# Feral War Hog AG Clone



## lswhi3 (7/10/16)

Feral War Hog is an outstanding Australian DIPA with 97/100 on ratebeer, and I'm surprised there hasn't been much discussion about how to brew a clone!

I'd consider this beer the Australian equivalent of Golden Road's Wolf Among the Weeds IIPA, which is super similar in style in terms of a big emphasis on fresh, tropical aroma underpinned by a light malt base. Both are super sessionable and are great IPAs for a hot day.

I had a chat to the Melbourne Feral beer rep, and he explained to me that the Cat/War Hog (same beer) as supposed to be the bigger versions of the earlier versions of hop hog. In the same vein, Feral Tusk is supposed to be a bigger version of the Feral Cat. So, I guess we can assume that at least the hops used are going to be similar.

I find that both the War Hog and Tusk have predominately passionfruit and citrus aromas. My sense is that this points to a combination of Galaxy and Cascade, with Topaz or perhaps Ella or Enigma.

In terms of bitterness, even though we are looking at at least 80 IBUs, the hops used must have a low co-humulone content because it comes across as being very smooth. Wolf among the weeds uses warrior, which is about 24%.
In my experience, galaxy isn't a great bittering hop, and most other Australian hops have higher co-humulone content then galaxy.
Helga has the same co-humulone content as Warrior. However, Alpha acid content in Helga is low, making it a poor economical choice to be using as a bittering hop. However, I remember reading an interview with the Feral's head brewer that they like to use hallertau for bittering, and Helga does tend to have a slightly higher AA content than mittlefruh.
Super Pride is a good bittering hop, and has very similar alpha acid, co-humulone and beta acid composition to Warrior. So, my sense is that this would impart the most desirable bittering addition.

So, here's my first draft.

5.75kg 2-row
0.75kg rye malt
0.75kg golden promise
0.4kg dextrose at whirlpool

60g super pride 60mins
40g cascade 10mins
20g topaz 10mins

20g galaxy whirlpool
20g topaz whirlpool

40g galaxy dry hopped three times, 1 day each.


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## NickyJ (7/10/16)

It is indeed a great beer. What volume is that recipe for?


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## mstrelan (7/10/16)

Checkout Danos Hop Hog Clone and scale up the IBU / ABV? Unfortunately we don't get War Hog here in Brisbane.


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## lswhi3 (8/10/16)

20L batch size. I don't think warhog is a case of simply scaling up. malt base is completely different, and I'd even go so far to say the hops used are a slightly different combination. you just don't get that passionfruit aroma from hop hog. hop hog is more about citrus and pine


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## fdsaasdf (9/10/16)

mstrelan said:


> Checkout Danos Hop Hog Clone and scale up the IBU / ABV? Unfortunately we don't get War Hog here in Brisbane.


Actually War Hog has been on tap at Brewski and Scratch in the last few months. It's certainly worth seeking out!


@OP your recipe looks like a decent attempt to me, the only question I have is the use of rye - I don't recall detecting this - would suspect there is some medium crystal in there.

Also I suggest extending each dry hop addition to at least 48hr intervals. Having cloned some hop-monsters like Pliny the Elder I have had success at 3-4 day intervals over a few weeks to develop the desired level of hop-forwardness.


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## LorriSanga (9/10/16)

Had it on tap at Brisbane Brewhouse & Archive.

Watching.


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## lswhi3 (10/10/16)

fdsaasdf said:


> Actually War Hog has been on tap at Brewski and Scratch in the last few months. It's certainly worth seeking out!
> 
> 
> @OP your recipe looks like a decent attempt to me, the only question I have is the use of rye - I don't recall detecting this - would suspect there is some medium crystal in there.
> ...


I'd keep it at one day because the dry hop is with galaxy. IMO, dry hopping for any more than a day with galaxy brings a certain grassiness to the beer which can overwhelm the passionfruit/tropical nose, as well as reducing the smoothness of the mouthfeel, which is one of the great features about war hog and tusk. Longer dry hopping with CTZ is a different story.

