reason why I thought 'stuff it', I'm going to brew it tonight :beerbang: 

Grains are cracked, heating the strike water now, dough in around 30 minutes :super: 

Cheers.


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## Duff (20/1/07)

It is born.

Very similar in colour to Doc's Infinity after the boil, can't take piccy's ATM with no real light. Smells unreal :beerbang: 

Cheers.


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## Trent (20/1/07)

Wow
I hope that you have a hop sock or some sort of really good filter, cause that is a bollock load of hops! Over 600g, your wort will be green! Be interesting to hear about the drinkability of it, like whether or not it has a hop astringency or any other funny flavours. I hope it turns out delicious.
Best of luck
Trent


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## fixa (20/1/07)

500 IBU's... OMG... who's next?


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## Kai (20/1/07)

Me!

I brewed a 20 and a 30 IBU beer today.


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## Duff (20/1/07)

Trent said:


> Wow
> I hope that you have a hop sock or some sort of really good filter, cause that is a bollock load of hops! Over 600g, your wort will be green! Be interesting to hear about the drinkability of it, like whether or not it has a hop astringency or any other funny flavours. I hope it turns out delicious.
> Best of luck
> Trent



Trent,

I used a hop sock for it. The wort looks bright orange, pitched on a cake of 1.052 Centennial APA.

Cheers.

Edit: For this and 40L of Oktoberfest today I also tried for the first time the 5.2 pH stabliliser. Interested to see how it goes as our water here is 8.2 ATM.


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## razz (20/1/07)

Anyone contemplating a 1 gig brew ? (1000 gms)  

PS. Not me, I like my beers balanced.


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## Ross (20/1/07)

razz said:


> Anyone contemplating a 1 gig brew ? (1000 gms)
> 
> PS. Not me, I like my beers balanced.



My R+ on tap at the moment, 400+ IBU's, 19 different hops, 1100 gms  
...for the record... beautifully balanced  

cheers Ross


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## razz (20/1/07)

Ross said:


> My R+ on tap at the moment, 400+ IBU's, 19 different hops, 1100 gms
> ...for the record... beautifully balanced
> 
> cheers Ross


Touche Ross, touche.


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## Doc (21/1/07)

razz said:


> Anyone contemplating a 1 gig brew ? (1000 gms)
> 
> PS. Not me, I like my beers balanced.



My Infinity + 1 had 1.2kg of hops in it. CJ's Hop10Cubed had over a kg, as did Ross's so the 1000gr barrier has well and truely been broken. As for the IBU's of these beers it is pretty much an irrelevant number in the context of these beers.

Doc


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## Darren (21/1/07)

Hey guys,

Given that solubility of hop resins and taste thresholds are around 100 IBU, why go for 500+?

Can anyone say they have tasted a difference between 100 and 500IBU beers?

I suspect it is a waste of wort and hops.

cheers

Darren


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## Finite (21/1/07)

Darren said:


> Hey guys,
> 
> Given that solubility of hop resins and taste thresholds are around 100 IBU, why go for 500+?
> 
> ...





flavour and aroma can still increase and i think its way past rationalisation. Why? Why not I say. Im planning a 500+ in 2 weeks.


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## Darren (21/1/07)

Blake said:


> flavour and aroma can still increase and i think its way past rationalisation. Why? Why not I say. Im planning a 500+ in 2 weeks.




If the solubility of the oil is 100 IBU, how can you increase flavour/aroma above that.

Personally, I cannot percieve any increases in flavour/aroma/bitterness between 60-100 IBU.

I dont want to stop you from doing it. Theoretically though, it is a waste of time.  

cheers

Darren


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## Finite (21/1/07)

Darren said:


> If the solubility of the oil is 100 IBU, how can you increase flavour/aroma above that.
> 
> Personally, I cannot percieve any increases in flavour/aroma/bitterness between 60-100 IBU.
> 
> ...





Sorry Darren your right. I thought I read something on another post which mentioned this, after looking heres the quote from ozbrewer:





> but if you go higher than that you will also taste compounds from the hops, just not the bitterness....





Im not sure what he means by this maybe someone can clarify.



P.S: will you see any improvement in head retention by going over 100IBU?


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## cj in j (21/1/07)

Now everyone, stand up and repeat after me: Hops are our friend. :wub: h34r: 

Flavor, aroma, bitterness, it's all good.


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## Darren (21/1/07)

Hey,

Repeat after me.

Hops steal your wort  

cheers

Darren


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## Jye (21/1/07)

Darren said:


> Hops steal your wort



Darren its a fair trade :lol:


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## Darren (21/1/07)

Jye said:


> Darren its a fair trade :lol:




Added cost with no possible additional benefit. Sounds fair to me :huh: 

cheers

Darren


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## Screwtop (21/1/07)

Darren said:


> Added cost with no possible additional benefit. Sounds fair to me :huh:
> 
> cheers
> 
> Darren




There ya go, knew you'd have something positive to add


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## Stuster (21/1/07)

Good point you raise, Darren. My understanding is the 100 IBU threshold is for the bittering components. I've never seen anything on the solubility of other compounds like myrcene, farnesene, etc. I'm guessing that some of those oils are still getting into solution. I've never made one, but it sounds like those who make it can smell/taste a fair bit of hops in their beer. :chug:


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## Darren (21/1/07)

Stuster said:


> Good point you raise, Darren. My understanding is the 100 IBU threshold is for the bittering components. I've never seen anything on the solubility of other compounds like myrcene, farnesene, etc. I'm guessing that some of those oils are still getting into solution. I've never made one, but it sounds like those who make it can smell/taste a fair bit of hops in their beer. :chug:




Stuster,

Just asking those who have done this whether they really belive it has been worth it??

