Tasting : Alpine Duet clone, Version 2.0

Post #100! And what better topic to have for this occasion then one talking about the results of my second attempt at brewing a clone of Alpine Duet, one of the best American IPAs I've ever had?

This beer was brewed a mere 6 days after another very hoppy beer, my clone of Maine Beer Company's MO (an American Pale Ale). Both beers were dry-hopped twice in a secondary carboy, and both beers were then kegged. I didn't dry-hop IN the keg because I didn't receive my kegging equipment until afterwards. If you check out the tasting notes for the MO clone, you'll see that while the beer was very tasty, I was a bit disappointed that the hop aroma and flavor wasn't quite as big as I had hoped.

The hopping schedules for these two beers were very similar; Simcoe and Falconer's Flight for the MO clone, Simcoe and Amarillo for the Duet clone. The only difference in amounts was an additional 1/2 oz of each hop in the dry-hop (over two additions). Not exactly a big difference, but there was also a difference in technique: I had my CO2 tank and some tubing when I racked the Duet clone to secondary, so I was able to flush the carboy with CO2 before racking, and then again after adding the dry-hops. I wasn't sure if this would make a difference at all, but I wanted to do what I could to cut down on oxidation.

Well, I'm not sure what exactly the reason is, but this beer definitely has more hop character than the MO clone. Is it as hoppy as the real Duet (a beer I haven't been able to try for 2&1/2 years, I might add)? No. Even though it's been a long time, I know that that beer was hoppier. I think that dry-hopping in the keg would bump it up a bit for me, but realistically I'll probably never be able to replicate that amount of hop goodness... but it doesn't mean I'm going to stop trying! The beer also has a very low, soft bitterness for an IPA, as is expected since the IBUs are only at about 45 or so. It finished nice and dry; there's a bit of malt character, but it's most tropical, fruity hops, and the pine begins to come through as the beer warms. Smooth mouthfeel.

Most of this beer was kegged; however, I did bottle about 4 L of it in case I wanted to enter any competitions, and to give to friends since I don't yet have an expensive or cheap way of bottling from the keg. I shared a couple of bottles with some friends the other night, and while pretty good, they definitely can't compare to the kegged version.

Glad I tried brewing this beer again. Will there be a third version in the future? Probably. I'd likely keep the grist as-is... the change to Crystal 30 L from Victory probably wasn't necessary, though; I think I'd be tempted to go with the grist from the first version, and the hop schedule from this one. Either way, I'm pretty happy with how this came out... if I could bump up the hop character a bit more, it'd be a great IPA.

Appearance: Pours with a moderate-large, white, fluffy and thick head that shows excellent retention, leaving nice sticky lacing on the glass as it gradually fades. Body is a light golden color with some slight haziness.

Aroma: Lots of tropical fruit aroma coming through; maybe a bit of pine, but the fruitiness definitely dominates. A bit of slight sweet malt character, but mostly hops. As the beer warms, the pine comes through stronger.

Taste: Pretty big hop flavor coming through, again a tropical fruit quality is strongest, here. The pine does start to come on a bit stronger towards the end, and as the beer warms. Moderate-low bitterness in the finish, very smooth.

Mouthfeel: Medium-light bodied, moderate to moderate-low carbonation.

Overall: I’m pretty happy with how this one came out. I like the soft bitterness of the beer, similar to how I remember Duet being. I still don’t think the hop flavor and aroma is quite as big as it should be; with better dry-hopping technique and fresher hops, I think the recipe will get it there.

EDIT: This wasn't post #100... it was #97... oops!

Tasting : Alpine Duet clone

Well, this beer has only been bottled for 2-3 weeks now, but since IPAs are usually better when they're young (and since this Duet clone has by far had the most page views of any other posts I've made), I thought I'd put up some tasting notes now, before the beer starts to deteriorate.

Appearance: Pours a medium-golden color (pretty light for an IPA), with a moderate-large, creamy white head that seems to have pretty good lasting power. Leaves a bit of lacing on the glass as it gradually fades to a full finger of foam. The body exhibits very good clarity, despite the recent dry-hopping in the fermenter.