Re. the rye. I'm not a big fan of using crystal in IPAs. Too sweet. Rye on the other hand balances out the high bitterness and ABV, like crystal does as well, and promotes a smooth mouthfeel. It only makes up 10% of the grain bill, it's not like its going to turn the beer into a rye IPA


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## Devhay (10/10/16)

Very interested on how you go with this one!

Was out at the brewery last weekend and couldn't help but bring home a growler of Warhog, would love to be able to brew a clone.


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## Dan Pratt (10/10/16)

I've had the war hog and found it to be one of the very few excellent DIPAs from an Aussie brewery. Crisp clean malt base with a tonne of juicy tropical hops, the abv balances the hop bitterness perfectly. 

If you don't want to use crystal then use wheat malt instead, that offers great mouthfeel without colour or sweetness, moreso than rye. And rye @ 10% = rye ipa to anyone. 

The hops.....well take the amounts your a using a triple them, especially the dry hop and consider US hops like Amarillo and Citra combined with the Aussie ones. 

Interested to see where you get to with the clone. I can say though you will need to have the water, mash pH and yeast viability plus packaging skills fine tuned to pull it off. 

Subscribed.


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## fdsaasdf (10/10/16)

Luke1992 said:


> I'd keep it at one day because the dry hop is with galaxy. IMO, dry hopping for any more than a day with galaxy brings a certain grassiness to the beer which can overwhelm the passionfruit/tropical nose, as well as reducing the smoothness of the mouthfeel


I guess we'll have to disagree here, as dry hopping for more than a day with Galaxy shouldn't result in grassiness unless you'd used it at near-freezing temps... I have made many beers including Galaxy from DIPAs to pale wheat ales and it's in no way grassy in pellet or flower form. There are also many commercial beers that have significant Galaxy dry hop additions to emphasise that passionfruit aroma.... some even use it in randall/hopinators e.g. Bentspoke...



Luke1992 said:


> Re. the rye. I'm not a big fan of using crystal in IPAs. Too sweet. Rye on the other hand balances out the high bitterness and ABV, like crystal does as well, and promotes a smooth mouthfeel. It only makes up 10% of the grain bill, it's not like its going to turn the beer into a rye IPA


Again we'll have to disagree - crystal is obviously a staple in many US IPA styles, and 10% rye is in the rye IPA territory. I'm not a cicerone but I detect absolutely no rye in War Hog.




Pratty1 said:


> The hops.....well take the amounts your a using a triple them, especially the dry hop and consider US hops like Amarillo and Citra combined with the Aussie ones.


I wouldn't recommend tripling the bittering hops, but I would suggest a couple of decent dry hop sessions (with each for at least 3 days @ 2g/L)


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## Wolfman1 (25/10/16)

I've just knocked a pint of this back on a trip to Perth and it's a ripper. Let us know how you go


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## Meddo (29/11/16)

Any updates on this brew Luke?

Had some in a tin at Saccharomyces the other night and fell in love. :icon_drool2:


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## Kumamoto_Ken (14/12/16)

Meddo said:


> Any updates on this brew Luke?


I'm interested as well.

Picked up a four-pack of tinnies on the weekend...delicious!


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## 2much2spend (15/12/16)

Mmmm cluster!


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## Ferg (19/4/17)

Has anyone had any success cloning this beer? Keen to brew a big IPA soon and this one is bloody delish!


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## Fendercaster (25/4/17)

I too am keen to do this one


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## Coldspace (5/7/17)

Just bought a 4 pack today, wow , what a nice strong beer.

Anyone got a similar receipe or so... Keen to do a strong IPA over winter..


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## Lionman (8/7/17)

About the time this thread started the War Hog was scaled back by Feral to 7.5%, so is more an IPA now. This was when they moved from a bottle to a can I believe. 

Still a great beer though.


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## Ferg (8/7/17)

Haven't brewed this yet but was planning something along the lines of:

Pale Ale & Carapils OG=1062. Mashed low. FG=1006
FWH = Warrior
Combination of mosaic, citra, galaxy & cascade late (maybe riwaka too). IBU = 70

Really the trick is going to be trying to find the right hop combination for this beer and having the supplies (and nerve) to go big on the quantities.

