Hop Hog Clone

[carniebrew]

Hey Guys,

I love this beer to and I know a guy spends a lot of time knocking out clone recipes for his LHBS. He's got a nose for it and usually pretty damn close to the real thing (I've done his S&W and LCPA and both were spot on for me). He made an extract recipe, so I can't help out on the grain bill but his hops sound solid.

He told me that he uses Cascade, Galaxy and Citra (in that order) in the boil and dry hops with Simcoe. Having said that, I haven't tried this recipe yet and can't say for sure how it turns out but I trust this guys taste-buds.

It'll probably be my next brew.

Would love to see a full recipe at some stage, just a list of hops makes it impossible to re-create, particulary around how much (and for how long) dry hopping with Simcoe would be critical....

 

[slcmorro]

This is what I did... (and am drinking right now)

4kg JW Pils
1kg JW Pale
1kg Wheat

60min Mash at 67c

30gm NS @ 60
15gm Amarillo @ 30
15gm Cascade @ 30
15gm NS @ 30
10gm NS @ 5
10gm Amarillo @ 5
10gm Cascade @ 0

Made to 20L, fermented at 19c with Bry97.

Dry hop in the keg with 10gm of NS, Amarillo and Cascade.

It's certainly got a very pale colour about it, around 9 EBC and it came out around 5.9% which is a bit much, but I'm happy with it.
Could have dry hopped it more aggressively, as it's been kegged for 2 weeks and still it doesn't carry much over to the nose.

On tasting, it's quite similar in a way, but at the same time it's definitely not the same as a Hop Hog. The NS is prominent on the forefront, and if I had my time again I'd bitter potentially with just Magnum for example, rather than using an aromatic/flavouring hop for the bittering component.

It's got a sweetness to it, which isn't quite balanced out enough with the bitterness in my opinion, and I'd probably go a little higher next time around. Brewmate says it's at 79.4 IBU though, and this is my first attempt at a highly bitter beer so I'm not quite sure where I've gone with this one.

Overall, it's very very drinkable, and I can't see it lasting too long but it's just not quite there. Might try the same grist, and use a bit of Citra and Centennial in place of the NS next time.

P.S - Using the wheat didn't help with any head retention at all. I know IPA's don't usually lace well and carry a big head, but this one is almost non existant after a minute or so.

 

[brewtas]

Did you use a hop bag in the boil? That can reduce the utilisation rate.

IPAs generally shouldn't have any problems with head retention. The extra hop matter actually helps head formation and retention. Might be your glass, might be a problem somewhere else.

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

Funny you should say that about the head retention. I was doing some FG tests on some different beers a while back that involved letting them go flat over night. I dont know how but the hop hog had a thin bit of head and still laced after 12 hours on the bench really noticable when I put the hydrometer in! The other three beers I did where flat as flat in comparison.

 

[slcmorro]

No hop bags. BIAB though, not that'd make a diff. More wheat maybe, 1.5kgs?

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

Did you use malted or unmalted wheat?

 

[slcmorro]

Malted.

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

Yeah I have been using the malted wheat aswell I also started doing a rest at 72C for 10 minutes at someones suggestion (maybe manitcle?) and it has deffinitly been a step in the right direction and I also add 250 grams of carapils/carahell they are suposed to help.

 

[WWDWD]

[SIZE=12pt]I wanna have a go at making a Hop Hog clone....[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt][EDIT: Moved to Kits & Extracts... had too many tabs open researching this bad boy)[/SIZE]

 

[ian4379]

editing

 

[ian4379]

i ended up going with this

23 ltr batch

5000gm jw pilsner
250gm caramunich
250gm carapils
us-05 yeast

cascade 16 gms 60 mins
citra 9 gms 60mins
amarillo 5gms 15mins
cascade 5gms 15mins
centennial 5 gms 15mins
citra 5gms 15mins
amarillo 5gms 10mins
cascade 5gms 10mins
centennial 5 gms 10mins
citra 5gms 10mins
amarillo 5gms 0mins
cascade 5gms 0mins
centennial 5 gms 0mins
citra 5gms 0mins
dry hop 5 days 20gms each cascade, centennial, citra

total ibu: 50.4

its been in the bottle 9 days, i tasted it side by side with a hop hog. mine had a lot more aroma, all in all its very similar, mine is more fruity, it's only my 5th AG but i'd guess there is either a hop different or i've staggered my hops different and one of them is more dominant, i'm guessing the amarillo? i need to do some more smashes to get to know my hops better.

very happy though, best beer so far, happy to have a "go to" beer.

edit: the hop hog is a little more orange in colour than mine

 

[lswhi3]

Can I get some feedback on this recipe? Which one of my options do you think would have the best outcome? Can you guys also advise me how to convert the percentages of malt in kilograms so that I can make a 23L batch at 5.8% / 1.059?

