Epic Hop Zombie DIPA

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BillyPilgrim9

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Hi guys

This is my first post, but I've been perusing this site consistently for the last 6 months. Love it.

This past weekend, I was lucky enough to get my hands on two bottles of Epic's Hop Zombie DIPA, from Auckland NZ. This beer blew me away. It wasn't just hoppy - that was surely to be expected, right? - but the subtle and truly unique flavours that emerged left me (and my drinking buddy) dumbstruck. Tangerines/mandarin and red grapefruit dominated, with hints of apricot and passion fruit in the finish. I would absolutely love to have a crack at brewing something approaching this myself, but there aren't any recipes that I've been able to find, after extensive searching. Epic's website is great in that for each of their beers, they detail the malts, hops and IBUs, making it possible to piece together a clone pretty easily. Except for the Hop Zombie, where they keep the hops classified, stating simply the use of:

2 X US varieties
2X NZ varieties

So, I need the help of your palates and brains to try and guess what these mystery hops could be. Has anyone tried it? What are your thoughts?

Cheers in advance!
 
Purely guesswork based on your descriptors but

I get vanilla, mandarin and sometimes apricots from Styrian Goldings (a euro hop). I have not tried the NZ variety but have heard it is similar but fruitier.
For grapefruit, I tend towards cascade or centennial.

Passionfruit generally galaxy (an AU hop) or Nelson Sauvin (an NZ hop).

So from that my startiing point would be Nelson, NZ styrians and cascade and centennial. Some crops of amarillo contribute passionfruit and some of my experience have provided stonefruit and mandarin so that might be another port of call. Does vary crop to crop though - if you believe Nick JD, it's akin to a sports deodorant. I don't.
 
Yeah most likely Cascade and Centenial based on what Luke uses most.

Yeast will be Cal Ale II. That's Luke's house yeast.
 
I get the feeling that it may have some Simcoe in it. One reason is the shortage of the hop being the reason it disappears for so long after release. I believe they went to Europe to source this scarce US hop. Also I think I have good enough taste buds to pick it up.
 
>LINKY<

couldnt search/post on the phone yesterday but was sure I'd read it somewhere.. sounds like an effing good beer and Ive not been lucky enough to come across one yet, I may have to hunt it out... pervis perhaps.
 
I've seen them for sale online but at $20 a bottle I couldn't really justify buying any. I really want to try it, but $20 a bottle? What am I, the Queen of England?
 
it was on tap @ The Terminus, North Fitzroy a few weeks back, have to admit that I wasn't really blown away by it...
 
what sucks is that we are considering $20 a bottle due to the fact that there is no one in Oz brewing something comparable.... :(
 
I once paid $20 for a bottle of 8 Wired - Hopwired at Beer Delux... only coz I had been talking about it.. but that IS a fantastic beer..

ed. Purvis Richmond have a few so will pick one up tmoz :beerbang:
 
Hard thing is "freshness" when it comes to IPAs and heavily hopped beers. I've noticed that in my own brews.
 
Alcohol By Volume: 32.0% :blink:

I mean don't get me wrong, that is hilariously awesome, but wtf would you do with a beer like that? Take shots?
 
I reckon she would down it through a beer bong then grab Phil by the ears, stuff her muff in his face and ride him like a monkey on speed
 
BillyPilgrim9 said:
So, I need the help of your palates and brains to try and guess what these mystery hops could be. Has anyone tried it? What are your thoughts?

Cheers in advance!
If you get a recipe together, be sure to post your thoughts on it. I would love to have a clone of this at home, in larger, cheaper quantities.

Malted said:
I reckon she would Drink Brewdog Tactical Nuclear Penguin at $169 per stubbie. http://danmurphys.com.au/product/DM_702608/brewdog-tactical-nuclear-penguin or something like that.
I reckon she might be more impartial to the Sink The Bismarck IPA or the End of History beer from BrewDog. Either way, I wouldn't be declining an invitation for a beer at her place that's for sure!
 
Malted said:
I reckon she would down it through a beer bong then grab Phil by the ears, stuff her muff in his face and ride him like a monkey on speed
yep than we would be crying "Commonwealth Forever!"
 
Both the NZ Saazer hops, Citra and Centenial.
 
Hey guys, thanks for all your responses.

I remember reading on Epic's site (and stillinrehab mentioned it as well) that they weren't able to release Hop Zombie for a year because of the shortage of a particular Washington state grown hop - which leads me to think Citra, Amarillo or Simcoe. To be honest though I couldn't taste or smell any of the pine-resinous flavours/aromas which are so distinctive of Simcoe, but I got heaps of passion fruit, which I've always noticed with Citra. Also it's more of an orange citrusy flavour then grapefruit, so I'm thinking centennial, not cascade.

Unfortunately I don't know many of the new NZ hops well enough (yet), though I have used Nelson Sauvin in three brews and love it. But from what I've read, and from what you guys just posted, I'd think it must be Riwaka, Montueka or Rakau- I just wish I'd had more experience with them (in the form of a single-hopped IPA of each).

So it's been narrowed down a bit. It's looking like Centennial and Citra for the US contingent, and Riwaka and Montueka for the NZ hops. Nick JD basically nailed it.

I'll post a recipe soon, and follow up with the outcome. In other news, i just picked up two more bottles of the stuff, on special for $14 a pop. Pretty handy that my local is the International Beer Shop - that place is freaking paradise.
 
Okay, so based off the advice I received from you guys, this is my attempt at a Hop Zombie clone. A few concessions first: I'm still limited to brewing with extract and speciality grains... Embarrassing I know; and secondly, as I'm sure you're all aware, Riwaka is basically impossible to obtain at the moment, so I've subbed in Nelson Sauvin in its place. I know it's not a straight sub, but I think it's uniqueness will work in this NZ IPA.

Using BeerSmith:
60 min boil
Batch size: 19 L (5 gallon)

0.25 kg crystal malt (40 L) steeped for 30 min.
2 kg extra light dry extract to begin with, then a further 1.75 kg at 10 min.

25 g Citra @ 60 min
15 g Neslon Sauvin @ 60 min
Whirlfloc tablet @15 min
20 g Centennial @ 10 min
20 g Nelson Sauvin @ 7 min
20 g Citra @ 5 min
20 g Motueka @ Whirlpool

Ferment with 2 packets of Safale US-05

Primary at 17º C for 4 weeks

Dry hop in the last week with:
15 g each of Citra, Centennial, Nelson Sauvin and Motueka.

Est. O.G. = 1.073
IBUs = 60
Colour = 12.8 EBC
Est ABV = 7.5 %

Any criticism/advice is very welcome. I'm planning on brewing it this weekend and I'll post with the outcome.
 
That amount of hops should make a APA/IPA but it's nowhere near enough for a DIPA, you really want to at least double the additions from ten mins onwards, for a Hop Zombie I'd even be inclined to triple them.
 
Matching the last two numbers of the OG with the IBUs and half the IBUs coming after 30 minutes is a good rule to follow for all types of IPA - even the 5.5% ones.
 
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