Hop Thief 6 Clone

[Westo]

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

 

[Westo]

 

[rheffera]

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

 

[Bribie G]

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.

 

[rheffera]

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

 

[Westo]

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

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

 

[rheffera]

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

 

[rheffera]

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.

 

[davedoran]

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

 

[rheffera]

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

photo 6.JPG

Out of the bottling bucket.
Farking iphone photos

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

 

[davedoran]

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

 

[mckenry]

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.

 

[Natsta]

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.

 

[rheffera]

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/

 

[Natsta]

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.

 

[Westo]

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



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.

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

 

[mckenry]

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.

 

[Bribie G]

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.

 

[paulyman]

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.

 

[skb]

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