Malt #1:
BB Galaxy 97.5%
Caramunich I 2.5%

Malt #2:
BB Pale 75%
Munich I 17%
Caramunich 3.5%
Crystal Dark 3.5%

Malt #3:
BB Malt 5.1kg
Munich Malt 0.6kg
Caramunich I 0.2kg

Hops:
Hallerteu 60mins for 12 IBUs
Yeast nutrient 15mins
Polyclar 1tsp 15mins

Schedule #1:
40g Centennial 5mins
35g Amarillo 5mins
35g Citra 5mins
25g Simcoe 5mins

17g Amarillo Dry
17g Citra Dry
15g Centennial
13g Simcoe Dry

Schedule #2:
40g Centennial 5mins
8.2 IBUs Cascade 5mins
35g Citra 5mins
7 IBUs Galaxy 5mins

17g Amarillo Dry
17g Cascade Dry
15g Centennial
13g Galaxy Dry

Schedule #3:
Centennial 40g 5mins
Cascade 5mins IBUs?
Amarillo 5 mins IBUs?

Same schedule dry hopped with less then boil weight

Didn't bother working out IBUs with 3rd schedule just yet.

There seems to be a hell of a lot of conflicting recipe information regarding the hop schedule. This is partly because feral mix it up depending on seasonal availability and hop harvest success. However, I'm pretty damn sure that one of these 3 combinations are what feral go with, or maybe its all 3 of these combinations depending on variables.

Regarding the Malt, #1 is what Feral use I'm almost 100% sure, problem is the availability of Galaxy malt is pretty limited in Melbourne from what I can suss out.

Also guys, if I haven't got myself an immersion wort chiller just yet, what do you think of throwing the flavour hops in at flameout instead in order to make sure the steeping that goes on as I cool the wort doesn't ruin the hops by making them overly bitter? Will that effect IBUs noticeably?

Cheers guys,
Luke

 

[idzy]

I just kegged a batch of Hop Hog inspired IPA that used half a kilo of hops. Will let you know how it goes.

 

[danestead]

Can I get some feedback on this recipe? Which one of my options do you think would have the best outcome? Can you guys also advise me how to convert the percentages of malt in kilograms so that I can make a 23L batch at 5.8% / 1.059?

Malt #1:
BB Galaxy 97.5%
Caramunich I 2.5%

Malt #2:
BB Pale 75%
Munich I 17%
Caramunich 3.5%
Crystal Dark 3.5%

Malt #3:
BB Malt 5.1kg
Munich Malt 0.6kg
Caramunich I 0.2kg

Hops:
Hallerteu 60mins for 12 IBUs
Yeast nutrient 15mins
Polyclar 1tsp 15mins

Schedule #1:
40g Centennial 5mins
35g Amarillo 5mins
35g Citra 5mins
25g Simcoe 5mins

17g Amarillo Dry
17g Citra Dry
15g Centennial
13g Simcoe Dry

Schedule #2:
40g Centennial 5mins
8.2 IBUs Cascade 5mins
35g Citra 5mins
7 IBUs Galaxy 5mins

17g Amarillo Dry
17g Cascade Dry
15g Centennial
13g Galaxy Dry

Schedule #3:
Centennial 40g 5mins
Cascade 5mins IBUs?
Amarillo 5 mins IBUs?

Same schedule dry hopped with less then boil weight

Didn't bother working out IBUs with 3rd schedule just yet.

There seems to be a hell of a lot of conflicting recipe information regarding the hop schedule. This is partly because feral mix it up depending on seasonal availability and hop harvest success. However, I'm pretty damn sure that one of these 3 combinations are what feral go with, or maybe its all 3 of these combinations depending on variables.

Regarding the Malt, #1 is what Feral use I'm almost 100% sure, problem is the availability of Galaxy malt is pretty limited in Melbourne from what I can suss out.

Also guys, if I haven't got myself an immersion wort chiller just yet, what do you think of throwing the flavour hops in at flameout instead in order to make sure the steeping that goes on as I cool the wort doesn't ruin the hops by making them overly bitter? Will that effect IBUs noticeably?

Cheers guys,
Luke

Malt 3 and hops 1 but reduce the hops at each time to 2g/l total ie 0.5g/l Amarillo, 0.5g/l, centennial etc