I have had beer with heaps of aroma and flavour at 40-50 IBU (no not mine  )

I wonder how these beers stand up to blind tastings. There is no doubt that if you chuck in a kilo of hops you would expect HEAPS of oils. 

My readings suggest that in actuality, it is just a waste of hops and wort.

I am actually surprised you guys are not extracting a lot of chlorophyl (green) into the beer. Maybe it is pH related that you don't?

cheers

Darren


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## Screwtop (21/1/07)

Darren said:


> I am actually surprised you guys are not extracting a lot of chlorophyl (green) into the beer. Maybe it is pH related that you don't?
> 
> cheers
> 
> Darren



Maybe .....................SOYLENT BEER.............


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## brendanos (22/1/07)

just-cj said:


>




Great appearance, can't really detect any green though. Maybe that's the next frontier...


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## Doc (22/1/07)

I've had two instances where I've had a green tinge in the head of a beer.
Once with the first ever Imperial Pilsner I brewed, and I went extreme with the dry hops.
The second time, was when I added two plugs to a 19 litre corny.
Not bad, but different.

As for more is more, absolutely. It is also about how the hops are added. I have a Hopburst that the hop calcs estimate around 46IBU, but with dual hopbacks laden with flowers and pellets, in a blind taste you would swear the beer was up in the 100IBU range. It is an 8% beer so I guess it can pickup more of the goodies from the hops. All my super hoppy beers are up in the alcohol for that very reason, otherwise it would be slightly wasteful.

Doc


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## razz (22/1/07)

Screwtop said:


> Maybe .....................SOYLENT BEER.............


So that's what happens to old brewers when they die. :blink:


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## Duff (4/2/07)

Racked to keg today for a bit of cold conditioning and dry hopping. Started out with 50gms of Columbus in the keg. Will leave that for a week and have a little sample next week, but will probably go 2 or 3 weeks dry hopping adding fresh hops in on a weekly basis as I did with my Pliny.

It has a burnt orange colour, quite viscous in mouthfeel, nice piney/fruity aromas and a long lingering bitterness which slowly moves to the back of the tongue. The sample glass continually keeps saying "Have another sip, have another sip.."  

I didn't end up using the cake, instead pitching a 15gm pack of Brewcellar American Ale dry yeast. I bought it up in Atherton at the local HBS for $4. Just sprinkled it on top and away she went, 83% attenuation bringing it in just shy of 9%. Seems like another great dry yeast.

Cheers.


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## Ross (4/2/07)

Duff said:


> It has a burnt orange colour, quite viscous in mouthfeel, nice piney/fruity aromas and a long lingering bitterness which slowly moves to the back of the tongue. The sample glass continually keeps saying "Have another sip, have another sip.."
> 
> I didn't end up using the cake, instead pitching a 15gm pack of Brewcellar American Ale dry yeast. I bought it up in Atherton at the local HBS for $4. Just sprinkled it on top and away she went, 83% attenuation bringing it in just shy of 9%. Seems like another great dry yeast.
> 
> Cheers.



Sounds great Duff - Bye the way, the Brewceller American Ale is just repackaged Fermentis US-56. Brewcraft hold the distribution rights in Australia for the 11.5gm satchets, so Morgans repackage their own...,

cheers Ross


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## cj in j (4/2/07)

Ross said:


> Sounds great Duff - Bye the way, the Brewceller American Ale is just repackaged Fermentis US-56.


And US-56 is now labeled US-05 -- rumor has it that Wyeast was a bit worried that people would confuse a dry yeast with their 1056 American ale liquid yeast. <_<


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## Lactobacillus (5/2/07)

just-cj said:


> And US-56 is now labeled US-05 -- rumor has it that Wyeast was a bit worried that people would confuse a dry yeast with their 1056 American ale liquid yeast. <_<


Of course... it's that similarity between the letters "US" and the numbers "10" that does it.


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## Duff (15/2/07)

Here it is. I'm biased, but me likey very much :lol: 

The typical MO flavour is beaten to death by hop flavour. The Columbus comes through more than the Centennial in taste, but is not harsh. In a way it could be described as a supercharged version of my Columbus APA. The bitterness comes in late, sizzles and slowly fades, and is very clean and just very moreish.

SWMBO's away again (Fiji) so who knows what is concocted this Saturday :lol: 

Cheers.


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## Jye (15/2/07)

Looks pretty good and surprisingly clear compared to some other hop monsters I have seen, is only filtered or did you use something else?

Nice work :beerbang:


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## Duff (15/2/07)

Jye said:


> Looks pretty good and surprisingly clear compared to some other hop monsters I have seen, is only filtered or did you use something else?
> 
> Nice work :beerbang:



Jye,

It is filtered. Spent a couple of weeks in the keg with the dry hop in the fridge as well.

Cheers.


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## KoNG (15/2/07)

Looks great Duff. would love to get taste.
My AIIPA is still in secondary with 40g of amarillo and 50g of cascade... honestly i think it can still take some more.
I think a swap is in order.

Ps. mine is NOT that clear... :lol:


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