Any thoughts?


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## Coodgee (16/8/17)

Been drinking this while I am up north. For mine it's nearly all late galaxy. I'd say you'd get very close by just souping up a Pacific ale clone with 6kg of ale malt and a bit of wheat. 200 gram dry hop and all kettle additions from 20 minutes on.


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## Jrrj (3/8/18)

I love this beer and am enjoying the discussion above. I’m starting my research to make a beer that has some of the qualities I enjoy in war hog, particularly the strong passionfruit aromas, the very light straw colour, smooth bitterness and great malt-hop balance that makes it just as delicious on a cold winter night as in the summer sun.

Coodgee’s comment resonated with me because S&W PA and war hog are probably my favourite beers and I find them similar even though they are massively different in IBU and ABV.

Has anyone made any clone attempts in the past year that are worth sharing? If I have any success I’ll add my experience here.


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## Jack1984 (18/8/18)

Im interested in this update as well,

War hog and S&W PA are my favourite.. And always will be.


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## Peter can box (17/11/18)

I brewed a double IPA that tasted in my opinion very similar to warhog. 
Hops used were warrior for bittering for 60, colombus , simcoe, amarillo & citra (shit loads of) at 10 min then again at 0 min. Heavily dry hopped with simcoe , Amarillo & colombus for 3day before cold crash. 
Yeast was US05. 
Grain bill included med crystal, carapills, munich and small amount caramber but you could deff omit this to make it closer to warhog. I wasn’t attempting to clone , but it did taste very similar in my opinion.


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## bigmunchez (5/12/18)

I've brewed two clones of warhog, with decent success when compared side by side with the original.

This version got me close enough that I don't feel the need to tweak it any further.

Recipe Specifications

--------------------------
Batch Size (fermenter): 50.0 L 
Estimated OG: 1.062 SG
Estimated Color: 8 EBC
Estimated IBU: 64.0 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %

Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:

Amt Name Type # %/IBU Volume 

50.0 L  Pale Ale (RO 50L, Tap 25L) Water 1 - - 
12.00 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash) Water Agent 2 - - 
10.000 kg Pale Malt (Barrett Burston) (4 EBC) Grain 3 75.5 % 6.5 L 
1.850 kg Vienna Malt (Weyermann) (6 EBC) Grain 4 14.0 % 1.2 L 
0.700 kg Wheat Malt, Pale (Weyermann) (4 EBC) Grain 5 5.3 % 0.5 L 
56 g Warrior [16.20 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 6 42.6 IBUs - 
0.700 kg Sugar, Table (Sucrose) [Boil] [Boil for 15 min]( Sugar 7 5.3 % 0.4 L 

50 g Citra [11.80 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 8 9.4 IBUs - 
50 g Simcoe [15.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 9 12.0 IBUs - 
1.19 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 5.0 mins) Fining 10 - - 
1.19 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 5.0 mins) Other 11 - - 
100 g Simcoe [12.50 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 0.0 min Hop 12 0.0 IBUs - 
50 g Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool Hop 13 0.0 IBUs - 

1.2 pkg California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [35.49 ml] Yeast 14 - - 

175 g Simcoe [12.50 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Days Hop 15 0.0 IBUs - 
75 g Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Days Hop 16 0.0 IBUs - 
50 g Citra [11.80 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Days Hop 17 0.0 IBUs - 
25 g Galaxy [12.30 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Days Hop 18 0.0 IBUs - 
100 g Simcoe [12.50 %] - Dry Hop 3.0 Days Hop 19 0.0 IBUs - 
50 g Citra [11.80 %] - Dry Hop 3.0 Days Hop 20 0.0 IBUs - 
25 g Galaxy [12.30 %] - Dry Hop 3.0 Days Hop 21 0.0 IBUs - 

Give that a try, even if you don't clone it exactly, its a great IPA.


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