Aroma: Big, citrusy hops... lemons, oranges. Some pine in there as well, but not as much as I was expecting. I'd prefer more pine, to be honest.

Taste: Just a touch of malty sweetness at the beginning, followed by (again) big citrusy hop flavor. Juicy. The pine comes through more in the finish, as does the moderate bitterness (close to moderate-low, as expected with the lower-IBUs compared to most IPAs). The 7% alcohol is hidden very well. No real flaws to complain of.

Mouthfeel: Medium-light bodied, with moderate carbonation.

Overall: Do I like this as an IPA? Yes. But, the real question, is this a clone of Alpine's Duet? The only way I could tell for sure is if I HAD a Duet to do a side-by-side tasting, and I don't... and I'll be lucky to ever try it again. I remember Duet as having an even BIGGER hop aroma and flavor, and to be more prominent on the pine. The Simcoe hops I used were purchased from my local homebrew shop, which is really more of a wine-making store, and I really can't vouch for how old the hops were, OR how they were stored. If I were to brew it again, I'd make sure the hops were as fresh as could be (Simcoe hops are notoriously difficult to get when they become available) AND had been stored properly. I'd also make larger hop additions at all points. The look and feel of the beer is about as I remember Duet being... I just think this is, unfortunately, a more watered-down attempt.

UPDATE: I've had 10-15 of these beers now, and I think now that the recipe I used got a little closer to the real thing than I originally thought. Once the Amarillo started to fade a bit in the aroma and flavor, the Simcoe came through more. Definitely a great IPA, either way!

Alpine Duet clone

Wow, my first brew day in 2 months. Since I started homebrewing in November of 2009, this is by far the longest period without brewing that I've gone. Happy to be back at it, so I thought I'd go with a clone recipe of a fantastic beer, of one of my favorite styles...

A few months ago, in September, I was lucky enough to get away to San Diego for a 4-day beer trip. I'd been once before, but that was years ago, and long before I was into beer. It was a great trip; I was introduced to lots of great beer bars, and breweries whose beers aren't available anywhere near where I live.

One of these breweries was the Alpine Beer Co. Located in Alpine, CA, they opened in 2002 and seem to make mostly hoppy beers (like a lot of breweries in CA). I had read a lot of good things before the trip, and wasn't disappointed when I got to try some of their beers. One in particular that stood out for me was Duet, a very high-hop-flavored IPA that wasn't extremely bitter at the same time (only 45 IBUs according to their website; quite low for an IPA in this day-and-age where most brewers are trying to "out-IBU" the other). I had it on tap at Toronado in San Diego, and actually got to take a bottle back home, which I drank several days later. Pale gold, with a very strong citrus/pine aroma and flavor, it's my idea of a perfect IPA, finishing dry and bitter, but NOT knocking you back with too MUCH bitterness. I like bitter IPAs as much as the next hop addict, but sometimes its nice to see a beer that concentrates even more on hop FLAVOR as opposed to flavor and bitterness.

I knew when I left San Diego that my chances of getting Duet again were slim, so I decided to try emailing the brewery to see if they'd help me with a clone recipe. I was answered almost immediately by the owner/brewer, Pat McIlhenney:

"Thank you for your interest in Alpine Beer Company. All the way across the continent? Alpine Lager doesn’t do it for you? No clones, but I’ll tell you it’s a simple recipe with some dextrin malt, white wheat, amber malt acidulated and some fructose to lighten the body. Equal amounts of Simcoe and Amarillo hops “in harmony.” Good luck!"

This is more information than I've had from some other brewers in the past, so I put together a pretty simple recipe based on Pat's info. Using Canadian 2-row as the base malt, I added some white wheat malt, Victory malt (subbing in for the Amber), a bit of Carapils, and some Acid malt. I hadn't used Acid malt before, but decided to go on the light side, just in case. Acid malt is a light-colored malt that has been subjected to a lactic-acid fermentation after kilning, so that lactic acid resides in the malt and can therefore be used to lower mash pH. Apparently, for every 1% of the grist, the mash pH will be lowered by 0.1. Fredericton's city water leads to a more basic mash pH as it is (about 5.8, as opposed to the desired ~5.4), so I went with about 2% Acid malt as a first try. I went with a relatively low mash temperature (150 F), to try to emulate the apparent high-attentuation and dry finish that Duet has.

