Turbodog 2.0

Today I'm brewing my second attempt at Abita's Turbodog. I brewed a version of this three years ago. It turned out well but I wouldn't call it an exact clone. That recipe was from BYO Magazine's 150 Clone Recipes issue; this time it's based on CYBI's recipe. The recipes are similar and I think the biggest difference is in the late Willamette additions. I'm not sure of the source for the BYO recipe, but I know the CYBI recipe is based on interviewing the brewer at Abita, so hopefully this batch will turn out closer.

I modified the CYBI recipe for my system efficiency and also had to substitute Magnum for the Apollo hops that the recipe called for. Here's the recipe as I made it:

9# 1 oz Briess 2-row Malt
10 oz Briess Crystal 90 Malt
7 oz Crisp Chocolate Malt
.53 oz (15g) Magnum Hops (60 min) *sub'd for 12g of Apollo*
.18 oz (5g) Willamette (30 min)
.11 oz (3g) Willamette (10 min)
.5 Whirlfloc (10 min)
.5 t Wyeast Yeast Nutrient
Wyeast 1007 German Ale Yeast in 1L starter

Mash at 152F for 60 min. 90 minute boil. Ferment at 60F

Brewing Notes
No issues on this batch. I got started a little later in the day than I'd hoped. The reason for this was I forgot to run to my LHBS yesterday because I was working on my keezer that is replacing my kegerator. On a related note, I set up the old kegerator as my new fermentation chamber. This will be the first brew in the new chamber.

Kegerator turned fermentation chamber

Update 6/10/2012

The new ferm chamber seems to be working well. There are some pros and cons to both styles (fridge vs. freezer) but I think it's going to work well. I left it in overnight to chill from 72F down to 60F and pitched the yeast this morning.

Update 6/14/2013
This one is still happily chugging along. 60F is pretty low for an ale, so I was thinking this one might take a few days longer than a typical ale. The ferm chamber is working well; it's holding temp and not kicking on too often. I added a five gallon bucket filled with water to increase the thermal mass. That should help keep temps stable when curious himebrewers open the door to take a peek.

Update 9/8/2013
I put this one on tap about a week ago. We did a side by side comparison between my kegged homebrew version and a bottle of the commercial version. The color was pretty much identical. Flavor and aroma ended up being not so close, but in this case it was a good thing. The commercial version had some oxidized character going on, so unfortunately I think I got a hold of a bad bottle. The good news is I think my version turned out really well.  

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