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Blinded by Pliny clone...

MaltLicker

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Friend got a Pliny the Elder clone kit (MoreBeer) for Christmas but it was AG, so I helped him brew it today. 

211 IBUs later, I can see out of one eye now.  Mash hops, FWH, bittering, 45, 30 and 5, with dry-hops to come. 

Mash hops created surprising amount of bitterness in the spent mash grains, which surprised me given the lack of boiling. 

And with three weeks of frigid temps, the tap water cooled to 64F in 15 minutes. 
 
I Just kegged my AG Pliny (the Elder) Clone.....it is out of this world!. By far the best beer I've ever brewed. With an IBU of 210, I cannot perceive any difference to say about a 75 or so. Fantastic citrusy notes and a great dry finish. It really wasn't that expensive, it just took some hunting for enough fresh CTZ. Found the real thing in Boise recently.

Still curious as to the mention of being blinded....??

Mine was mash hopped, 90, 30, 15, steep hopped, and dry hopped TWICE! (per Vinnie's recipe)...Here's the recipe...
 

Attachments

  • Pliny Clone.bsm
    17.1 KB · Views: 1,496
88Q said:
I Just kegged my AG Pliny (the Elder) Clone.....it is out of this world!. By far the best beer I've ever brewed. With an IBU of 210, I cannot perceive any difference to say about a 75 or so. Fantastic citrusy notes and a great dry finish. It really wasn't that expensive, it just took some hunting for enough fresh CTZ. Found the real thing in Boise recently.

Still curious as to the mention of being blinded....??

Mine was mash hopped, 90, 30, 15, steep hopped, and dry hopped TWICE! (per Vinnie's recipe)...Here's the recipe...
What is CTZ? 
 
CTZ (Vinnie's main hop in Pliny) is an acronym for Columbus-Tommahawk-Zeus. Many people use one of the individual hops instead of the real "combo-coctail", but as I said they were found in Boise, and are an awesome hop. Seems to be the secret in this beer. Outstanding flavor!
 
I believe Tomahawk is a trade-name version of Columbus....part of a legal tiff between Hop Union and Yakima Chief.  Zeus is newer but believed to be nearly identical.  So when they say CTZ in a recipe they mean whichever variety you can get locally. 
 
I thought Hop Union was Yakima Chief?
 
http://www.brew-dudes.com/columbus-hops/423

"Origin: It was bred in the USA by HopUnion.  The year it was cultivated and made available to the public is hazy, but I am guessing early 1990s on the availability.  Now, this variety also goes by the name of Tomahawk, which is a copyright of Yakima Chief, Inc.  Based on the details of a lawsuit that was filed against Charles E. Zimmerman, it seems that Yakima Chief received this variety through Mr. Zimmerman and rebranded it.  Columbus hops are now patented and owned by a joint venture between Mr. Zimmerman and HopUnion.  They mended their relationship and YC still gets to sell Tomahawk hops."

Dunno.  But this would explain one hop having two names.  Many articles state Zeus is essentially the same hop as well. 
 
I wasn't able to open (or view) the Pliny clone....  In case others couldn't either, here is a PDF version I received from Russian River Brewing Company (i.e. Vinnie).  I haven't brewed it yet, but will soon - - - enjoy the brewpub regularly.

Sherm
 

Attachments

  • 1Pliny the Elder clone PDF.pdf
    103.7 KB · Views: 6,287
My recipe (posted in above comment) was extrapolated from that very pdf file. So the grainbill %s are converted in the .bsm file...... and I have to say, it is the best IPA you could hope for! Outstanding! And the 200+ IBUs, which once seemed like 75ish, is now way down to a beautifully complex finish with no over the top bitterness. If I had to guess the perceived, it would be somewhere in the 50's. But what a mouthfull of flavor and nose! Next time I may add just a little extra caramel. I'm not sure why mine finished at 1010 (had a great hold at 151-2 on the mash), and that seems to have made it a little dryer than the REAL THING, but its Going FAST!
 
I just brewed this - MAN, turned out fantastic.  By far the best I have ever done.  Hoppy...  Hoppy... Hoppy...

Sherm
 
Websites are always helpful in one way or the other, anyways, It's a good way to get started to renovate your dreams into the world of reality.
 
I got a reading of 1.036 @ 69.5F. When I enter that into the temperature correction tool it tells me it is adjusted to 1.037. When I enter in the hydrometer reading from the wort, do I enter 1.036 or 1.037? Additionally, the refractometer I has has ATC built in. Does that convert for the ambient AIR temperature, or does that correct for the wort temperature? I got 10.4 Brix reading on the refractometer.

Obviously, we're talking a thousandth of a point here or there, so in the scheme of things it probably doesn't matter. However, I'd just like to know if I'm doing it right, or not. In a previous forum thread there was a mention by BeerSmith that they were going to put together a video on refractometer usage. Was that ever posted?

Thanks!
 
My first post here, and I hope I do not give the impression of being a total idiot.  Here goes.... I brewed my first  Pliny clone yesterday and 85 minutes into my 90 minute boil, I realized I misread the instructions and forgot to add the corn sugar at the beginning of the boil.  Anyhow, I added it at 85  min and added another 5 minutes to the boil.  Does anyone know important it is to have corn sugar boiled for the full time of if just boiling it for 10 minutes will ruin the batch?  One way or the other, Ill find out in a few weeks when it is completed.  Thanks for any info. 
 
  That does look really good!  I have a Double IPA fermenting now, should finish 11%ABV, 87 IBU's.  I was looking for a 90 minute IPA with a little alcohol kick at the end so I've added two 1lb corn sugar additions while fermenting along with three 1oz hop additions.  It is still bubbling in the airlock after a month, I racked off trub twice. Smells great. 
 
Does anyone know important it is to have corn sugar boiled for the full time of if just boiling it for 10 minutes will ruin the batch?

Sugar concentrations do have an effect on hop utilization, but in this case I wouldn't worry about it.

RDWHAHB
 
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