As for the hops, I used only 1/2 oz of Magnum as the bittering addition... to only 13.7 IBU. The rest of the IBUs would be obtained through equal amounts of both Simcoe and Amarillo at 10 and 5 minutes, as the flavor additions, followed by these two hops again at flameout, and for a week of dry-hopping. I know I could have easily went with even more Simcoe and Amarillo, especially in the dry-hopping, but with their low availability recently, I thought a total of 5 oz of each would have to suffice.

After my long hiatus of brewing, I didn't have any liquid yeast on hand. Duet seemed to really be all about the hops, with a neutral yeast character from what I could tell. Normally, I would have used the Wyeast 1056 American Ale, but with low availability of yeast in Fredericton, and the fact that I didn't have time to make a starter, I went with a package of US-05 Safale dry yeast that I had on hand. I haven't used dry yeast since my first brew, but I've heard good things about this yeast, and since I wasn't looking for any major yeast character, I figured it would do.

This brew session also marks the first time that I've performed a mash-out. I've never been concerned about doing this in the past, but lately I've been wondering about how long conversion continues after I've vorlaufed and drained to the boil kettle. While I'm sparging, vorlaufing, and draining again, the first runnings are sitting in the kettle, NOT being heated up to halt enzyme activity, which may be contributing to a lighter body and higher fermentability. This really isn't an issue with this IPA, but I thought I'd try it for once and see what type of temperature results I had.

Recipe (5.5 gallons, 75% efficiency): OG 1.065, FG 1.011, IBU 45, SRM 6.7

Grains & Other:
4.36 kg Canadian 2-row
454 g Victory malt
454 g Wheat malt
227 g Carapils
113 g Acid malt
227 g Table sugar (to be added when fermentation slows)

Hops:
Magnum - 14 g (9% AA) @ 60 min
Simcoe - 28 g (12.2% AA) @ 10 min
Amarillo - 28 g (6% AA) @ 10 min
Simcoe - 28 g @ 5 min
Amarillo - 28 g @ 5 min
Simcoe - 42 g @ 0 min
Amarillo - 42 g @ 0 min
Simcoe - 42 g dry-hop for 1 week
Amarillo - 42 g dry-hop for 1 week

Misc.:
1/2 tsp yeast nutrient @ 15 min
1/2 tab Irish Moss @ 5 min

Yeast: US-05 Safale, rehydrated

- Brewed Jan 10, 2012, by myself. 60 minute mash with 15.44 L of strike water, mashed in at 150 F. Added 9.35 L of water at ~201.5 F for 10 minute mash-out, resulting temp a little low at 163.5 F (target 168 F). Sparged with ~2.5 gallons of 170 F water for final volume of 6.75 gallons in the kettle. 60 minute boil.

- Chilled down to 68 F with immersion chiller. OG came in a touch high at 1.066 (assuming 4 points for future sugar addition). Poured and filtered (most of it) into Better Bottle, final volume on target. Pitched yeast at 64 F, aerating by shaking for several minutes before and after. Left in room with temp set at 64 F.

11/1/12 - Bubbling almost every second by the evening, temp 64 F. By the next morning, activity was even higher, temp had crept up a bit to 66 F. Later that evening, I added the table sugar (boiled in ~1 cup water) to the fermenter.

12/1/12 - 16/1 - Fermentation was very active by the second day after pitching, with temps getting as high as 68 F. Gradually began to slow down, with temp dropping with activity, as low as 62 F by today.

25/1/12 - Dry-hopped in the primary fermenter as indicated in the recipe.

4/2/12 - FG 1.012. Bottled with 118 g table sugar, aiming for 2.5 vol CO2 for 5 gallons with a max temp of 68 F reached. Bottled 45 x 12 oz (due to the high amount of hop sludge left over in the fermenter, I lost several litres of beer).

23/2/12 - First tasting... pretty good, but probably falls slightly short of the intense goodness that is the real Duet.

15/4/12 - Just found out this beer won a bronze medal in the IPA category in the ALES Open, qualifying it for the final round at the NHC!